GATORS BASEBALL: Florida Drops Season Opener to St. Johns

Photo Credit - FloridaGators.com

Kevin O’Sullivan summed up what happened Friday night in 14 words: “We walked eight and we hit a guy so we gave nine free bases.” Add nine baserunners who didn’t earn their way on and it’s a recipe for disaster, which is exactly what opening night turned into for the No. 2 Florida Gators, who dropped a 9-5 decision to St. John’s before 7,898 at Condron Family Ballpark, the largest crowd in school history for a season opener and the fifth largest crowd ever for a Florida baseball game in Gainesville.

Game two of the three-game weekend set was moved up to 10 a.m. today (SEC Network+) in an attempt to dodge a front of bad weather coming through Gainesville in the afternoon. Freshman Liam Peterson will get the start for the Gators.

The Gators spotted St. John’s a 7-0 lead in the first three innings when starter Cade Fisher struggled mightily with his control. The Red Storm scored two in the first, added three in the second and for good measure pushed across two more runs in the third. That was just too big a hole for the Gators to dig their way out of.

“It looked like the game got sped up on him,” O’Sullivan said. “He got two quick outs with nobody on [in the first], then I think he hit a guy and then gave up a double. I think things just kind of got quick on him.  You know giving up two in the first, you can live with that but then you go back out in the second and walk the leadoff man, you create more issues. You know we really didn't have a chance to get settled offensively and I know opening night's different, I get that. You haven't played somebody else for quite some time, but we really put our offense in a tough situation to try and battle back from seven runs early."

The Gators fought back with three in the bottom of the third and single runs in both the fourth and fifth, but they couldn’t string enough hits together to make a difference. In the third, Dale Thomas led off with a double off the wall in the gap in left field and one out later was driven home by Michael Robertson’s soft liner over the shortstop’s head. A Cade Kurland single to center scored Robertson and following a Jac Caglianone single to right field, Luke Heyman hit a towering fly ball to center to score Kurland.

A pair of walks, a Thomas sacrifice bunt and a fly ball to center field by Jaylen Guy cut the margin to 7-4 in the fourth. The Gators’ chances for a big inning in the fifth were erased by a double play. Caglianone singled up the middle to lead things off, but Heyman’s bouncer up the middle made for an easy second base unassisted to first double play. Colby Shelton followed with a monster home run over the berm in right field.

“There were a couple 3-1 counts that we did not put great swings on, but, once again, it is opening night and you're down seven after three,” O’Sullivan said. “Guys are just starting to get their feet wet and put together some quality at bats. Offensively, I do not have any issues. We got double-digit hits and we pulled ourselves within two and it could've gotten uglier in that game, at some point, when you are down seven."

St. John’s, meanwhile, kept applying the pressure, forcing O’Sullivan to go to his bullpen far more than he intended. Beginning with Ryan Slater, who relieved Fisher in the third, O’Sullivan had to use five relievers and none of them was able to shut St. John’s down.

St. John’s pushed across a couple of runs in the eighth to pretty much douse any hopes of a Florida comeback.

“I felt like every inning we were pitching with runners on, and fell behind seven runs after three,” O’Sullivan said. “And we got within two through seven, that's obviously a difficult thing especially on opening night. The crowd was outstanding, but when you fall behind that early, it amplifies the pressure that you put on yourself.”

Shelton, Caglianone and Thomas each had two hits to pace Florida’s 10-hit attack.

UF SOFTBALL: Gators get two run-rule wins

The Gators improved to 8-1 with a pair of run-rule wins to open the annual Bubly Invitational at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium Friday. The Gators backed Keagan Rothrock’s 2-hitter with an 11-hit attack for an 8-0 win over Georgia Southern and followed that up with a 10-1 win over Loyola as Ava Brown and Olivia Miller combined to limit the Ramblers to four hits.

Rothrock (3-1) lowered her ERA to 0.57 while striking out eight and walking just two. She threw 91 pitches, 62 for strikes. Skylar Wallace (2-3) hit her third home run of the season and drove in three while Jocelyn Erickson (2-2) hit her first homer of the season and also drove in three. Reagan Walsh hit her third homer of the year and Kendra Falby went 4-4.

In game two, Brown raised her record to 4-0, giving up one run and three hits in four innings. Brown (0.39 ERA) struck out five and walked two before handing the ball over to Miller, who went the final inning, allowing a hit and a walk while striking out two. Erickson led Florida’s 10-hit attack with a single, a double, a sacrifice fly and five RBI. Emily Wilkie and Mia Williams each drove in two runs.

The Bubly Invitational Tournament continues today with the Gators facing College of Charleston at 10:15 a.m. and Georgia Southern at 12:30.