Friday April 18, the baseball team went into the second game of the doubleheader with the weight of a 17-3 loss against No. 18 UC San Diego. However, the Gators turned it around earning themselves a split at the end of the day after Bryce Cherry drove in Nick Jackson, scoring the go-ahead run with only one inning to go.
After their win against the Tritons on the previous day, the Gators had confidence in their ability to come out with a win once again, despite the opponent’s high ranking.
The Gators struck first in game one and took the initial lead with one run in the first inning. However the Tritons took over after that scoring three runs each in the third and fourth innings. The Tritons impressive offense proved to be too much for the Gators as they poured in the runs, winning 17-3.
“Honestly we have to hand it to Tyler Cobb,” said outfielder Dillon Meyer. “He went out there in that last inning. We had a couple guys get hurt, so the fact that he could stay out there for us even though he was getting lit up, we said we’d win the next games for him.”
Cobb struggled when he came into the game with one out in the top of the ninth, and gave up six earned runs on seven hits in just two-thirds of an inning.
The loss of the first game did not faze the Gators, though. They stepped onto the field a bit more loose, and with much more confidence the Gators were able to make a huge comeback.
“We don’t have guys on our team that are going to hit home runs (like the Tritons do), so it’s always execution that we have to focus on,” said Meyer. “We’ve done a pretty good job so far in controlling our execution this weekend.”
The second game of the doubleheader was tied from the first inning and stayed 1-1 for the next five innings.
After Loud walked in the sixth inning, Cherry was finally given the chance to set the win up for the Gators. Cherry’s hit brought Jackson home, which was followed by Grady Espinosa driving home outfielder Carter Loud, and the Gators entered the seventh inning with a 3-1 lead on the Tritons.
When the Tritons hit a line drive through left center come the seventh inning, outfielder Dillon Meyer made one of the most impressive plays of the day as he dove for the ball, robbing the
Tritons of a hit in the inning and securing their win.
“The highlight of the game was Dillon Meyer’s catch,” said head coach Mike Cummins. “The first game just got away from us but we came back in the second game and found a way to win.
