Florida baseball is off to a 1-0 start in its new ballpark.

UF hosted in-state rival Miami to open the 2021 season, the first series played in the new Florida Ballpark. The No. 1 Gators held off a late rally from the No. 21 Hurricanes to secure a 7-5 season-opening victory.

The first hit in the new ballpark left the yard. Catcher Nathan Hickey got just enough of a Daniel Federman pitch that the ball carried over the short wall in right field. He finished the game with a team-leading 3 RBIs.

The Canes answered with a run in the top of the second. UM came close to taking a 2-1 lead in the game, but the umpires ruled that the third out was made before the Miami runner crossed the plate on a tagging play.

It was 1-1 until the bottom of the fifth, when the Gators broke it open with a three-run frame. Kevin O’Sullivan’s squad added insurance runs in the sixth and eighth innings, including a 2-run blast from Kris Armstrong.

UF held a 7-1 lead entering the top of the 9th. UM rallied for four runs before Franco Aleman recorded the third out. Tommy Mace recorded the win, going 5.0 IP for 3 hits, 1 earned run and 8 strikeouts.