Vickash Ramjit was one swing away from clinching the weekend series for Florida.
With the bases loaded and one out in the ninth inning of a 5-4 game, Ramjit had the opportunity to all but seal the game against the Volunteers — and the Gators’ first series win since South Carolina — with a base hit. Instead, he found himself doing what Florida did all afternoon: strand runners on the bases.
Ramjit hit a sharp grounder down the third-base line to Tennessee third baseman Zach Luther, who made a diving stop, collected himself, stepped on third and fired the ball to first base to end the game and give the Volunteers (21-14, 7-7 Southeastern Conference) a 5-4 win in Knoxville, Tenn., ending an up-and-down day for Florida (27-8, 8-6 SEC).
“There was some miscommunication between Vickash and the home-plate umpire,” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “The home-plate umpire said foul ball, and obviously once the ball gets past the bag there at third it’s the third-base umpire’s call. The bottom line is you got to run it out, but obviously he didn’t because the home-plate umpire said foul ball.
“It is what is. We had opportunities. … We just got to do a better job at situational hitting.”
The game-ending double play capped an afternoon that saw the Gators blow more than their share of opportunities against the Volunteers.
After jumping ahead in the second inning on Brian Johnson’s fourth home run of the season, Florida exchanged leads with Tennessee for the next three innings.
Tennessee jumped ahead in the bottom of the second, plating two against sophomore righty Karsten Whitson, who lasted three innings on 46 pitches and gave up four runs, three of which were earned, in his longest outing since returning from an arm injury nearly two weeks ago. Florida regained the lead in the third when Brian Johnson, who finished the day 3 for 5 with two RBI, plated Mike Zunino from second on a double.
Tennessee added two more in the bottom of the inning on a pair of squeeze bunts that went for base hits before Florida answered with a Preston Tucker RBI double — the 62nd of his career, which put him alone atop the school’s career doubles list, supplanting former Gators great Mark Ellis. But following Tucker’s RBI, things got difficult for Florida at the plate.
A day after stranding eight men aboard, the Gators abandoned a dozen on the bases Saturday, including 10 in scoring position. Florida stranded nine runners after Tucker’s double.
“Bottom line is if you’re going to win on the road you got to do a little bit better job offensively,” O’Sullivan said. “We just weren’t quite — the last five innings we couldn’t push one across.
Although Florida’s frustrations continued at the plate, the play on the mound provided a positive takeaway for the Gators.
After Whitson left the game, freshman right-hander Johnny Magliozzi was nearly flawless in five innings of relief work. Magliozzi faced 17 batters and surrendered just two hits and one run, albeit what proved to be the game-winning run. The freshman tossed 48 pitches, including 34 for strikes and he retired the final 10 batters he faced despite taking the first loss of his career.
“If there’s a bright spot [Saturday], I thought he looked really, really good,” O’Sullivan said. “I know he’s excited to get out there, and he gave us everything that he needed to do to give us a chance to get back into the ball game and get that lead.”
Etc:O’Sullivan said after the game that Johnson would start in Sunday’s rubber match, which is set for 2 p.m. ... In the ninth inning, freshman Josh Tobias made his first appearance since March 23 against South Carolina, when he fractured the hamate bone in his hand. Tobias entered the game as a pinch runner after Johnson reached base. The freshman had the stitches in his hand removed earlier in the week. It's not clear when he will return to the lineup, though the team said he would be out for about four weeks at the time of the injury.
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
Contact Tom Green at tgreen@alligator.org.
