Opening Night A Big Hit For The Gators
Saturday, February 19, 2011 | Baseball, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – As if the light towers circling McKethan Stadium weren't enough, a full moon in a cloudless sky hung out over the left-field wall for most of the game.
The brightness washed completely over the No. 1-ranked Florida baseball team. Not even a shutout-spoiling homer by USF freshman James Ramsay in the ninth inning could spoil this opening day.
In the first game of one the most-anticipated seasons in school history, a crowd of 5,157 packed McKethan Stadium to see what all the fuss was about. They came from Gainesville and Ocala and Starke and Newberry on a gorgeous mid-February evening.
“It was almost like a Regional-type atmosphere,'' Gators coach Kevin O'Sullivan said.
The final score: Gators 7, USF 2.
But that was just one win. The Gators not only won the game, they won the day by putting on the kind of show the home fans always hope to see on opening day in between bites of hot dogs and Cracker Jacks. They answered some of the questions that people wondered about heading into the season.
Mostly, they played a really good baseball game.
The Gators pounded 13 hits, nine against Bulls starter Randy Fontanez, one of the best pitchers in the Big East Conference. They played stellar defense, turning two double plays to help out starting pitcher Brian Johnson. Outfielder Preston Tucker hit for power, missing out on the cycle by a triple, his biggest hit a two-run homer in the fifth that allowed everyone in orange and blue to relax a little more.
And Johnson? Well, he was spectacular.
“I felt great to be honest,'' he said.
Johnson faced the minimum 18 batters through six innings. He gave up two hits, and both runners were immediately wiped away on double plays. Johnson struck out six and walked none in a 67-pitch performance.
He retired the final 10 batters he faced and pretty much owned the strike zone thanks to his dancing fastball – he called that his outpitch Friday – and a newly developed changeup.
His goal was go get ahead of hitters quick, something O'Sullivan stressed to him in the offseason. Mission accomplished.
“If you're throwing it for strikes, they've got to swing at it,'' Johnson said.
The Gators took the field Friday evening ready to unveil a team that is ranked No. 1 in the country by Baseball America for the first time in school history. They played like it, ensuring O'Sullivan with a good night's sleep.
Surrounded by more than a dozen reporters behind home plate after the game, the crowd had mostly emptied out and his players scattered to the dugout.
O'Sullivan watched tensely the first time Fontanez went through the order, retiring seven of the first eight batters he faced, including three strikeouts. However, by the end of the third inning, he was breathing easier as the Gators scored three times.
He told his hitters to start swinging.
“We did not want to give away a lot of early at-bats with Fontanez and let him get deep into the game,'' O'Sullivan said. “I thought they did a nice job of adjusting their approach the second time through.''
Tucker ended up the offensive star, going 3-for-5 with a homer, double and three RBIs. Shortstop Nolan Fontana wasn't too shabby either, going 4-for-5 from the leadoff spot with a pair of runs.
Meanwhile, by the time the seventh-inning stretch rolled around, Florida led 7-0 and the crowd was soaking it all in under that bright moon. Tucker was trying to make sure he stayed awake in right field since the pitching was so good.
“I don't think I got a ball until the sixth or seventh inning,'' he said.
In the dugout, O'Sullivan started to release some of the anxiety he has when he showed up for work Friday. The Gators had come to play and he knew it.
“Everybody is anxious,'' O'Sullivan said of opening days. “You never know what you're going to get the first night.''
What O'Sullivan got was his fourth consecutive win in season openers since taking over the program in 2008. What the Gators got was a memorable start to their 2011 season. The fans got a good night at the ballpark.
In reality, it was a good night at the ballpark for everybody but the Bulls.
“I thought the crowd was outstanding,'' O'Sullivan he said. “You've got your home fans behind you, and it's kind of electric, and you're facing a really good pitcher, and everybody is kind of anxious.
“It's always nice to get the first one out of the way.''
