William Shakespeare once compared his beloved to a summer’s day. Michael Byrne’s 2018 season could be compared to something more like a sturdy dam.
As Florida’s closer, Byrne is tasked with preserving wins late in games, and he entered Sunday’s rubber match against Arkansas with an ERA of 0.00 in 16.2 innings pitched. It’s hard to accumulate that kind of stress behind a dam without it breaking. But it’s almost like Byrne had been, in the paraphrased words of SpongeBob SquarePants character Patrick Star, taking that water — that pressure — and pushing it somewhere else.
The dam cracked on Sunday. But only a bit.
Byrne humiliated Arkansas’ hitters in the seventh and eighth innings, but the No. 4 Razorbacks (17-7, 4-2 SEC) jumped on him in the ninth with a pair of leadoff doubles. Facing runners on second and third with no outs, Byrne allowed a sacrifice fly that resulted in his first run allowed this season. Nevertheless, he plugged the gushing and No. 2 UF (21-5, 4-2 SEC) picked up the 5-4, series-clinching victory.
“Michael Byrne is just special,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “He’s just got a different temperament.”
That was evident when O’Sullivan visited the mound after the back-to-back doubles from the Razorbacks. He said Byrne was not pleased with his concern and urged him not to worry. And as surely as Shakespeare delivered consistent iambic pentameter, Byrne delivered with a pop out and a groundout.
He finished with one strikeout, no walks, one earned run and tallied his first win of the season. The run was Byrne’s first allowed in 26.2 innings — an appropriate distance given its similarity to the length of a marathon — dating back to last year.
“It was a little longer than I’ve thrown this year,” Byrne said, “but it wasn’t a big deal.”
Starter Tyler Dyson’s performance, meanwhile, was arguably his worst of the season. He pitched fewer innings (four) than any previous start, and his three earned runs allowed were a season high.
His afternoon could have been worse, though, as he exited the fifth inning with runners on second and third and no outs. The jam was inherited by freshman lefty Jordan Butler.
He allowed a sacrifice fly that tied the game at three, but he struck out the next two hitters to keep the game tied before passing it off to Byrne.
Byrne’s presence prompted peace for his teammates, who have learned to trust him in tight situations.
“We’re relaxed,” outfielder Nelson Maldonado said of seeing him jog in from the bullpen. “Byrne is gonna do what Byrne does.”
Maldonado gave him a big boost by providing the game’s decisive offense. He launched a booming home run into the netting behind the left field bleachers to give the Gators a 5-3 lead in the bottom the seventh, with a finger pointed toward the dugout before he rounded second base and a Hulk-like flex before he tapped home plate.
“That felt awesome,” he said. “I knew it was out the second it came off the bat.”
Catcher JJ Schwarz also spat a two-run homer into left field earlier in the game, while Blake Reese plated Florida’s only remaining run with a sacrifice fly.
“They’re a good ballclub,” Byrne said. “Winning two out of three against them is a pretty good weekend.”
O’Sullivan echoed that sentiment, noting that with a midweek game against No. 7 Florida State on Tuesday and a weekend series against No. 8 Vanderbilt looming, he was encouraged by his team’s performance in its biggest test so far this season — especially with how it came back to win the series after losing on Friday.
“It just had that super regional feel to it, and we probably needed to be tested that way, to be honest,” O’Sullivan said. “[I’m] obviously very pleased.”
Follow Ethan Bauer on Twitter @ebaueri, and contact him at ebauer@alligator.org.
Despite allowing a run on three hits, UF relieving pitcher Michael Byrne recorded his first win of the season in Florida's 5-4 win against Arkansas on Sunday. “Michael Byrne is just special,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “He’s just got a different temperament.”
