Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After taking the first of the three Sunshine State showdowns against No. 11 Florida State on Tuesday night, No. 1 Florida (18-1) begins the 30-game grind of the SEC schedule with a home series against Missouri (14-6). The Gators will have league series for the next 10 weekends.
 
Junior right-hander Logan Shore (4-0, 2.00) will face Tiger senior right-hander Reggie McClain (3-0, 0.85) in Friday's opener at 7 p.m., junior left-hander A.J. Puk (0-1, 2.65) will oppose Mizzou sophomore right-hander Tanner Houck (2-1, 1.61) in game two of the series on Saturday at 7 p.m. and Gator sophomore right-hander Alex Faedo (4-0, 1.42) will meet senior left-hander Austin Tribby (2-1, 3.33) 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 and the entire series will be streamed on SEC Network+ through the Watch ESPN app. 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

• Riding a 12-game winning streak, Florida is off to its best start in school history entering SEC play with an 18-1 (.947) record. UF's total of 18 wins is tied for its most heading into SEC action, as the 2004 club opened the year 18-4 (.818). The 2012 squad was 16-1 (.941) when it began league play and swept Vanderbilt by scores of 10-2, 5-1, 8-2 at McKethan Stadium.
• Missouri (14-6) is coming off of a mid-week split with Southeast Missouri, dropping the opener on Tuesday, 7-2, and winning Wednesday, 13-6.
• 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 12-game winning skein is tied for fifth in school history, chasing the 18-game stretch from Feb. 21-March 22, 2012.
• The Gators are 13-0 at home this season and are on a 20-game winning streak at McKethan Stadium since a 4-1 loss to Auburn on May 14, 2015.
• The school-record winning streak at home is 24 games between April 24, 2010-March 8, 2011, ended by Georgia Southern (7-0).
• The Orange and Blue is 13-0 (1.000) this season when its foe starts a right-hander and 5-1 (.833) when facing a lefty.
• Junior first baseman Peter Alonso (.419, 25 RBI) is 9-for-13 (.692) over the past four games, with seven RBI, six runs, four walks, two homers and two doubles. He belted a two-run shot in the victory over the Seminoles and leads the team in RBI (25) and doubles (8).
• Freshman outfielder Nelson Maldonado has notched the game-winning RBI in the Gators' last three outings. After starting the season 2-for-26 (.077), he is 5-for-14 (.357) with six RBI, five runs and a pair of homers during his four-game hitting streak.
• Florida's pitching staff has a 2.39 earned run average, is holding opponents to a .197 clip and has registered 201 strikeouts in 173.0 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 12-1 with a 2.21 ERA and have totaled 125 strikeouts in 102 innings.
• The Gators hit .400 (42-for-105) during their three wins over Harvard last weekend, with 13 extra-base hits and a slugging percentage of .581.
• Alonso led the way by going 8-for-10 (.800), while JJ Schwarz (.371, 22 R, 19 RBI) and Jeremy Vasquez (.310, 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 last Saturday night. He retired the first 19 batters of the game before yielding a one-out single in the seventh and was later named as the SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week and as one of Louisville Slugger's National Players of the Week.
• Junior LHP Kirby Snead has a team-low 0.73 earned run average, with one earned run in 12.1 innings. The southpaw collected his first save to close the Harvard series and has 11 strikeouts and three walks this season.
• Freshman second baseman Deacon Liput (.379, 18 R) has reached base in all 19 of Florida's contests and has eight multiple-hit games and five multiple-RBI games so far.

 
SERIES NUGGETS
Florida has taken 11 of its 15 previous encounters with Missouri, and the teams will be meeting for the second time in Gainesville as members of the SEC. Kevin O'Sullivan is 6-3 (.667) against the Tigers, 3-3 (.500) in Columbia and 3-0 (1.000) in Gainesville.
 
