GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The double bag at first base, instituted in 2025 to make baseball safer, was at the center of a fielding blunder Wednesday night that helped No. 9 Florida extend the nation’s longest active winning streak to 13 games.
Florida A&M pitcher Cody Williams fielded a two-out grounder hit by the Gators’ Colton Schwarz and threw slightly wide of first baseman Josue Figueroa. While Figueroa came off the bag to snag the throw in foul ground, he still appeared to have time to step on first base to retire the side in the bottom of the seventh.
However, Figueroa did not step on the white part of the base that sits in fair territory. Rather, he touched only the green part that has been added in foul territory to help minimize collisions on plays at first base.
Schwarz was safe, and Florida scored its final two runs on the play and held on for a 7-5 victory.
