Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Fresh off a perfect 4-0 road trip that included a win at No. 6 Florida State and a sweep of Arkansas, No. 2 Florida (33-5/11-4 SEC) hosts Jacksonville (22-13/5-2 A-Sun) on Tuesday. The Gators have another Thursday-Saturday series this week when East rival Georgia (20-17/6-9 SEC) comes to town.
 
The game can be heard through FloridaGators.com on the Gator IMG Sports Network with Jeff Cardozo and Steve Russell and will be streamed on SEC Network+ with Nick Belmonte and Mick Hubert.
 
QUICK HITS ABOUT THE GATORS

• Florida remained No. 2 in the USA Today Coaches' Poll and is No. 1 in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) according to the NCAA. The Orange and Blue has the most victories (33) in the country and is off to the best start in school history.
• The Gators lead the nation in strikeouts (405), strikeouts per nine innings (10.6) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.35) and are currently third in fielding percentage (.983).
• UF completed a season sweep of No. 6 Florida State with an 8-2 victory in Tallahassee last Tuesday before notching its first sweep of Arkansas since the 2001 season by scores of 12-8, 9-2 and 8-2.
• Head coach Kevin O'Sullivan's team had not defeated the Hogs in a series at Baum Stadium since the 2000 club took all three games and its most recent sweep of Arkansas occurred during the 2001 season at McKethan Stadium.
• At the halfway mark of the SEC schedule, the Gators are tied atop the league and Eastern Division standings with No. 8 South Carolina (29-8) and are have 33 wins in their 38 outings. The teams meet in Columbia next weekend.
• The Gators are 3-2 (.600) in SEC series, with sweeps of Missouri, No. 1 Texas A&M and Arkansas, as well as 2-1 setbacks to Kentucky and No. 10 Mississippi State.
• Florida outscored Arkansas, 29-12, did not trail during the series and boosted its mark to 9-3 (.750) in true road games.
• Each of the Gators' weekend starters, junior LHP A.J. Puk (2-2, 3.41), junior RHP Logan Shore (7-0, 2.50) and sophomore RHP Alex Faedo (7-1, 3.67) earned victories in Fayetteville and the trio had 23 strikeouts and permitted five walks over 18 innings.
• Junior first baseman Peter Alonso (.348, 39 RBI, 8 HR) keyed Florida's offense with a .364 (4-for-11) average at Arkansas that included five RBI, four runs and three walks.
• Freshman second baseman Deacon Liput (.303, 23 runs, 22 RBI), freshman third baseman Jonathan India (.339, 25 runs, 24 RBI), sophomore catcher Mike Rivera (.270, 37 RBI, 22 runs) and junior outfielder Buddy Reed (.305, 34 runs, 23 RBI, 18-for-20 stolen bases) all batted .333 during the three wins over the Hogs.
• Rivera leads the Gators with 14 multiple-RBI games, while sophomore shortstop Dalton Guthrie (.355, 31 runs) has a team-best 20 multiple-hit games.
• With 23 appearances this year, junior LHP Kirby Snead (3-0, 1.01) is just outside of the top 10 in that category on Florida's career list.
• Junior RHP Shaun Anderson (3-0, 1.44) collected his seventh save in the opener with the Hogs and has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 37:1.
• The Gators are 15-0 this season when they score in the first inning and 22-1 (.956) when scoring first in a contest.

 
DRAWING THE START
Freshman right-hander Jackson Kowar (3-0, 3.41) will oppose Jacksonville redshirt junior left-hander Casey Kulina (2-0, 2.45). Kowar has made 11 appearances and five starts spanning 31.2 innings and has 42 strikeouts and 10 walks. His last start came on April 12 at No. 6 Florida State, when he totaled seven strikeouts and allowed one run and three hits over four innings at Dick Howser Stadium.
 
LAST MEETING BETWEEN THE GATORS & DOLPHINS
Freshman Nelson Maldonado drove in three runs and homered as No. 1 Florida defeated Jacksonville, 7-2, on April 5. The Gators collected their fifth straight win and also picked up their 28th consecutive triumph at McKethan Stadium in the first of two meetings with the Dolphins this season. Sophomore left-hander Scott Moss (1-0) tossed three scoreless and hitless innings with four strikeouts on a pitch count to collect his first career victory. UF's offense totaled 12 hits for the fourth consecutive outing, with sophomore Dalton Guthrie, Maldonado, junior Buddy Reed and sophomore Jeremy Vasquez chipping in with two hits apiece.
 
SERIES NUGGETS
Florida holds a 52-31 (.627) advantage in its series with Jacksonville, including 31-13 (.705) at home. Head coach Kevin O'Sullivan has a 6-3 (.667) record against the Dolphins, 5-2 (.714) in Gainesville and 1-1 (.500) in Jacksonville.
 
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