With two outs and a 1-1 ballgame in the top of the seventh, Florida center fielder Jud Fabian heard the crack of Texas A&M third baseman Zane Schmidt’s sweet spot and immediately darted for the warning track in right-center.
The crowd held their breath as Fabian timed his jump perfectly and robbed what would have been a solo shot that put the Aggies on top — and even lost his right shoe on the way down.
After the seventh inning stretch, the Gators put runners on the corners before catcher Mac Guscette poked a single into center to score the game-winning run.
Following a dominating 13-4 victory over Texas A&M Thursday, No. 5 Florida prevailed 3-1 under the lights at Florida Ballpark Friday to clinch its SEC Opening Weekend series.
Florida first baseman Jordan Butler said the back-to-back conference wins feel great after coming off the loss on Tuesday.
Florida right-hander Jack Leftwich tossed seven strong innings and improved to 4-0 in his fifth start this season. The junior Orlando native struck out six batters and allowed only one earned run courtesy of Aggies first baseman Will Frizzell’s moonshot down the right-field line in the top of the sixth.
“Today the difference was I threw way more changeups,” Leftwich said. “I kind of put the changeup on the back-burner, . . . but that’s always been one of my best pitches when I throw it good.”
After three-and-a-half scoreless frames, the Gators struck first in the bottom of the fourth on a two-out rally. Butler doubled into the left-center gap before left fielder Sterlin Thompson drove an RBI-single into the same vicinity of the outfield.
“They kept throwing me away, so I’m just going to keep banging it at the 380 sign,” Butler said.
Thompson got thrown out trying to take second base, but Butler crossed home plate before the tag and clutched the early advantage for Florida.
Following Guscette’s RBI-single in the bottom of the seventh, left fielder Jacob Young laid down a sacrifice bunt to load the bases for Fabian. Fabian grounded into a double play, which allowed third baseman Colby Halter to score an insurance run.
In the top of the eighth, Florida right-hander Christian Scott took the hill in Leftwich’s relief. The 6-foot-4-inch sophomore faced only eight batters and recorded the last six outs and picked up his first save this season.
Leftwiclh mentioned the pitching staff’s recent improvement in throwing strikes and not giving up free bases.
“If you’re walking a lot of people like we did the first weekend, the infielders and outfielders are not on their toes because there’s no action,” he said. “Keeping the tempo up, throwing strikes and doing all that really helps them because they’re all really good defenders.”
The Gators will return to Florida Ballpark Saturday in search of a series sweep at 1 p.m.
Contact Griffin Foll at gfoll@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @GriffinFoll
Griffin Foll is a sophomore at UF studying journalism sports and media. He is one of The Alligator's women’s basketball beat writers. Griffin is also a UF softball beat reporter for ChompTalk.com and contributes weekly articles for ESPN Gainesville.
