Florida Gators
Maine
Logan Shore Leads No. 2 Florida Past Maine, 5-0
Saturday, March 7, 2015 | Baseball
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Sophomore Logan Shore and junior Eric Hanhold combined on a six-hitter as No. 2 Florida (12-2) took the opener of its weekend series with a 5-0 shutout of Maine (4-10) on Friday night at McKethan Stadium. Shore (3-0) threw eight scoreless frames before Hanhold made his season debut by closing out the Gators' second shutout of the season.
The Orange and Blue opened the scoring in the second inning with four runs on three hits and three errors against freshman Justin Courtney (0-4). With the bases loaded and one down, an infield single by sophomore Buddy Reed brought home freshman Christian Hicks and junior Harrison Bader followed with a single through the left side to drive in freshman Logan Browning. A fielding error on a grounder by junior Richie Martin enabled freshman Dalton Guthrie (2-for-5) to come across and freshman JJ Schwarz lofted a sacrifice fly into center field to plate Reed for a 4-0 count.
Hicks belted a leadoff homer in the Gators' sixth inning for a 5-0 advantage. The round-tripper into the visiting bullpen gave him three RBI in the past two games.
Shore yielded five hits and totaled a season-high five strikeouts in stretching his scoreless streak to 23.1 innings dating back to the opener of the NCAA Gainesville Regional last May against the College of Charleston.
Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan
On Logan Shore's pitching performance tonight:
“The second inning he really bared down. He threw all of his pitches for strikes, didn't misfire and he was really good tonight. That's the outing that we have been waiting for. He hadn't been as crisp his first few starts, but tonight he was really good. He has been working really hard on that breaking ball. It has been getting better and better each time out, but tonight it was probably the best that it has been. He threw it for strikes and down in the zone. Maine came out swinging the bats and they put the ball into play early on. That's why he was able to get through eight innings and stay within his pitch count. He had all three pitches working tonight.”
On Christian Hicks' first career home run tonight:
“He swung the bat very well tonight and hit a ball well to left center as well. He's a good baseball player and can play a lot of different positions. He has a flat swing and stays in the strike zone. I am really pleased with him and proud of the way he swung the bat tonight.”
Sophomore right-hander Logan Shore
On pitching a season-high eight innings:
“It felt really good, especially to go eight and get my pitch count up a little bit. I've been at 75 the past couple weeks, so to be able to stretch it out and get up to 95 and extend it into the later innings of the game is definitely a confidence-booster for me, especially for Sully and the rest of the guys.”
Freshman first baseman Christian Hicks
On his first career home run:
“I had a bad at bat the time before, so I was just trying to have a good at bat that time up. I know I hit it pretty well, but I kept running because I didn't know. I kept thinking it could hit the top of the wall, so I just had to keep running.”
On how he feels playing first base:
“I'm getting a lot more comfortable at first base. At the beginning, I didn't know that much about playing over there, but we do a lot of practice and the coaches help me a lot. Pete (Alonso) helps me a lot, like if I do stuff out in the field, and he sees that I can improve it, he helps me when I get in the dugout. I'm getting a lot more comfortable.”
Postgame Notes
- Dalton Guthrie singled in his first two at bats and leads the Gators with seven multiple-hit games.
- Christian Hicks blasted his first-career homer in the bottom of the sixth inning, which was the final tally of the game.
- Logan Shore recorded the longest outing for a Gator starter of the season and the second-longest of his career, as he tossed eight shutout innings with five strikeouts and zero walks.
- Eric Hanhold pitched the ninth for Florida to complete UF's second shutout of the season and second straight on a Friday night. The first came a week ago against Stony Brook, 1-0.
- Following tonight's win, UF is now 7-1 all-time against Maine, including a 7-0 mark in Gainesville.
Up Next
The Gators and Black Bears will meet again tomorrow at 4 p.m., with sophomore A.J. Puk (2-1, 4.61) facing senior Scott Heath (2-0, 3.32) in a matchup of left-handers. The game can be heard on the Gator IMG Sports Network with Jeff Cardozo and Steve Russell and will be carried on SEC Network+ with Nick Belmonte and Larry Vettel through participating TV providers only through WatchESPN.
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