With the bases loaded, the tying run at the plate and a full count, UF reliever Stephen Locke had a single thought racing through his mind.
"I've just got to make this pitch," Locke said. "I dug myself in a little hole, and all I can think is, 'I've gotta make this pitch, gotta throw a strike.'"
But he never dreamed of what happened next.
A line drive off the bat of Tennessee first baseman Jeff Lockwood went right to Josh Adams at second base. Adams flipped the ball to shortstop Cole Figueroa, who threw to Clayton Pisani at first base to complete the Gators' second triple play of the year.
"It was awesome," left fielder Avery Barnes said. "It was definitely a momentum swing for us as a ballclub. … I don't know what you want to call it. We got it done."
The Gators held their four-run lead thanks to the triple play, taking the final game of the three-game series 7-2 Sunday afternoon in seven innings.
The win snapped a season-long five-game losing streak and puts UF in second place in the Southeastern Conference, one game behind Georgia.
The No. 19 Gators (21-10, 8-4 SEC) needed the win after a 5-4 loss early Saturday and a 12-6 defeat that spanned two days and threatened to make the trip to Knoxville as poor as the weather.
Rain moved Friday's game to Saturday morning while Saturday's second game was split between Saturday and Sunday after weather again made the field unusable. Because of the early game, Sunday's game was shortened to seven innings.
UF coach Kevin O'Sullivan thinks the triple play may have changed the entire year.
"Certain things turn your season around a little bit," O'Sullivan said. "Certainly, I'm going to point out that hopefully that triple play is something we can look back to that was a big momentum changer, hopefully, in our season, and hopefully, we build on it."
As they did the entire series, the Gators scored in the first inning on Sunday. Barnes walked to begin the game, and center fielder Matt den Dekker brought him home on the next pitch with a triple down the right-field line. Shortstop Cole Figueroa brought den Dekker home with a sacrifice fly to give UF a quick 2-0 advantage.
Barnes had three hits, three runs and two RBIs on the day, including a solo home run in the fourth inning that put UF up 5-2.
He was a home run short of the cycle in Saturday's first game.
UF starter Patrick Keating (5-0, 2.66 ERA) maintained his perfect record with four innings and two strikeouts. Though he did give up 10 hits in that span, only two runs came across the plate.
Saturday's second contest began well for the Gators, as they scored two runs in the first inning and added three more heading into the bottom of the fifth inning.
That's when things got tricky.
UF committed three errors in the inning, allowing Tennessee (19-11, 7-5 SEC) to rack up eight unearned runs. The Gators went from a 5-1 lead to a 9-5 deficit.
"It was probably the worst inning we've played all year," O'Sullivan said.
The first Saturday game again saw UF get out to an early lead, then blow it.
The Volunteers got three runs in the seventh inning off reliever Josh Edmondson to break a 2-2 tie.
The Gators scored two runs in the ninth inning on a triple from Barnes, but Figueroa grounded out to end the rally and the game.
McARTHUR MISSED: First baseman Brandon McArthur's absence was felt in Knoxville.
"Brandon McArthur is a veteran and he's been around a lot," Barnes said. "Him being around is a great asset to our ball club just because of his senior leadership."
McArthur hurt his right knee running to first base in Wednesday's game against North Florida and did not travel with the team to Tennessee. These were the first games he missed all year.
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
