Keenan Bell and the Gators seek a sweep against Vanderbilt on Sunday. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
Strange Seventh Inning, Another Gators Win
Saturday, March 31, 2018 | Baseball
The No. 2-ranked Gators broke open Saturday's win over Vanderbilt with the help of a quirky outburst in the seventh inning.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Gators' game with the Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday afternoon was shaping up to be a fairly typical and relatively uneventful pitchers' duel.
The Gators jumped on top in the first two innings with three runs on four hits. However, Commodores junior starter Patrick Raby settled in and battled to keep his team in the game. In the final 3 2/3 innings of his start, Raby conceded no more runs and just two more hits.
On the other side, Gators junior Jackson Kowar dominated for most of his 6 1/3-inning outing. Kowar gave up five hits and no earned runs while striking out six Commodores.
Outside of a brief stretch in the third inning when he struggled to throw strikes, Kowar was pleased with his performance in Florida's 10-2 win.
"I didn't come out with my best stuff, but I feel like I was able to kind of get better as the game went on and keep us in there and protect that early lead," Kowar said.
Then the bottom of the seventh inning came, and all normalcy escaped.
Things got bizarre before the inning even began when the traditional song "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" was accidentally cut midway through in favor of "Cotton-eyed Joe." After the good-natured barbs directed from the enthusiastic crowd of 4,835 toward the press box subsided, unusual things happened on the field as well.
The Gators scored seven runs on six hits in the seventh. Included in the barrage was sophomore Austin Langworthy hitting a pop up on the infield that was misplayed by the Commodores for a RBI single. Vanderbilt freshman reliever Tyler Brown surrendered six earned runs and six hits on 23 pitches without recording an out.
Sophomore Keenan Bell said the Gators didn't do anything special or different in the seventh inning. They simply executed what they try to do every at-bat.
"It's the same thing as usual, just having really good approaches, getting it to the next guy, trying to put good swings on balls," Bell said.
Senior catcher and captain JJ Schwarz says momentum played a big role in the offensive explosion.
"You get a lot of confidence, and the pitcher starts to lose confidence and starts throwing balls right down the middle," Schwarz said. "I think it's contagious."
In the inning, Bell smashed his way out of a slump when he turned on a 2-0 Brown fastball and blasted a three-run homer that was never in doubt.
"It was a pitch that I like to hit," Bell said. "It was down and in, kept my head on it, put a good swing on it."
With a two-run double in the onslaught, Schwarz tied Gator Great Brad Wilkerson for second in career RBI with 214.
"There's been a lot of good players that have played here, so just to be in the top couple of guys in RBIs is really special," Schwarz said.
Added UF coach Kevin O'Sullivan: "Congratulations to JJ. It's remarkable. Last night, I give the lineup card to Michael [Byrne] for breaking the saves record, and less than 24 hours later, I'm giving one to JJ for being second all-time in RBIs."
Seems weird that all these bizarre and significant moments would happen in the same inning, right? Oh, and there's also this: all seven runs and all six hits came with two outs.
"In years past when we were going really well offensively, we were really good with two outs," O'Sullivan said. "We've been gritty, and we've had some really quality at-bats. Those innings don't come around really often."
Perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise that the offense exploded in a game that Kowar started. For the season, the Gators are averaging nine runs per game when the junior right-hander starts, tops among Florida's weekend starters. Add that stat to the 'weird' category.
"It's unbelievable," O'Sullivan said. "Whatever he's doing, he needs to keep it up. That type of run support's remarkable."
Added Kowar: "I don't know what's going on. It's been a little ridiculous lately. Not complaining about it though."
Said Schwarz: "It was like that too last year. He's just a lucky guy, I guess."
The Gators held on to defeat the No. 8 Commodores and clinch the series following Friday night's win. The Gators are pleased with winning the series, but they're not content. They want the sweep.
"In the SEC, it's really competitive," Bell said. "The league's so often won by one game. We take the series, but [we] can't act like that going into Sunday. We want to treat it like it's 1-1, we're trying to take a series. Taking that sweep when you can get it's big."
