Buddy Reed went down, leaving everyone in McKethan Stadium silent.
After the junior slipped on first base trying to outrun the throw to first on a double play in the fourth inning against Vanderbilt, he fell down and clenched his left knee in pain.
“I just told myself to get up at some point,” he said.
Reed did more than get up.
The speedster stayed in the game and escaped a rundown between third and home in the seventh inning to score the eventual winning run in No. 1 Florida’s 4-2 series-opening win over the Commodores Friday night in Gainesville.
With the win, the Gators (42-8, 17-7 Southeastern Conference) set the program record for regular-season wins.
Reed’s key run capped a wild two-run play that began with freshman Deacon Liput at the plate.
With UF down 2-1 and Reed on first and pinch runner Eddy Demurias on third base, Liput ripped a double off the right field wall. Demurias trotted home while Reed sprinted around the bases before straying too far off third.
Being chased on a sore left knee, Reed scurried up and down the line before an opening arose. VU starting pitcher Jordan Sheffield pump faked and hesitated before throwing home, which allowed Reed to avoid Will Toffey’s tag and slide home safely.
“I was just telling myself don’t get out,” Reed said. “I somewhat willed myself to get home.”
Florida starting pitcher Logan Shore, who was cleaning his cleats in a room behind the dugout, didn’t see any of the play.
“I definitely could hear it,” he said. “I could hear the crowd going nuts.”
All that mattered to Shore was he had a lead once again.
Shore received an early 1-0 lead in the second inning when Reed doubled and scored on Nelson Maldonado’s groundout. But in the fifth inning, Vanderbilt (36-14, 14-11 SEC) plated a pair of runs on two RBI singles to take a 2-1 advantage.
The Gators provided some insurance for Shore when Maldonado drove in Liput with a single to left field in the seventh inning.
Up 4-2 with just two innings left, Shore locked in.
He sat down the side in order in the eighth and when he returned to the dugout on 92 pitches, he told coach Kevin O’Sullivan he’d be back out in the ninth inning.
“He kind of walked by me and I said, ‘I’m finishing it,’” Shore said, “and he was like, ‘all right.’”
Shore polished the Commodores off with ease, sitting them down in order en route to his fifth career complete game. The Coon Rapids, Minnesota, native allowed two runs on six hits and improved to 10-0 this season.
Where Shore excelled, Sheffield struggled.
The Gators zoned in on Sheffield their third time through the lineup, garnering three hits and three runs in the fateful seventh inning. The potential first-round pick hadn’t allowed an earned run in his last 31 innings before surrendering four through seven innings to Florida.
“We laid off some competitive pitches there in the seventh and got into some advantage counts,” O’Sullivan said. “It’s one thing to get into those counts but it’s another to do something with them.”
The Gators and Commodores square off for game two Saturday at 4 p.m. Left-hander A.J. Puk is scheduled to take the mound for Florida.
Contact Patrick Pinak at ppinak@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @Pinakk12
Buddy Reed steals home during Florida's 6-0 win against Georgia on April 22, 2016, at McKethan Stadium.
