GAINESVILLE, Fla. (Interstat) — Brendan Lawson launched a walk-off solo homer in the bottom of the ninth inning, capping a wild back-and-forth finish as Florida edged Rider 8-7 on Friday afternoon at Alfred A. McKethan Stadium.

The Gators improved to 40-19, while the Broncs dropped to 33-18.

Florida starter Russell Sandefer turned in a sharp outing, allowing only two hits and no earned runs over 5 2/3 innings while striking out five. He departed with a 4-0 lead, having not allowed a runner past second base since the first inning. Sandefer’s performance continued a strong recent stretch; he had allowed no earned runs over his previous two appearances covering 5 1/3 innings.

The Gators struck first in the bottom of the first when Kyle Jones homered to left center. Florida added a run in the fourth on Landon Stripling’s sacrifice fly that scored Caden McDonald, who had doubled. In the fifth, Jones singled home Hayden Yost, who had doubled, to make it 3-0. Stripling homered to right center in the sixth, extending the lead to 4-0.

Rider starter PJ Craig kept his team in the game despite allowing four earned runs over seven innings. He yielded seven hits and struck out two.

The Broncs broke through in the top of the eighth. After a walk and a fielder’s choice, Matt Leahy reached third on a wild pitch. A pair of walks loaded the bases with two outs. Anthony Paskell then crushed a grand slam to left field, giving Rider a 4-3 lead. Two batters later, Nick Shuhet homered to right center, scoring Caden Magoulic, who had doubled, and pushing the lead to 6-4.

Florida responded immediately in the bottom of the eighth. McDonald led off with a solo homer to left center. Luke Bowen tripled to right center, and Cade Kurland followed with a two-run homer to right, putting the Gators back on top 7-6.

In the ninth, Rider tied the game when Leahy led off with a solo homer to left. But Lawson answered in the bottom half, crushing a solo shot to center field to end the game.

Leahy finished 2-for-4 with a homer and an RBI. Paskell went 1-for-4 with the grand slam and four RBIs. Shuhet was 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs.

For Florida, Jones was 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs. Kurland went 1-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs. McDonald was 2-for-4 with a homer and an RBI. Lawson was 2-for-4 with a homer and an RBI. Stripling had a homer and two RBIs.

The game featured 12 hits for Florida and seven for Rider. Both teams committed no errors.

The first pitch was thrown at 1:06 p.m. under partly cloudy skies with a temperature of 89 degrees and a wind blowing from left to right at 6 mph.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Rider 8, Florida 7. Interstat’s ELO system gave Florida an 86.40 percent probability to win. Florida had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 4.5.