Richie Martin stood at the plate with the game on the line.
After trailing Kentucky 7-2 heading into the ninth inning, the Florida baseball team started a rally, tacking on four runs to cut the deficit to 7-6.
Freshman pinch runner Taylor Lane and sophomore Buddy Reed, standing on third and second base, respectively, represented the game-winning runs.
And with Kentucky third baseman Thomas Bernal nearly standing in shallow left field, Martin laid down a squeeze bunt and dashed to first.
But as Martin sprinted toward first while rain poured onto the field at McKethan Stadium, Wildcats catcher Greg Fettes tagged Lane as he tried to cross home plate, sealing the 7-6 decision in front of a crowd of 4,419.
“It’s easy to think about the ninth inning,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “We’ve won games before on drag bunts with the guy that far behind the bag. It is what it is.”
Florida’s troubles started in the second inning. Starting pitcher Dane Dunning struck out leadoff hitter Marcus Carson, but a wild pitch into the dirt on the final strike allowed him to reach first.
Dunning proceeded to hit three straight batters to bring Carson home.
Bernal then scored on a wild pitch, and shortstop Connor Heady cleared the bases with a two-RBI double to give Kentucky (25-16, 10-9 Southeastern Conference) the 4-0 advantage.
“I have no idea (what happened),” O’Sullivan said of Dunning, who saw his ERA jump from 3.02 to 3.67 after giving up four earned runs in just 1.1 innings of work. “He came off a good start last week against Mississippi State and he just didn’t throw the ball well.”
After going down in order at the hands of Wildcats starting pitcher Dustin Beggs, No. 6 Florida (32-12, 12-8 SEC) tacked on two runs in the bottom half of the second on back-to-back sacrifice flies from JJ Schwarz and Mike Rivera.
“I thought after the second inning, we were going to get to him,” O’Sullivan said.
Instead, Beggs went on to toss a career-best 8.1 innings, giving up just six hits and three earned runs while striking out six.
After the second inning, the Gators didn’t have multiple runners on base again until the ninth inning.
“He just mixes (pitches) very well,” junior outfielder Harrison Bader said. “He was hitting on his off-speed continuously. When a pitcher can command both pitches, that’s really going to keep him down and keep him effective.”
Aaron Rhodes went to the mound after Dunning’s lackluster start, pitching 3.2 scoreless innings before giving up back-to-back home runs to open up the sixth inning, giving Kentucky a 6-2 advantage.
The Wildcats added one more run on a Bernal RBI double down the left field line in the seventh before the Gators tried to rally.
Senior Josh Tobias opened the ninth with a single and came home on a one-out RBI double from Peter Alonso.
After a Schwarz groundout put two outs on the board, Florida loaded the bases on a Rivera single and a Ryan Larson walk.
Pinch-hitter Jeremy Vasquez plated two runs with a single up the middle and Reed brought in the fourth on a single to left field and advanced to second on a throwing error.
The rally ended two pitches later on Martin’s bunt and Lane’s tag out.
Florida will look to salvage the series against Kentucky — the first home series loss since dropping two of three against Vanderbilt from May 8-10, 2014 — in the series finale Sunday at 12:30.
Freshman Alex Faedo (3-1, 2.65 ERA) will draw the start.
“We just have to take what we did positive into tomorrow’s game,” Tobias said. “I mean, we battled back and never gave up. We put some good swings on the ball late in some pressure situations. We need to carry that into tomorrow and use that as motivation.”
Follow Jordan McPherson on Twitter @J_McPherson1126
UF's Richie Martin follows through on his swing during Florida's 12-5 win against the South Carolina Gamecocks on April 11, 2015 at McKethan Stadium.
