What appeared to be a comfortable Florida victory turned into one of the wildest games of the Gators’ season.

Brendan Lawson stepped into the left-handed batter’s box to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning. Ahead in the count, the Florida shortstop got a pitch across the plate and delivered, lifting the Gators to an 8-7 walk-off win Friday over Rider in the opening game of the Gainesville Regional at Condron Family Ballpark.

“We led off the inning with Brendan and we were fortunate there, because obviously he’s been seeing the ball good,” UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. 

After trailing 4-0 entering the eighth inning, Rider stunned the home crowd with a six-run frame. Anthony Paskell tied the game with a grand slam before Nick Shuhet followed with a two-run home run, giving the Broncs a 6-4 lead and silencing a crowd that had spent most of the afternoon celebrating.

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Florida, however, had an answer. Cade Kurland, who has delivered several big moments during his Gators career, added another in the bottom half of the inning. The redshirt junior launched a two-run home run to put Florida back in front, 7-6, and appeared to have delivered the decisive blow.

That lead would only last a few minutes.

Down to its final three outs, Rider got another clutch swing from shortstop Matt Leahy. Listed at 150 pounds, Leahy drove a full-count fastball over the fence in the ninth inning to tie the game at 7, setting up Lawson’s heroics. Leahy’s tying homer was his first of the season. 

“Credit to Rider, they played really good and the hung in there to the end,” O’Sullivan said. “Their pitcher did just an incredible job coming off of his weekend last week. So, I commend him and his competitive spirit for sure.” 

Making his first postseason start for Florida, right-hander Russell Sandefer looked unfazed by the moment. The junior struck out the side in the first inning before Kyle Jones gave Florida an immediate lead with a leadoff home run on the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the first. 

Sandefer, who opened the season in the bullpen before earning a spot in the weekend rotation, held Rider scoreless through 5 2/3 innings. He allowed two hits while striking out five batters before running into trouble in the sixth.

“Winning the first game is very big in these regionals,” Sandefer said. “Rider’s a very well coached team. We knew the scouting report going into it, not a lot of swing and miss, they play good defense. It’s always good to get the first one out of the way.”

With runners on second and third and two outs, O’Sullivan went to the bullpen. As Sandefer walked off the mound, the right-hander received one of the loudest ovations of the afternoon from the home crowd.

Rider starter PJ Craig matched Sandefer for much of the game after surrendering Jones’ leadoff homer.

The right-hander entered the regional having thrown a 104-pitch complete game on May 21 before tossing 83 pitches in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship game two days later. Despite the workload, Craig settled in and kept Florida from breaking the game open.

His biggest escape came in the third inning.

After issuing consecutive walks, Craig found himself in a bases-loaded jam with one out. Florida appeared ready to seize control, but the Rider ace forced back-to-back popups on the first pitch of each at-bat to end the threat.

Craig added another milestone in the fifth inning, becoming just the second pitcher in program history to surpass 100 innings in a season.

Still, Florida found ways to manufacture offense.

Nine-hole hitter Hayden Yost continued his recent surge, collecting multiple hits against Craig and scoring a run. The Gators steadily built their advantage, scoring in four separate innings and carrying a 4-0 lead into the eighth.

Then came the collapse.

Ernesto Lugo-Canchola entered in relief and immediately issued a four-pitch walk. Jackson Barberi followed in the eighth inning and also walked the first batter he faced, allowing Rider to capitalize on the free passes and completely change the game.

“I just got done talking to Ernie and Jackson and Josh, just for a brief five minutes,” O’Sullivan said. “I told them they have to put it behind them. I know they’re all disappointed in their performance today, but they’re all available tomorrow and they’ve all had success.”

When Lawson delivered the final blow in the ninth, the Gators had escaped a game that seemed destined to slip away in a season full of blown leads. 

Florida advances in the winner’s bracket and will face the winner of Friday night’s matchup between Troy and Miami on Saturday at 6 p.m. Right-hander Aidan King will start for the Gators.