GAINESVILLE
— This is not a casual, ease-into-the-season opening series for the
Gators.
Florida,
the top-ranked team in the country, rallied late to win 7-3 over No.
25 Cal State Fullerton at McKethan Stadium, passing a tough test in
front of 5,356 fans.
"We
need to be challenged, bottom line," coach Kevin O'Sullivan
said. "For this team in particular, we need to play a really
well-coached, talented team. That's what this team needs this weekend
and it'll make us better in the long run."
The
game was tied in the seventh inning before Florida pounded the Titans
for four runs. The Gators broke the tie when Daniel Pigott was hit by
a pitch with the bases loaded, then tacked on runs on Preston
Tucker's sacrifice fly and RBI singles by Mike Zunino and Brian
Johnson.
Florida
starter Hudson Randall gave up three runs on five hits and did not
allow a walk in 5 2/3 innings, but the bullpen shut out Cal State
Fullerton the rest of the night.
Freshman
Taylor Gushue, from Boca Raton, homered on the first pitch of his
college career. He drove the ball over the left field fence to tie
the game 1-1 in the bottom of the second inning.
"When
I hit it, I was like, 'I hit that kinda good,' and I put my head down
and started running," he said. "Then I heard everybody
scream and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, I just hit it out.' It was
awesome. The feeling was unbelievable."
Jupiter
High School product Tyler Thompson started in center field for
Florida and went 1 for 4 with a stolen base and a run scored.
The
Gators trailed 2-1 in the sixth when Tucker hit his first home run of
the season, a line drive off the base of the right field scoreboard.
He now has 210 career RBI, which is four short of Brad Wilkerson's
school record. Tucker also has 42 home runs, which is 13 behind
Wilkerson for second all-time.
