The last meeting between Florida and Florida State in Gainesville produced one of the enduring images of the Gators’ 2021 season – a shirtless Kendrick Calilao being mobbed at home plate by his teammates after he hit a walk-off home run.
History repeated itself on Tuesday night at Condron Ballpark, only this time with a different hero. Sterlin Thompson was the one who was disrobed, chased and celebratorily pummeled by his teammates following his moonshot two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth.
With a runner on first and two outs in the ninth and the game tied, Florida State opted to bring in Andrew Armstrong out of the bullpen for a left-on-left matchup with Thompson despite Armstrong having an ERA just shy of seven at the time.