Stetson falls to Florida as college baseball game ends under protest

• The No. 8 Florida Gators defeated the Stetson Hatters 6-1 in a game that ended under protest.
• Stetson coach Steve Trimper protested a call in the seventh inning where the umpires ruled that catcher Salvador Alvarez stepped on the wrong part of first base, negating the tying run.
• The NCAA will review the play and determine if the game will resume from the point of the incident or if the result stands.

DELAND — Stetson thought it had tied the game.

Instead, an umpire review killed its would-be seventh-inning rally and ensured Tuesday’s college baseball game against the Florida Gators ended under protest.

The eighth-ranked Gators prevailed 6-1 at Melching Field.

They broke a 1-1 knot when Blake Cyr mashed a solo home run on the first pitch of the seventh inning and boosted their lead to 5-1 with a three-run blast by Cade Kurland in the eighth.

But the win didn’t arrive without controversy.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Hatters leveled the score at 2-2. With two outs and a runner on third, catcher Salvador Alvarez chopped a ball off Florida pitcher Aidan King’s glove and beat the shortstop’s throw to first. The run scored.

Gators head coach Kevin O’Sullivan saw something from the dugout, though, and immediately called for a video review.

The umpires deemed Alvarez committed a violation by stepping on the main first-base bag, not the new orange safety bag.

Before this season, the NCAA implemented an extended first base, which features the traditional white bag in fair territory and an orange safety bag in foul ground. The fielder owns the white side, and the runner gets the orange part.

After the ruling, Stetson coach Steve Trimper protested the game. 

“It’s a brand-new play with a new base,” Trimper said. “We got a lot of rules that we’ve been practicing and practicing. I felt like we had a right right there to refer to the rulebook and follow the rules. I’m still going to look into it a little bit and see what happens. 

“But there was supposed to be an appeal on that play, and they didn’t appeal to the first-base ump. That’s the way we were taught. I just want to make sure we follow the rules properly as we go forward.”

The NCAA will examine the situation and determine whether the umpires got the call right. If they did, the result stands. If they did not, the result becomes null, and the two teams will resume the game from the point of the incident at a later date.

The review, plus the protest, created a 15-minute delay.

In the top of the eighth, Florida grabbed firm control on Kurland’s dinger. The Hatters’ center fielder, Landon Russell, had a chance to catch it while sprinting back onto the warning track, but the ball bounced out of his glove and over the wall.

The Gators improved to 8-0. Stetson fell to 4-4.

“I thought it was a really well-played game by both teams,” O’Sullivan said. “… I thought we got off to a really good start with (starter) Billy Barlow, and then Aidan King, a freshman, came in and did his job for three innings. Then, we had a chance to use our closer there for the eighth and ninth. We haven’t used him enough. But Cade’s three-run homer was obviously the difference maker.”

The Hatters struck first on a sacrifice fly by left fielder Jordan Taylor in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Florida evened it at 1-1 in the top of the sixth. Stetson right-hander Ethan Salak struck out first baseman Brendan Lawson with runners on first and third and one out. Colby Shelton, the runner at first base, took off for second, but Alvarez sailed the throw into center field, bringing home Bobby Boser from third.

Then, the chaos happened.

Finally, in the ninth, former Hatter Kyle Jones blooped an RBI single to left field to solidify the final score.

Shelton and Cyr each tallied two hits for the Gators. King earned the victory with three no-hit innings in relief. He fanned four batters.

Salak was handed the loss. He pitched 1⅔ innings, giving up only the Cyr long ball. He notched three strikeouts.

Dylan Jacobs started for Stetson and did not surrender a hit across three innings. Ty Van Dyke followed him with 2⅓ frames of one-run ball.

“I just loved the way our team pitched,” Trimper said. “I loved the way we fought. It comes down to we didn’t do a couple things right. Forget the ball over the fence and the play at first base and all that. We didn’t tag up on a ball. We missed a pickoff play, and we messed up a first-and-third defense. Those things led to two runs. It should’ve been a 3-2 game or a 3-1 game … 

“We’ve got a good team. We’re just learning you have to do every little thing right when you’re playing good competition.”

Stetson returns to Melching Field for a contest against Indiana Friday. Florida hosts North Florida Wednesday.

The two clubs will play again April 15 in Gainesville.

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