Florida’s Friday night starter, Liam Peterson, and starting centerfielder Kyle Jones spoke with the media after the Gators’ 1-0 walk-off win over South Carolina in the 10th inning.
Jones scored the winning run and focused. He spoke about the mentality he had while on third waiting for Cash Strayer to put the ball in play. There was never any doubt that Jones was tagging up and attempting to score.
Peterson threw his first quality start of the season, finally getting through six innings. He said all four pitches felt good and agreed with head coach Kevin O’Sullivan that this was his best performance in a Gators uniform.
Here’s everything they said after the win.
Liam Peterson on getting through six innings
“Yeah, felt good. Last week, I talked about going six or seven innings. Kind of struggled a little bit there, but I was looking at the pitch count honestly — try not to do that — but I thought I could get seven. Stuff doesn’t always play out the way you want, but it was really good to get out of that inning with the two walks.”
Peterson on staying focused when the offense struggles
“Not really. I honestly just try to pay attention to me. Not in a selfish way, obviously, but just focus on going out there for my inning. I can’t control what the bats do. They’re going to go out there and give their best, so I trust them. I don’t really think about that too much.”
Peterson on whether it was his best outing at Florida
“Yeah, probably. I threw all four pitches for strikes. Struggled with the curveball a little bit in the middle innings, but I still think it was probably the best.”
Peterson on Josh Whritenour escaping the ninth inning
“You’re not going to have your best stuff every day. For him to go out there and still compete and put up zeros, that speaks to how far he’s come from the injury. He hasn’t been in too many of those big situations this year, so you can already see how mature he is as a player.”
Peterson on the pitching staff’s confidence when offense isn’t hitting
“It’s definitely a confidence booster for sure. Obviously, I think our offense is really good, too. I don’t know how many times this is going to happen again. But tomorrow’s a new day. We can’t really celebrate this win tomorrow because we’ve got to win a series.”
Peterson on Colton Schwarz’s play in the 10th
“I’m going to be honest, I did not see it. I was in the locker room. I was having some stomach problems. I don’t know if I’m supposed to say that, but I heard it on the radio, and I watched the replay. I missed it in real time, but it was cool.”
Perterson Cash Strayer’s walk-off sac fly
“He had a great AB. He was just missing everything. I don’t know what pitches he was throwing, but it seemed like he threw the whole kitchen sink at (Strayer). He was fouling, fouling, fouling, and to finally get that pitch. That was huge.”
Kyle Jones on scoring the winning run, doubt about tagging up
“No, not at all, honestly. Probably, if TB (Taylor Black) had held me, I still probably would have gone.I guess I hit the catcher, and then it hit my head. I didn’t even feel it.”
Jones on trying to be a catalyst on the bases
“I try my best. I feel like speed is one of my best qualities on a baseball field, so I feel like that can only improve and make me a better baseball player overall.”
Jones on staying confident while the offense searched for runs
“I would say no — there’s no doubt. Baseball is a hard sport. You’re going to have stuff that doesn’t go your way, but you’ve got to keep grinding, keep battling at-bat after at-bat. We put some good swing on it, some of them didn’t fall. It’s just baseball.”
Jones on the pitching staff leading the win
“Liam did unbelievable tonight. Honestly, the pitching — everybody kept us in that game. There’s not many games you play where you can win on one run and have two hits. We don’t win that game if the pitching doesn’t do what they did tonight.”
Jones on Cash’s walk-off at-bat
“Cash worked very hard and I was excited to see him in that moment. I feel like everybody in the dugout had confidence in him. That’s a dude you like to have up there. He swings it well.
“I knew he was seeing it well after the second foul. You keep fouling stuff, you can’t least put something in play. I had 100% confidence he would do that, and he did.”
Jones on Colton Schwarz’s play
“The umpire was standing right in my line of sight. I was directly behind Colton. I didn’t have any line of sight on that baseball at any point on that play until he threw it to second base. I literally came in the dugout and looked at Colton and said, ‘Dude, I don’t know how you fielded that baseball’.”
Jones on facing Josh Whritenour as a hitter
“Josh was one of the best pitchers I’ve seen. Josh is a legit pitcher. He did amazing. I don’t know, throughout fall and spring — Josh is definitely one of my least favorite at-bats for sure. I’m happy I’m not facing him anymore.”
Jones on starting SEC play 1-0
“I mean, you know, how it is. Playing in this league is not easy. So each one that you can get, each win that you can get under your belt. Obviously, I haven’t been a part of it much, but I mean, even seeing that that was a grind out there and I’m very proud of all my teammates and everybody for what they did.
“So each one that you can get means a lot. So the fact that we can go ahead and get out there and get one means at a ton.”
“It’s always a good day when you walk out of here with a win. But, you know, I’m excited for the rest of the season. Excited to did get the honor to play in a regional my freshman year. So I’m excited to go back there for regionals. Haven’t been there. So I’m excited to experience all this. Looking forward to it.”
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Jones, Peterson talk Florida baseball’s walk-off win vs South Carolina
Reporting by David Rosenberg, Gators Wire / Gators Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
