No. 1 Florida Faces Bethune-Cookman On Tuesday Night
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 | Baseball
Coming off of a season-opening series victory over No. 16 Cal State Fullerton, No. 1 Florida (2-1) continues its homestand by welcoming Bethune-Cookman (2-1) to town for a Tuesday night matchup at McKethan Stadium. The Wildcats took two of three games from Florida Gulf Coast in Fort Myers (8-6, 3-7, 3-1) to begin the 2012 campaign.
Freshman Johnny Magliozzi (East Milton, Mass.) (0-0, 0.00) will make his first collegiate start against Bethune-Cookman and will oppose Wildcat sophomore righty Scott Garner (0-0, 4.50). The right-hander was the Gators' sixth of eight pitchers on Sunday against CSF and allowed a pair of hits and zero runs in an inning of work. Magliozzi was chosen in the 35th round of the 2011 Major League Baseball Draft by the Tampa Bay Rays.
Florida remains atop all four of the major collegiate baseball polls: Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, National Collegiate Baseball Writers (NCBWA) and USA Today/ESPN after the first weekend of action.
UF opened its season by taking two of three games from No. 16 Cal State Fullerton at McKethan Stadium. It was the first time that the teams had ever met on the diamond. The Gators won the first two contests by scores of 7-3 and 5-2 before the Titans avoided the sweep with an 8-5 come-from-behind victory on Sunday afternoon. UF has now claimed all five season-opening series in head coach Kevin O'Sullivan's tenure.
Senior outfielder/first baseman Preston Tucker (Tampa, Fla.) started his final campaign by going 6-for-11 (.545) with four RBI, three runs, a pair of homers and a double. He is two RBI shy of matching Brad Wilkerson's school-record career total of 214. Junior catcher Mike Zunino (Cape Coral, Fla.), the 2011 SEC Player of the Year, was 5-for-12 (.417), freshman Casey Turgeon (Palm Harbor, Fla.) started all three games at second base and was 3-for-9 (.333) with two walks and two runs and freshman Josh Tobias (Greensboro, N.C.) started the entire series at third base and was 2-for-9 (.222) with two runs. Florida batted .284 (27-for-95) against Cal State Fullerton, had an earned run average of 4.33 and committed just one error on the weekend.
Fullerton overcame a 3-0 deficit with four runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to post an 8-5 victory on Sunday. Tucker was 3-for-4 for the Gators with his second homer of the campaign and junior Brian Johnson (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) (0-0, 0.00) tossed four shutout innings with five strikeouts in his season debut working on a pitch count and seven relievers followed the lefty to the mound.
UF used a four-run fourth inning and solid relief pitching by junior Austin Maddox (Jacksonville, Fla.) to secure the series with a 5-2 win on Saturday. After sophomore starter Karsten Whitson (Chipley, Fla.) (1-0, 3.60) yielded two runs and five hits 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 fl y in his collegiate debut and Tucker (2-for-4) added an insurance RBI single in the eighth inning as Florida defeated CSF for the second-straight day. The Gators started four freshmen in game two: Gushue (designated hitter), Shafer (right field), Tobias (third base) and Turgeon (second base).
Before an Opening Night record crowd of 5,356 fans at McKethan Stadium on Friday, Florida snapped a 3-3 tie with four runs in the seventh inning on its way to a 7-3 victory. Tucker (1-for-3) belted a game-tying solo homer in the sixth and provided the Gators with an insurance run with a sacrifice fl y in the seventh, junior reliever Steven Rodriguez (Miami, Fla.) threw 2.1 scoreless innings and had three strikeouts to pick up the win, while Gushue (1-for-4) clubbed a home run on his first collegiate swing. Junior right-hander Hudson Randall (Atlanta, Ga.) scattered five hits and permitted three runs over 5.2 innings but was not involved in the decision.
