No. 2 Gators Drop Opener to St. John’s
Florida plated five unanswered runs in the middle innings but the comeback bid came up short.
<https://floridagators.com/watch/?Archive=23346&type=Archive>
Postgame Press Conference
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 2 Florida fell to St. John’s by a final score of 9-5 in front of an Opening Night-record crowd of 7,898 fans at Condron Family Ballpark on Friday night.
The Red Storm (1-0) jumped on the Gators (0-1) right out of the gate, plating a pair of two-out runs in the top of the first. It began with a Jimmy Keenan RBI double down the left-field line, followed by a run-scoring single off the bat of Aries Samek.
St. John’s tacked on three more in the second, with Garrett Scavelli doubling in two while Blake Mayberry brought in Jackson Tucker with a sacrifice fly.
After a leadoff double in the third, Fisher was chased in favor of right-hander Ryan Slater<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ryan-slater/16377>. With two men on, Anthony Brienza produced a two-run double down the right-field line to extend the lead to 7-0.
Florida responded in the third with a trio of runs to cut the deficit to 7-3. Dale Thomas<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/dale-thomas/16378> started the inning off with a line-drive double off the left-center field wall, then came in to score on an RBI single to left center by Michael Robertson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/michael-robertson/16375>. Cade Kurland<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-kurland/16372> picked up an RBI single of his own while Luke Heyman<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/luke-heyman/16370> capped off the frame with a sacrifice fly to the center field warning track.
In the bottom of the fourth, Jaylen Guy<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jaylen-guy/16624> notched his first RBI in Orange & Blue with a sac fly to score Tyler Shelnut<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/tyler-shelnut/16376>. From there, Slater stranded two in the top of the fifth, aided by a slick assist from Thomas to Heyman to nab a runner at the dish.
The first two batters went down in order in the bottom of the fifth, but Colby Shelton<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/colby-shelton/16639> still managed to get the Gators on the board. On an 0-1 count, Shelton unloaded on a 400-foot shot to right for his first blast as a Gator to move the score to 7-5.
Jameson worked a clean seventh by retiring his fifth-straight batter, but St. John’s found life in the eighth. With the count at 3-1, Tucker hit a solo shot to left field. Ben Beauchamp later drew a bases-loaded walk to extend the score to its final tally of 9-5.
Fisher (0-1) was stuck with the loss after allowing six runs (five earned) on five hits and two walks in two-plus innings. He struck out four.
St. John’s starter Xavier Kolhosser (1-0) earned the victory, going five frames with five earned runs surrendered on seven hits and four walks. He fanned one batter.
Sam Mettert received the save by setting down the final batter of the contest with the tying run on deck.
Robertson (2-for-4), Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/16365> (2-for-4), Shelton (2-for-4) and Thomas (2-for-3) all collected multiple hits in the defeat.
NOTABLES
* Florida welcome a crowd of 7,898 fans on Friday, setting a new Opening Night record and ranking fifth all-time for a single game.
* Shelton swatted his first homer at Florida – a 400-foot solo shot in the fifth.
* Satin and Philpott made their collegiate debuts on the mound.
* Slater set a career high with 63 pitches thrown.
* Guy collected his first RBI as a Gator with a sac fly in the fourth inning.
* The Gators are now 1-1 all-time vs. the Red Storm.
* Florida’s streak of wins in 10-straight season openers was snapped.
* Under head coach Kevin O’Sullivan<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/kevin-o-sullivan/1752>, Florida is now 15-2 in season openers and the program is 39-8 in season-opening series during his tenure.
* Florida falls to 67-42-1 all-time in season openers including 47-22-1 at home.
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On St. John’s performance…
“Credit to St. Johns, they played well. Had a couple nice plays, for the most part they threw strikes and they got some timely hits when they need them in scoring position. I felt like every inning we were pitching with runners on. And fell behind seven runs after three, 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. I thought offensively, we were fine. The only real defensive miscue was when they put a sac down the third base line we weren’t quite aggressive enough to come get the ball… But from a pitching standpoint, we walked eight and we hit a guy so we gave nine free bases. Cade’s been really good for us the whole fall and spring, maybe just opening night jitters or whatever. Ryan came in and did a nice job and most of the pen was fine, but we are running some young freshman out there, with a four pitch walk with Robert [Satin]. I thought Alex [Philpott] came in and did a nice job. I know he walked one run in, but that’s a really tough situation to put yourself in in your first college outing. So, we will just have to put this outing behind us, you know we are not used to losing opening nights, but like I said, congratulations to St. John’s for paying better than we did tonight.”
On his message to Cade Fisher<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-fisher/16369> during his mound visit…
“Settle down. It looked like the game got sped up on him. He got two quick outs with nobody on, then I think he hit a guy and then gave up the 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.”
On the quality of the at bats…
“There is a couple you could always point to. 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. 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.”
UP NEXT
Florida and St. John’s face off in game two on Saturday with first pitch now set 10 a.m ET. The matchup will air on SEC Network+.
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