Florida Gators

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The No. 1 Gators (5-0) continue their five-game road trip with a pivotal weekend series at No. 6 Miami (4-0) that starts on Friday night at Alex Rodriguez Park. In midweek action, Florida defeated Eastern Michigan twice, 12-4 in Gainesville on Tuesday, and 8-7 in Lakeland on Wednesday, while the Hurricanes downed St. Thomas, 7-6, in 10 innings on Wednesday.
 
Junior right-hander Logan Shore (1-0, 1.80) will face Hurricanes' senior left-hander Thomas Woodrey (1-0, 1.80) in Friday's series opener at 7 p.m., junior left-hander A.J. Puk (0-0, 0.00) will oppose UM sophomore left-hander Michael Mediavilla (1-0, 0.00) in game two of the series on Saturday at 7 p.m. and Gator sophomore righty Alex Faedo (1-0, 1.59) will meet Miami junior left-hander Danny Garcia (1-0, 0.00) in Sunday's finale at 1 p.m. 
 
All three games of the weekend series can be heard through FloridaGators.com and on the Gator IMG Sports Network with Jeff Cardozo and Steve Russell. The entire series will be streamed on ESPN3, available through participating TV providers only through WatchESPN. Live stats for each game will be available on FloridaGators.com and fans can also follow updates of each game on @GatorsBB, the official Twitter account of the Gator baseball team.
 
QUICK HITS ABOUT THE GATORS

• Florida's offense has come out firing through five games, as the squad has hit .323 (54-for-167) and outscored FGCU and Eastern Michigan by a combined score of 44-20.
• The Orange and Blue has pounded out 19 extra-base hits, with 12 doubles, four triples and three homers, to go along with a .497 slugging percentage.
• All three of Florida's home runs have been hit by catchers: Mike Rivera (2/19 vs. FGCU), Mark Kolozsvary (2/21 vs. FGCU) and JJ Schwarz (2/23 vs. Eastern Michigan).
• Three of the club's five victories have been of the come-from-behind variety.
• UF has used 12 different pitchers and its five starters, RHP Logan Shore, LHP A.J. Puk, RHP Alex Faedo, RHP Dane Dunning, and LHP Scott Moss, is a combined 3-0 with a 2.11 ERA and registered 29 strikeouts in 21.1 innings.
• Kevin O'Sullivan enters the series at Miami needing one win for No. 350 of his nine-year head coaching career.
• UF started a pair of freshmen in its season opener: Deacon Liput (2B) and Jonathan India (3B). Two other rookies have cracked the starting lineup once: Nelson Maldonado (RF) and Danny Reyes (DH).
• Other freshmen from the Gators' top-ranked recruiting class who have seen action include: Hunter Bowling (LHP), Eddy Demurias (INF/RHP) Jackson Kowar (RHP), Blake Reese (INF) and Brady Singer (RHP).
• Liput has started all five games at second base and leads the squad in batting average (.500), total bases (15), RBI (10), doubles (3), triples (2), slugging percentage (.938) and on-base percentage (.600).
• India started the first three contests at third base and drew the assignment at shortstop on Wednesday night in Lakeland.
• Singer has made two scoreless appearances spanning 4.1 innings in which he has allowed one hit and limited opponents to a .071 batting average.
• Shaun Anderson collected his first collegiate win by putting up a zero in the ninth inning on Wednesday, then the Gators responded with a couple of runs to secure an 8-7 triumph.
• Florida is 9-for-10 on the basepaths, with thefts from five different players, led by Buddy Reed (3-for-3).
• Reed batted .429 (9-for-21) with six RBI and five runs in five matchups with UM last season, highlighted by a walk-off single in the first meeting at McKethan Stadium last February.
• Oddly enough, Reed's game-winning base-hit to down the Hurricanes was the last time that the Gators had enjoyed a walk-off triumph until Reed lifted UF to a win over Eastern Michigan on Wednesday night on a catcher's interference call with the bases loaded.
• The Gators have totaled 54 hits, 44 runs and 41 RBI in 2016.
• Florida notched a 2-1 series victory over No. 8 Miami last year in Gainesville. The Gators posted a 4-3 win on Friday before the Hurricanes countered with a 7-2 triumph on Saturday night. UF took the rubber game, 2-1.
• O'Sullivan's club has defeated the Hurricanes in 21 of the past 26 meetings and has taken five of the last six regular-season series between the Sunshine State rivals (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015).
• In 2015, the three-game series drew 14,476 fans to McKethan Stadium, the fourth-highest total in school history.
• The Gators notched two victories over Miami in Omaha, 15-3 and 10-2, the first year that the programs had met at the NCAA College World Series.

 
SERIES NUGGETS
Miami holds a 127-115-1 (.525) advantage in the all-time series and the Hurricanes lead the Gators by a 78-42 (.650) margin in Coral Gables.
 
Head coach Kevin O'Sullivan has a 22-10 (.688) record against Miami, 13-5 (.722) in Gainesville, 7-5 (.583) in Coral Gables and 2-0 (1.000) at neutral sites - both at the 2015 NCAA College World Series. The Gators' 11-game winning streak in the series from March 7, 2010-March 1, 2013, is a school record.
 
POSTSEASON SUCCESS UNDER SULLY
Although Miami has taken 12 of its 23 encounters with Florida in NCAA Tournament action, head coach Kevin O'Sullivan is 8-0 against the Hurricanes during the "second season." Under O'Sullivan, Florida has ousted the Hurricanes in the 2009 Gainesville Regional, the 2010 NCAA Gainesville Super Regional, the 2011 NCAA Gainesville Regional and the 2015 NCAA College World Series.
 
GATORS' LAST VISIT TO MIAMI
After dropping the first two matchups in Coral Gables by scores of 6-4 and 5-2 on Feb. 21-22, 2014, UF put up a four spot on six hits in the first inning, added two runs in the fourth and held off a ninth-inning Hurricanes' threat to take the series finale, 6-4. The Gators used 11 hits and relied on seven arms, including left-hander A.J. Puk, who chalked up his first career win, and righty Eric Hanhold, who earned his first career save.
 
A three-run Miami homer in the sixth inning by Zack Collins broke a 2-2 tie and gave UM a 5-2 win over Florida on Saturday night at Alex Rodriguez Park. The victory clinched the Hurricanes' first series win over Florida since 2009. After the second game of the series started with two scoreless frames for the Gators and Hurricanes, Miami put up one run each in the third and fourth innings, while Florida countered with one each in the fifth and sixth – the first on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Larson in the fifth, while Justin Shafer (2-for-3, one RBI) knotted the game at 2-2 with a RBI single in the top of the sixth.
 
On Friday, Florida put up three runs in the first inning and added a fourth in the eighth, but the Gators couldn't hold off Miami, as the Hurricanes took the opening game, 6-4. Taylor Gushue went 4-for-4 with two doubles, two runs and an RBI.
 
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