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No. 1 Florida baseball opens new ballpark with 7-5 win over No. 21 Miami
By Andrew Olson
Published:
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.
Hickey with a 🧨!
📱💻👀: https://t.co/zyEm8wBKDM#GoGators pic.twitter.com/rQ6Wm5kzy7
— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) February 19, 2021
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.
Kris Armstrong with an absolute 💣
💻📱👀: https://t.co/9mx2CzwQNA#GoGators pic.twitter.com/Pe7c0m0osN
— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) February 20, 2021
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.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
