The Gators’ No. 1 recruiting class is proving that it is deserving of the honor.
Florida’s freshman hurler Brian Johnson came out on top of USF’s Ray Delphey to lead No. 7 Florida (2-0) to a 9-1 victory over the Bulls (0-2).
Johnson took control early on and showed no first game jitters. He pitched 5-2/3 shutout innings while allowing three hits and zero walks to pick up his first collegiate win.
“To say I was surprised with that Johnson did today – I can’t say I’m surprised,” UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “He has been doing that to our hitters in the fall and in the early part of the spring.”
He attacked hitters, got ahead in the count and only threw 65 pitches – 51 of them being strikes.
“I took a lot of notes last night and a lot of their guys can’t catch up to the fastball, so I just wanted to pound the zone with my fastball,” Johnson said.
Delphey was not as efficient. He lasted five innings and allowed only two earned runs while striking out eight hitters, but it took him 114 pitches.
The Gators struggled to get timely hits against Delphey early. They had runners in scoring position in the first two innings but went a combined 0-for-5 in those situations, including an opportunity with the bases loaded and no outs in the opening frame.
But it didn’t take long for Florida to break that trend as sophomore left fielder Tyler Thompson hit a single to right field to drive in sophomore Preston Tucker for its first run of the game.
From there the freshman hitters took over.
Freshmen Kamm Washington and Austin Maddox each hit home runs.
Washington’s was a two-run homer to right field in the fourth inning. While Maddox’s was his second in as many games – both of his have been opposite field shots.
“They mostly have been throwing me breaking stuff and away,” Maddox said. “They haven’t come in, so I have to have that (opposite field) approach.”
With the game already 5-0 in the eighth inning, Thompson came up to the plate with the bases loaded and delivered.
He found the gap and hit a ball that bounced off the wall in right-center field to clear the bases and earn himself a stand-up double. Thompson finished with a career-high four RBIs.
Most of Florida’s damage came against USF’s bullpen. Its relievers gave up six combined earned runs in three innings and allowed UF to blow the game open.
The Gators will go for the sweep at noon on Sunday. UF sophomore pitcher Anthony DeSclafani is slated to start.
