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Heroes, Clutch Play and Chaos at the Plate as Gators Walk-Off South Carolina

Florida baseball opened up SEC play with a 1-0 win over South Carolina on Friday.
Cam Parker|
Florida baseball, seen here against Kennesaw State, opened up SEC play with a 1-0 win over South Carolina.
Florida baseball, seen here against Kennesaw State, opened up SEC play with a 1-0 win over South Carolina. | Kyle Lander / Florida Gators on SI

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Cash Strayer walked into the box with bases loaded in the 10th inning and a chance to walk-off the Florida Gators' SEC-opener against South Carolina.

It was destiny, it seemed, as South Carolina intentionally walked Brendan Lawson to put a double-play on the table after a Kyle Jones leadoff double. An Ethan Surowiec sacrifice bunt put two in scoring position with one out, but rather than deal with veteran catcher Karson Bowen, the Gamecocks intentially walked him in order to face the true freshman Strayer.

What commenced was the one-on-one battle of the game between Strayerand reliever Brandon Stone. Facing a 1-2 count, Strayer fouled off five-straight pitches to stay alive. On the ninth pitch, just enough contact to center field, and just enough distance for Jones to tag up.

"I knew, after he fouled off say, the second one, I was like, 'He's seeing it well,'" Jones said. "You keep fouling pictures, he could at least put something in play, and I had 100 percent confidence that he was gonna do that, and that's exactly what he did."

The throw was on time, but just enough inaccuracy allowed Jones to slide in for the winning run.

The at-bat itself was a microcosm of the entire game: surviving each inning with a hero stepping up in a big moment. For Strayer himself, it marked the first walk-off of his career.

"What an unbelievable at-bat," head coach Kevin O'Sullivan said.

While Strayer was ultimately doused in Gatorade in the outfield by his teammates, he was far from the lone hero in Florida's 1-0 win over South Carolina on Friday to open SEC play.

South Carolina, led by pitchers Josh Gunther, Alex Valentin and Stone, took a combined no-hit bid all the way until there was two outs in the ninth. While Sam Miller's pinch-hit base hit broke up the bid, Jones' leadoff double in the 10th proved to be the deciding factor.

Meanwhile, Florida ace Liam Peterson went for six innings for the first time this season, recording 10 strikeouts with only one hit allowed. Relievers Jackson Barberi (1 1/3 innings, no hits, two strikeouts), Ernesto Lugo-Canchola (1/3 inning) and Joshua Whritenour (2 1/3 innings, no hits, three walks, three strikeouts) added onto the dominance.

O'Sullivan said it was "as sharp as (Peterson's) looked" in his career.

"When you get before performances like Liam gave us tonight, we got to cash in," O'Sullivan told Florida Gators on SI. "We got to cash in. We can't let those starts get away from us because they they are few and far between, especially in SEC play."

Whritenour ultimately recorded the win, his second of the season, but command issues easily could have given the Gamecocks the win. Instead, mound visits from O'Sullivan and clutch infield defense saved the game.

Freshman Colton Schwarz had arguably the biggest defensive play. After Whritenour hit a batter and then walked two to load the bases with two outs, Schwarz, filling in for the injured Cade Kurland, had a back-handed effort on a hard-hit ground ball and was able to make the throw to second for the force out.

O'Sullivan said it was the "game-saver."

"You can get caught up in the sac-fly and get caught up in all that stuff, and but if he doesn't make that play, I'm not quite sure I'm sitting here telling you guys we've won the game," he said.

If he didn't make the throw, one run scores and South Carolina has a lead and a no-hit bid into the ninth. If he didn't make the catch, who knows how many considering Jones couldn't see the ball in center field.

"The umpire was standing right in line of sight. I was basically directly behind Colton. I didn't have any line of sight if in that baseball at any point of that play," Jones said.

Schwarz's play, as well as Strayer's walk-off, are the latest examples of Florida's freshman class showing up in big moments.

"In order to play as a freshman at this level, number one, you have to be talented enough. But your baseball IQ has got to be high. You have to be very mature, and most of the young men that have success as freshman are very even keeled," O'Sullivan said. "They do not get too high; they do not get too low. Like I said, they have instincts.”

A lot of it goes back to Whritenour, too, surviving those command issues. The redshirt freshman still has a 0.00 ERA in eight appearances, with only four hits and six walks against 18 strikeouts in 11 1/3 innings.

"You're not going to always have your best stuff, but for him to go out there and still compete and put up zeros, I mean, that speaks to how far he's come," Peterson said. "Coming off an injury, too, hasn't been in too many of those big situations yet come this year. You can already see how mature he is as a player and the way he battled right there."

It also goes back to Jones, whose base-running has been a pleasant sight this season. His five steals lead Florida this season, while a good jump allowed him just enough time to slide in to home on a close play. So close, the ball actually hit him in the helmet.

"Honestly, probably, if (Taylor Black) had held me, I still probably would have gone," Jones said, before adding that he didn't really feel the ball since it ricocheted off the catcher before hitting him.

Hero hitting in the 10th, hero pitching for 10 innings and hero defense with two outs in the ninth. The result? A 1-0 start in SEC play, also serving as a large weight off the team's shoulders after starting 0-8 in SEC play last season.

O'Sullivan, using lessons learned from his preseason leave of absence, cannot afford to think like that, he told Florida Gators on SI.

"I don't think about it like that. I mean, last year's last year. I can't let myself get to that point where we're 1-11," he said. "Mentally, for me to be able to go throughout my day and to be able to be the best coach I can be, I have to focus on the 14-4 finish, or I'll just get frustrated with myself, and then players don't need to see that."

Nonetheless, a 1-0 start in SEC play is nice. A 1-0 start in SEC play the way Florida did it behind dominant pitching, clutch defense and overcoming no hits for the first 26 outs is promising. Now, the attention turns to 29 more league games on the table.

"It's definitely a confidence booster, for sure," Peterson said. "I think our offense is really good, too. I don't know how many times this is going to happen again. Obviously, I hope it doesn't. I'm really confident in those guys, but it's definitely a confidence booster for the pitching staff.

"But, tomorrow's a new day, and we can't really celebrate this one tomorrow, because we got to win a series."

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Cam Parker
CAM PARKER

Cam Parker is a reporter covering the Florida Gators, Auburn Tigers and Clemson Tigers with a degree in journalism from the University of Florida. He also covers and broadcasts Alachua County high school sports with The Prep Zone and Mainstreet Daily News. When he isn't writing, he enjoys listening to '70s music such as The Band or Lynyrd Skynyrd, binge-watching shows and playing with his cat, Chester, and dog, Rufus.

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