Shortstop Dalton Guthrie made a key defensive play in Sunday's win over Tennessee. (Photo: Sydney Jones/For UAA Communications)
Gators' Late Escape Shows Tiny Margin for Error
Sunday, April 9, 2017 | Baseball, Scott Carter
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The Gators are 10 games above .500 but continue to be involved in an unusual number of one-run games.
By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – You could see it on Gators coach Kevin O'Sullivan's face as he strolled to the mound in the top of the eighth inning.
Facing the possibility of being swept by Tennessee for the first time in 16 years, O'Sullivan was on his way to potentially prevent reliever Andrew Baker's Sunday afternoon from being a total disaster. Baker had replaced Kirby McMullen two batters earlier after McMullen hit Andre Lipcius with a pitch to lead off the inning.
That brought the tying to the plate in Pete Derkay, who promptly greeted Baker with a base hit. Lipcius moved all the way to third on the play with the assist of a fielding error by Gators right fielder Nelson Maldonado. Dom Thornton, 1-for-10 at that point in the three-game series, stepped to the plate and drove Lipcius home with a single.
A five-run Florida lead had dwindled to 5-4. Baker then threw a wild pitch that allowed Derkay and Thornton to advance. The go-ahead run was in scoring position and O'Sullivan had seen enough.
On his walk to take the ball from Baker and hand it to right-hander Michael Byrne for a third consecutive day, O'Sullivan had one of those what-is-going-on expressions.
"We're just trying to get wins right now,'' O'Sullivan said afterward. "I wish the roles were a bit more solidified, but the fact is we've got a bunch of freshmen in the bullpen, and when we have to go to the bullpen in the sixth inning when you've got a lot of young guys who really haven't been through this before, that's kind of why we have been having some issues there."
Byrne's weekend had not been very kind. He suffered the loss in each of the first two games in the series despite striking out nine in four innings. He finally caught a break.
On Byrne's second pitch, Will Heflin lifted a shallow fly ball to center field that looked certain to drop for a hit and tie the game. Instead, Gators shortstop Dalton Guthrie made the play of the game with a sliding over-the-shoulder catch for the first out, holding Derkay at third base.
"I don't know [how]. Still wondering,'' Guthrie said. "I kind of just turned around and looked back up at one point and it was there."
"It saved the game,'' O'Sullivan said. "The teaching moment is this: he went 0-for-4 at the plate today but saved the game with his glove. You won't see a better play by a shortstop, I don't think, at any level. If that ball drops in, we're in trouble."
Byrne struck out the next batter, shortstop Max Bartlett, before walking Jeff Moberg to load the bases. Next, it was Byrne's turn to flash the leather, spearing a sharp bouncing ball back up the middle off the bat of Justin Ammons and tossing to first for the final out in Florida's 5-4 victory.
The Gators could exhale as they avoided the sweep and evened their record (6-6) in the SEC. Thirty-two games into the season, the Gators are 21-11 and have played 18 one-run games (11-7), one more than they played in 68 games in 2016 – a season that ended in the College World Series for the second consecutive year.
"Getting the loss on Friday and Saturday wasn't fun,'' said Byrne, who picked up his fifth save Sunday. "We needed this one. You don't want to ever get swept in the SEC. I think it was huge."
While the season is barely half over, O'Sullivan agreed with Byrne's assessment.
"At this stage, this is an important game,'' he said.
Rather than drop into the lower half of the SEC East, the victory kept the Gators two games behind division leader Kentucky (8-4) and a game behind South Carolina (7-5), two clubs still on the schedule.
Unless the Gators' lineup suddenly starts hitting like the '27 Yankees, Sunday's game is likely a preview of what is to come. Good luck if you are a finger-nail biter.
Florida stranded 34 runners in the three-game series – including 12 on Sunday – which didn't help in a pair of one-run extra-inning losses to the Vols in the first two games. This is a team that must win with its pitching and defense. Reliever Michael Byrne notched his fifth save on Sunday. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
Both are good enough to win on a regular basis, but with an inconsistent lineup, the Gators will have trouble putting together lengthy win streaks. Florida entered the Tennessee series riding a four-game win streak, matching its longest of the season.
"Offensively we were better. I think the approaches are getting better,'' O'Sullivan said. "Let's face it, we are 6-6 in the league and four of our six losses are by one run. We just don't have a whole lot margin for error. We're going to have to do the little things right."
That means avoiding the base-running errors that cost the Gators in Saturday's 3-2 loss. That means better outings from Friday-night starter Alex Faedo, who wasn't his best in Friday's 7-6 loss. And it means starter Jackson Kowar going more than five innings, which is what he did Sunday despite entering the sixth with a 5-0 lead.
It also means cashing in when opportunities are there. The Gators twice threatened to blow open the game in the early innings Sunday but a pair of costly double plays kept Tennessee within striking distance.
In a season of ups and downs, the Gators avoided perhaps a new low on Sunday.
"We've had our struggles early on,'' Guthrie said. "Hopefully it's setting us up to play better at the end of the year. You want to play better. Once you're in the hole, you just have to find a way to scrap. We weren't playing our best ball and we found a way to win. That's the positive I take out of it."
Byrne's approach on his final pitch – a 3-2 offering to Ammons after he fouled off the two previous pitches -- summed up how little margin of error the Gators have right now.
"Got to throw a strike,'' he said. "Don't want to give up the tying run [by] walking him in."
