Nolan Fontana stepped into the batter’s box with Vickash Ramjit on third and two outs in the 16th inning.
The count drifted to 1-2 for Georgia pitcher Blake Dieterich. He threw a ball in the dirt. Fontana swung and missed. Catcher Brandon Stephens attempted to tag Fontana, missed and then lobbed the ball over the head of first baseman Jonathan Hester.
Stephens crumbled to the ground in shock. Ramjit crossed home plate and joined a raucous UF celebration; call it a walk-off strikeout.
“I’ve never been so excited to strike out,” Fontana said. “My instincts took over, and I don’t really know what happened.”
A strikeout ended No. 5 Florida’s (30-8, 10-6 Southeastern Conference) longest game since 1996, a contest that fell four minutes shy of the five-hour mark. The end result was a 3-2 victory against Georgia (23-16, 7-9 SEC).
It was tough to remember that it all started as a pitching duel between UF sophomore Jonathon Crawford and UGA sophomore Alex Wood. Crawford was out after 4.1 innings and 75 pitches, but Wood’s methodical outing lasted until the ninth.
The Gators tacked on a run in the fourth and fifth, while the Bulldogs did the same in the third and eighth. After Georgia’s tying run crossed in the eighth, the night hit a drought.
For seven innings, no one scored. Florida’s “big three” out of the bullpen pitched a combined 11.2 innings. Junior Austin Maddox threw a career-high 5.2 innings and 61 pitches.
“I knew we were going to score a run sooner or later,” Maddox said. “I just had to keep going out there and putting up zeroes like I did.”
The Gators walked no one.
Relievers from both teams were aided by an array of spectacular defensive plays. Florida nearly ended the game on a Casey Turgeon single in the 13th, but pinch runner Josh Tobias was thrown out at home for the second out of the inning. One batter later, Ramjit ripped a hard grounder to third baseman Curt Powell, who made a close play across the diamond for the third out.
The Gators benefited from a gem of their own in the 16th, when Dent made a diving stop for the second out.
“Games like these are fun,” Fontana said. “We play every day for days like these.”
With both offenses in a lull, the bottom of the 16th was an ultimate case of small ball.
Ramjit walked with one out, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Dent and got to third on a wild pitch earlier in Fontana’s at-bat.
Fontana and Dieterich were high school teammates, graduating the same year from Winter Garden West Orange High. Stephens had made the once game-saving tag of Tobias in the 13th.
They would all combine to end a night so long it withered the crowd at McKethan Stadium.
“Baseball is a weird game sometimes,” UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “It gets to a point where it’s borderline comical.”
Nolan Fontana dodges Brandon Stephens' tag after a dropped third strike. Stephens' wild throw to first allowed Nolan Fontana to reach base and a run to score. The Gators defeated the Bulldogs 3-2.
The Gators celebrate after a dropped third strike in the bottom of the 16th inning allowed Nolan Fontana to reach first base and Vickash Ramjit to score. The Gators defeated the Bulldogs 3-2.
