Recap: Kentucky Baseball wins in dramatic fashion to take weekend series over No. 1 Florida

It was an emotional rollercoaster of a Sunday afternoon for the dedicated fans who made it out to The Cliff for the Easter rubber match between Kentucky and No. 1 Florida, and they went home ecstatic. A frustrating first five innings that saw Kyle Cody struggle early on the mound and the Batcats strand runners in crucial situations turned into a Kentucky comeback to tie the game at 3-3 in the sixth/seventh and force extra innings. From there, two errors brought home an unearned Gator run, but, as has been a theme of the 2016 campaign, you can't count out Gary Henderson and the gang. In a wild 10th inning that saw Riley Mahan redeem himself with a solo shot, Kentucky baseball rallied yet again to beat No. 1 Florida 5-4 and win the weekend series. Let's get to the box score and a few notes from a huge W for the program. Kentucky:

Hitting:

Pitching:

Florida:

Hitting:

Pitching:

  Notes:  Kyle Cody battled through a tough Sunday afternoon. After the Gators hung a three spot on the Sunday starter, it looked like it could be a long afternoon for the Cats. Instead, Cody clamped down to give the team six innings of work, and worked through a couple of tough jams to make sure no more runs crossed the plate on his watch. He was helped out by some quality defense behind him as well, with JaVon Shelby, Zach Reks, Marcus Carson, and Luke Becker all coming through with big plays that saved extra bases and, in some cases, runs. Sean Hjelle will walk away from today with the W, but give Cody a lot of credit for keeping the Cats within striking distance all afternoon, especially with the early offensive struggles. When I say the offense struggled, they really really struggled. It looked like Florida's Alex Faedo was going to cruise to a win on the mound today, striking out eight Kentucky batters through 5.2 innings. He made Evan White look ridiculous in back to back strikeouts of the standout first basemen, and if your best hitter's looking ridiculous you know the rest of the lineup can't be doing that much better. Every time the Cats had a chance to push across a run or two early, Faedo closed the door or the Gator defense had his back. Things turned out alright in the end, but this was looking like a very different recap early. The comeback. The Cats were finally able to get on the board in the 6th, when a Luke Becker double scored Zach Reks from first. The rally continued when Manhan reached on an infield single - ball bobbled by Deacon Liput at second base - and Becker came home on a close call at the plate to cut the Gators' lead to 3-2. Evan White finally came alive in the seventh, extending his hitting streak to 16 games with a single to left. He would then advance to second on a pickoff attempt gone awry, move to third on a JaVon Shelby fielder's choice, and then tie the game on wild pitch. Gotta' love when the team can capitalize on some crucial mistakes, especially when it's the No. 1 team in the country making those mistakes. Free baseball didn't disappoint. You couldn't possibly write a better ending to today's game. After making two big errors at shortstop that allowed Florida to score the go-ahead unearned run and retake the lead at 4-3 (credit to Sean Hjelle and the UK defense for damage control in the top of the 10th), Riley Mahan redeemed himself with a solo shot (3) to right in the bottom half of the 10th to tie the game at 4 and snatch the Cats from the jaws of heartbreaking defeat. Kole Cottom followed with a hit-by-pitch, Storm Wilson walked, then Evan White came through with a liner up the middle that should have ended the game if it didn't hit off of Florida's Brady Singer on the mound for an infield single. The stage was set for JaVon Shelby: bases loaded, one out. The 1-2 pitch bounced to the backstop, and it was all pinch-runner Tyler Marshall needed to run home to a mob of his teammates ready to celebrate the walk-off win. Florida head coach Kevin O'Sullivan had to watch his team lose from the locker room after being tossed in the third. 

And Florida's head coach Kevin O'Sullivan is out of here after arguing ball four on a walk issued to JaVon Shelby. pic.twitter.com/4gAhONJKTm

– Brooks Holton (@brooksHoltonKSR) March 27, 2016

That can't be a fun experience.  This is Kentucky Baseball's fourth straight year with a series win over Florida. This is Kentucky Baseball's third straight year with a series win over a No. 1 ranked opponent. Not bad at all. That'll do it for today. The Batcats are back in action on Tuesday against Northern Kentucky University, with first pitch scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at The Cliff. Stay tuned to KSR for all the coverage. @brooksHoltonKSR