UF baseball blows lead at 'Bama

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama used a game-winning sacrifice fly by senior Matt Bentley in the bottom of the ninth to complete a stunning comeback and defeat No. 22 Florida, 8-7, on Mother’s Day at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

Bentley sent a drive to deep right field that freshman Riley Cooper made an incredible catch on for the Gators (30-20, 14-13 SEC) to prevent a three-run homer. However, junior pinch runner Jeff Texada tagged up from second base and slid home with the winning run.

The Crimson Tide (30-23, 14-13 SEC) rallied from a 7-2 deficit with five runs in the eighth and the teams were in danger of finishing in a 7-7 tie due to the SEC travel policy before the hosts notched their second walk-off win of the weekend to take the rubber game of the series.

Sophomore Austin Graham (5-1) allowed one run over 3 2/3 innings in relief for the victory, while sophomore Clint Franklin (3-3) suffered the defeat after pitching the ninth. UF endured its seventh one-run loss of the campaign in league action.

With Alabama trailing by five runs in the eighth, junior Alex Avila drew a walk and sophomore Brandon May (4-for-5) singled to end the afternoon for junior Patrick Keating. Over 7 1/3 innings, the righty permitted seven hits and four runs, with five strikeouts and two walks. Sophomore Tony Davis induced a grounder by Bentley that forced May at second and pushed Avila to third.

Freshman Tommy Toledo came in and surrendered a three-run homer to junior Kent Matthes to close the gap to 7-5. Sophomores Del Howell and Jake Smith connected on consecutive singles and junior Tyler Odle tied the game with a two-run triple to chase Toledo. Sophomore Kyle Mullaney had freshman Josh Rutledge ground out to preserve the stalemate.

Franklin struck out freshman Ross Wilson to begin the home part of the ninth, but then plunked Avila. May stroked a single into center field to advance Texada to second, setting the stage for Bentley’s heroics. The batter was down in the count, 0-2, and the drive to right looked to be gone before Cooper jumped at the wall and hauled it back. Texada raced around the bases and eluded the tag from junior Teddy Foster.

The Gators will host USF (26-24, 11-13 Big East) on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in their final non-conference contest of the regular season. Florida wraps up the SEC schedule against Vanderbilt (37-15, 15-11 SEC) in a three-game series that starts Thursday night at McKethan Stadium.