Offense leads Florida Gators past Columbia Lions

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Gators‘ offenses exploded on Friday night to the tune of 15 runs on 15 hits to beat the Columbia Lions 15-6. Florida (3-1) used a career-high 10-strikeout night from sophomore left-hander Cade Fisher and a 10-run first inning to cruise to the series-opening win.

After Fisher fired a scoreless top half of the first, the Gators (3-1) erupted for a 10-spot in the bottom of the frame. Cade Kurland got it going with a leadoff single and later scored on an RBI knock to center by Colby Shelton.
 
From there, Ty Evans drove in a pair with a triple off the center field wall followed by another two runs on a fielding error at shortstop off the bat of Dale Thomas. The thunder came from Brody Donay, who hit a towering, two-run home run to center for his first hit as a Gator. Heyman then doubled in two while Shelton produced the 10th and final run with a sacrifice fly to center.
 
With a 10-0 lead in hand, Fisher went right back to work by firing zeros in the second and third. Columbia broke through in the fourth, as a two-run homer from Anton Lazits cut the lead to 10-2.

Friday’s key players

Tyler Shelnut: 2-5, 2 RBI

Luke Heyman: 2-5, 4 RBI

Brody Donay: 2-5, 2 RBI

Cade Fisher: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 10 K

Quotes of the Night

From Kevin O’Sullivan
On Fisher’s start and the early offense…
“I thought Cade’s start was obviously a lot different than last start, still fell behind a little bit in some of his pitch counts. He ended up with 86 pitches over five. Overall, I thought it was a really good start. Ten strikeouts, no walks. We didn’t walk anybody as a staff. We jumped out to a ten-run lead after the first, which doesn’t happen very often. Cade had to run back down there to the bullpen because it was such a long inning. And then the middle relief has got to get better. We shouldn’t have to use Slater in a game like this, so that is probably the only disappointing part. It kind of had a weird feel to it, too, because they brought in Parkinson and Madrigal, two of their more experienced relievers, so it felt like they kept tacking on runs. It got to be a four-run game at one point. Didn’t obviously foresee that coming the way the game started. We just gotta get better in middle relief, it’s just that simple.”

On what he saw from Slater and Witmer…
“Slater, he threw 24 pitches, so he’ll be able to go tomorrow. But in game like this, when you have an opportunity not to use Slater you got to take advantage of it, to set up the next game or two. And then Witmer, he’s been throwing the ball good in practice. He’s greatly improved since the fall, so it was really good to get him out there for the first time. We got to get McNeillie out there, too. It’ll be a good chance for you guys to see him tomorrow, at some point.”  

On Donay’s big night…
“There’s a reason we put him in there. I know he struggled the first couple games, but the power potential is there. He can change the game in one swing. And tonight, was his best night so far.”

Stats of notes

• Saturday night’s official attendance was 8,437 – the third-largest crowd in team history and the biggest ever for a regular-season affair.
• Making his first weekend start, Peterson threw four scoreless innings on two hits and three walks while striking out six.
• Caglianone tied his career high with four hits.
• Thomas hit his first homer of the season including his first-ever at Condron Family Ballpark.
• Evans also swatted his first home run of the campaign.
• Dating back to last season, Florida is 26-4 in regular season non-conference games and has won 17 of its last 18 such contests.
• The Gators are 25-5 in home series since 2023.
  • Florida is 33-11 in weekend series since 2023 and 42-14 across the team’s previous 19 series.
• Florida improved to 7-0 all-time against Columbia, all of which have been played in Gainesville.

What’s next for the Gators

The Gators will host Columbia on Saturday at 6 pm and finish the series on Sunday at 11 am.