Florida struggled to score runs throughout the 2013 season, but in its opening series against Maryland, the bats showed that 2014 would not be a repeat.
The No. 23 Gators (2-1) scored 19 runs in their series win with the Terrapins, scoring seven runs or more in two of the three games.
“We swung the bats pretty well,” shortstop Richie Martin said.
Although UF brought in the top recruiting class in the country, returning faces contributed the most to the offense.
Martin leads the Gators in batting average through the first three games, notching a .455 mark in his 11 at-bats against the Terrapins.
Martin sparked Florida’s offense in the rubber game of the series.
The sophomore worked a six-pitch walk to lead off the game and scored when catcher Taylor Gushue lifted a sacrifice fly to right field.
“From the first inning, we saw [Maryland pitcher Jared Price] really struggling,” Gushue said. “We knew that he had a good arm. We knew that he had a changeup. We knew what he was trying to do.
“But he just didn’t have his command [Sunday], so we just were patient up there, and it paid off for us.”
Martin drove in a run of his own on a flyout in the Gators’ four-run second inning, but his most powerful contribution came later in the game.
After freshman A.J. Puk notched an RBI double, Martin drove him in with a double of his own, setting the stage for him to work his magic on the basepaths.
On the first pitch of the following at-bat, Martin took off for third base, sliding in safely as the ball glanced off third baseman Krysthian Leal’s glove. Martin raced for home, scoring Florida’s eighth and final run.
Martin knocked another double later in the game — a departure from his style of hitting in his first season. As a freshman in 2013, he racked up 51 hits in only 44 games. But of those 51, only six were extra-base hits — five doubles and one triple.
Although Martin will likely not match the pace he is on, which would put him at 37 doubles for the season, the uptick in power production may make him a better leadoff hitter. Florida’s leadoff hitter in 2012, shortstop Nolan Fontana, had 20 extra-base hits in his final season at UF before the Houston Astros selected him in the second round of the 2012 MLB Draft.
The Gators also got production out of their third-year backstop.
Gushue hit the ball hard throughout the weekend, following Martin with four hits in his 11 at-bats and leading the team with five RBIs in its opening series.
But even when Gushue made outs, he put a charge into the ball. His sacrifice fly would have gone for extra bases had right fielder Anthony Papio not made a leaping catch.
The junior catcher made the most noise for an offense that did not launch a home run in its opening series, knocking a double off of the right-field wall in the second game of the series.
The Gators look to continue their success in their first midweek games of the season. Florida plays Central Florida on Tuesday and North Florida on Wednesday — both at McKethan Stadium at 7 p.m.
“We play a good schedule,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “Our midweek games are hard … We don’t play any cupcakes.”
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Richie Martin hits during Florida’s 9-7 loss to Maryland on Saturday at McKethan Stadium. Martin leads the team with a .455 batting average after the Gators’ three-game, season-opening series win.