Dalton Guthrie belted a 1-1 fastball to lead off the game with a home run — the first time a Gator has done so since Harrison Bader replaced Guthrie in the SEC Tournament last year vs. Vanderbilt — as the No. 1 Florida Gators (9-1) beat the UCF Knights (6-4) for the second consecutive night, 4-0.
“It’s a nice feeling,” Guthrie said. “I don’t get many of those. For me it’s never for sure that it’s out like when JJ [Schwarz] or one of them hit it. I still gotta sprint around the bases until I know it’s for sure gone.”
That lone run is all the Gators would need as freshman Jackson Kowar made his first career start and an impression along with it. Kowar got a foul out and a strikeout to start the game before giving up back-to-back singles.
“Sully always talks about you have to make a pitch when it matters and that’s a situation where you gotta bear down,” Kowar said.
Kowar did just that, striking out the next batter he faced and then worked into a groove. The freshman retired the side in order in the second before giving up a leadoff single in the third, but Luke Hamblin was caught stealing and Kowar finishes the inning with two more putouts.
Meanwhile, a night after pounding out nine runs and 13 hits the Gators bats looked like they had gotten lost on the turnpike on the way back to Gainesville from Orlando. Florida sent nine batters to the plate after Guthrie’s leadoff home run and all nine returned to the dugout unsuccessful.
Buddy Reed broke the stalemate in the fourth inning with a leadoff single and advanced to second on a throwing error. Reed advanced to third on a balk and was driven in by Pete Alonso, who reached on a fielding error. Mike Rivera then blasted his second home run of the season, a no-doubt, deep shot into left field to extend the lead to 4-0.
“I was probably happier when mike did that than when I hit mine,” Guthrie said of his teammate who had been struggling for over a week. “He works so hard and you could tell that he was kind of a little upset that he wasn’t swinging well.”
Even without a ton of support from the offense Kowar kept things in check for Florida. The freshman struck out eight of the 17 batters he faced over five scoreless innings. He surrendered just three hits, and struck out five of the last six batters he faced. Kowar’s roommate, freshman Brady Singer, replaced him on the mound and typical of the Florida bullpen, there wasn’t any drop-off.
Singer threw two shutout innings, striking out three more before Shaun Anderson, who struggled on Sunday at Miami came on to close the game out. Anderson threw two innings, giving up a hit to the first batter he faced, before setting down the next six in order. Florida’s pitching staff struck out 13 Knights on Wednesday without surrendering a walk. The Florida Gators staff combined to strikeout 22 UCF batters over the two-game set and now have 111 strikeouts in 89 innings.
Florida will host Dartmouth in a three-game series beginning Friday at 7.