Beyond the Scorebook: Florida Gators drop season opener to St. John's

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Gators dug an early hole that they were unable to climb out of. The St. John’s Red Storm jumped all over Friday night starter Cade Fisher on the way to a 9-5 win at Condron Family Ballpark.

Friday’s loss marks the first time the Gators (0-1) have dropped a season opener since 2013. That team finished the regular season 29-28 before going 0-2 in the Indiana Regional to finish under .500. It is the only team in the Kevin O’Sullivan era to finish a season under .500.

Fisher struggled to find the zone and when he did the Red Storm was aggressive swinging the bats. Fisher allowed six runs, five earned over just two innings of work before being lifted in the third inning.

“They jumped on me pretty early,” Fisher said. “I don’t know what kind of approach they had but they were hitting some of my fastballs and they had a good feel for my changeup, too.”

Florida turned to the bullpen early and got good outings from Ryan Slater and Fisher Jameson. The offense was able to scratch and claw its way back, narrowing the lead to just two runs before St. John’s tacked on two more runs in the eighth inning bringing the score to it’s final 9-5.

“We’ll just have to put this one behind us, we’re not used to losing on opening nights,” O’Sullivan said. “Congratulations to St. John’s for playing better than us tonight.”

Friday’s key players

RHP Ryan Slater: It was not Cade Fisher’s night but when called on to stop the bleeding, junior Ryan Slater did just that. Slater entered in the third with two runners on and no outs and down 4-0. He allowed one of the inherited runners to score but settled into the game. Slater lasted 3.1 innings allowed one earned run and gave Florida a chance to chip away at an early St. John’s lead.

SS Colby Shelton: The Alabama transfer announced himself in the fifth inning launching the first home run of the season — a massive 400-foot bomb onto the right field berm. He followed that up with a leadoff double to left center field. He’s a professional hitter playing college baseball.

The plays that mattered most …

Cade Fisher’s outing: It started well. Fisher recorded two outs, including a strikeout on just seven pitches. He hit the next batter he faced and then the snowball rolled down the hill with nobody able to get in front of it to slow its momentum. Jimmy Keenan doubled home the opening run of the game and scored on a single from Aries Samek.

The second inning was worse. Fisher walked the leadoff man, and committed an error on a bunt within the first seven pitches. In the blink of an eye St. John’s had put up three more runs extending its lead to 5-0.

What this result means for the Florida Gators

This is the Gators’ first loss on opening night since the 2013 season when they fell to Duke. It’s not how anyone in their clubhouse wanted to start the season but it’s just one loss. Just one game of 56 is scheduled for the 2024 season. The best part of baseball is there’s always tomorrow.

Quotes of note

Kevin O’Sullivan on the game
“Credit to St. Johns, they played well. Had a couple of nice plays, for the most part, they threw strikes and they got some timely hits when they needed them in scoring position. I felt like every inning we were pitching with runners on. And fell behind seven runs after three, and we got within two through seven, that’s obviously a difficult thing, especially on opening night. The crowd was outstanding, but when you fall behind that early, it amplifies the pressure that you put on yourself. I thought offensively, we were fine. The only real defensive miscue was when they put a sac down the third base line we weren’t quite aggressive enough to come get the ball… But from a pitching standpoint, we walked eight and we hit a guy so we gave nine free bases. Cade’s been really good for us the whole fall and spring, maybe just opening night jitters or whatever. Ryan came in and did a nice job and most of the pen was fine, but we are running some young freshman out there, with a four pitch walk with Robert [Satin]. I thought Alex [Philpott] came in and did a nice job. I know he walked one run in, but that’s a really tough situation to put yourself in in your first college outing. So, we will just have to put this outing behind us, you know we are not used to losing opening nights, but like I said, congratulations to St. John’s for paying better than we did tonight.”

Kevin O’Sullivan on the quality of the UF at bats…
“There is a couple you could always point to. There were a couple 3-1 counts that we did not put great swings on, but, once again, it is opening night and you’re down seven after three. Guys are just starting to get their feet wet and put together some quality at bats. Offensively, I do not have any issues. We got double-digit hits and we pulled ourselves within two and it could’ve gotten uglier in that game, at some point, when you are down seven.”

What’s next for the Gators

Due to anticipated inclement weather in the forecast for Saturday, game two between Florida and St. John’s has been moved up to 10 a.m. ET.
 
Saturday’s contest was originally scheduled for 4 p.m., but will be bumped up as a result of the anticipated weather. The matchup will remain on SEC Network+.