Mike Rivera has a knack for driving in runs.
With Florida and Florida Gulf Coast tied at 1-1 in the fourth, the sophomore catcher turned on a 3-2 fastball and sent it flying over the left-field bleachers to give the Gators a 2-1 lead.
Rivera drove in two of Florida’s four runs as the No. 1 Gators (1-0) defeated the Eagles (0-1) 4-2 in their season opener at McKethan Stadium Friday night.
Rivera said he wasn’t trying to hit a homer, but he knew it was gone once he hit it.
“I go up to square balls and wherever they go, they go,” he said.
Though the home run broke the tie, Florida scored three of its runs via sacrifice flies, starting in the second inning.
Peter Alonso led off with an infield single that FGCU’s shortstop couldn’t make the play on. After Alonso advanced to second on a wild pitch, Jeremy Vasquez then followed with a line-drive single into center field.
After Rivera lifted a sacrifice fly to left, Alonso trotted home to put the Gators up 1-0.
Two innings later, the Eagles put together their own rally to tie the score 1-1.
UF starting pitcher Logan Shore allowed a walk and a single to lead off the inning. Two batters later, FGCU’s Tyler Selesky scored on what should’ve been an inning-ending tailor-made double play, but Alonso couldn’t scoop the ball out of the dirt at first.
Yet in the bottom half of the fourth inning, Rivera struck again.
With one out and nobody on base, he blasted UF’s first homer of the season to give the Gators a 2-1 lead.
Rivera finished his night 1-for-3 with two RBIs.
Meanwhile, the Eagles could only muster the one run off Shore, who allowed three hits, two walks and struck out six batters over five innings.
Shore, who earned his first win of the season, said he was happy he met his goal of pitching five innings.
“It kind of gets the jitters out and gets the first one out of the way,” he said. “It felt good.”
Florida tacked on its two final runs in the fifth despite recording only one hit in the inning.
With the bases loaded and no one out, sophomore JJ Schwarz lifted a sacrifice fly to left-center field that plated freshman Jonathan India. Alonso then followed with a sacrifice fly of his own to center that scored sophomore Dalton Guthrie from third.
The 4-1 lead was enough for lefty relief pitcher Kirby Snead to hold on to. The junior tossed three scoreless innings and struck out a career-high four batters.
FGCU added one more run in the ninth inning on a sacrifice fly, but UF’s Dane Dunning closed the door and earned his first career save.
After the win, Shore praised Florida’s relief pitchers.
“I think that just proves what our staff can do,” he said.
The Gators and Eagles will meet again today at McKethan Stadium at 4 p.m.
Contact Patrick Pinak at ppinak@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @Pinakk12.
Logan Shore pitches during Florida's 4-2 win against Florida Gulf Coast on Feb. 19, 2016, at McKethan Stadium.
