Isaac Nunez found himself at the plate for his first at-bat in his college career in the bottom of the 10th with runners on first and second.
He swung and missed a fastball while the crowd at McKethan Stadium was on the edge of their seat waiting for a game-winning play, but then he remembered what he talked about with assistant coach Craig Bell: Slow the game down.
Nunez expected another fastball, and there it was. He swung away and singled to right center field. Ball game.
The No. 2 Gators defeated the Jacksonville Dolphins 4-3 in the second game of the two-game series on Wednesday at McKethan Stadium to stay perfect on the year.
It was a rough start for Florida (5-0) on the mound to start the game. Junior Jordan Butler got the start, and the Dolphins scored three runs in the top of the first on redshirt junior Christian Coipel's three-run homer.
The Gators found themselves in a similar situation as the Dolphins in the bottom of the second. Infielder Brady Smith went to the plate with Nathan Hickey on first and Kendrick Calilao on third with a chance to put points on the board.
The junior hit a sac-fly to right field, allowing Calilao to tag up and score. Florida would go into the third trailing by two.
In the third inning, Tyler Nesbitt replaced Butler on the mound for UF and kept JU scoreless. At the plate, sophomore Jud Fabian scored for the Gators in the bottom of the third after a wild pitch to once again cut the deficit, this time to one.
Fabian wasn’t done.
The 6-foot-2 slugger hit the first homer of the game for Florida in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game at three. After third baseman Kirby McMullen singled on the very next pitch, JU coach Chris Hayes had seen enough.
Dolphin pitcher AJ Jones was taken out in favor of lefty Jagger McCoy. Jones allowed three runs, one walk and had two strikeouts.
Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan also didn’t like what he saw from the mound in the top of the sixth, especially when lefty Ryan Cabarcas — who only pitched one inning — hit Coipel in the shoulder.
O’Sullivan elected to put in his fourth pitcher of the night, sophomore David Luethje.
After Luethje allowed a double in the next inning, Ben Specht entered the game for Florida.
The constant cycling through the pitching staff proved effective for both squads, as the game remained in a deadlock at three and went into extra innings.
That’s when the young utility infielder won the game in dramatic fashion and was mobbed by his teammates on the field in celebration.
Nunez wasn’t looking for his teammates after the play, however. He was looking for his father.
“My initial first reaction when I hit first base and saw Cal (Greenfield) score — is I was looking for my dad,” Nunez said. “My dad has been one of the biggest influences in my life and, you know, I see him out there, he’s pointing at me and I’m pointing back at him and we make eye contact and it’s a great moment because we know how hard we worked together. It’s a very special moment for me.”
Follow Joseph on Twitter @JSalvadorSports and contact him at jsalvador@alligator.org
Jud Fabian
