Gators christen new park with win

GAINESVILLE — A new era in Gators baseball began Friday night at Florida Ballpark, with UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s top-ranked team facing a familiar foe in fresh surroundings.

Florida’s 7-5 win over No. 21 Miami — UF’s sixth straight in the series — continued the Gators’ dominance against the rival Hurricanes.

But this opening night was about more than baseball.

UF’s swanky $65 million stadium was expected to be the star, but its long-anticipated unveiling on SEC Network was delayed three hours by rain and preempted its TV appearance.

Fans on hand who arrived early roamed the stadium’s untrodden concourse, taking in the 360-degree views of the field and considering a revamped concession menu offering everything from hot dogs and Cracker Jacks to Cuban burgers or $25 nachos.

The Daktronics high-definition scoreboard stood like a 30-by-50-foot beacon looming over the right center field fence.

“That was awesome,” catcher Nathan Hickey said. “It was honestly unreal. That was an experience to remember forever.”

A pandemic-restricted crowd of around 1,700 ultimately would settle into its seats on a damp, chilly Gainesville evening.

Once UF starter Tommy Mace threw the first pitch to UM left fielder Jordan Lala, all eyes turned to the action.

Hickey soon christened the new ballpark with a two-out solo home run during the bottom of the first inning to give his team a 1-0 lead.

“I think that kind of set the tone we were there for business,” Hickey said. “We plan to jump on teams early. With all the guys we have ... it’s going to be scary once we get our timing down.”

The sophomore was not finished there. Hickey’s ground-rule double scored two of his team’s next three runs to push UF’s lead to 4-1 during the pivotal fifth inning.

Hickey’s second hit of the night was a gut punch to the Hurricanes, who had their chances to gain the upper hand on the Gators.

“You can almost sense you’re going into the season with all these expectations, and then all the sudden they say, ‘Play ball.’ You could almost feel the tension in the dugout,” O’Sullivan said. “It sometimes just takes one guy to get you going.”

The Hurricanes had tied the game in the top of the second inning. Third baseman Yohandy Morales opened with a double and scored on a one-out single by right fielder Christian Del Castillo.

The Gators escaped the inning on a heads-up play by first baseman Kris Armstrong. The sophomore cut off the throw to home plate as UM first baseman Alex Toral headed down the third-base line and instead threw out Del Castillo a split second before the run scored.

“It was a really good play; we work on that all the time,” O’Sullivan said. “The issue is the runner didn’t keep on running through home. It’s unfortunate he had to learn a lesson like that.”