Starting pitcher Hunter Barco took a perfect game into the sixth inning en route to a career-high 11 strikeouts while Sterlin Thompson used a pair of home runs including a seventh inning grand slam to pace the Gators with a career-high five RBI.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 9 Florida rode six shutout innings from starting pitcher Hunter Barco and a pair of home runs from outfielder Sterlin Thompson to defeat Liberty, 7-2, in Friday night’s season premiere in front of a record crowd at Florida Ballpark.
The Gators (1-0) got off to a strong start, as Barco struck out the Flames (0-1) in order in the first inning. On his way to collecting a career-high 11 strikeouts across six one-hit innings, Barco successfully navigated the Gators through the first-two frames, striking out five and opening the door for the Orange & Blue to kick off the scoring.
Kendrick Calilao put Florida on the board in the bottom half of the first. After Jud Fabian and Thompson reached via a hit-by-pitch and fielder’s choice, Calilao brought Fabian home with an RBI groundout to shortstop.
Florida added on to the early lead in the second inning, as Wyatt Langford launched a deep home run to left-center field. The long ball represented the first hit as well as the first home run of Langford’s young career.
With a 2-0 lead in hand, Barco proceeded to retire the first 15 Flames he faced, tying his career high with 10 strikeouts through the first-five innings.
In the bottom of the fifth, Thompson extended the Florida lead to 3-0. With two outs in the inning, the sophomore outfielder deposited a 1-0 offering for a solo home run off the center field batter’s eye.
Taking a perfect game into the sixth, Barco set down his 16th-consecutive batter of the game before surrendering a one-out walk in the frame. The no-hit bid fizzled shortly thereafter, as Liberty left fielder Nathan Keeter collected a single on the very next play.
Freshman left-handed pitcher Philip Abner relieved Barco to begin the seventh, blanking the Flames and setting the stage for the Gators to add to their advantage. With one out and the bases loaded in the bottom half of the inning, Thompson unloaded on the first pitch he saw for a grand slam to center field to make it 7-0 in favor of Florida.
In the eighth inning, Liberty put a stop to Florida’s bid for an opening day shutout with a pair of runs of their own. Derek Orndorff hit a solo shot to left center to put the Flames in the scoring column, before Gray Betts brought in Jake Lazzaro with a single to center.
With the score at 7-2, Liberty loaded up the bases in the ninth. That prompted a late-game appearance from redshirt freshman right-hander Ryan Slater in what was the first outing of his career. Slater retired the following two batters in order to earn the save and close the door for the Gators’ first victory of 2022.
Barco (1-0) earned the win for the Gators, pitching six innings with one hit and one walk allowed while notching a career-high 11 strikeouts. The 11 strikeouts were the most for a Florida pitcher on opening day in the last 24 seasons.
Liberty starting pitcher Joe Adametz was saddled with the loss after lasting four innings and allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits and one walk while striking out five.
Langford (2-for-4) was the lone Gator with multiple hits in the victory, while Thompson paced the team with a career-high five RBI.
NOTABLES
* Florida Ballpark welcomed a record crowd of 6,463 fans on opening night – the most in the history of the program.
* With tonight’s victory, Florida has now won nine-straight season openers dating back to 2014.
* The Gators are 22-3 in season-opening series since 2014.
* Under head coach Kevin O’Sullivan, Florida improves to 14-1 in season openers and the program is 38-5 in season-opening series during his tenure.
* Florida improves to 66-41-1 all-time in season openers including 46-21-1 at home.
* Langford’s second inning home run marked the first hit and home run of his two-year career as well as the first hit and home run for Florida of the 2022 season.
* Thompson’s big night represented the first multi-homer game of his career as well his first-two career home runs at Florida Ballpark.
* Thompson’s five RBI set a new career high.
* Barco’s 11 strikeouts are the most by a Florida pitcher on opening day since at least 1999, while the team’s combined total of 13 strikeouts is also an opening-day record during that span.
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On Hunter Barco’s performance on the mound…
“I think what might get lost in this game is how good Liberty is. They’re older and they’re good. But I thought Hunter was special tonight and I was just saying on the radio, college baseball is different from professional baseball. There’s no spring training. You intrasquad, intrasquad, intrasquad, and all of a sudden, it’s February 18 and the lights are on. So, I thought he handled it awesome. Getting through the first inning is certainly probably the most important to kind of set the tone. He was awesome tonight…”
On the team’s offensive performance…
“Offensively, Sterlin with two home runs off the batter’s eye, and Wyatt had a great night offensively. I thought Colby Halter had some good at bats. I thought Jud had some good at bats. The play by the center fielder, I think in the fourth inning, where he made an unbelievable play in left-center field, could’ve opened some things up for us a little bit earlier in the game. But give their starting pitcher credit, he was really good. We face another really good arm tomorrow in [Trey] Gibson…”
On the youth of this team
“I was sitting there tonight, and the whole team is getting introduced on the first baseline. You kept hearing freshman, freshman, freshman, redshirt freshman, and I knew we were young, but when they kept saying freshman over and over, I’m thinking, ‘we are young, really.’ Like I said, it’s the first night. You never know. You look at scores tonight from around the country and some people will say that’s a weird score or whatever. It’s college baseball. It takes a little time to get your feet wet and kind of get into a groove. To play like we did tonight against a really quality opponent, I think it’s a great start for the season.”
UP NEXT
Florida and Liberty face off again tomorrow at 4 p.m. for the second game of this weekend’s three-game series. Each game of the season-opening set will stream live on SEC Network+.
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