Florida Gators
Stony Brook
Kevin O’Sullivan Wins 300th Game as No. 2 Florida Takes Opener Over Stony Brook, 1-0
Saturday, February 28, 2015 | Baseball
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Sophomore Logan Shore and senior Bobby Poyner combined on a three-hitter and freshman JJ Schwarz drove in the game's only run with a sixth-inning double to lift No. 2 Florida (8-1) to a 1-0 victory over Stony Brook (2-5) on Friday night at McKethan Stadium. The triumph was the 300th for eighth-year Gator head coach Kevin O'Sullivan, who reached the plateau the fastest in school history.
Junior Jack Parenty led off the game with a double down the left-field line for the Seawolves and took third on a wild pitch. However, Shore (2-0) had a fielder's choice by senior Robert Chavarria cut down Parenty and had senior Cole Peragine line into an inning-ending double play. That was the lone hit allowed by the Florida right-hander over 6.1 innings.
Schwarz broke the scoreless tie in the sixth with a double into the left-field corner that scored junior Harrison Bader (3-for-4), who had opened the frame with an infield single. Freshman Kevin Kernan replaced junior Tim Knesnik (0-2, 5.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R) and a fielder's choice by freshman Mike Rivera latererased Schwarz on a 5-2-6-1-5 putout. With Rivera at second base, Kernan had junior pinch hitter Mike Fahrman fly out to center field to hold the Seawolves' deficit at a run.
Shore issued a one-out walk in the seventh to Peragine and Poyner was summoned from the bullpen. The left-hander caught sophomore Casey Baker looking on strikes and had a grounder by Johnny Caputo force the runner at second to complete the stanza.
After junior Richie Martin was hit by a pitch and Bader singled into right field to begin UF's eighth, the Seawolves called upon junior Chad Lee. The righty retired the next three Gators to hold his team's deficit at 1-0. Poyner yielded a one-out single to Chavarria in the ninth but then had Peragine hit into a game-ending 4-3 double play, the third turned by the hosts. The southpaw worked 2.2 scoreless innings to notch his first save of the year.
Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan
On winning his 300th game…
“Well, a lot of that credit goes to Brad (Weitzel) and Craig (Bell) and everybody involved. Obviously, it's a nice milestone but our main focus is helping our players get better every day. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's ballgame.”
On tonight's game…
“I thought Logan (Shore) pitched well tonight. I thought his command was good tonight. I certainly think that as we move on, his command will certainly get better. I thought Bobby (Poyner) came in and did a heck of job. Obviously offensively tonight, we didn't swing the bats particularly well in offensive counts. But, credit Stony Brook as they played well.”
Sophomore Logan Shore
On his performance tonight…
“I felt pretty good. [I] definitely felt better than last weekend, as my body felt a lot looser. I just tried to get ahead, throw with the count in my favor by throwing strikes and see what happens.”
Freshman JJ Schwarz
On his RBI double…
“It was a 0-2 curveball and I hadn't really seen a curveball from him the entire game. But, I just stayed back a little bit longer than I usually do and I got lucky as it went right down the line.”
Postgame Notes
- Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan earned 300th career victory tonight. He became the fastest to do so in Gator baseball history.
- O'Sullivan reached the plateau in his 456th game, while Dave Fuller (1948-75) earned his 300th win in his 467th game and Joe Arnold (1984-94) hit the mark in 483 games.
- Sophomore Logan Shore tossed 6.1 scoreless innings tonight and only allowed one hit while striking out three Seawolves. In addition, he registered the longest start by a Gator this season.
- Shore has now tossed 15.1 consecutive scoreless innings dating back to last season.
- The Gators started five freshmen again tonight: Dalton Guthrie (2B), JJ Schwarz (DH), Mike Rivera (C), Christian Hicks (3B) and Logan Browning (RF).
- Sophomore A.J. Puk had his third double of the year in the fourth inning.
- Sophomore Buddy Reed stole his team-leading fifth base with two down in the fifth inning.
- Schwarz's second two-bagger of the campaign brought across junior Harrison Bader and was his 13th RBI.
- Senior Bobby Poyner pitched the final 2.2 innings and retired seven of the nine Stony Brook hitters he faced. Tonight marked his first save of the season and the fifth of his career.
- With tonight's win, the Gators are now 2-0 all-time against Stony Brook. The two school's previously met in 1982, when UF downed the Seawolves 22-0 in Gainesville.
- Florida recorded its first shutout since May 8, 2014, when the Gators downed Vanderbilt, 1-0, in the series opener in Gainesville.
Up Next
The Gators and Seawolves will meet again tomorrow at 4 p.m., with sophomore A.J. Puk (1-1, 5.14) facing junior Tyler Honahan (1-0, 2.53) in a matchup of left-handers. The game can be heard on the Gator IMG Sports Network with Jeff Cardozo and Bob White.
Follow the Gators
Season tickets, Complete Game Mini-Plans and Single-Game tickets can be purchased online through GatorZone or by calling the Gator Ticket Office at 1-800-34-GATOR from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday. For all of the latest information on Florida baseball, log on to GatorZone or follow the team's Twitter account @GatorZoneBB.
