Florida Gators baseball vs. Kennesaw State Game 1 live blog

McDonald ran into trouble, giving up three straight hits to start the inning. One was a swinging bunt, but it’s still more trouble than Florida has seen all night. The third hit was an RBI double, but McDonald recovered from there. He traded two runs for a groundout and sac fly before striking out Williams to end the inning. Three runs go on McDonald’s record, but it’s good for him to eat 2 2/3 innings, saving the rest of the bullpen for the next two games.

Bowen opened the inning with a liner to left, and Kennesaw State changed pitchers after Harper threw a ball to Strayer. Nolan Bethel took over and got Strayer to pop out, but Surowiec caught him for a monster shot to dead center and his second home run of the night. Cyr almost went back-to-back, but the ball was hit on a line to the warning track and didn’t catch any wind.

Colton Schwarz pinch-hit for Kendall but grounded out to end the inning.

McDonald answered with a 13-pitch inning of his own, putting them down 1-2-3. Jones flied to right, Holstein grounded out to shortstop and Alig lined out to left. Lawson made a nice play at short for that second out. He avoided using his backhand and made a strong throw to first to get there before the runner.

Florida sent the top of the order up in the sixth, but Jones, Lawson and Myers (in for Kurland) went down in order.

Back to McDonald, then.

Peterson struck out McDuffie for his 12th of the night, but a walk brought Sully out with the hook. Caden McDonald took over and got two easy outs to end the inning.

Peterson’s final line: 5.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 21 K (91 pitches, 51 strikes)

A really good outing for Peterson. Any doubters that surfaced after opening night should be silenced now.

Freshman Davis Harper took over for the Owls and immediately got into trouble. He walked Bowen on four pitches, and Strayer singled to right. Surowiec grounded out to second, moving both runners into scoring position, and Cyr brought in a run with a fielder’s choice to second that didn’t result in an out. Kendall brought in another with a sacrifice fly before Miller popped out to end the inning.

Peterson lost the no-hitter on a one-out soft liner to left, but he struck out the side. Two came on sliders, his most effective pitch of the night. It’s showing good break, and KSU isn’t picking it up well.

At 79 pitches, that might be it for Peterson tonight, especially with the no-no gone.

Kendall opened the bottom of the fourth with a pop-up to second. Kennesaw State is playing a shift on him and Strayer, just six games into their college careers. Miller lined one right to third for out No. 2.

Jones notched his second hit of the day, a hard line drive into left. Lawson won a seven-pitch at-bat, walking to put two on with two outs, but Kurland struck out to end the threat. Kurland is still struggling with breaking balls early on in the season.

Lyons grounded into an unassisted out at first on the first pitch of the inning. McCollum walked to give KSU its first baserunner of the day, but Peterson bounced back with a pair of strikeouts, upping the total to eight on the day. He attacked the lefty with a change-curve-change combo. All three pitches looked excellent. Peterson finished off the inning with a strikeout on a slider, but he touched 98 mph in the at-bat.

Jones took the ball for a ride to deep center field, but Trenton Lyons tracked it down a few feet from the warning track. That’s when McMullen lost his command, walking Lawson and Kurland on eight straight balls. Bowen flew out to right, allowing Lawson to tag up and get to third, and Strayer made good on it with a grounder through the right side. Kurland went first to third to keep things going, and that was the end of McMullen’s night.

Nolan Silver took over with two outs. Surowiec greeted him with a 10-pitch battle, which he ultimately walked in after fouling off four pitches. Cyr laced one to right with the bases loaded, scoring a run, but Strayer was called out on the tag. Florida challenged but the call was confirmed.

Peterson kept his two-strikeout per inning shtick rolling, fanning Jackson Chirello on a low heater and Aaron Posey on a slider. Shamaar McDuffie flew out to left, and Cyr handled it much better than KSU did in the prior inning. Peterson flashed the curve a bit, but it’s not showing enough depth to use regularly.

Cash Strayer popped up to shallow left, but the wind carried it deeper than anyone expected, including the left fielder, Williams, who dropped it. Surowiec capitalized on the error immediately, going opposite field (right) for his first Gators home run. The wind probably added that one, too, but Surowiec put a nice, compact swing on it.

Blake Cyr whiffed at a slider for McMullen’s first strikeout of the night. Jacob Kendall worked a six-pitch walk, but Miller bounced into a 4-3 double play to close the inning.

Peterson’s slider is working well tonight. He made it four straight strikeouts, getting the first two batters of the second swinging at balls off the plate. The third out was a little scary as Ethan Surowiec and Sam Miller collided on the mound. Surowiec came down with it, and Peterson got out of the way just in time. Phew.

Kyle Jones took the first pitch he saw through the 5-6 hole into right field. Jones has now led off five of Florida’s six games with a base hit. He’s the ideal leadoff hitter every coach dreams of. Unfortunately, Brendan Lawson couldn’t sneak a hard-hit ball up the middle, finding Wes Alig at second for a 4-6-3 double play.

Cooper McMullen couldn’t get out of the inning facing the minimum, though. He worked a 3-0 count full but ran one into Cade Kurland and clipped him in the forearm. He looked fine, but it’s still a hold-your-breath moment for a guy who has been plagued with injury the past two seasons.

Karson Bowen swung at the first pitch he saw and hit it right to the third baseman for a 5-3, inning-ending groundout.

Peterson started the game with three consecutive balls, but he worked through the trouble for a soft ground ball to the right side and out No. 1. He went down 2-0 against Grayson McCollum but worked his way back for a strikeout on a 96-mph heater. Peterson looked far more comfortable against Cooper Williams, a lefty, mixing in his changeup and touching 97 mph before striking him out looking. A little bumpy, but still a 1-2-3 inning.