The fifth ranked Florida baseball team remains unbeaten on the year after getting a walk off 4-3 over Miami in Gainesville Friday night. Sophomore Buddy Reed singled in Josh Tobias from second base with two outs to give the Gators the win. Tobias was hit by a pitch to lead off the ninth then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Ryan Larson and then with two outs Reed the hit to left center field to win the game.
Reed says his team battled through adversity on a cold night on Friday..
“It’s a big win for us. It’s my first walk-off, so it’s good for the team and myself. We battled some adversity in the beginning innings, and I’m just glad we came out on top.”
Florida had a scare early in the game when starting pitcher Logan Shore left the game after just facing one batter. Senior Bobby Poyner got the nod next and went on to retire his first 11 batters. Poyner pitched 5 1/3 innings and matched a career high seven strikeouts.
Poyner says he was just trying to keep his team in the ballgame.
“My thing was to try and keep us in the ballgame as long as possible, to try and throw strikes and keep the score close. It’s not something that I’ve done in a while, but I have started before. I just tried to keep the ballgame close and give us a chance.”
Florida jumped out to an early 1-0 in the fourth after Richie Martin scored on a balk. The Hurricanes took the lead in the sixth scoring three runs but the Gators would add two of their own to tie things up at three after six innings.
Reed had three hits to lead the offensive attack for the Gators. He also made a nice defensive play in the Miami eighth inning, ranging over to cut off a base hit in the gap; he relayed the ball to shortstop Richie Martin who gunned down the potential go ahead run at the plate .
These two teams face off again Saturday night; sophomore AJ Puk takes the mound for the Gators facing junior Thomas Woodrey in a match up of lefthanders.
First pitch is at 7:30. Tune into ESPN 850 WRUF at 7:25 for coverage.
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