Pierce Coppola shined in his first-collegiate start and Josh Rivera collected a pair of hits as well as one RBI in Sunday’s loss.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Despite freshman Pierce Coppola posting the most strikeouts (seven) by a Florida pitcher in his debut since 2011, No. 9 Florida (1-2) was unable to hold off Liberty (2-1) as the Flames rallied in the middle innings to claim the series finale, 5-3.
Coppola came out strong in his first-career start, working around a pair of baserunners and striking out three batters in the opening frame. Coppola proceeded to blank the Flames through the first-four innings, striking out seven Liberty hitters in the process.
With Coppola holding the Flames in check, the Gators grabbed hold of a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth. Josh Rivera got the scoring started with an RBI double down the left-field line, plating Langford and bringing BT Riopelle to the plate. On the fifth pitch of the at bat, Riopelle unloaded on a 1-2 offering for a two-run home run to right field – his first homer as a Gator and the 13th of his collegiate career.
Liberty quickly answered with a three-run inning of their own in the top of the fifth. Aaron Anderson connected on a two-run shot to left field, prompting Coppola’s exit from the game as reliver Philip Abner took over on the mound. From there, Brady Gulakowski delivered an RBI double to left center to knot things up at three runs apiece.
In the top of the sixth, the Flames grabbed the lead and would not surrender it thereafter. The inning began with a pair of walks followed by a sacrifice bunt, opening the door for Gray Betts to put Liberty up 4-3 with a sacrifice fly to right field. Liberty later added to the lead in the seventh, as Gulakowski homered to left field to make it 5-3.
Florida received scoreless innings from reliever Ryan Slater in the eighth and ninth innings to maintain the two-run deficit, but the Gators offense was unable to capitalize as Liberty’s Cade Hungate nailed down his second-straight save of the weekend.
Coppola received a no decision in his first-career start, pitching 4.1 innings with two earned runs allowed on five hits and two walks. The freshman southpaw’s seven strikeouts were the most by a Florida pitcher in his debut since Karsten Whitson struck out nine vs. South Florida on Feb. 20, 2011 – a game in which Mike Zunino, Sunday’s honorary first-pitch thrower, was catching for the Gators.
Abner was saddled with the loss, tossing 0.2 innings with two earned runs allowed on two hits and two walks.
Liberty reliever Jeremy Beamon earned the win after providing 1.1 shutout innings with just one walk surrendered and three strikeouts.
Rivera paced the Gators with two hits on Sunday, finishing 2-for-4 with one run scored and one RBI.
NOTABLES
* Sunday’s official attendance was 5,377, bringing the opening-weekend total to 18,190 – an average of 6,063 fans per game.
* The Gators fall to 22-5 in season-opening series since 2014.
* Under head coach Kevin O’Sullivan, Florida is now 38-7 in season-opening series.
* Riopelle launched his first-career home run as a Gator in Sunday’s defeat.
* After combining for 14 strikeouts on opening night, the Gators pitching staff recorded 11 strikeouts in game two and 10 in game three to bring the series total to 35.
* Coppola’s seven strikeouts were the most by a Florida pitcher in his debut since Karsten Whitson struck out nine vs. South Florida on Feb. 20, 2011 – a game in which Mike Zunino, Sunday’s honorary first-pitch thrower, was catching for the Gators.
* Colby Halter and Thompson each collected hits on Sunday to open the season with three-game hitting streaks.
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On the outcome of the series…
“I think Liberty is a good team. They attack the entire weekend on the mound. They didn’t give us anything. We put ourselves in tough positions with leadoff walks or hit batters to start innings. We put ourselves in a little bit of a hole. Their pitching staff did a really good job of attacking the entire weekend. That was probably the difference in the weekend. I think both teams played really well defensively. They just did a really nice job on the mound. I think yesterday we left eight on base. Looking at the weekend, it’s the first three games of the year, so it’s a long season. Going into the year, seven of the nine hitters are returners that haven’t got a lot of college at bats under their belt. Quite frankly, we’ve got a lot of young pitchers that are going out to the mound for the very first time. Ideally, you want them to start an inning and maybe have a lead or something like that so that they can get a little comfortable. But, these have been high pressure situations right from the beginning. That’s where you are seeing the deep counts and maybe not being able to control their emotions as much as they will moving forward. I think, offensively, that’s the thing because we’ve been swinging the bat really well the entire preseason and I thought we swung the bat good on Friday night. For whatever reason, we struggled the last two days. Give Liberty’s pitchers credit, that’s the bottom line.”
On the team’s strikeout issues offensively…
“It’s surprising because we’ve been really good in the preseason with the two-strike approach. We’ve got really good arms, too. It’s not like we’re seeing arms that they haven’t seen before. When you look at it with the older guys, I’m not going to mention names obviously, but they’re older guys and we struck out a tremendous amount of times this weekend. We had not done that in the preseason. Two strikes, we’ve been really good in the preseason. I don’t know exactly what happened this weekend. Maybe, the game sped up on them a little bit. It’s a part of it. I do think we are going to be a really good offensive team. Once again, you got to give Liberty’s pitchers some credit. They were running out some really good arms on Sunday. That just goes to tell you the depth of their pitching staff. It’s really that simple.”
On the defense behind the plate…
“[Mac] Guscette is really good defensively. I don’t think the catchers really had anything to do with the outcome of the game, to be honest with you. That’s probably the least of my concerns right now, to be honest with you. I think trying to bridge the gap with our starters to Ryan [Slater] at the end. I know Ryan ran into a little bit of trouble there in the ninth, but he does throw strikes. When he is right, he kind of reminds me of Michael Byrne. Hate to put that label on anybody, but he’s certainly the guy that can help us at the end of the game right now. The pitchers are young. Pierce’s first start was good… It’s a long season. Obviously, you want to win the series at home to start the season. We hope to start a winning streak on Tuesday. It’s really that simple.”
UP NEXT
Florida is off on Monday before traveling to Stetson for a Tuesday midweek tilt at 6:30 p.m. The Gators then return home on Wednesday, hosting North Florida at 7 p.m. at Florida Ballpark.
