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Brian Johnson did it with his arm and his bat on opening night.
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The sophomore left-handed pitcher tossed six scoreless innings and
went 2 for 4 with two doubles and an RBI to lead No. 1 Florida
(1-0) to a 7-2 win against South Florida (0-1) on Friday night in
front of 5,157 fans in McKethan Stadium.
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Heading into the matchup, coach Kevin O’Sullivan said he wanted to
get five innings out of his starter while limiting him to 70
pitches.
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Johnson (1-0) made the most of it, facing the minimum 18 batters in
six innings, striking out six – one each inning – and walking
none.
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“When he’s throwing breaking balls for strikes and keeping the ball
low in the zone, he’s going to be tough to hit,” right fielder
Preston Tucker said. “He did a great job tonight.”
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The lefty set the tone early for the Gators, finding his groove
after his first pitch, subsequently striking out Bulls leadoff
hitter James Ramsay to start the game. He kept it up throughout,
throwing first-pitch strikes to 15 of the 18 batters he faced. The
lefty allowed just two hits, both singles.
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“You throw it for strikes, they got to swing at it,” Johnson
said.
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Even when Johnson allowed the two base runners, the defense stepped
up to help him out, as USF hit into double plays after each
hit.
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After two and a half scoreless innings, the Gators busted the game
open in the bottom of the third when Tucker hit a bases-loaded
single with one out, scoring freshman Zack Powers.
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After a scoreless fourth inning, the Gators added to their lead in
the fifth when sophomore shortstop Nolan Fontana singled to lead
off the inning.
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Then Fontana, who had a career-high four hits, stole second and
senior second baseman Josh Adams laid down a sacrifice bunt to
advance him to third.
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Tucker followed with a two-run shot over the wall in right-center
field, drilling a low and away changeup for the first home run of
the season. The Gators plated two more in the inning, and chased
USF starter Randy Fontanez with two outs in the fifth after he had
thrown 73 pitches.
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Tucker finished the night 3 for 5 with three RBIs and was a triple
shy of hitting for the cycle.
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“We got a great pitching staff with a lot of depth and I think any
guy we have on our team is as good as any guy out there,” Tucker
said. “If we could hit our pitching, we could have success against
any other guy.”
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The Gators’ bullpen relieved Johnson with an inning each from
righties Anthony DeSclafani and Jonathon Crawford before lefty Alex
Panteliodis closed out the ninth.
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was the first time Panteliodis, who underwent hip surgery in the
offseason, made a relief appearance since last season’s series
against USF. He gave up two earned runs, including a home run by
Ramsey to get USF on the board.
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The teams face again today at 4 p.m. with sophomore right-handed
pitcher Hudson Randall taking the mound for UF.
