Alex Faedo, Dalton Guthrie and David Lee were in attendance along with 5,270 Florida Gators fans, the fifth largest crowd for a home opener, to celebrate the 2017 National Championship and kick off the 2018 season.
Jonathan India got Florida on the board and Brady Singer dominated during his first Friday night start as the Gators went on to win 7-1.
Singer (1-0) didn’t sleep much on Wednesday night and Thursday wasn’t much better. He was up at five and without class to occupy his day he found himself just counting ticks of the clock until his first start of the season.
The waiting and the nerves didn’t show on the mound. Singer pumped fastballs in at 95 and 96 miles an hour with a dozen scouts pointing radar guns at him and turned in a 1-2-3 first inning on 15 pitches.
“He was sharp,” O’Sullivan said. “That’s probably going to be one of the more difficult starts he’s going to have, to be honest with you. First start of the year, the anticipation, the expectation and everything that goes into it.”
Singer threw up zeroes but his counter part, right-handed sophomore Brendan White, was matching the potential top pick in the MLB Draft. White retired the first four Gators he faced before a walk and nine of the first 10 batters he faced.
India (1-4) changed that in the fourth when he led the frame off with a home run on an 0-2 offering. The no doubt about it dinger cleared the stands in left field to give Florida a 1-0 lead.
Siena battled back, getting to Singer in the sixth inning. Yasser Santana (1-2) singled to right field to begin the inning. A bunt moved him to second and a groundout 90 more feet to third. With two outs Singer made his pitch to get out of the inning, inducing a soft roller to freshman Brady McConnell at shortstop. The freshman mishandled the ball, allowing Santana to score, unearned.
Florida’s captain, JJ Schwarz, led the Gators’ half inning off with a double to left and moved to third when Nelson Maldonado sent a long fly ball to right field. Keenan Bell grounded out to bring up newcomer Wil Dalton. The sophomore who spent last year at Columbia State Community College was making his first appearance, which when speaking after the game became quite clear just how different junior college is than Florida.
“They don’t have this in junior college,” he said with 10 reporters around him. One responded, “the fans or the media?”
“Both.”
Dalton ripped a 1-0 fastball into left field, a RBI single that proved to be the difference. Blake Reese followed Dalton with a double to extend the lead to 3-1.
Singer cruised the rest of the way finishing the night with eight strikeouts to just one walk on 89 pitches over 7 innings.
Freshman Jordan Butler came on for the eighth and ninth. The southpaw struck out the side in the eighth inning with a walk. He struck out and walked one more each in the ninth before a 6-4-3 game ending double play.
The Florida Gators will resume their opening weekend series on Saturday at 4 pm.