After opening SEC play with a sweep of Missouri to extend its winning streak to 15 games, No. 1 Florida (21-1) will welcome No. 19 Florida Atlantic (15-3) to McKethan Stadium on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After opening SEC play with a sweep of Missouri to extend its winning streak to 15 games, No. 1 Florida (21-1) will welcome No. 19 Florida Atlantic (15-3) to McKethan Stadium on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The contest with the Owls will complete a nine-game stretch on their own turf, as the Gators head to Kentucky over Easter Weekend and then face No. 11 Florida State next Tuesday at The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.
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The game can be heard through
FloridaGators.com and on the Gator IMG Sports Network with
Steve Russell and will be streamed on
SEC Network+ through the Watch ESPN app with
Nick Belmonte and
Jeff Cardozo.
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QUICK HITS ABOUT THE GATORS- The Gators' 15-game winning streak is the second-longest in school history, shy of an 18-game run during the 2012 campaign.
- The Orange and Blue is 16-0 at home and has a 23-game winning streak at McKethan Stadium since dropping the opener of a series with Auburn last May.
- The school-record stretch of 24 games occurred from April 24, 2010-March 8, 2011.
- The Gator pitching staff registered 44 strikeouts over 28 innings of work against Missouri, a record for a weekend series in the nine years of Kevin O'Sullivan's tenure.
- Florida's trio of starting pitchers, junior RHP Logan Shore (4-0, 2.23), junior LHP A.J. Puk (1-1, 1.88) and sophomore RHP Alex Faedo (5-0, 2.61), combined for 30 strikeouts and two walks in 18 innings versus Missouri.
- The Gators are hitting .307, have a team earned run average of 2.51 and a fielding percentage of .982.
- O'Sullivan's squad is 4-0 in one-run games and 4-1 in two-run games this season.
- Sophomore catcher Mike Rivera (.292, 24 RBI) led the offense in the first league series by going 5-for-9 (.556) with five RBI, while junior center fielder Buddy Reed (.308, 19 runs, 13 walks) was 5-for-11 (.455) and freshman third baseman Jonathan India (.323, 13 runs, 8 RBI) was 4-for-11 (.364) in the SEC debut.
- Junior RHP Shaun Anderson (3-0, 1.15) was called upon in all three games and responded with a win in Friday's opener and a pair of saves. Over 3.1 innings, the righty totaled six strikeouts and permitted one hit. On the season, Anderson has 21 strikeouts and zero walks in 15.2 innings spanning 11 appearances.
- Florida is 10-1 (.909) against Sunshine State opponents this year: 3-0 vs. FGCU, 2-1 vs. No. 6 Miami, 2-0 vs. UCF, 2-0 vs. North Florida and 1-0 vs. No. 11 Florida State.
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DRAWING THE STARTIn a matchup of right-handers, freshman
Jackson Kowar (2-0, 3.38) will be making his third start of the season for the Gators and will oppose FAU redshirt sophomore
David McKay (2-1, 5.40). Kowar has made six appearances and two starts totaling 16 innings and has 20 strikeouts and a four walks. His last start came against North Florida on March 9 (6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 4 K, 1 BB).
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SERIES NUGGETSHead coach
Kevin O'Sullivan has a 7-2 (.778) record against Florida Atlantic, 5-2 (.714) in Gainesville and 2-0 (1.000) at neutral sites. The Gators have claimed 22 of the 29 (.759) meetings with the Owls and enjoy a 17-5 (.773) advantage in Gainesville.
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LAST MEETING BETWEEN GATORS & OWLSJJ Schwarz delivered a go-ahead RBI single in the sixth inning and right-hander
Alex Faedo allowed one run over a then-career-high six innings as top-seeded Florida posted a 2-1 victory over second-seeded Florida Atlantic to claim the 2015 NCAA Gainesville Regional on May 31 at McKethan Stadium.
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