Freshman Justin Shafer got the start in left field on Wednesday night but could not foresee the evening that was ahead of him.
Starting in place of senior Daniel Pigott, Shafer picked up six RBI, the highest individual total for any Florida player so far this season. He did so with a line of just 1 for 2, taking advantage of three sacrifice flies. For celebration, Shafer took to the mound in the ninth and struck out the side to complete the No. 1 Gators’ 15-2 victory over the Florida A&M Rattlers (1-12).
“I’ve never seen that box score,” UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “He’s going to be a really good player. Tonight, he obviously had a really good night.”
The game started out slow for Florida (12-1) against an overmatched opponent. Freshman pitcher Johnny Magliozzi gave up a couple runs early to put the Gators in a 2-1 hole. But starting in the third inning, the Gators reeled off a string of five straight innings in which they scored at least two runs.
Senior right fielder Preston Tucker and junior shortstop Nolan Fontana each had two RBI during the stretch.
But it was the performance of less heralded players like freshman third baseman Josh Tobias and various reserves that caught O’Sullivan’s eye the most. Despite going 0 for 2, Tobias consistently got on base and scored three times. He opened the game with an impressive diving defensive play at third.
“The young players are really starting to come around,” O’Sullivan said. “These guys are starting to get some valuable, valuable playing time, and they’ve all played pretty good.”
Once Magliozzi was pulled after three innings, the Gators leaned on senior right-hander Greg Larson to stabilize things and claim the victory. He worked three innings of shutout ball, surrendering three hits but striking out four. After his departure, the relief trio of Daniel Gibson, Ryan Harris and Shafer kept the Rattlers hitless for the remainder of the contest.
Although Magliozzi’s start was once again not what Florida was looking for, O’Sullivan remains largely unconcerned.
“John has pitched a lot better than that, and he’ll be fine,” he said. “I’m not concerned about that at all. It was just one of those nights, and obviously next time he gets the ball he’ll be better.”
O’Sullivan noted on Tuesday night that the Gators are putting a renewed focus on this week after struggling in the past during UF’s spring break period. He has put an extra emphasis on not overlooking opponents like Florida A&M and Florida Atlantic and being able to bury them when the chance is there.
Being that the Gators have won the past two games by a combined score of 31-3, it appears the issues of the past are gone.
“We haven’t given away innings,” O’Sullivan said. “We scored in a bunch of innings last night. … We’ve been putting runs on the board fairly consistently and that’s what good offenses do.”
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
