With the game tied in the ninth and runners on each base, Mike Zunino knew what to do.
The freshman already had two walk-off at-bats this season, and he added one to that total Friday.
He hit a sacrifice fly to drive in right fielder Daniel Pigott, the game-winning run, to help rally No. 4 Florida (35-12, 18-7 Southeastern Conference) back from a one-run deficit in a 4-3 win over Georgia (14-34, 3-20 SEC). The win allowed the Gators to keep pace with South Carolina, who beat Arkansas on the same night, for first place in the SEC.
“It’s at the top,” Zunino said when asked where this game ranked emotionally for the team.
The Bulldogs came into the final frame with a 3-2 lead, but committed two throwing errors on what should have been two easy groundouts in the ninth to give UF life.
Before that the Gators were given nothing.
Junior Georgia pitcher Justin Grimm, who came into Friday’s matchup with a 5.66 ERA and 30 walks in 62 innings, threw seven innings allowing just two earned runs while attacking UF hitters all night. He only gave up one free pass on his way to six strikeouts.
“That’s probably the best game anybody has thrown against us all year,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “It almost felt suffocating. He just kept coming at us, he kept throwing strikes, he kept mixing his pitches, he pitched to both sides, there were no lead of walks – he just kept attacking.”
In a four-inning span, Grimm retired 10 of 11 Florida hitters and was on cruise control after allowing a run in each of the first two frames.
“He was throwing some dominating stuff,” Zunino said. “We came out chasing some bad pitches, but he pitched well enough to keep us off balance.”
But Greg Larson kept the Gators in the game with a stellar performance out of the bullpen.
After sophomore Alex Panteliodis was pulled with the Gators trailing 3-2 in the fifth, Larson kept the Georgia bats quiet.
He used his sinking fastball effectively to retire 11 of the 13 hitters he faced Friday. He threw a career-high four innings out of the bullpen to log the win.
“I’m starting to get on top of the ball a lot better,” Larson said. “That’s what I’ve been working on for the past couple of weeks.”
The Gators will attempt to clinch the series today at 1 p.m. Sophomore Hudson Randall will be on the mound for UF.