Nobody could have predicted the seventh inning's oddities, but the Gators accomplished their mission – to take the series and put themselves in position for a sweep of a top 10 team.
The Gators jumped on top in the first two innings with three runs on four hits. However, Commodores junior starter Patrick Raby settled in and battled to keep his team in the game. In the final 3 2/3 innings of his start, Raby conceded no more runs and just two more hits.
On the other side, Gators junior Jackson Kowar dominated for most of his 6 1/3-inning outing. Kowar gave up five hits and no earned runs while striking out six Commodores.
Outside of a brief stretch in the third inning when he struggled to throw strikes, Kowar was pleased with his performance in Florida's 10-2 win.
"I didn't come out with my best stuff, but I feel like I was able to kind of get better as the game went on and keep us in there and protect that early lead," Kowar said.
Then the bottom of the seventh inning came, and all normalcy escaped.
Things got bizarre before the inning even began when the traditional song "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" was accidentally cut midway through in favor of "Cotton-eyed Joe." After the good-natured barbs directed from the enthusiastic crowd of 4,835 toward the press box subsided, unusual things happened on the field as well.
The Gators scored seven runs on six hits in the seventh. Included in the barrage was sophomore Austin Langworthy hitting a pop up on the infield that was misplayed by the Commodores for a RBI single. Vanderbilt freshman reliever Tyler Brown surrendered six earned runs and six hits on 23 pitches without recording an out.
Sophomore Keenan Bell said the Gators didn't do anything special or different in the seventh inning. They simply executed what they try to do every at-bat.
"It's the same thing as usual, just having really good approaches, getting it to the next guy, trying to put good swings on balls," Bell said.
Senior catcher and captain JJ Schwarz says momentum played a big role in the offensive explosion.
"You get a lot of confidence, and the pitcher starts to lose confidence and starts throwing balls right down the middle," Schwarz said. "I think it's contagious."
In the inning, Bell smashed his way out of a slump when he turned on a 2-0 Brown fastball and blasted a three-run homer that was never in doubt.
"It was a pitch that I like to hit," Bell said. "It was down and in, kept my head on it, put a good swing on it."
With a two-run double in the onslaught, Schwarz tied Gator Great Brad Wilkerson for second in career RBI with 214.
"There's been a lot of good players that have played here, so just to be in the top couple of guys in RBIs is really special," Schwarz said.
Added UF coach Kevin O'Sullivan: "Congratulations to JJ. It's remarkable. Last night, I give the lineup card to Michael [Byrne] for breaking the saves record, and less than 24 hours later, I'm giving one to JJ for being second all-time in RBIs."
Seems weird that all these bizarre and significant moments would happen in the same inning, right? Oh, and there's also this: all seven runs and all six hits came with two outs.
"In years past when we were going really well offensively, we were really good with two outs," O'Sullivan said. "We've been gritty, and we've had some really quality at-bats. Those innings don't come around really often."
Perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise that the offense exploded in a game that Kowar started. For the season, the Gators are averaging nine runs per game when the junior right-hander starts, tops among Florida's weekend starters. Add that stat to the 'weird' category.
"It's unbelievable," O'Sullivan said. "Whatever he's doing, he needs to keep it up. That type of run support's remarkable."
Added Kowar: "I don't know what's going on. It's been a little ridiculous lately. Not complaining about it though."
Said Schwarz: "It was like that too last year. He's just a lucky guy, I guess."
The Gators held on to defeat the No. 8 Commodores and clinch the series following Friday night's win. The Gators are pleased with winning the series, but they're not content. They want the sweep.
"In the SEC, it's really competitive," Bell said. "The league's so often won by one game. We take the series, but [we] can't act like that going into Sunday. We want to treat it like it's 1-1, we're trying to take a series. Taking that sweep when you can get it's big."
Nobody could have predicted the seventh inning's oddities, but the Gators accomplished their mission – to take the series and put themselves in position for a sweep of a top 10 team.
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