Florida right fielder Wil Dalton dug into the batter's box with two outs and the bases loaded.
A 1-2 pitch from Miami relief pitcher JP Gates caught just enough of the strike zone to entice UF's three-hole hitter into a swing.
Dalton's hack sent the ball into right center, just beyond the outstretched glove of Miami center fielder Tony Jenkins, clearing the bases on his way to an RBI triple.
The splash of offensive production gave the Gators a 4-3 lead in the seventh inning that they didn’t relinquish, winning on Saturday night at Alfred A. McKethan Stadium over the Miami Hurricanes 9-3.
"I got chills walking to the plate," Dalton said. "I had told some of the guys that they were going to load the bases. Somehow, someway, the bases were going to be loaded, and I was going to split the game wide open."
The junior from Spring Hill, Tennessee, went 2 for 4 on the night with a single and a walk to go along with his huge hit in the seventh.
"I basically put my pride on the line and said ‘This is what I got,’" Dalton said. "And I'm going to give it all for those guys in the dugout."
Florida (4-3) got off to a slow start due to Miami's starter Chris McMahon.
Through six innings, UF was anemic offensively, it only manufactured one run on five hits.
The Hurricanes (5-1) were in a similar offensive slump until third baseman Raymond Gil broke a scoreless tie in the top of the sixth inning.
On a 1-2 pitch from UF sophomore starter Tommy Mace, Gil connected, sending the baseball into the left field stands and giving the Hurricanes a 3-0 lead in what had been a pitcher's duel between Mace and McMahon.
"It was good to see us show some intensity and some fight," UF coach Kevin O'Sullivan said after the game. "It would've been easy for us to just hang our heads after going down three runs."
Florida added a run in the bottom of the sixth to cut the lead to 3-1, but McMahon was still dealing, and the Gators had no answer.
That was until McMahon was pulled with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.
Miami's relief pitchers couldn’t build off of their starter’s outing in the final two-and-a-third innings of play, allowing seven runs on six hits to put the game out of reach in favor of the home team.
Florida's offense went on to fill up the scoreboard with nine runs on 11 hits in Saturday's night's contest.
It was an offensive flurry that was happily accepted by O'Sullivan after the team scored just four runs combined during its three-game losing streak.
"We have hit the entire fall and preseason," O'Sullivan said. "What happened the first six games, I don't know… But at the end of the day, there's some effort that you have to put in on your own… And I think if we continue to work hard, and we continue to show some intensity like we did tonight, we could be a pretty good club."
Follow Evan Lepak on Twitter @evanmplepak and contact him at elepak@alligator.org.
Right Fielder Wil Dalton went 2 for 4 with a single and a walk in the Gators 9-3 win over Miami on Saturday.
