A chance encounter for Braden Mattson put the Texas-bred catcher on a one-way ticket to Gainesville. He played his freshman season at Texas Christian, where Chuck Jeroloman, the brother of former Gators catcher Brian Jeroloman, served as a volunteer assistant in 2011.
Mattson and Jeroloman stayed in touch as the catcher transferred to San Jacinto College. Eventually, Gators hitting coach Craig Bell paid Mattson a visit and liked what he saw.
The courting reaped dividends on Tuesday when Mattson’s single in the seventh drove in two runs to extend the Gators’ late lead, which they would not relinquish. No. 23 Florida (3-1), fueled by the seventh-inning offense, defeated Central Florida (3-1) 5-1 in McKethan Stadium.
“He’s so ready for this. That kid was born to play baseball. His head is in the game at all the time. He loves it,” catcher Taylor Gushue said. “I told him before the game, ‘Dude, sometimes I’m nervous, and I look at you and I’m not nervous anymore.’ He’s that kind of kid.”
That calming effect manifested itself in a four-run seventh inning in which Florida benefited from a bullpen implosion by Central Florida. After the two teams entered the seventh tied at one, right-hander Joe Marrota walked four batters, including junior Zack Powers for Florida’s go-ahead run. The free pass set the stage for Mattson.
Florida added one more in the inning on a Justin Shafer infield single to shortstop. The Gators sent 10 to the plate in the seventh for the first time this year. Gushue opened the scoring with a first inning solo home run landing just below the right-field scoreboard.
Lost in the opportunistic offense was the stellar debut of right-hander Logan Shore. The 29th-round pick of his home state Minnesota Twins struck out four and allowed three hits in a methodical 5.1 innings.
His night, nearly identical to Hudson Randall’s collegiate debut against UCF on Feb. 24, 2010, mirrored the efficient pitching the red-haired right-hander from Dunwoody, Ga., stymied hitters with his entire Florida career.
This time last year, Shore was dealing with the Minnesota snow. He didn’t make his first start as a senior for Coon Rapids (Minn.) High until May in sub-40 degree weather. Less than a year later, he took the mound against a veteran UCF lineup with seven juniors, a senior and just one freshman.
“I’m not going to say I knew he was going to pitch this well tonight, but it’s not surprising,” Gators coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “We don’t go out of state very often. Certainly we’re not going to go to Coon Rapids, Minnesota, for a right-hander, but there was something special about him. He’s mature. He’s competitive, and he’s very talented.”
Sophomore left-hander Danny Young followed Shore’s outing of one unearned run with 3.2 scoreless innings to earn the win.
UF hosts North Florida tonight at 7 before travelling to Coral Gables for a three-game set against Miami.
Florida’s two heroes from Tuesday’s in-state matchup hail from South Texas and Southeast Minnesota. One player spent 2013 at a junior college while the other at a city that is under a winter storm watch until Thursday.
The Gators huddled in the third-base dugout as the home crowd left the stadium after Young finished off the Knights. Audible congratulations could be heard for Shore from his teammates.
“It felt really good. I got a great group of guys. I couldn’t really ask for a better team to play behind me,” Shore said. “I’m looking forward to hopefully keeping it going.”
Follow Adam Pincus on Twitter @adamDpincus
Taylor Gushue swings at a pitch during Florida’s 4-0 win against Maryland on Friday at McKethan Stadium.
