Florida starter Tommy Mace broke the spirits of the Alabama hitters on Friday night.
The sophomore right-hander limited UF's SEC opponent to just one earned run off three hits.
Mace pitched a complete game, the first of his career, as the No. 23 Gators baseball team took Game 1 at Alfred A. McKethan Stadium 3-1.
"I wasn't going to take him out," coach O'Sullivan said in a release. "The idea was that he'd pitch deep into the game. I told him he'd have a chance to throw a complete game if he was on his game, and that's what he did."
Mace (5-2, 3.42 ERA) threw 119 pitches, striking out seven and allowing just one walk.
"I thought my changeup was really, really good today," Mace said. "I threw a lot more sliders and had all four pitches working tonight."
Florida (18-10, 2-5 SEC) took the lead in the first inning.
Second baseman Jacob Young led off the bottom half of the inning with a walk and scored later behind a one-out RBI groundout by designated hitter Nelson Maldonado.
The Crimson Tide (20-7, 2-5 SEC) tied it up in the third after a two-out infield single by shortstop Kolby Robinson plated designated hitter T.J. Reeves.
Alabama picked up two hits in the inning but was held to just one hit the rest of the contest.
The Gators regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, scoring two runs off Maldonado's RBI single that scored Young, and first baseman Kendrick Calilao's RBI groundout that brought home shortstop Brady McConnell.
Maldonado led UF with two RBIs on the night, while Young and McConnell both had two hits each in a pitcher's duel that saw only four runs off 10 hits.
The defense behind Mace was what also allowed Florida to pick up a big SEC victory.
"We made quite a few mistakes on Tuesday night," O'Sullivan said. "Tonight, we limited the mistakes and that's a good sign."
Follow Evan Lepak on Twitter @evanmplepak and contact him at elepak@alligator.org.
Starter Tommy Mace limited Alabama to just one earned run off three hits in Florida's 3-1 Game 1 win.
