Gator ace Logan Shore (5-0, 2.59 ERA) toed the rubber for the Friday night start and shut down the Aggie lineup with 4.1 scoreless innings. Unfortunatley, Shore would not receive his sixth win of the year as he did not throw the five innings needed to qualify for the stat.
After yielding three straight hits in the top of the fourth inning, Shore was pulled from the game. He would finish with a stat line of 93 pitches, five strikeouts, five hits allowed, three walks, and one hit batsman.
Once Shore exited, lefty Kirby Snead had a daunting task ahead of him with the bases loaded and just one out. However, the Gators' best reliever worked out of the jam as he induced two ground balls to end the inning. Snead would toss a total of two innings and earn his second win of the season as he allowed just one earned run on one hit while striking out one and walking one.
After Snead's departure, Frank Rubio came in and was lights out in both the seventh and the eighth innings. In the final frame, Frank ran into some trouble as TAMU tagged him for three runs and narrowed the six-run deficit down to 7-4. He would be pulled with one out remaining in the ninth and boasted a final stat line of 2.1 innings pitched, three runs allowed on three hits, three strikeouts, and one walk.
After TAMU cleared the base paths with a two-run home run, lefty Scott Moss came in and could not get the final out as he walked the only batter he faced on four straight pitches. That was all Coach Kevin O'Sullivan needed to see before he pulled Moss in favor of closer Shaun Anderson. The righty induced a ground ball for the final out of the game to notch his fifth save of the season.
Offensively, the Gators were led by Jonathan India. Out of the nine-hole, the freshman went a perfect 4-4 with two doubles, three RBI's, and a run scored. In addition to India's big night, three other Gators had multi-hit games.
Buddy Reed went 2-5 with a double and an RBI out of the two-hole. Peter Alonso went 2-4 with his fifth home run of the season, an RBI, and a run scored. Finally, freshman Deacon Liput went 2-3 with a double, a walk, and a run scored.
Two Gators had just one hit in the contest. Jeremy Vasquez went 1-3 with a double, a walk, an RBI, and two runs scored while Nelson Maldonado went 1-2 with a team-high two walks and two runs scored as well.
Final Takeaway:
The No. 3 Florida Gators showed the country last night why they deserve to regain the top spot in the polls after taking the first game from No. 1 TAMU. Before I preview Game 2, here are my final tidbit's from the opener:
- With their victory tonight, Florida notched their 25th consecutive home win. This is a new school record!
- The Gators outhit the Aggies 12 to 9.
- Florida's pitching staff struck out nine Aggies but struggled with control as they also walked six. TAMU's staff struck out just four Gators and had location issues as well as they walked five batters.
- TAMU committed two errors in the game, one which resulted in a run being scored.
- In the bottom of the fifth inning with one out, Deacon Liput committed a running gaffe on the base paths and got himself doubled up on a fly ball. This cost the Gators a potential run, but luckily it would not affect the game's outcome.
- Shortstop Dalton Guthrie made a fantastic diving play in the top of the fourth for the first out of the inning.
- TAMU didn't put up a crooked number on the scoreboard until the sixth inning when they scored on a sacrifice fly.
- 5,197 were in attendance tonight. This is the third highest home attendance at the Mac this season behind Florida State (5,917) and opening night vs FGCU (5,778).
- Kevin O'Sullivan is now 6-1 when facing the No. 1 team in the country.
With a chance to win the series on Saturday night, Alex Faedo (5-0, 2.70 ERA) will take the mound in his first Saturday start since his gem against Harvard on March 12th. With the lights bright and a potential series-victory on the line, I expect Faedo to deliver a strong outing. His opponent from TAMU will be righty senior Kyle Simonds (5-0, 2.83).
Game 2 is set for 7:30 p.m. It can be seen on ESPNU and heard on the Gator IMG Sports Network.
*All stats accredited to FloridaGators.com
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