Taylor Gushue was supposed to suit up for his senior season at Fort Lauderdale Calvary Christian Academy this week.
Instead, the 18-year-old freshman who enrolled at Florida in January is contributing in a big way for the nation's top college team.
After belting a home run in his first career at-bat Friday night, Gushue followed up with a two-RBI performance Saturday afternoon to help lead No. 1 Florida (2-0) past No. 25 Cal State Fullerton (0-2), 5-2 in McKethan Stadium.
"He's been swinging the bat since he's been here," junior Austin Maddox said. "The kid's impressive. He should be a high school senior right now and he's playing with us like he belongs here."
Gushue's effort Saturday showed he belongs. He finished the day 1 for 3 at the plate with two RBI, and his two-run triple in the fourth inning gave Florida the go-ahead run. UF put up a four-run frame, turning a 2-0 deficit into a 4-2 lead.
After Daniel Piggot and Preston Tucker hit back-to-back one-out singles, reigning Southeastern Conference Player of the Year Mike Zunino picked up an RBI on a bloop single to right-center field.
That set the stage for Gushue, who quickly fell behind 0-2 to Titans righty Grahamm Wiest (0-1). After fouling off the third pitch he saw, Gushue relaxed and keyed in on a changeup up in the zone, lining the pitch down the right-field line and into the corner to give the freshman his second and third RBI in his first two career games.
"I'm actually really happy [my career] started off that way," Gushue said. "I couldn't ask for anything more."
While Gushue's bat put the Gators up, Maddox's arm shut the Titans down.
After right-handed pitcher Karsten Whitson (1-0) worked the first five innings for Florida and surrendered two runs, Maddox took over in relief in the sixth.
The right-hander retired the first 10 Cal State Fullerton batters he faced and 12 of 13 overall as he hurled four scoreless innings of relief to earn his first save of the season.
Maddox was efficient, tossing just 44 pitches with 33 for strikes. He used all three pitches in his repertoire: fastball, changeup and a four-seam slider to replace the two-seamer he used last season.
"I had everything working," he said. "My off-speed was working good, the ball was coming out of my hand good — I just felt good all around."
The only bump in the road for Maddox came in the ninth, when he allowed a one-out double on an 0-2 count to Titans right fielder Anthony Hutting —the only base-runner Cal State Fullerton put onbase after the fourth inning. But Hutting wasn't able to advance beyond second, as Maddox got the next batter to pop out to left field before he struck out catcher Chad Wallach to end the game and clinch the series victory for Florida.
"He's a starting-type guy with a closer mentality," Florida coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. "He's got kind of a calming effect. You know what you're going to get. He's aggressive, he is efficient ... but you know what you're gonna get every time out."
Etc.: Tucker recorded his third RBI of the season on a single in the eighth inning to give Florida an insurance run late. He is now three RBI shy of tying Brad Wilkerson's career record of 214. ... The series concludes Sunday at 1 p.m. Left-handed pitcher Brian Johnson will toe the rubber for Florida, while southpaw Kenny Mathews will start for Cal State Fullerton.
Contact Tom Green at tgreen@alligator.org.
Freshman Taylor Gushue's two-run triple in the bottom of the fourth inning helped Florida beat Cal State Fullerton, 5-2, on Saturday at McKethan Stadium.
