Blake Reese (12) scored the go-ahead run in the top of the 12th. (Photo: Matt Stamey)
Gators Outlast USF, Advance to Regional Final
Saturday, June 3, 2017 | Baseball
Florida broke a 1-1 game open with four runs in the 12th, the go-ahead run courtesy of a pair of USF miscues.
GAINESVILLE, Fla.—Michael Byrne and Alex Faedo combined for 12 innings on the mound with just one run allowed to beat USF 5-1 on Saturday night in the 2017 NCAA Gainesville Regional.
Florida (44-16) advances to the Regional Final on Sunday (7 p.m.) and will face the winner of Sunday's early game between USF (42-18) and Bethune-Cookman (12 p.m.).
The game was tied 1-1 after five innings and both teams kept it deadlocked until the Gators plated four runs in the top of the 12th inning.
Faedo started and allowed one run over seven innings despite having to sit for nearly 50 minutes between pitches due to a lightning delay.
Byrne, who earned the save on Friday night and threw 25 pitches, entered from the bullpen and pitched five scoreless innings with eight strikeouts.
In the 12th inning the game was tied 1-1 when Christian Hicks led off with an infield single. He was replaced by pinch runner Blake Reese on first base.
USF reliever Andrew Perez overshot a pickoff attempt and sent the ball sailing down the right field line and Reese took off on the base paths.
As Reese slid into third, the throw from Bulls' first baseman Joe Genord sailed across the diamond and over the head of the third baseman. Reese got up and sprinted home to give Florida a 2-1 lead.
The scoring drought was over and the Gators added some insurance on a RBI groundout from JJ Schwarz and two-run single from Nelson Maldonado.
Faedo and USF starter Shane McClanahan cruised through the first two innings before mother nature intervened, halting play for 38 minutes due to lightning in the area.
USF replaced McClanahan following the delay and called on righty Ryan Valdes out of the bullpen. Faedo remained in the game following the delay.
After Valdes worked a scoreless third, the Gators got on the board in the fourth. Schwarz drew a one-out walk and moved to second on a groundout from Nelson Maldonado.
Mike Rivera followed with a two-out RBI single to left field to give the Gators a 1-0 lead.
After a shaky third inning following the delay, Faedo worked a scoreless fourth but the Bulls tied the game with a pair of singles. Duke Stunkel's RBI single to left scored Joe Genord from second to get the Bulls on the board.
Faedo settled in after the fifth and retired eight in a row after USF tied the game and both teams went into lockdown mode after the fifth. The two teams combined for 12 scoreless frames before the Gators finally broke the tie.
FLORIDA POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan
On Michael Byrne's performance:
"He didn't pick up a ball all week, and obviously it's not ideal. He started early in the year for us so he's been extended some during the year. This is one of those games that your season is kind of on the line. He was outstanding. Alex [Faedo] was outstanding. You've got to credit South Florida's pitchers, they were really good as well. They used all their best arms today out of the pen. It was a heck of a ballgame."
On the decision to keep sending Byrne back out:
"It was going to get to a point where we weren't going to be able to run him back out there."
On staying in the winner's bracket to keep the pitching intact:
"Well, to be honest with you, that's how we've been winning all year long. You've got to look at your personnel and how can your team win. We've been winning with our pitching and our defense and our timely hitting has been coming on as of late. We don't have as much depth as we've had in the past, but we've got some really good frontline starters and a guy at the back end who has just been outstanding for us all year long."
On bringing in Blake Reese to pinch run in the 12th inning:
"Yeah, Christian [Hicks] legs out an infield single, you don't see that very often, it was just the right spot and he gave us a good 90 down the line and just beat the throw from the shortstop. We really had no choice, we weren't swinging the bats well against their relievers and they were doing a good job. We were just hoping that if someone ran one into the gap maybe we could score from first because we weren't stringing a lot of hits together."
Sophomore RHP Michael Byrne
On his outing:
"I wanted to finish that game. I was hoping I'd get the last outs of the game. I was not expecting to just go one or two, I was expecting to go the whole way."
On the adrenaline:
"I thought the first two innings maybe, but then it just wore off and I was just trying to go out there and throw strikes like I did."
On the team scoring four runs in the 12th:
"Yeah, that was nice. It made it a little easier. One run was enough I felt."
USF POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Mark Kingston
Opening Statement:
"The kids played their hearts out, so I told them I had nothing but respect for what I saw tonight, but we were one hit short. We had four or five chances to get one hit, and we just didn't get it."
On what tonight's effort says about USF's resilience:
"I don't have to see that we're resilient. The way we played tonight and the way we've played all year shows that we are. We'll come out and try to win a game tomorrow, and then if we win that one, we'll try to win the next one."
Redshirt senior RHP Ryan Valdes
On what USF expected from tonight's game:
"We knew it was going to be a dogfight, toe-to-toe. It's a heavyweight battle. You just think of all those great boxing fights. That's what it was, back and forth, back and forth. It was a pitching duel, and then hitters had to go back out there and duel themselves. That's what kind of night it was. It showed that USF is prevalent. You've got to look out for us."
On having another game in a matter of hours:
"That's the best part about baseball is that you do get to play tomorrow. We've got heartbreak today, but you go back out there and play again tomorrow."