The Gators registered a 7-3 victory in the NCAA South Regional hosted in Coral Gables, Fla., on May 22, 1981, and pulled out a 6-5 decision in a mid-week game in Gainesville on March 1, 1984. The teams played a weekend series at McKethan Stadium over the weekend of Feb. 28-March 1, 1992, when Joe Arnold's club posted a sweep, 10-2, 8-3 and 4-3 in 11 innings. The Tigers ended the five-game slide to the Orange and Blue with a 14-5 win during the 2006 campaign in a weekend tourney that was held in Gainesville along with Ohio State and Wake Forest.
 
Florida captured two of the three meetings in Columbia from April 19-21, 2013 (8-6, 4-3 (15), 2-8) and posted a weekend sweep from April 25-27, 2014 (7-1, 5-0, 6-5 (10)) at McKethan Stadium before the Tigers captured the final two games of the series last April.
 
2015 SERIES RECAP
After taking the series opener at Missouri last season, 5-1, Florida fell in the next two games to the Tigers by scores of 10-1 and 5-3.
 
Right-hander Peter Fairbanks limited the Gators to one run on two hits over five innings to pick up the win in Sunday's rubber game and Ryan Howard clubbed a three-run homer during the five-run fifth frame.
 
Right-hander Tanner Houck carried a shutout into the eighth inning and Zach Lavy belted a pair of homers as the Tigers evened the series with a 10-1 victory on Saturday afternoon.
 
Behind eight strong innings from right-hander Logan Shore and two RBI apiece from Peter Alonso and Josh Tobias, Florida posted a 5-1 victory on Friday night. Shore retired the final 13 hitters he faced as the Gators used three runs in the fourth and two in the fifth to down the Tigers.  Florida plated three runs on three hits in the fourth to seize a 3-1 advantage against right-hander Reggie McClain. Making his 2015 debut, Peter Alonso (2-for-4) had a one-out single into center field and Buddy Reed (2-for-4) delivered a base-hit through the right side of the infield before Tobias (2-for-3) ripped a triple on a 0-2 count into the right-field corner. JJ Schwarz then plated Tobias with an RBI grounder. The Gators expanded their lead to 5-1 in the fifth on a two-out, two-run double by Alonso. In his last two outings versus Missouri, Shore has yielded two runs in 17 innings and has notched 13 strikeouts.
 
WEEKEND PROMOTIONS
Friday, March 18, 7 p.m.

• Pepsi Family Night
  Families can purchase 4 general admission tickets, 4 hot dogs, and 4 sodas for only $20.
• Gator Booster Night
  All Gator Booster members with valid ID receive 2-for-1 Reserved Bleacher seats.
• Mascot Race
  Mascot Races held each conference Friday night featuring Albert and various mascots from other partners.
• Student Pizza Giveaway
  The first 200 UF Students receive a slice of pizza courtesy of Domino's.
• Friday Night Hosts
  Florida Baseball Friday night hosts, Allison and Lillian, will be back to assist with promotions and interact with you, the Gator Fans. 

 
Saturday, March 19, 7 p.m.

• Refrigerator Magnet Giveaway
  First 500 fans receive Florida Baseball Fridge magnets.
• Seniors Night
  Fans, 55 and older with valid ID receive 2-for-1 reserved bleacher seats.
• Military/First Responder Appreciation Nights
  Military members, veterans, and first responders with valid ID receive 2-for-1 reserved bleacher seats.

 
Sunday, March 20, 1 p.m.

• Family Sunday's
  All general admission tickets are one dollar, dollar popcorn and dollar 12 ounce sodas.
• Community National Anthem
  Prior to the game, all kids 12 and under can run onto the field and stand with the Gator players during the National Anthem.
• The 10th Inning
  Immediately following the game, Gator players will be available to sign autographs in Autograph Alley.

Season and single-game tickets for the 2016 Gator Baseball season are on sale and can be purchased online through FloridaGators.com or by calling the Gator Ticket Office at 1-800-34-GATOR from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
 
Follow the Gators
FloridaGators.com
Twitter
Instagram
Facebook