Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Fresh off of a weekend sweep of Harvard that raised its winning streak to 11 games, No. 1 Florida (17-1) entertains No. 11 Florida State (13-3) in the first of the clubs' three mid-week matchups on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at McKethan Stadium. As part of the Sunshine Showdown, the Gators and Seminoles will also meet at The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville on March 29 and then at Dick Howser Stadium in Tallahassee on April 12.
 
The game can be heard through FloridaGators.com on the Gator IMG Sports Network with Jeff Cardozo and Steve Russell and will be carried live on the SEC Network with Chris Burke, Tom Hart, Kyle Peterson and Laura Rutledge and viewed through the Watch ESPN app.
 
QUICK HITS ABOUT THE GATORS

• No. 1 Florida (17-1) increased its winning streak to 11 games last week by winning both ends of a home-and-home set with North Florida (6-2, 5-4) and sweeping Harvard at McKethan Stadium (16-5, 9-2, 3-1).
• No. 11 Florida State (13-3) swept the nation's last unbeaten team, then-No. 17 Georgia Tech, in Tallahassee by scores of 8-2, 14-9 and 8-3.
• Head coach Kevin O'Sullivan's club opened the campaign with six straight wins before falling to No. 6 Miami on Feb. 27, 5-3.
• The Gators are 12-0 at home this season and are on a 19-game winning streak at McKethan Stadium since a 4-1 loss to Auburn on May 14, 2015.
• The Orange and Blue is 13-0 this season when its foe starts a right-hander and 4-1 when facing a lefty.
• The Gators raised their batting average 20 points last week up to .311 and have three infielders hitting above .400 – junior first baseman Peter Alonso (.424), sophomore shortstop Dalton Guthrie (.403) and freshman second baseman Deacon Liput (.403).
• Florida's pitching staff has a 2.52 earned run average, is holding opponents to a .194 clip and has registered 190 strikeouts in 164.0 innings.
• Sophomore RHP Alex Faedo (4-0, 1.42) and junior RHP Logan Shore (4-0, 2.00) have each claimed their first four starts of the year.
• UF's starting pitchers are 11-1 with a 2.34 ERA and have totaled 120 strikeouts in 96.1 innings.
• Florida's lone error of the past week came in the ninth inning of the final game and the squad boasts a fielding percentage of .984.
• The Gators batted .400 (42-for-105) during their three victories over Harvard, with 13 extra-base hits and a slugging percentage of .581.
• Alonso (.424, 23 RBI, 17 R) led the way by going 8-for-10 (.800), while sophomores JJ Schwarz (.351, 21 R, 18 RBI) and Jeremy Vasquez (.327, 7 RBI) were 5-for-10 (.500).
• Faedo yielded two hits and registered a career-high 13 strikeouts over a career-high 8.1 innings to complete the series with the Crimson on Saturday night. He retired the first 19 batters of the game before yielding a one-out single in the seventh to junior Josh Ellis and was later named as the SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week and as one of Louisville Slugger's National Players of the Week.
• The Gators used a two-run double by freshman Nelson Maldonado to break a scoreless tie in the seventh and take both ends of the twinbill. Maldonado was 4-for-11 (.364) with five RBI and four runs in the series, highlighted by his first collegiate homer in game one on Saturday.
• Junior LHP Kirby Snead has a team-low 0.75 earned run average, with one earned run in 12 innings. The southpaw collected his first save to close the Harvard series and has 10 strikeouts and three walks this season.
• Liput has reached base in all 18 of Florida's contests and has eight multiple-hit games and five multiple-RBI games so far.

 
DRAWING THE START
Junior right-hander Dane Dunning (1-0, 4.91) will oppose Florida State freshman left-hander Tyler Holton (0-1, 2.77). Dunning has made five appearances and three starts spanning 14.2 innings and has 22 strikeouts and five walks. The righty is coming off a start last Tuesday at North Florida in which he registered a career-high 10 strikeouts over six innings but was not involved in the decision.
 
LAST MEETING BETWEEN THE GATORS & SEMINOLES
Behind three RBI apiece from Harrison Bader and JJ Schwarz and a total of four homers, Florida punched its ticket to the NCAA College World Series with an 11-4 triumph over Florida State to complete a sweep of the NCAA Gainesville Super Regional on June 6 at McKethan Stadium. UF had defeated the Seminoles in the opener by a 13-5 score. Left-hander Bobby Poyner twirled five shutout innings in his final home appearance to collect the victory.
 
SERIES NUGGETS
Florida State holds a 127-107-1 (.543) advantage in the all-time series, while Florida has a 57-47 (.548) edge in Gainesville. Head coach Kevin O'Sullivan is 15-15 (.500) against Florida State, 9-1 (.900) in Gainesville, 4-5 (.444) in Tallahassee and 2-9 (.182) at neutral sites.
 
The Gators had claimed five straight meetings between the Sunshine State rivals before suffering back-to-back losses last season in Jacksonville (8-3 on March 31) and Tallahassee (4-3 in 12 innings on April 14). However, Florida claimed both contests of the NCAA Gainesville Super Regional, 13-5 and 11-4, to advance to the College World Series.
 
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