In his first career start, Jackson Kowar didn’t disappoint.
The hard-throwing freshman fanned all three batters he faced in the fourth inning against UCF Wednesday night.
He struck out the first two batters in the fifth, collecting his fifth-straight strikeout before retiring the side on a groundout.
Despite Florida recording just three hits, Kowar’s dominance helped the No. 1 Gators (9-1) defeat the Knights 4-0 at McKethan Stadium.
Kowar, who earned his first career win, allowed just three hits in five innings while striking out eight. The Charlotte, North Carolina, native said he was glad his first start came after his first appearance.
“I had a couple of outings under my belt,” Kowar said in a release. “Once I was able to get into a flow, I felt good.”
At the plate, the Gators managed just three hits against UCF (6-4), two of which left the yard.
Sophomore Dalton Guthrie led off with a solo home run to left in the bottom of the first to get UF on the board 1-0. The Sarasota native finished the game 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
In the fourth, Florida turned to the long ball again.
After Buddy Reed scored from third on a Peter Alonso ground ball that the shortstop botched, sophomore Mike Rivera blasted a two-run homer to left center to give the Gators a 4-0 advantage.
Rivera went 1-for-2 and collected two RBIs and a run scored in the win. The sophomore catcher’s two homers are tied with fellow catcher JJ Schwarz for the team lead.
The four-run lead was more than enough for UF’s pitchers, as freshman Brady Singer and junior Shaun Anderson both tossed two scoreless innings to seal the win.
UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan said Kowar and Singer were particularly impressive.
“That’s about as good a pitching performance from freshmen that we’ve ever had here,” he said in a release.
O’Sullivan also said he liked the way the pitching and defense made up for Florida’s lack of hits to win the game.
“It's early in the year, and we've got some things to work on,” he said. “The most important thing is that we're winning, and we're winning in different ways."
The Gators will next take on Dartmouth in a three-game series this weekend in Gainesville. Game 1 will take place Friday at 7 p.m.
Contact Patrick Pinak at ppinak@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @Pinakk12.
UF pitcher Jackson Kowar.
