Eastern Michigan Visits Baseball In Mid-Week Series
Tuesday, February 26, 2008 | Baseball
Fresh off a season-opening three-game sweep of Siena, Florida (3-0) hosts Eastern Michigan (0-4) of the Mid-American Conference on Tuesday and Wednesday at McKethan Stadium. The Eagles began their campaign by dropping four games at New Mexico by scores of 16-7, 9-8, 13-3 and 6-3. Similar to UF's Kevin O'Sullivan, EMU head coach Jake Boss, Jr. is also in his initial year directing a team.
Junior left-hander Stephen Locke (Tampa, Fla.) will oppose Eagle sophomore southpaw Robert Wendzicki (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.0 IP) in Tuesday's opener at 6:30 p.m. Locke compiled a 3-3 record over nine starts, with a 6.95 earned run average in 33.2 innings last season. The Gators have not announced a starter for Wednesday, while Eastern Michigan rookie freshman right-hander Jordan Goldschmidt (0-0, 18.00 ERA, 1.0 IP) is expected to be on the hill for the 6:30 p.m. start.
Florida opened the O'Sullivan Era in winning fashion by taking all three games from Siena in front of its home crowd. The Gators overcame deficits of 5-0 and 6-5 to claim a 10-7 victory on Friday, four pitchers combined on a six-hit, 4-0 shutout on Saturday and an 11-hit outburst paved the way to a 13-6 decision on Sunday. The club's last weekend sweep occurred against Georgia in Athens over March 30-April 1 last season by scores of 7-5, 9-1 and 3-2 (11) and UF's most recent series sweep at home came versus George Washington (7-1, 24-4, 20-3) on March 3-4, 2007.
After being injured on opening night last season, senior first baseman Brandon McArthur (Seffner, Fla.) returned to the lineup and led the Gators with a .455 (5-for-11) clip. He broke a 6-6 deadlock in the season opener with a two-run triple in the sixth inning and went a perfect 3-for-3 and chipped in two RBI during Saturday's triumph.
Sophomore right-hander Billy Bullock (Balm, Fla.) made his first-ever relief appearance on Friday night and picked up the win by hurling six innings in which he yielded one run and three hits with six strikeouts. The number of punch-outs matched his career high that was set in a seven-inning stint against Kent State on Feb. 25, 2007.
In his second career start, junior righty Patrick Keating (Harrisburg, Ill.) matched a career high with a 5.1-inning outing on Saturday and combined with sophomore lefty Tony Davis (Cooper City, Fla.), senior righty Josh Edmondson (LaGrange, Ga.) and sophomore righty Clint Franklin (Orlando, Fla.) on UF's first shutout since Feb. 24, 2007 (7-0 over Kent State). The quartet limited Siena to six hits and did not permit a walk. Freshman RHP Tommy Toledo (Tampa, Fla.), a third-round pick of the San Diego Padres in last June's Major League Draft, collected the win in the finale by working five innings in which he totaled five strikeouts and gave up five hits and two runs.
Freshman Josh Adams (Jacksonville, Fla.) started all three games in center field in place of sophomore Matt den Dekker (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and batted .333 (4-for-12) with a team-high seven RBI. He clubbed a pair of homers in consecutive at bats on Sunday, with a grand slam in the third and a solo shot in the fifth. Adams was aboard four times in five plate appearances during his collegiate debut and added a two-run single as part of the sixth-inning outburst that broke the stalemate. Sophomore shortstop Cole Figueroa (Tallahassee, Fla.) reached base nine times in 13 plate appearances for a .692 on-base percentage and batted .429 (3-for-7) with six walks and five runs during the Siena series. After going 7-for-9 on the basepaths last season, he was 3-for-3 on the first weekend.
With an SEC-low 39 stolen bases (in 58 attempts) last season, Florida came blazing out of the gates with 12 thefts in 13 opportunities against Siena. Both Figueroa and senior Jon Townsend (London, Ky.) each swiped three bags, while Adams and junior Avery Barnes (High Springs, Fla.) nabbed two apiece. Figueroa and Austin Pride shared the team lead with seven stolen bases last year, the lowest total to pace UF since Tom Dulaney had seven in 1973. The Gators ranked 10th in the SEC last season with a .959 fielding percentage after committing 96 errors in 59 games. In the first version of the league's statistics, UF was atop the chart with a .991 percentage following one defensive miscue in its first three games.
Expected to be one of the stalwarts of the Gator bullpen, Edmondson made two appearances last weekend and gave up one hit and zero runs in 4.1 IP, with three strikeouts. Over 13.2 innings of work, Florida's relievers yielded one earned run and registered a 0.66 ERA.
The teams will be meeting for the first time since a 7-6 Eastern Michigan victory on March 7, 1985. The clubs have split two encounters, both in Gainesville.
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