Sunday, June 10

Gainesville, Fla.

12 PM

Florida Gators

46-19

Auburn

43-22

Florida

Auburn

Blake Reese slides into home with the first run of Sunday's Game 2 in the Gainesville Super Regional at McKethan Stadium. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)

Instant Recap: Auburn 3, Gators 2

Sunday, June 10, 2018 | Baseball, Scott Carter

Box Score

By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer

NCAA GAINESVILLE SUPER REGIONAL

AUBURN 3, GATORS 2

WHAT HAPPENED: Auburn second baseman Luke Jarvis, 0-for-7 in the best-of-three series, ripped a game-winning single off Gators closer Michael Byrne with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to force a winner-take-all Game 3 on Monday night, stunning the announced crowd of 4,537. The walk-off loss is the third for the Gators under head coach Kevin O'Sullivan as the visiting team on Perry Field in a super regional. UF (46-19) lost to Mississippi State in 2012 and Wake Forest in 2017. Both times the Gators won Game 3 to advance to Omaha. The Gators struck first Sunday in the fourth inning when Nick Horvath stroked a two-out RBI double. Auburn, playing as the home team, tied the score in the bottom of the fourth on Steve Williams' solo home run. The Tigers (43-22) took a 2-1 lead in the eighth on Will Holland's RBI double off UF reliever Jordan Butler.

PLAY OF THE GAME: The Gators trailed 2-1 when Austin Langworthy stepped to the plate to lead off the top of the ninth. Langworthy, who had not hit a home run all season at McKethan Stadium, launched a pitch from Cody Greenfield high over the right-field wall to tie the game. The Gators could not push across another run in the inning, setting the stage for Jarvis' ninth-inning heroics.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Gators starter Jackson Kowar did his job to help the Gators have a chance to advance, tossing seven strong innings. Kowar gave up only three hits and one run in a 93-pitch outing. He retired the first 10 batters he faced before giving up the solo homer to Williams that tied the game in the fourth.

STANDOUT STAT: 0 -- Kowar was excellent in his final home start for the Gators, striking out six and walking none over seven innings. Kowar's performance marked only the second time in 35 starts over the past two seasons that he did not issue a walk.

QUOTE FILE: "We've been here before. Last year we had the exact same situation where we had a really tough walk-off loss to a really good team and we had to regroup and come back the next day. I think this group is resilient and handles adversity really well and I'm definitely excited to get back to work." -- Kowar on Sunday's loss

"We talked about that at the end of the game. Obviously, everyone's disappointed, but now it comes down to one game. We've been here before and hopefully we'll feed off this experience." -- O'Sullivan on using last year's walk-off loss and rebound against Wake Forest as motivation

"Pandemonium. That's as cool as it gets from a feelings perspective playing this game. You're not hitting the ball well and then, sure enough, you come up in kind of a big situation and all you have to do is put the ball in play." -- Jarvis on his game-winning hit

"You don't know what's going to happen in one game. We feel like there's enough going on that anything is possible.'' -- Auburn coach Butch Thompson on Monday's Game 3

UP NEXT: The teams meet in a winner-take-all Game 3 on Monday night at 8 at McKethan Stadium. The Gators are trying to return to Omaha for a school-record fourth consecutive season. Meanwhile, Auburn has not played in the CWS since 1997. O'Sullivan said he is leaning toward freshman right-hander Jack Leftwich to start on Monday, but that freshman Tommy Mace is also an option.

--Check back with FloridaGators.com later for more on today's game.