Squirrel struck again for Florida.
Casey Turgeon earned the moniker as a scrappy freshman second baseman on a team loaded with veteran power.
A year later, he’s depended on as a run producer in a young lineup. His first inning three-run shot off the right field foul pole gave No. 17 Florida (1-1) an early lead en route to a 4-2 victory against Duke (1-1) on Saturday afternoon at McKethan Stadium.
“I was kind of standing there (at the plate), because I figured it was going foul,” Turgeon said. “I guess the wind held it in here.”
On the hill, Florida right-hander Tucker Simpson shook off a shaky 23-pitch inning in his first collegiate start. At 6-foot-6, Simpson is Florida’s tallest pitcher. With a high leg kick and whipping arm action, Simpson kept Duke off-balance by tossing his curveball for strikes.
A fourth inning two-run home run by designated hitter Chris Marconcini spoiled an otherwise solid start from the Oxford, Ala., native.
With his family in Gainesville to watch his debut, the freshman threw 71 pitches in four innings.
As Simpson found his groove, Duke right-hander Drew Van Orden could not settle on a release point.
He did not get to an 0-2 count until the eighth batter of the game.
To coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s dismay, the Gators could not capitalize until the sixth inning.
A revolving door of Duke relievers kept Florida wondering what was next, and the McKethan Stadium faithful grew sick of mound visits.
After Taylor Gushue led off the sixth ¬¬with a walk, the Gators put their small ball approach to work. Redshirt freshman outfielder Cory Reid reached on a pinch-hit blooper to right field.
The runners advanced a base on a Josh Tobias sac bunt.
Cody Dent, a career .180 hitter, brought Gushue home with a sacrifice fly to left.
The insurance run gave Florida a 4-2 lead.
“To go into the last three innings, that two- or three-run lead is huge, especially after coming off a loss last night,” O’Sullivan said.
Freshman left-hander Parker Danciu provided 3.2 innings of scoreless relief to get his first career win.
He had the help of his defense.
The West Boca Community High School product allowed a leadoff single to start the eighth in his fourth inning of work.
Duke right fielder Jeff Kramer then worked a 3-1 count before sending a ground ball down the line to Florida first baseman Vickash Ramjit who started a 3-6 double play.
O’Sullivan would’ve gone to sophomore closer Johnny Magliozzi for the two-inning save had Danciu not gotten the double play.
Two freshmen allowed a combined two runs over 7.2 innings for Florida.
The Gators went to Magliozzi for the final 1.1 innings to complete his first career save.
Magliozzi, with his “Wild Thing” warmup song, mowed down Duke by throwing 11 of 13 pitches for strikes.
While the Gators labored through a chilly opening night against the Blue Devils, Saturday started off with the big hit Florida didn’t get the night before.
Everything else fell into place.
“Momentum is huge in college athletics regardless of the sport,” O’Sullivan said. “Obviously coming off of last night’s loss, I think the three-run homer was huge for us to relax.”
Contact Adam Pincus at apincus@alligator.org.
Sophomore second baseman Casey Turgeon throws the ball to first base during Florida’s 4-2 win against Florida Gulf Coast on Mar. 9, 2012, at McKethan Stadium. Turgeon had four hits and three RBI during a 6-4 victory against Indiana on Saturday.
