OMAHA, Neb., — Since postseason play began, the top-ranked Gators baseball team has shown a unique capability of rising from the dead.
Although it was way too early for Florida to be in the water, the Gators were definitely on the verge of sinking Saturday night at the College World Series.
"We uncharacteristically made a couple of errors," coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. "I didn't really have a good feeling about it to be honest with you. Facing a first-rounder with a lot of success, but I was awfully proud of the way we battled back. We kept chipping away at this thing."
UF overcame a third-inning debacle to rally against Texas' ace Taylor Jungmann, dropping the Longhorns (49-18) 8-4 at TD Ameritrade Park in front of 25,521 people.
"It was definitely a very, very big win for us," right fielder Daniel Pigott said. "We came here last year and we were very disappointed to go two-and-done. ... It's definitely going to give us a lot of confidence going through the rest of the tournament."
The Gators (51-17) came to Omaha, Neb., as one of just two teams in last season's CWS, and after a disappointing two-and-out finish they wanted to get off to a good start. But after two crisp innings by ace Hudson Randall, Florida was overtaken by unusual sloppiness.
UF's sure-handed shortstop Nolan Fontana booted a routine grounder to start the third, opening the floodgates to a rough inning.
After a ball ate up Fontana and skidded through his legs, first baseman Preston Tucker — making just his seventh start at first all season and first since April 24 — botched a throw on an attempted sacrifice bunt, putting runners at first and second with no outs.
The Longhorns punished the Gators for the extra outs, pushing across three runs on just two hits — brilliantly demonstrating their small-ball approach.
Texas smacked two opposite-field singles and a pair of sac flies to take an early 3-0 lead.
Spotting an All-American pitcher a three-run lead is usually a recipe for disaster, but Florida demonstrated its late-season resolve in its season's biggest game.
"I knew that one inning wasn't going to slow Huddy down at all," said Brian Johnson, who returned to the lineup for the first time since May 28. "I knew he was going to put up zeroes on the board. I knew we were going to come back. I felt very confident. I knew there was a lot of ballgame left, and I knew it was going to be a good game."
Florida rallied to batter Jungmann — the 12th overall pick by the Milwakee Brewers in this month's Major League Baseball draft — for five runs (four earned), five walks and a pair of wild pitches in just 4.1 innings.
In the right-hander's second-shortest start this season, Bryson Smith (2 for 2 with two runs and two RBIs) and Daniel Pigott (2 for 3, run scored, RBI) pummeled Texas' junior for his third straight loss in this year's NCAA Tournament.
Jungmann unraveled after Texas took the early lead, issuing two straight walks on nine pitches to the bottom two hitters in UF's lineup.
"I got out of rhythm," he said. "Once I got out of rhythm, I made some bad pitches. I felt like I set them up to have some opportunities to score runs. I walked more guys than I usually do, and they took advantage of it."
After Jungmann thwarted Fontana's bunt attempt with a nifty bare-handed play, Smith put Florida on the board with an RBI single on a beautifully executed hit-and-run.
"I just got lucky and put it in the hole," the center fielder said.
Jungmann, who had spotty command during his brief outing, then threw back-to-back wild pitches to plate Florida's second run. The All-American briefly regrouped, stranding the tying run on third with a pair of strikeouts to end the frame.
But his reprieve was short-lived.
After Randall regained his poise and retired Texas in order in the fourth, Jungmann continued to struggle with the strikezone, walking Tyler Thompson with two outs before surrendering consecutive run-scoring doubles to Daniel Pigott and Cody Dent.
Pigott roped a ball to right to plate Thompson while Dent sliced a ball just inside the left field line to score the go-ahead run.
The Gators added another run in the fifth on Preston Tucker's RBI double.
Johnson, fully healthy after suffering a mild-concussion, batted fifth and went 1 for 4 with two RBIs.
In a one-run game in the seventh, the designated hitter smacked a ball deep into the right field gap for a run-scoring double, but replays later indicated it was a three-run homer.
"Sully talked to me before the at-bat and told me it was going to be a big at-bat in the game," Johnson said. "I just went up there and was looking for one pitch it good drive."
The sophomore said he was trilled to be back in action: "I was really excited getting back out there after three weeks of not playing. My first at-bat when by it didn't even feel like it even happened."
Randall settled down after the third, retiring 13 straight until allowing a pair of two-out hits in the seventh.
"Sully always tells me to stop the bleeding where it's at," the sophomore right-hander said. "They weren't really getting good swings on me throughout the game. I just trusted my stuff."
The loss pits Texas back on the brink of elimination, something the Longhorns fought off three times just to reach the CWS.
"We've been pretty good in elimination games," Garrido said. "Here we are again."
Florida will play SEC foe Vanderbilt, who beat North Carolina 7-3 in the inaugural CWS game at the new ballpark, Monday at 6 p.m.
