WATCH: Several different angles of Thompson's walk-off homer over FSU
There’s nothing quite like a walk-off home run. Doing it against an in-state rival does, however, sweeten the moment.
Sterlin Thompson walked to the plate 0-2 with a pair of strikeouts. The game against No. 20 Florida State was tied 5-5. FSU manager went to the bullpen to bring in a left-hander to face the lefty Thompson. Andrew Armstrong started Thompson with a slider that landed for a called strike. A pick-off attempt, slider that missed the zone, and another pick-off attempt would set the stage.
“I knew he was going to come in slider. He landed it the first pitch. Then he missed and I knew he was going to come back with it,” Thompson said. “He did. It hung up a little bit, a hanging slider and I put a good swing on it. It was probably one of the best moments of my life on the baseball field.”
Thompson didn’t miss it. With an exit velocity of 106 and an estimated distance of 431 feet, there was no doubt about it. Jud Fabian, who was on deck, launched his own bat and helmet. The Gators’ bullpen emptied as they stormed towards the plate to meet the hero of the game. Thompson didn’t take his time, either
“You saw the reaction. I think that tells you everything you need to know. It’s big. Playing this time of the year. Playing Florida State at home in front of seven thousand people or so. We were fortunate enough to win some games recently, so we’ve kind of built some momentum. It’s important,” Kevin O’Sullivan said of the win. “We’re getting in the part of the season where every win is magnified, and I’d like to think that we’re hopefully playing the best baseball this time of year. Certainly, this win is only going to help the RPI moving forward. Yeah, it was a big win. It was a fun win, too.”
As called on Gators radio
Florida announcer Jeff Cardozo took a beat but knew it was gone well before the ball found a home over the berm in right field. Cardozo, a former pitcher for the Gators, has had some memorable calls including during his time at Florida but he’ll remember this one for a while.
As called on Florida State radio
As you can imagine, the call was less enthusiastic on the other side. Florida State’s radio team was quicker to call the home run than Cardozo, even if they were less than thrilled to watch the ball fly.
Behind the plate
Florida Gator fan Kyle Niblett may have gotten one of the best views of the home run from his seat behind home plate.
