Watch: Incredible distraction play allows runner to steal home in huge moment

By Joe Setyon June 12, 2018 at 8:13am

The stakes couldn’t have been higher Monday night in Game 3 of the Gainesville Super Regional between the Auburn Tigers and Florida Gators.

The winning team would earn a trip to the College World Series, while the loser would head home for the summer.

Both teams came to play, and the game was a nail-biter up until the very end. But more on that later.

In the fourth inning of a 1-1 game, Florida was threatening to score. The Gators had runners on first and third, though there were two outs.

And score they did, though not in the conventional way. Rather, they were able to get the run across thanks to an incredible distraction play that allowed the runner on third base to steal home plate.

With a count of one ball and two strikes on the Florida batter, both runners (Nick Horvath on first and Blake Reese on third) decided to take off.

Auburn pitcher Andrew Mitchell, though, was paying the most attention to Horvath. By the time he realized Reese was trying to score and threw the ball home, it was too late.

HE STOLE HOME.

IN A TIE BALLGAME.

Holy @GatorsBB. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/RGeewmkK2f

— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 12, 2018

But why, you might ask, wasn’t Mitchell more focused on the runner at third?

A closer look at the play reveals that Horvath tricked Mitchell by tripping between first and second — on purpose.

As a result, Mitchell thought he could pick Horvath off, so Reese took advantage and scored the go-ahead run.

Upon further review…

This is absolutely amazing. pic.twitter.com/iDCCzYGVJO

— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 12, 2018

Were you impressed by Florida's trickery?

The play actually ended up mattering a lot. Though Auburn eventually tied things up, the game was tied at two after nine innings of play.

It stayed that way until the bottom of the eleventh, when Florida hitter Austin Langworthy hit a line drive to deep right field. Outfielder Steven Williams jumped at the wall in an attempt to make the catch, but the ball bounced off his glove and went over the fence for a walk-off home run.

ICYMI. Florida's Austin Langworthy hits it deep to right field, where Auburn's Steven Williams misplays the catch, and the ball goes over the fence.

➡️https://t.co/JUfJ6QUubO pic.twitter.com/EGYKc0vUid

— ESPN Player (@espnplayer) June 12, 2018

Thanks to that walk-off, Florida earned a trip to the College World Series. The Gators will take on Texas Tech on Monday, per USA Today.

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Tags:

Auburn Tigers, Florida Gators, NCAA

Joe Setyon

Deputy Managing Editor, Editorial

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Joe Setyon was a deputy managing editor for The Western Journal who had spent his entire professional career in editing and reporting. He previously worked in Washington, D.C., as an assistant editor/reporter for Reason magazine.

@JoeSetyon

Joe Setyon was deputy managing editor for The Western Journal with several years of copy editing and reporting experience. He graduated with a degree in communication studies from Grove City College, where he served as managing editor of the student-run newspaper. Joe previously worked as an assistant editor/reporter for Reason magazine, a libertarian publication in Washington, D.C., where he covered politics and wrote about government waste and abuse.

Birthplace

Brooklyn, New York

Topics of Expertise

Sports, Politics