No.
1 Florida (2-0) used a four-run fourth inning and solid relief pitching by
junior Austin Maddox (Jacksonville, Fla.) to secure its weekend series
with a 5-2 victory over No. 16 Cal State Fullerton (0-2) on Saturday afternoon
in front of 4,951 fans at McKethan Stadium.
After
sophomore starter Karsten Whitson (Chipley, Fla.) (1-0) yielded two runs
over five innings to the Titans, Maddox fired four scoreless innings, retired
the first 10 Titans he faced and surrendered just one hit with three strikeouts
to earn the save. Freshman Taylor Gushue (Boca Raton, Fla.) (1-for-3) put
the Gators ahead with a two-run triple in the fourth, freshman Justin Shafer
(Lake Wales, Fla.) had a sacrifice fly in his collegiate debut and senior Preston
Tucker (Tampa, Fla.) (2-for-4) added an insurance RBI single in the eighth
inning as Florida defeated CSF for the second-straight day.
“It’s
early in the season and everyone is obviously not in midseason form yet,” head
coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “But, I thought Karsten (Whitson) battled.
I thought he threw some really quality pitches when he needed to, and he’s
always been able to do that. It was good to get him out there through five full
innings. Overall, it’s something good to start with and I’m pleased with how we
threw.”
“I
didn’t have my best stuff, but I was just trying to get back in there every
batter, trying to get first-pitch strikes,” Whitson said. “I knew that we were
going to score runs, it was just a matter of when, so I was trying to put a
zero on the board and tried to keep the damage down to a minimum. My game plan
coming in was to try and jump in there and go right after their hitters. Early,
I wasn’t really doing that well but I kind of picked it up there in the third
and fourth. I was able to get some good ground balls for double plays, so that
kind of helped me out. “
“I
felt like I had everything working today,” Maddox said. “My (off-speed) was
working well and it just felt good all around. I’ve been working on my off-speed
pitching between last year and this year and it’s paid off. I went from a
two-seam grip to a four-seam grip and I feel that I can locate it better and
throw harder.”
Cal
State Fullerton jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI
double by redshirt junior Carlos Lopez. Whitson opened the game with a
strikeout of junior Richy Pedroza and freshman Derek Legg followed with a
single through the left side of the infield. Lopez doubled to left center to
bring in Legg and Whitson stranded the runner in scoring position by having
sophomore Michael Lorenzen fly out and junior Anthony Hutting ground out.
The
Titans threatened again in the second, as sophomore Chad Wallach drew a one-out
walk, redshirt junior Austin Kingsolver (2-for-3) doubled down the left-field
line and senior Anthony Trajano was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Whitson
worked out of the jam by having Pedroza hit into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double
play.
Hutting
increased Fullerton’s lead to 2-0 in the third inning with an RBI grounder to
second base that brought in Lopez, who had drawn a one-out walk and taken third
on a double by Lorenzen just inside of the chalk line in right field.
Freshman
Casey Turgeon (Palm Harbor, Fla.) collected the Gators’ initial hit off
redshirt freshman Grahamm Wiest (0-1) with a two-out single in the home part of
the frame. However, Turgeon was caught stealing by Wallach to end the inning.
Florida
erupted for four runs on four hits in the fourth inning to seize a 4-2
advantage, highlighted by a two-run triple by Gushue. Seniors Daniel Pigott
(Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Tucker had consecutive one-out singles and junior Mike
Zunino (Cape Coral, Fla.) (2-for-3) put the Gators on the board with a
base-hit into right center field that scored Pigott. Gushue rifled a triple
into the right-field corner to clear the bases and move the hosts in front and Shafer
followed with a sacrifice fly into left field to bring home Gushue for a
two-run lead.
Maddox
took over for Whitson (5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 K, 2 BB) prior to the sixth and
retired the Titans in order with a couple of strikeouts. Redshirt junior
Dimitri DeLaFuente replaced Wiest (5.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 6 K) in the bottom of the
sixth and notched the first two outs before Zunino picked up his second hit of
the contest with a single into left field. Zunino moved into scoring position
with his first stolen base of the year and Gushue drew a free pass for two
runners aboard. Sophomore Christian Coronado was summoned from the bullpen for
DeLaFuente (0.2 IP) and kept the Titans down by a pair of runs by having Shafer
fly out to right field.
Maddox
set down the side 1-2-3 in both the seventh and eighth innings, bringing the Gators’
run to 13-consecutive Titans retired dating back to the fourth inning. Junior Nolan
Fontana (Winter Garden, Fla.) started UF’s eighth with a single into right
field and was sacrificed to second on a bunt by Pigott. Tucker came through
with a base-knock up the middle that plated Fontana for a 5-2 lead. Tucker’s
third RBI of the season leaves him three shy of matching Brad Wilkerson’s
school-record total of 214.
Maddox
had registered 10-straight outs before Hutting doubled to right center with one
down in the ninth inning. The right-hander had freshman J.D. Davis fly out to
left field and then fanned freshman pinch hitter Matt Chapman to close the
game. Florida had an 8-6 advantage in hits and neither club committed any
errors.
