In their first game of the NCAA Tournament, the reigning national champion Gators (43-17) found themselves behind Ivy League underdog Columbia after three innings. The Lions chased UF starter Tommy Mace in the third after a leadoff homer by Randell Kanemaru and back-to-back singles. The Gators went on to win 13-5.
Trailing 3-1, Gators freshman reliever Jordan Butler came to the rescue and quickly hushed Columbia's bid to knock off the tournament's No. 1 overall seed. Instead, Florida exploded for six runs in the fourth inning as Jonathan India (2-for-3, 2 RBI) and Wil Dalton (4-for-5, 6 RBI) each had two-run doubles to break the game open and ease the concerns of those among the announced crowd of 2,823 -- and those beyond the stands at McKethan Stadium -- who showed signs of angst when the Gators, having lost six of seven games entering the tournament, fell behind to a Columbia (20-29) team that dropped nine games below .500.
PLAY OF THE GAME: With the bases loaded, nobody out and the scored 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth, Southeastern Conference Player of the Year Jonathan India stepped to the plate against Columbia reliever Ty Wiest. India swatted Wiest's 3-1 offering down the left-field line for a two-run double to put the Gators ahead for good.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Jordan Butler - Butler was excellent in place of Mace, who allowed six hits and three runs before UF coach Kevin O'Sullivan called for relief. Butler provided exactly that, tossing four consecutive hitless innings until the Lions finally scratched out a run in the seventh. Butler allowed two hits and one run over five innings, striking out five and walking one.
STANDOUT STAT: 10 - The Gators connected for a season-high 10 extra-base hits. Florida had seven doubles, a triple and two homers, one from Dalton and another from Jonah Girand, who connected for his first career home run. Girand's two-run blast over the bleachers in left field put Florida up 10-4 in the seventh.
FROM THE COACH: Head coach Kevin O’Sullivan on today’s game – “I thought Columbia played very well. Obviously they had a 3-1 lead after two and a half and I was really pleased with how our team responded, there was no panic in out dugout. It’s been written about and talked about how we’ve struggled the last couple of weeks but really pleased with how we responded. I thought Jordan Butler was outstanding coming out of the pen and kind of slowed things down a little bit for us. I thought about bringing in Jack Leftwich, but I think Jack and Tommy [Mace] are very similar and I thought we needed to change things up. Wil [Dalton] had a big day at the plate and so did Blake [Reese]. Pleased about their effort today and look forward to playing tomorrow night.”
On Tommy Mace’s start: “I think he was having trouble throwing consecutive strikes. I haven’t seen his first pitch strike percentage but he worked behind the count. Credit Columbia’s hitters, they came out excited and were battling with two strikes. It never really goes quite how you draw it up, we had five pitchers go to the mound and four of them were freshman. So the positive is a lot of these guys got a lot of valuable experience moving forward. Tommy is going to be available the rest of the weekend, not tomorrow but certainly Sunday.”
On if the guys were pressing the last couple of weeks: “It’s been tough. The last couple of weeks have not been easy. We spent a lot of time this week trying to move on. This team has kind of been on cruise control the entire year and then right at the end Brady [Singer] goes down with a hamstring and JJ [Schwarz] gets hit in the hand and then next thing you know we start pressing a little bit. I think a lot of it has to do with not having Brady go the first game of the series. He was 8-1 in the nine starts in the league and you know it has a different feel. I told the guys at the end of game that it was almost like restoring order again. We have a chance to have Brady back on the mound and I think that gives us a ton of confidence.”
UP NEXT: The Gators return to action on Saturday night at 7 against the winner of Friday night's game between No. 2-seed Jacksonville and No. 3-seed Florida Atlantic. Florida split a pair of games against Jacksonville during the regular season and won its only meeting against FAU.