Another injury can't stop Florida; Gators rally past Alabama, 7-6

Brody Donay watches his game-winning home run sail toward the fence (UAA Photo)

The good news Thursday night was the No. 23 Florida Gators (36-18, 14-14 SEC) erased a 5-0 deficit for a come from behind 7-6 win over No. 18 Alabama (39-14, 15-13 SEC). It was Florida’s 13th SEC win in the last 16 games, bringing the Gators even in SEC play after a horrendous 1-11 start.

That was the good news.

The bad news was catcher Luke Heyman, who has been one of the driving forces behind Florida’s turnaround, suffered a fractured forearm when he was hit by a pitch in the first inning. Coming into the game, Heyman was hitting .302 with 13 homers and 44 RBI, seven homers and 30 RBI since April 8 when Florida’s late season surge began.

Heyman’s injury is just one of many that have plagued the Gators this year. Cade Kurland, a three-year starter with 34 career home runs, has been out since March 25 with a dislocated shoulder. Ty Evans, a two-year starter in the outfield, has missed 21 games. Kyle Jones, one of the best defensive center fielders in the college game, has been out since game four. Shortstop Colby Shelton, Florida’s leading hitter (.377, 7 HR, 35 RBI) has been out the last nine games with a wrist injury.  Lefty Pierce Coppola, scheduled to start tonight’s second game of the series with Alabama (6:30 p.m., ESPN+), missed nearly two months after a brilliant start.

Despite the injuries, however, the Gators have compensated. It has forced UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan to shift his lineup on an almost game-by-game basis, but somehow the Gators have become the hottest team in the Southeastern Conference. The Gators are so hot they are currently projected to make an NCAA regional as a No. 2 seed. That could change this weekend, however, if the Gators can pull off a sweep of Alabama.

O’Sullivan believes the injuries and adversity have toughened up the team.

"You know, we're already down players and we could have easily hung our heads,” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “But I think honestly, without giving it much thought yet, starting out 1-11 and going through that adversity probably is helping us right now.”

When Heyman went down in the first inning, O’Sullivan shuffled the lineup with Landon Stripling taking over at first base. Blake Cyr moved from left field to second base and Blake Brookins took over in left field. Stripling hit a fifth inning single that drove home a run and Brookins went 1-3 with a sixth inning double.

“Obviously, the injuries are mounting, but with that being said, Strip gets a hit tonight and then Brookins comes off the bench and gets a double,” O’Sullivan said. “It's just one of those things, but what can you say? I'm awfully proud of the team, the way they battled. Like I said, they could have easily just thrown in the towel, but they continued to persevere through it.”

Alabama touched Florida starter Liam Peterson for two runs in the first and three in the third. After the rough start, Peterson came back to pitch a scoreless fourth and fifth. He hit a batter in the fourth, but induced Will Plattner to hit into a double play and got out of the inning with a ground out. In the fifth, Peterson set the Crimson Tide down 1-2-3.

“Obviously, he may not have had his best stuff or location today, but he battled and every run counts,” O’Sullivan said.” He put up two zeros in the fourth and the fifth and I've got no complaints about his start. He battled and he kept us in it.”

When O’Sullivan pulled Peterson after the fifth, the bullpen came through with an outstanding performance. Luke McNeillie (5-2) pitched the sixth and seventh innings, allowing one hit, an unearned run while walking one and striking out four. Jake Clemente, who struggled with his control while pitching the final two innings in Florida’s win over then No. 1 Texas back on Sunday, threw two shutout innings to pick up his seventh save. Clemente didn’t give up a hit, walked one and struck out two to preserve the win.

“McNeillie came in and obviously we lost the one ball in the twilight, but he pitched great,” O’Sullivan said. “Without his performance we're probably not standing here with a win. And then Jake bounced back from last weekend and threw 29 pitches over two…"

Down 5-0, the Gators began their comeback in the fourth inning. Stripling was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Evans singled to center and after a fly out by Cyr moved Stripling to third, Tyler Fay uncorked a wild pitch that scored Stripling with Florida’s first run.

The Gators mounted a 3-run rally in the fifth with two out. Fay should have gotten out of the inning unscathed but a Garrett Shelton error on a grounder by Bobby Boser extended the inning. Brendan Lawson moved Boser to third with a single to left field and Stripling followed with a run-scoring single to cut the Bama lead to 5-2. Ty Evans doubled to left center on an 0-2 count, scoring Lawson. A single by Donay down the third base line scored Stripling to cut the Alabama lead to 5-4.

Alabama increased the lead to 6-4 in the sixth with an unearned run after a throwing error by Lawson at third base, but the Gator countered in their half of the inning. Brookins lined a double down the left field line to lead off the inning and Boser followed with an RBI single to center.

The Gators took the lead for good in the seventh when Evans walked after working the count full and one out later, Donay hit his team-leading 15th homer of the season to right center field.

With a 7-6 lead to protect, Clemente worked his way out of an eighth inning jam with a pop fly out three by Will Plattner. In the ninth, Clemente set the Crimson Tide down 1-2-3 on a fly ball to left field, a strikeout and a harmless pop to second base.

The combination of injuries and the terrible 1-11 start in the SEC created a dismal outlook for the Gators, but they’ve turned things around and have a shot at finishing the regular season with a winning record in SEC play. The turnaround has been nothing short of spectacular.

"I think if you go back to my post-games, I think I was pretty consistent with what my message was for the team: that we are going to turn this thing around,” O’Sullivan said. “Now to sit here and say we would be 14-14 with two games left, I don't know about that, but I did truly believe that we're going to turn this thing around. And the players have to go out and play, but our staff deserves a ton of credit … everybody involved. No one started pointing fingers, we stayed together and it turned out to be a heck of a story."

Game notes: The Gators have come from behind to win 15 times this season, eight times in their last 20 games … Brookins double was his first career hit … The Gators have won 16 of their last 20 games. UF is 13-3 in SEC play over the last two games.

SEC Baseball

No. 23 FLORIDA (36-18, 14-14 SEC) 7, No. 18 Alabama (39-14, 15-13 SEC) 6

South Carolina (28-26, 6-22 SEC) 6, No. 1 LSU (40-13, 17-11 SEC) 5

#3 Texas (41-10, 21-7) 7, Oklahoma (32-18, 13-15 SEC) 4

Ole Miss (36-17, 15-13 SEC) 9, No. 6 Auburn (37-16, 16-12 SEC) 2

No. 17 Tennessee (41-13, 16-12 SEC) 10, No. 8 Arkansas (41-12, 18-10 SEC) 7

No. 9 Vanderbilt (37-16, 17-11 SEC) 8, Kentucky (29-21, 13-15 SEC) 7

No. 10 Georgia (41-13, 17-11 SEC) 10, Texas A&M (27-24, 10-18 SEC) 6

Mississippi State (32-20, 13-15 SEC) 25, Missouri (16-36, 3-25 SEC) 7