It was considered a stroke of luck that freshman first baseman Austin Maddox enrolled at Florida last summer. He brought home that point once again during Florida’s 8-0 victory over Illinois State Wednesday night at McKethan Stadium.
Maddox, one of the top freshmen in the country, went 4-for-5, driving in six runs with the help of his first career grand-slam homer, to help the Gators (9-2) sweep the Redbirds (4-7). Coach Kevin O’Sullivan has put Maddox into the cleanup spot to protect last year’s SEC Freshman of the Year Preston Tucker and it has paid early dividends.
“I guess that’s been my job all year,” he said of his performance against Illinois State. “I’ve just got to stay with my approach and come up when the situation presents itself.”
Maddox now has four home runs and 15 RBI through 11 games.
“Austin had a great night tonight,” O’Sullivan said. “That’s exactly what he needs to do if (opposing teams) are going to pitch around Preston. He’s going to have an opportunity to drive runners in, and that’s exactly what he did.”
The Gators got a strong outing from starting pitcher Anthony DeSclafani (1-1), who responded well after giving up five runs in the first inning against Florida State a week ago. While the Redbirds would advance runners to second and third base in the top of the first, the sophomore right-hander would get out of the jam unscathed. He would give up just one hit and strike out six over 5.1 innings.
“I was really looking forward to getting him out there,” O’Sullivan continued. “I know he was ready for the start, and I’m really proud of the way he responded tonight. He threw the ball really well.”
The Gators also got a strong outing from their bullpen. Steven Rodriguez, Michael Heller and Justin Poovey closed out the game by giving up just one hit in 3.2 innings. The Gators completely shut down the Redbirds offensive attack, allowing just four base runners on the evening.
O’Sullivan also made a couple of adjustments to the lineup against Illinois State, inserting freshman Cody Dent (son of former New York Yankees shortstop and manager Bucky Dent) into the lineup at second base and moving Josh Adams to third base in place of regular starter Bryson Smith. Dent responded with a solid performance as he went 1-for-2 on the evening, driving in the first run of the game.
“First hit as a Gator – a two-out, two-strike RBI,” O’Sullivan noted. “It doesn’t get any better than that. He’s going to be a really good player for us, and it was good to get him a shot out there tonight.”
Look for some other possible lineup tweaks heading into a weekend series against Charleston Southern as O’Sullivan looks for the perfect combination before the Gators head into conference play starting next weekend at home against Mississippi State.
“We’re just experimenting (with the lineup) right now,” he said. “We’ve played a lot of different people. Hopefully by the time this weekend is over, we’ll have a better idea of what’s best as to how we’ll position them.”
Sophomore lefty Alex Panteliodis (3-0, 1.93 ERA) will start on Friday night as Charleston Southern (5-8) arrives in Gainesville for a three-game weekend series. Panteliodis gets the Friday night nod for the second consecutive week after being tapped for the opener in Coral Gables last week against the Miami Hurricanes. Big freshman left-hander Brian Johnson (1-1, 3.27 ERA) is expected to start Saturday, and sophomore Tommy Toledo (2-0, 1.98 ERA) will take the ball on Sunday afternoon against the Buccaneers.