Gushue was chosen as the initial SEC Freshman of the Week for the 2012 season on Monday after a memorable opening weekend. Having enrolled at Florida in January after graduating from Calvary Christian Academy a semester early, Gushue homered on the fi rst pitch he saw as a collegian Friday night in the Gators' opener against No. 16 Cal State Fullerton. With a solo shot with two down in the second inning off CSF ace Dylan Floro, Gushue became the first UF player to homer on his first swing since Chris Freshcorn accomplished the feat on March 5, 2008, against Campbell. Maddox homered in his collegiate at bat against USF on Feb. 19, 2010. Gushue moved Florida in front on Saturday with a two-run triple in the fourth inning of an eventual 5-2 win and batted .286 (2-for-7) with three RBI, two runs and a 1.000 slugging percentage in the two games he played.
The crowd of 5,356 spectators was a record crowd for the Gators on Opening Night and marked the 25th time since McKethan Stadium opened in 1988 that UF drew in excess of 5,000 fans. The previous top Opening Night crowd at McKethan Stadium was 5,169 spectators for the Orange and Blue's 7-4 victory over Miami (Fla.) on Feb. 6, 1999. The total attendance for the series was 14,389, surpassing the previous record total of 14,003 versus USF from Feb. 18-20, 2011. It was also the third-highest attended series at McKethan Stadium in school history behind 14,838 against South Carolina (March 25-27, 2011) and 14,619 against Georgia (May 14-16, 2010). With an average of 4,796 fans, the Gators rank eighth in NCAA attendance and are currently fifth in total attendance.
In the last meeting between UF & B-CU, Zunino belted a pair of homers and drove in a career-high seven runs and six Gator pitchers combined on a five-hitter as Florida blanked Bethune-Cookman, 11-0, on May 3, 2011. Zunino (3-for-4) opened the scoring with a two-run jack with two down in the first inning, added a three-run bomb in the fifth and tacked on a two-run single in the eighth to spearhead the team's offensive attack. Bryson Smith was 2-for-5 with three runs and chipped in with a two-run single and Nolan Fontana (Winter Garden, Fla.) scored twice, drew a pair of walks and legged out his team-leading fifth triple. Alex Panteliodis matched his season high with five strikeouts and allowed three hits over 4.1 scoreless innings. Florida's pitching staff registered 10 K without issuing any walks and the club's notched its ninth of 11 shutouts on the campaign.
Gator Bytes
*Florida has captured all 25 meetings against Bethune-Cookman, with 24 at home.
*Kevin O'Sullivan sports a 5-0 record versus the Wildcats, including an 8-7 walk-off win in the opening round of the 2009 NCAA Gainesville Regional.
*With 212 career RBI, senior Preston Tucker is on the verge of the school-record total of 214 held by Brad Wilkerson (1996-98). *Tucker's 43 homers rank third behind Matt LaPorta (74, 2004-07) and Wilkerson (55), while he is currently fourth in doubles with 54 and needs eight to pass Mark Ellis (61, 1996-99) for the number one spot.
*Tucker's total of six hits is tied for second in the SEC and his 263 career hits are three behind Wilkerson for fifth at UF.
*The Gators used a total of 11 pitchers on the opening weekend, three of whom were freshmen – RHP Johnny Magliozzi, LHP Bobby Poyner and RHP Justin Shafer.
*Florida's starting pitchers were 1-0 with a 3.07 earned run average and had eight strikeouts and three walks in 14.2 innings of work.
*Florida is hitting .301 (25-for-83) against right-handers and .167 (2-for-12) versus lefties.
*Led by junior Mike Zunino (2-for-3, .667), the Gators are 8-for-20 (.400) with runners in scoring position.
*Eight of the team's 17 RBI this year have come with two out, two apiece by junior Nolan Fontana and senior Daniel Pigott.
*Only seven of 27 leadoff batters have reached base against the UF pitching staff, good for a .259 clip.
*The Gators' most productive inning has been the seventh (five runs) and the squad has scored four runs in both the second and fourth innings.
*Junior Austin Maddox worked four shutout innings on Saturday for the club's first save of the year. He recorded five saves last season and his first came on April 10 at Mississippi State (3-1).
*Zunino caught two of four runners stealing last weekend to tie for the league lead in that category.
*Florida's .992 fielding percentage, one error in 120 chances, is second in the SEC behind Kentucky (1.000), while its four double plays turned are first.
