Tommy Toledo has been thinking about his last outing for 59 days.
But in the sophomore’s first appearance since March 14, when he suffered a fractured nose and several broken bones in his face after being hit by a line drive against Charleston Southern, he blocked out the past.
Toledo received a standing ovation from the 3,147 Gators fans in attendance when he entered in the seventh inning of No. 4 Florida’s (34-12, 17-7 Southeastern Conference) 7-3 win against FAU (31-19) in McKethan Stadium Wednesday.
“That was unbelievable,” Toledo said. “I wasn’t expecting that at all. I was just surprised I kept throwing strikes in the warm-up pitches. I was shaking up there, to be honest, but that was a cool feeling.”
Catcher Mike Zunino said watching Toledo walk back on the mound was special.
“I got chills out there when he went out there and got that standing ovation,” he said.
Zunino greeted Toledo at the mound before he started warming up. The two slapped gloves and Zunino told him to have fun.
The pitcher received a similar warm greeting when he walked off the mound after pitching a scoreless, yet far from flawless, frame. Coach Kevin O’Sullivan admitted he grew emotional watching Toledo pitch.
“As a coach, you get a little choked up,” he said. “I mean, you know how tough it was to get back up here. To be honest with you, if it was up to him, he probably would have been ready to go (last weekend) at Alabama. He was chomping at the bit.”
O’Sullivan said he wanted to hold the pitcher until he could throw in a home game. The coach does not know whether Toledo will stay in the bullpen or become a starter like he was before the metal plates were put in his face.
Toledo needs to rebuild his arm strength as if he was back in spring training, O’Sullivan said.
On Toledo’s first pitch, Owls third baseman Nick Burkhalter hit a hard line drive just left of the pitcher for a single. Nathan Pittman hit Toledo’s third pitch just as hard to the right for a line out.
Toledo said he did not think about his injury on the mound, though.
FAU third baseman Joey Burkhalter followed his teammate with a single to right-center. After throwing just his fourth pitch in almost two months, Toledo received a visit from Zunino.
The catcher told him to keep the ball down and called for a breaking ball. Toledo recovered, throwing a strike.
“I know he’s thrown about three or four bullpens, but to be as pinpoint as he was, that was the Tommy Toledo of old right there,” Zunino said.
Zunino helped his hurler in the next at-bat, picking Burkhalter off at first. Toledo then struck out Anthony Mesa with a slider to end the inning, igniting the crowd in the process.
“That was a pretty cool feeling,” Toledo said. “I’m excited to get it over with, but it was probably one of the best feelings I’ve ever had here at Florida.”
His teammates greeted him with a similar reception.
“He battled real hard to get back into it,” said senior Matt den Dekker, who hit one of UF’s three home runs Wednesday. “He comes out and works hard every day. He’s such a great kid, on and off the field. To see him back out here like that, it was awesome. It was a great moment for us.”
