Baseball Takes On No. 3 FSU Tuesday Night
Monday, March 17, 2008 | Baseball
Sporting a season-high six-game winning streak after sweeping Auburn, Florida (14-3) hosts third-ranked Florida State (16-1/6-0 ACC) on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at McKethan Stadium. The Sunshine State rivals will also meet April 1 in Jacksonville and April 18 in Tallahassee. UF claimed two of the three matchups last season but has dropped the last two encounters on its own turf.
Kevin O'Sullivan's squad started SEC play 3-0 for the first time since 2002 by defeating Auburn three times (7-1, 12-8, 6-2). Meanwhile, the Seminoles raised their ACC ledger to 6-0 by sweeping No. 11 Georgia Tech at home by scores of 8-7, 11-2 and 17-8. The win over the Yellow Jackets on Sunday was the 1,500th of head coach Mike Martin's career.
Junior Stephen Locke (Tampa, Fla.) will make his fourth career start against the Seminoles and is 1-1 with a 4.22 earned average in 10.2 innings (14 H, 6 R, 6 K, 4 BB) versus Florida State. Last season, the lefty worked the first inning at Dick Howser Stadium on April 18, allowing three hits and a run. In Locke's first-ever road start on March 30, 2005, he held the 'Noles scoreless into the sixth inning and was charged with one run as the Gators cruised to a 9-2 triumph. Over five appearances this season, spanning 14.2 innings, the southpaw is 1-0 with a 4.30 ERA and has 12 K and two walks. He went six frames (4 H, 5 K, 1 BB) in the 2-1 win over Florida Gulf Coast on March 11 but was not involved in the decision. Junior right-hander Bo O'Dell (1-0, 3.60) will be on the hill for FSU.
It should not come as a surprise, but nine of Florida's top-10 crowds in school history have come against the Seminoles, including the top five mid-week games. Although the seating capacity is listed at 5,500 following the McKethan Stadium expansion project, there are areas for standing-room only overlooking left field and along the terrace above right field. The top crowd in school history is 5,698, achieved in the second game of the 2005 NCAA Super Regional on June 11, 2005, when UF upended Florida State, 8-5, to advance to the College World Series.
The versatile Josh Adams (Jacksonville, Fla.) was recognized as the SEC Freshman of the Week on Monday after playing a key role in the Gators' series sweep of Auburn. In his league debut, he batted a sizzling .727 (8-for-11) with a 1.273 slugging percentage and three multiple-hit outings. Adams joined current sophomore Kyle Mullaney (Jacksonville, Fla.) as the lone Florida rookies to receive the league's weekly honor. He leads UF with eight multiple-hit outings, four round-trippers and a .724 slugging percentage this season and ranks second on the squad in batting average (.397), RBI (21), walks (10) and doubles (five).
The Gators continued their recent success against Auburn and have now swept the Tigers four times in the past five years. UF turned its first triple play since March 15, 1997, with a 1-4-6-3 sequence in the fourth stanza of game two. Ben Jones' hit ricocheted off junior pitcher Patrick Keating (Harrisburg, Ill.) and was caught by second baseman Adams. The rookie flipped to sophomore shortstop Cole Figueroa (Tallahassee, Fla.) covering second base for the second out and then over to senior Brandon McArthur (Seffner, Fla.) to catch Luke Grienke off first base for the third one. Florida's last triple play had occurred against Alabama, when the combination of current Major Leaguers Mark Ellis (3B), David Eckstein (2B) and Brad Wilkerson (1B) accomplished the feat. Freshman right-hander Tommy Toledo (Tampa, Fla.) improved to 3-0 by twirling six shutout innings in the finale and limiting AU to two hits. He lowered his earned run average to 2.14 and opponents are hitting .186 against him. After collecting zero saves in their first 15 games, UF picked up a couple in the final two meetings with the Tigers behind sophomores Mullaney and Clint Franklin (Orlando, Fla.). It was the first career save for each pitcher. Sophomore Billy Bullock (Balm, Fla.) notched his first SEC victory by winning Friday's opener. Over a season-high 6.1 innings, the righty scattered five hits and permitted one run, with six K and one walk.
Sophomore center fielder Matt den Dekker (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) enters the week on a career-high 11-game hitting streak in which he is batting .326 (15-for-46) with 15 runs and nine RBI. Junior left fielder Avery Barnes (High Springs, Fla.) (.400, 22 runs, eight stolen bases) has at least one hit in a personal-best nine-consecutive games, a 12-for-29 (.414) span. UF's leader with 25 RBI, Figueroa (.361) is batting .400 (16-for-40) with runners on base and .480 (12-for-25) with men in scoring position.
After managing just a 17-17 showing at McKethan Stadium last year, Florida is off to a 13-1 (.929) start to 2008. The Gators were 7-8 (.467) against SEC foes in Gainesville last season and claimed two of its five league series by defeating Kentucky and Alabama. Florida State leads the all-time series between the programs, 112-92-2, but trails in Gainesville by a 48-46 count.
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