As the game bled into the four-hour mark and the crowd began to thin, JJ Schwarz eyed down a fastball.
"He put it right where I wanted it," Schwarz said of FSU pitcher Alex Deise.
With runners at the corners, Schwarz crushed a home run deep to left field to all but seal Florida’s victory in the seventh inning.
Ultimately, the No. 2 Gators (19-3) outlasted the No. 13 Seminoles (17-5) 14-8 Tuesday night, extending their win streak against their in-state rival to five games.
The night was full of highs and lows for both sides— FSU tallied five errors in the first five innings yet managed to remain close, and UF received inconsistent play from its bullpen but outhit its opponent in later innings.
"I think the hardest thing in baseball is to have all three aspects of your team really working," Harrison Bader said. "Our offense was really good, our defense was really good, and our pitching slipped a little bit tonight. But those guys are working hard and I know it was just an off night."
Each UF starter tallied at least one hit and reached base at least twice, and the team hit .410 as a whole.
Schwarz had three RBIs, two hits and homered for the fifth time this season, and Bader had 3 RBIs of his own.
"It always seems like every time something big happens offensively, it seems like Bader’s right there in the middle of it," coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. "I thought offensively, we were really good tonight."
Both teams began the game firing, as a combined seven runs were scored in the first inning. Starter Eric Hanhold gave up two runs on three hits before striking out the last two batters he faced to retire the side.
After Richie Martin was hit by a pitch, Bader tripled to deep center to earn UF its first runs of the game.
Josh Tobias and Mike Rivera followed with two RBI singles each, and freshman Jeremy Vasquez doubled down the right-field line, scoring two and taking a 5-2 lead over FSU.
Bader grounded out in the second but not before sending home Dalton Guthrie, extending the Gators’ lead to four.
FSU put up three more runs in the third to come within one, but with two outs in the fourth, Martin stole home to increase UF’s lead to 7-5.
After the Seminoles scored two runs in the fifth, Florida again answered on a Ryan Larson RBI single, an FSU fielding error and a sacrifice fly from Bader that almost left the park.
The Gators increased their lead to four in the sixth inning after Larson singled and FSU’s center fielder bobbled the ball, allowing Mike Rivera to cross home.
UF’s pitchers were inconsistent, as Hanhold allowed four hits and five runs in 2.1 innings, and delivered three strikeouts. UF’s six other pitchers combined for nine strikeouts and allowed three runs.
Florida will continue play on the road with a three-game series against Ole Miss beginning on Friday.
Follow Ian Cohen on Twitter @icohenb
Harrison Bader rounds first base after hitting an RBI triple in the first inning of Florida's 14-8 win against Florida State on Tuesday at McKethan Stadium.
