WHAT HAPPENED: Florida used its largest comeback in eight years to beat USF 11-8 on Tuesday night at McKethan Stadium.
 
The Bulls jumped out to a 6-0 lead through two innings, but the Gators used a trio of three-run frames to overcome the deficit.
 
It looked like it may be a long night in the early going as UF pitchers gave up six runs on four walks and five hits through two innings.
 
The Florida offense was slow to get going but heated up in the middle innings. UF cut the lead to two in the fourth inning but USF responded with two runs in the fifth.
 
In the sixth, Deacon Liput roped a three-run homer over the right field fence that cut the deficit to just one run as reliever Jordan Butler quieted the Bulls' bats.
 
The winning rally in the seventh inning started on after Blake Reese – who homered earlier in the game – reached on a wild pitch. A single from Nick Horvath tied the game at 8-8.
 
Liput stepped up with runners on first and second and laid a perfect bunt down. His speed forced an errant throw that skipped up the first baseline and allowed two runs to score for a 10-8 lead.
 
Michael Byrne took the mound in the eighth and pitched two scoreless innings for his 12th save of the year.
 
Brady Smith hit a RBI double off the wall in left center to give the Gators an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning.
 
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Deacon Liput – After a three-run homer in the sixth inning cut the deficit to one, Liput laid down a bunt in the seventh inning to move a pair of runners into scoring position. The bunt was good enough to force a bad throw that got away and allowed two runs to score. Liput finished 3-for-3 on the night with a pair of runs scored and three RBI.

FROM THE COACH: Head coach Kevin O'Sullivan on today's game: "It's always coach speak when you talk to your team, "You can come back…you can come back, don't get your head down." But to actually do it, I think we can draw from it moving forward if we get into a situation where we fall behind this weekend [against Georgia]."
 
On Deacon Liput's bunt and game-winning play: "We haven't really bunted a lot this year. We did last weekend at Texas A&M, but I think it's part of the game that you're going to have to do in the postseason when the situation presents itself. The bottom line thought, it was a left-on-left situation and we had Michael Byrne coming in. I felt like if we could get the lead, we could use Michael for a two inning save. Deacon's a good bunter. Oftentimes, you'll see it, when someone lays down a good bunt it opens up a big inning. I don't know how or why that happens but oftentimes it does."
 
STANDOUT STAT: 6 – The Gators overcame a six-run deficit to win the game on Tuesday after trailing 6-0 through two innings. It was the biggest comeback win for UF since March 24, 2010 when the Gators trailed FGCU 8-0 but came back to win 13-8.

UP NEXT: Florida will host No. 15 Georgia this weekend in a huge SEC showdown beginning Friday night at 6:30 p.m.