No. 9 Florida got lucky. Sure, the bottom of the lineup manufactured enough runs to shoulder the game-winning burden that had been placed on Brendan Lawson’s shoulders. And yes, Florida (13-1) clawed back another come-from-behind victory to extend its 13-game winning streak. And perhaps, the Gators’ pitchers were just good enough to inch across the finish line.

But the short answer to why the Gators eeked out the 7-5 win Wednesday against Florida A&M (3-9) was because the team got lucky. Catcher Cole Stanford knew it as soon as the ball thudded against his leg. He flipped his bat toward the Gators’ dugout and screamed. He had collected the game-tying, bases-loaded, two-out hit by pitch. The most flamboyant way to win a game? No. Of course not. The Gators, though, celebrated like it had been a homer.

There was a reason for the excitement: a keen sense of self-awareness.

“I don’t think we played poorly,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “I think we made some mistakes.”

Florida’s time on the diamond at Condron Family Ballpark could be summarized as such. The top of the lineup couldn’t hit.

The bottom of the lineup had to shoulder the brunt of the pressure, usually batting with at least one out. They, too, got lucky. In the eighth inning, two outs on the board, the Rattlers’ reliever Cody Williams overthrew first base. While FAMU’s first baseman Josue Figueroa reached the bag before Florida’s Colton Schwarz, Figueroa tagged … the safety bag. Not first.

In other words, Schwarz was safe. Because of a mix up, because of a coin-toss chance of luck. Having gone into the inning down by one run, the Gators finished the frame up by two, 7-5.

“We were just fortunate enough to where it was that free play at first base with the first baseman,” O’Sullivan said. “But it was a good game.”

The breathing room allowed relievers Ernesto Lugo-Canchola and Joshua Whritenour, who earned the save, to enter the game with a lead, and Florida escaped with a win.

“Everything around this team is built around trust, who can come out of the pen and stuff like that,” Whritenour said. “And I wanted to be that guy that he could trust.”

Still, for most of the game, Florida’s success was limited.

Starter Luke McNeillie made his second appearance after coming back from a minor injury, throwing two innings for three hits and two runs (one of which was earned). His velocity didn’t seem affected. His fastball lingered around 95 miles per hour.

McNeillie struck out two of the 11 batters he faced, though he struggled in the second frame to get FAMU hitters out — loading the bases by the first out, and running up his pitch count to 44. O’Sullivan, in an effort not to overload McNeillie, went to the bullpen. What resulted was a chaotic tailspin.

Despite having a meager .203 batting average entering the game, Florida A&M’s batters found contact. Reliever Billy Barlow gave up three earned runs. While Florida’s next reliever, Caden McDonald (W, 1-0), calmed the Rattler’s offensive efforts, the Gators found themselves needing to dig out of a hole.

“I want to credit Florida A&M,” O’Sullivan said. “They played really good. They played sound defense. They had different looks on the mound. They made some really tough plays defensively. It seemed like Jamey [Shouppe] made every right move when he went to the pen.”

Yet, the top half of Florida’s lineup, the normal bellwether of the team’s success, went 3-for-17. FAMU’s pitching wasn’t necessarily great — none of its pitchers went more than 2 1/3 innings, striking out nine and walking seven. The Gators were without their normal leadoff hitter, Kyle Jones, for most of the game (he pinch-hit in the ninth). Meanwhile, designated hitter Brendan Lawson couldn’t find his footing in the box, going 0-for-3.

However, the Gators’ six through nine batters capitalized on two-out, small-ball hits to push runs across. In the second frame, the three batters on the backend of Florida’s lineup (Schwarz, Sam Miller and Hayden Yost) each singled, Florida’s first hits of the game. By the end of the contest, the four final Florida batters hit 5-for-12, excluding the at-bat by Jones. Miller led the team with three RBIs.

“It’s pretty unbelievable what we have,” Miller said. “Just guys day in, day out, working hard … everybody’s going to contribute.”

In a way, Wednesday’s game is emblematic of a Florida team that finds multiple ways to win. But, in the future conference play (or even just the home weekend series against High Point, starting Friday at 6:30 p.m.), will the opposing first baseman tag the safety bag again? Will the Gators get an RBI hit-by-pitch to tie the game? Will all the stars align in the right way for Florida to escape with another midweek win?

Florida will need more than luck to survive in the SEC.