With two outs and the bases loaded, Miami reliever Ryan Bilka thought he escaped the jam with a tie ballgame still intact as center fielder Mikey Torres recorded the final out of the inning.
But just as he crossed the first baseline to head back to the Hurricane dugout, the umpires gathered on the mound and called a balk on Bilka, negating the final out and pushing forward all the runners 90 feet — giving the Gators a one-run lead they’d ride the momentum into a 8-4 win.
The call sent Canes fans into a fury as boos and expletives rained down on Mark Light Field, overshadowing a spectacular night of baseball from both sides from start to finish.
In the bottom of the first, with two outs and runners on the corners courtesy of multiple errors, senior outfielder Derek Williams pimped a three-run shot to left-center field for the first runs of the game.
The blast marked Williams’ fifth homer on the young season, combining his power output with an impressive .550 average.
But Florida (11-1) did not waste any time coming back.
In the second inning the Gators put up four runs on five hits, with three consecutive hits to start the inning.
However, the inning marked the only hits Miami starter Rob Evans would give up during his outing.
Making his second start this season, the lefty racked up 12 strikeouts through six innings with seven of those coming in a row between the third and fifth innings.
Every time he left the bump after an inning of work, he looked towards the Miami bullpen and let out an infectious roar.
One thing is clear, rivalry games mean more.
On the other side, Florida’s Aidan King didn’t have the same success. The sophomore righty only went 2.1 innings after being pulled in the third with a presumed hand injury. The ball was turned over to relief arm Ricky Reeth who calmly worked through the fourth.
Torres’ speed paid dividends in the fifth.
After whacking a double down the left field line, Torres advanced to third on a passed ball. Now standing 90 feet from home, Cuvet hit a shallow fly ball to center field. Florida center fielder Kyle Jones threw a dot to the catcher but Torres’s speed was no match as he slid into home head first safely tying the score 4-4 through five innings of play.
Miami head coach J.D. Arteaga let Evans go to work to start the seventh with his pitch count at 87. After a walk and a hit by pitch to start the inning, Arteaga turned to Richmond transfer Ryan Bilka.
Evans walked off the mound to a standing ovation from 3,555 fans in attendance, the second sold out crowd this weekend.
Through the controversial balk call in the seventh inning, Bilka remained in the game for the eighth inning.
With two runners on, he gave up a two-run home run to Ethan Surowiec, extending the Gators’ lead 8-4.
And just like last night, the Hurricanes bats could not mount a late inning comeback as the flamethrowing Joshua Whritenour closed the game for the blue and orange.
Florida now has won six straight series against the Hurricanes and has not lost a series at Mark Light Field since 2014. Miami (10-2) will look to spoil a potential Gators sweep and get back in the win column on Sunday. The game is slated to start at 1 p.m. and will air on ACCNX.