Quincy Nieporte didn’t budge.
The ball had just left his bat, and instead of racing towards first base, he simply watched it soar over the left-field wall.
One pitch into the 12th inning, the longest game in UF-FSU history finally ended off the bat of Florida State’s first baseman.
Though scoring was sparse for most of the night, No. 13 FSU (27-12) used four solo home runs to edge past No. 8 Florida (28-10) 4-3 in extra innings on Tuesday.
After averaging 15 runs per game in its past four outings, the Gators came down to earth on Tuesday.
"We played well, just not well enough to win," coach Kevin O’Sullivan said.
Florida had its opportunities. In the top of the 12th and with the game tied at three, Josh Tobias found himself at the plate with the bases loaded. But the senior lined out to end the inning.
"I thought Josh’s at-bat was really good, we just didn’t do enough to win the ball game," O’Sullivan said.
The game was quiet through the first one and a half innings.
Right-hander Shaun Anderson worked quickly through the top of FSU’s lineup in his first career start but gave up the game’s first solo home run to the Seminoles’ Dylan Busby in the second inning.
UF responded with two runs in the third, one after a Harrison Bader double to left field and the other after a Peter Alonso single down the left-field line.
FSU evened the game at two after Busby hit another solo homer to start the fourth inning, this time off of relief pitcher Eric Hanhold.
Florida took back the lead after Schwarz homered to left field two innings later.
FSU’s Chris Marconcini evened the game at three after the redshirt senior solo homered with no outs in the eighth inning.
The game remained scoreless until Nieporte walked off in the 12th inning.
For most of the night, Florida’s pitching was consistent. Its bullpen combined for eight strikeouts and allowed three runs on seven hits. Bobby Poyner was Florida’s bright spot— the senior entered the game in the eighth and held FSU scoreless through 2.2 innings.
"I thought Shaun was solid, Bobby was great again, and (Frank) Rubio was good," O’Sullivan said. "But that’s the difference between losing and winning the game. You’ve got to make a pitch here and there."
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
Follow Ian Cohen on Twitter @IcohenB
Josh Tobias bats during Florida's 14-8 win against Florida State on March 17 at McKethan Stadium.
