Needing just three outs to advance to the Southeastern Conference Tournament final, Gators closer Austin Maddox took the mound.
Maddox entered Florida’s 8-6 SEC semifinal loss to Vanderbilt to pitch the ninth with a team-best 1.43 ERA and a conference-leading 12 saves.
Nine batters later, he walked back to the dugout with a blown save.
“Austin’s a big part of our pitching, he had a bad inning,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said last Saturday. “It’s as simple as that.”
The junior right-hander surrendered five earned runs on five hits, issued two walks, hit a batter and failed to record a strikeout in his worst statistical outing this season. However, the most crippling blow the Commodores dealt Maddox in the Gators’ first ninth-inning loss this season did not come from the batter’s box.
Vanderbilt tied an SEC Tournament record with six stolen bases in the top of the ninth inning, including a rare triple steal.
Vandy shortstop Anthony Gomez got the ball rolling when he tagged Maddox for the go-ahead single with two outs. Gomez stole second, and Maddox intentionally walked first baseman Conrad Gregor to re-establish the force out.
However, Gomez and Gregor executed a double steal, forcing Maddox to give catcher Spencer Navin a free pass and load the bases for designated hitter Will Cooper.
On Maddox’s second offering to Cooper, all three runners took off. Each advanced safely, and Gomez crossed home plate before Florida catcher Mike Zunino could apply the tag.
“Closers, they don’t necessarily do a great job of holding runners,” O’Sullivan said last Saturday. “They don’t have many base runners to begin with.”
Reliever Greg Larson added: “It happens, they got some guys who can run. Hopefully, [Maddox] will learn from it and make some adjustments this week in practice and carry it into the postseason.”
Vandy scored two more runs after the triple steal to take an 8-4 lead UF was unable to overcome in the bottom half of the inning.
In all, the Commodores stole seven bases in nine attempts against the Gators, exposing a weakness that has mostly gone unnoticed this season.
UF has allowed 52 stolen bases, which ranks as the third-highest mark in the SEC. Zunino has caught a career-high 19 runners stealing this season, but his stolen bases-allowed percentage is still 7.1 points higher than his personal-best 63.2 clip in 2010.
Top-seeded Florida (42-18) hosts No. 4 seed Bethune-Cookman (34-25) for the third time this season in the Gainesville NCAA Regional on Friday night at 7.
After seeing how the Gators’ SEC Tournament run ended, the Wildcats may try to test Zunino this weekend. Led by speedy outfielder Josh Johnson’s 27 steals, Bethune-Cookman is the second-best base-stealing team Florida has faced this season, trailing only Auburn. The Wildcats rank 12th in the nation with 102 stolen bases; the Tigers are seventh — and lead the SEC — with 113.
However, Bethune-Cookman did not put its 78.5 stolen-base percentage on the line much against Florida.
In two games against the Gators this season, the Wildcats have swiped two bags in three tries. All three attempts came in the second meeting, a 10-1 UF win.
Florida has struggled to achieve all-around balance since April, and it resulted in a failed bid to win a third straight SEC title. However, the Gators’ No. 1 overall seeding and the “clean slate” offered by the postseason encourage Larson.
“We’ve played very mediocre all year, and I think we’re all looking forward to starting a new season,” he said.
“We definitely have a lot of upside and [the No. 1 seed] just shows we’ve persevered through a lot of things and we’ve still got everything right in front of us.”
Contact Joe Morgan at joemorgan@alligator.org.
Closer Austin Maddox pitches against LSU on April 5. Vanderbilt stole six bases with Maddox on the mound against Florida on May 26
