WHAT HAPPENED: Florida earned its third shutout of the season with a 9-0 win over Rhode Island in the series opener at McKethan Stadium.
Gators' starter Brady Singer cruised on Friday night, going seven innings with just two hits allowed and eight strikeouts to improve to 4-0 on the season.
Florida jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning. Wil Dalton led off the game with a single and took second on a wild pitch. He scored on JJ Schwarz's RBI single to left.
Schwarz advanced to third on Jonathan India's single to right and scored on a grounder from Keenan Bell.
Nick Horvath made it 3-0 in the second inning with a solo home run, his second of the year.
Florida broke the game open in the fourth inning when Nelson Maldonado hit the first grand slam of his career to make it 7-0.
Nick Long and Connor Churchill each worked a scoreless inning out of the bullpen to finish off the shutout.
FROM THE COACH: Head coach Kevin O'Sullivan on Brady Singer: "He worked awfully hard this week to try and get the ball down in the zone a little bit more, get some of that sink back that we're so used to seeing. I thought he was really sharp. When he's got that sinker going, he's got a chance to have some really quick innings -- those 8, 10, 12 pitch innings -- and get us deep into the ball game. I think he threw some really quality change-ups today as well."
On wrapping up non-conference play this weekend: "The challenge that we talked about is we're going to have to play a little bit better. We haven't played great yet, I think up to our capabilities. With Florida State coming up next week and traveling on the road to start SEC play. We're going to have to play better. This is almost like a dress rehearsal this weekend, we're going to have to dial it up a little bit."
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Nick Horvath – Horvath went 3-for-4 on Friday night with a home run and a double, raising his season average to .319 (15-for-47). Entering 2018, Horvath had a career average of just .173.
STANDOUT STAT: 11 – Brady Singer retired 11 in a row, beginning at the end of the third inning through the top of the seventh.
UP NEXT: Florida and Rhode Island will play a doubleheader on Saturday with the first game starting at 1 p.m. The second game will follow approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.
Both games will stream live on SEC Network+ and on the Gators IMG Radio Network (98.1 FM/AM850 in Gainesville).
