Right fielder Wil Dalton took a modest lead off of second base in the bottom of the fourth inning. After smacking a ball down the left-field line and into the corner, the precious scoring opportunity could’ve been the only one Florida would have for the rest of the game, for all he knew.
After catcher JJ Schwarz grounded out to FSU first baseman Rhett Aplin on the first pitch he saw, left fielder Austin Langworthy took a cut on his first pitch and hit a chopper once again toward Aplin. This time, however, the 220-pound senior couldn’t get to the ball as it squirted into right field.
Dalton sprinted to third, rounded the corner and headed home. FSU right fielder Reese Albert scooped the ball and heaved it to the plate. Catcher Cal Raleigh snagged the throw on a short hop just in front of the dish and turned desperately to apply the tag on Dalton.
But there was no catching the Florida right fielder. Dalton slid in safely ahead of Raleigh’s tag and, in one fluid motion, jumped into the air, spun 360 degrees in midair and hopped around before slapping UF second baseman Blake Reese’s hand in celebration.
The run would prove to be the most consequential play of a 1-0 Florida win over the No. 5 Seminoles (20-6, 5-4 ACC) in Jacksonville tonight.
The No. 2 Gators (22-5, 4-2 SEC) started freshman Jack Leftwich on the mound in the rivals’ second matchup of the season. After getting smacked around in his last start (five hits, six runs and four walks given up in 2.2 innings against UCF on March 6), Leftwich received the responsibility of squaring off against FSU with poise. The right-hander spun a near-perfect five innings pitched, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out five Seminole batters.
Leftwich perhaps could’ve gone further into the game, but coach Kevin O’Sullivan made the decision to pull him once Leftwich developed a blister on the middle finger of his pitching hand.
Leftwich credited his tendency to get ahead in the count as a big component to his dominant outing.
“I talked to (pitcher Brady) Singer and all those guys, and he just said, “You’ve gotta focus on every pitch,’” Leftwich said in a televised interview after the game. “I try to at least get one of the first two pitches in for a strike, and then that just sets up the whole at-bat.”
For FSU right-hander Andrew Karp, nearly perfect wasn’t quite perfect enough. The redshirt junior threw hard all eight innings and let up just four hits, including the two in the fourth inning that ultimately led to his second loss of the season. He also struck out seven Florida batters and walked two.
The Seminoles threatened to tie the game one last time in the top of the ninth. Two FSU singles set up men on the corners with one out.
But UF closer Michael Byrne, who had come on in the eighth inning, struck out Alpin on four pitches and forced Raleigh into a soft dribbler to first baseman Keenan Bell on the first pitch he saw to seal the game and net Byrne’s sixth save of the season.
The Gators return to Gainesville tonight in preparation for a weekend series against Vanderbilt. Singer will get the starting nod for Florida on Friday.
Leftwich, an Orlando native, said that while both schools have a heavy recruiting presence in his hometown, he’d been waiting for this specific opportunity for a long time.
“Just being a Gator fan, we don’t like FSU that much,” he said.
Follow Morgan McMullen on Twitter @MorganMcMuffin and contact him at mmcmullen@alligator.org.
Right fielder Wil Dalton drove in the winning runs in Florida's 3-1 victory over Missouri on Friday.
