CORAL GABLES — Kevin O’Sullivan said eight games were too small of a sample size to say the Gators struggle to hit left-handed pitchers.
Turns out Florida’s coach was right.
After No. 1 Florida hit just .240 (24 for 100) against southpaws during the first two weeks of the season, the bats came alive Friday night at Mark Light Field in the Gators’ series-opening 7-5 win against the Hurricanes.
“We had one bad weekend (against William & Mary), but you look at some of these guys’ batting average over three or four years, we’ve swung the bat good against lefties,” O’Sullivan said.
That was the case Friday, as Florida (8-1) strung together 15 hits and seven runs against Miami (8-1) left-handed pitchers, including nine hits and six runs against starter Eric Erickson.
Erickson (2-1) entered the game without giving up a run in his previous two starts this season, but that changed against Florida, as the Gators attacked the sixth-year senior early on.
After Erickson retired the side in the first inning, Florida jumped on him the rest of the night, plating at least one run in each of the next four frames against the lefty.
“He’s tough,” O’Sullivan said. “His stats were what they were coming in because he’s good. He’s real good. I’m really pleased and proud about how we battled tonight.”
That battling was led by junior catcher Mike Zunino, who returned to the lineup after missing the Gators’ last game against William & Mary with a tweaked hamstring. Against Miami, Zunino showed no ill effects, finishing the night 4 for 5 at the plate with two RBI, tying his career high for hits in a game.
Entering the game, Erickson had only given up one extra-base hit on the season. Zunino quadrupled that number on his own, hitting a pair of doubles and launching his third home run of the year.
After Miami tied the game in the bottom of the third thanks to a two-run homer from Florida transfer Tyler Palmer, Zunino put Florida back on top in the fourth with a solo shot to straightaway center, taking advantage of an Erickson changeup up in the zone.
“I felt it was pretty good,” Zunino said. “The wind helped me out a little bit to give me some confidence to know it was gone, but I hit it pretty good.”
Zunino’s second double of the night gave Florida a 6-2 advantage in the fifth frame and chased Erickson from the game. The Gators then tacked on another run in the sixth against a lefty and improved their team average against southpaws to .289.
On Friday, Florida wound up needing every one of those hits.
Florida starter Hudson Randall tossed 5.1innings while battling an illness that forced him to return to the team hotel during practice Thursday, and he gave up four earned runs before reliever Steven Rodriguez allowed one of his own in the sixth to cut the lead to 7-5.
Enter Austin Maddox.
Florida’s closer shut the door on Miami, pairing a 3-for-3 day at the plate with 3.1 scoreless innings of relief as he struck out a career-high seven of the 12 batters he faced and helped the Gators clinch the series opener.
“He’s just a horse, man,” Zunino said. “He gets it going and he gets it to another gear. It’s one of those where you just know he’s in the zone and he always seems to be in the zone. Nothing rattles him.”
Maddox allowed just two hits and pounded the zone all night. He crossed up batters with his fastball, which hit 95 on the radar, and his four-seam slider and changeup, which fell to 80 on the gun.
“I’m aggressive, I’m gonna come right at you and I’m gonna give you my best stuff,” Maddox said. “If I get beat, at least I can live with myself at the end of the day.”
Whitson ruled out for Sunday: O’Sullivan said after the game that sophomore right-handed pitcher Karsten Whitson, who exited his last outing after just 13 pitches, won’t pitch this weekend. O’Sullivan has not decided on a Sunday starter yet, and said it will depend on who the Gators use out of the bullpen in Saturday’s matchup.
Contact Tom Green at tgreen@alligator.org.
