Gator Country

Florida freshman pitcher Hudson Randall follows through on a pitch during the Gators' 8-2 win against Illinois State on Tuesday at McKethan Stadium. / Gator Country photo by Tim Casey

By now, most fans of the University of Florida baseball team are well-aware the Gators were the darling of the national media heading into the 2010 season. An incredibly deep stable of talented young pitchers would be cited by many preseason publications as the primary reason for including Florida among the top-ten college baseball programs in the country heading into the season.

It’s starting to look like those prognostications were dead on.

The Gators (8-2) got a pair of strong performances from their young pitching staff in a 8-2 defeat of Illinois State on Tuesday night.

Freshman Hudson Randall (2-0) put together another impressive performance, allowing just one run on four hits over five innings. Randall struck out five en route to earning the victory.

“That’s him. He throws strike after strike,” Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said after the game. “He’s around the plate, and they played good defense behind him.”

Randall was supported by a strong start, retiring the first nine Illinois State batters in order. He breezed through the first three innings until leadoff hitter Chad Hinshaw came back up to bat at the top of the fourth inning. Hinshaw finally put the ball into play for Illinois State with a triple into the left field corner at the top of the fourth inning. Anthony Ruffolo drove Hinshaw in tie the score at one.

That would be the closest Illinois State would get to the Gators on this night, however.

“We didn’t make any errors, and we didn’t walk anybody,” O’Sullivan pointed out after the game. “Any time we don’t walk people, we’ve got a chance to play really good defense.”

Sophomore lefthander Nick Maronde had a solid showing in relief as well. He did not surrender a baserunner in two innings, while notching four strikeouts on just 24 pitches.

Highly-touted freshman Austin Maddox continued to make his presence felt. His third home run of the season --- a three-run shot in the bottom of the sixth inning ---extended the Florida lead to 8-1, and effectively put the game out of reach for Illinois State. Maddox is providing the same freshman jolt that Preston Tucker gave the Gators a year ago. That Maddox is playing this well, this early, doesn’t seem to come as much of a surprise to the Florida head coach.

“It’s difficult to get the ball out on a line to center,” O’Sullivan said following the game. “He’s done that a couple of times. He’s a bull. He’s what a number four hitter looks like.”

The power surge from Maddox appears opposite of a somewhat slow start to the season for Preston Tucker. The co-SEC Freshman of the Year in 2009 recorded just his second RBI of the season against the Redbirds on Wednesday. He has yet to hit a home run this season after pounding 15 as a freshman. However, Tucker is hitting .421 on the season, and O’Sullivan doesn’t see any issues with his performance through 10 games.

“I think he’s seeing the ball really good,” O’Sullivan said of Tucker. “He scorched two more balls tonight. He’s just now starting to hit his stride a little bit.”

Florida seems to be hitting their stride as well. The Gators will face Illinois State at McKethan Stadium again on Wednesday night at 6:30 PM. Anthony DeSclafani (0-1) will get the nod as the Gators look to sweep the two-game series against the Redbirds.

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