If Florida was looking for some positives to build off of heading into its opening weekend, there were plenty on Friday night.
UF held its opponent scoreless through eight innings, provided eight freshmen with game experience and showcased a strong offensive lineup, even with power hitter Peter Alonso sidelined with an injury.
But UF’s most encouraging takeaway was sophomore Logan Shore, who afterwards described how far he had come since his first career start nearly one year ago.
“Yeah, it brought back some memories.” Shore said of Friday night. “I think I was a little more nervous last year. I didn’t really know what to expect.”
The sophomore led No. 6 Florida (1-0) to a 9-1 season-opening victory over Rhode Island (0-1), throwing four strikeouts in five scoreless innings and recording his first win of the season.
“I think the theme with Logan is, you know, Logan was Logan,” junior Harrison Bader said. “You know what you get out of him. His consistency and the way he goes about his business is just tremendous.”
Bader began the scoring for the Gators with a RBI single in the first inning. A.J. Puk scored in the second after a Rhode Island error, followed by a Richie Martin RBI base hit to increase Florida’s lead to three.
The Gators added two more runs on two more errors by the Rams before Bader sent a deep shot into left field for a two-run homer in the fifth, his first home run of the season.
“It was just a good swing on the ball,” Bader said. “I didn’t really know if it was going to go out or not for sure, but I kind of had a feeling.”
Later that inning, freshman JJ Schwarz increased UF’s lead to eight after a sacrifice fly by freshman Mike Rivera. In the seventh, Mike Kolozsvary was the last Gator to score after Rivera grounded into a double play.
Rhode Island put a dent in Florida’s would-be shutout with a one-run homer in the eighth inning.
The highlight for Florida was its young players. UF started three freshmen, including second baseman Dalton Guthrie, who doubled in the bottom of the eighth.
“When these guys get in a game situation, it’s just totally different,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said of the freshmen. “It was up and down the lineup, a lot of guys contributed.”
UF will continue its series against Rhode Island on Saturday at 4 p.m.
“It was a solid start,” O’Sullivan said. “I think one through nine, we’re going to be able to do some damage.”
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Logan Shore (32) pitches during Florida's 9-1 win against Rhode Island at McKethan Stadium.
