Oklahoma rallies in the 8th inning to take series opener against Florida
By David Wasson
Published:
The 15th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners baseball team mounted an eighth-inning rally Friday night to upend the 25th-ranked Florida Gators 4-3 in a pivotal SEC series opener at Kimrey Family Stadium in Norman.
Oklahoma (30-14 overall, 12-10 SEC) can earn a series victory against the Gators on Saturday (7 pm ET, SEC Network). Florida (29-17, 11-11) has lost three straight.
The Gators seemed to be in command Friday night, taking a 1-0 lead via a sacrifice fly in the third, a 2-1 lead in the seventh via a bases-loaded walk and then a 3-1 advantage in the eighth via a Blake Cyr solo homer to left field.
But the Sooners came storming back in the bottom of the eighth, as Jaxon Willits smacked a two-run triple to right-center to tie it at 3.
Oklahoma’s Dasan Harris followed that up two batters later with an RBI single up the middle to give the home team a lead it would not relinquish.
Connor Larkin went 2-for-4 for Oklahoma, while no Gator hitter recorded more than one hit. Jason Bodin (4-1) earned the victory for the Sooners and Jackson Cleveland picked up his seventh save. Florida reliever Joshua Whritenour (2-3) took the loss.
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