Sophomore LHP Andrew Perez
On being that close to a 2-0 record in this regional:
"At the end of the day, this is what we worked for. We've worked hard all year, from the fall to the spring. We play another game tomorrow, so you have to take it one game at a time still. We're low on arms and some guys had to be ready to go for the next day, but I think the biggest thing is just coming out tomorrow. It's just hoping to win and going on to the next level."
Florida (44-16) advances to the Regional Final on Sunday (7 p.m.) and will face the winner of Sunday's early game between USF (42-18) and Bethune-Cookman (12 p.m.).
The game was tied 1-1 after five innings and both teams kept it deadlocked until the Gators plated four runs in the top of the 12th inning.
Faedo started and allowed one run over seven innings despite having to sit for nearly 50 minutes between pitches due to a lightning delay.
Byrne, who earned the save on Friday night and threw 25 pitches, entered from the bullpen and pitched five scoreless innings with eight strikeouts.
In the 12th inning the game was tied 1-1 when Christian Hicks led off with an infield single. He was replaced by pinch runner Blake Reese on first base.
USF reliever Andrew Perez overshot a pickoff attempt and sent the ball sailing down the right field line and Reese took off on the base paths.
As Reese slid into third, the throw from Bulls' first baseman Joe Genord sailed across the diamond and over the head of the third baseman. Reese got up and sprinted home to give Florida a 2-1 lead.
The scoring drought was over and the Gators added some insurance on a RBI groundout from JJ Schwarz and two-run single from Nelson Maldonado.
Faedo and USF starter Shane McClanahan cruised through the first two innings before mother nature intervened, halting play for 38 minutes due to lightning in the area.
USF replaced McClanahan following the delay and called on righty Ryan Valdes out of the bullpen. Faedo remained in the game following the delay.
After Valdes worked a scoreless third, the Gators got on the board in the fourth. Schwarz drew a one-out walk and moved to second on a groundout from Nelson Maldonado.
Mike Rivera followed with a two-out RBI single to left field to give the Gators a 1-0 lead.
After a shaky third inning following the delay, Faedo worked a scoreless fourth but the Bulls tied the game with a pair of singles. Duke Stunkel's RBI single to left scored Joe Genord from second to get the Bulls on the board.
Faedo settled in after the fifth and retired eight in a row after USF tied the game and both teams went into lockdown mode after the fifth. The two teams combined for 12 scoreless frames before the Gators finally broke the tie.
FLORIDA POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan
On Michael Byrne's performance:
"He didn't pick up a ball all week, and obviously it's not ideal. He started early in the year for us so he's been extended some during the year. This is one of those games that your season is kind of on the line. He was outstanding. Alex [Faedo] was outstanding. You've got to credit South Florida's pitchers, they were really good as well. They used all their best arms today out of the pen. It was a heck of a ballgame."
On the decision to keep sending Byrne back out:
"It was going to get to a point where we weren't going to be able to run him back out there."
On staying in the winner's bracket to keep the pitching intact:
"Well, to be honest with you, that's how we've been winning all year long. You've got to look at your personnel and how can your team win. We've been winning with our pitching and our defense and our timely hitting has been coming on as of late. We don't have as much depth as we've had in the past, but we've got some really good frontline starters and a guy at the back end who has just been outstanding for us all year long."
On bringing in Blake Reese to pinch run in the 12th inning:
"Yeah, Christian [Hicks] legs out an infield single, you don't see that very often, it was just the right spot and he gave us a good 90 down the line and just beat the throw from the shortstop. We really had no choice, we weren't swinging the bats well against their relievers and they were doing a good job. We were just hoping that if someone ran one into the gap maybe we could score from first because we weren't stringing a lot of hits together."
Sophomore RHP Michael Byrne
On his outing:
"I wanted to finish that game. I was hoping I'd get the last outs of the game. I was not expecting to just go one or two, I was expecting to go the whole way."
On the adrenaline:
"I thought the first two innings maybe, but then it just wore off and I was just trying to go out there and throw strikes like I did."
On the team scoring four runs in the 12th:
"Yeah, that was nice. It made it a little easier. One run was enough I felt."
USF POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Mark Kingston
Opening Statement:
"The kids played their hearts out, so I told them I had nothing but respect for what I saw tonight, but we were one hit short. We had four or five chances to get one hit, and we just didn't get it."
On what tonight's effort says about USF's resilience:
"I don't have to see that we're resilient. The way we played tonight and the way we've played all year shows that we are. We'll come out and try to win a game tomorrow, and then if we win that one, we'll try to win the next one."
Redshirt senior RHP Ryan Valdes
On what USF expected from tonight's game:
"We knew it was going to be a dogfight, toe-to-toe. It's a heavyweight battle. You just think of all those great boxing fights. That's what it was, back and forth, back and forth. It was a pitching duel, and then hitters had to go back out there and duel themselves. That's what kind of night it was. It showed that USF is prevalent. You've got to look out for us."
On having another game in a matter of hours:
"That's the best part about baseball is that you do get to play tomorrow. We've got heartbreak today, but you go back out there and play again tomorrow."
Sophomore LHP Andrew Perez
On being that close to a 2-0 record in this regional:
"At the end of the day, this is what we worked for. We've worked hard all year, from the fall to the spring. We play another game tomorrow, so you have to take it one game at a time still. We're low on arms and some guys had to be ready to go for the next day, but I think the biggest thing is just coming out tomorrow. It's just hoping to win and going on to the next level."
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