LSU Visits No. 18 Baseball For Weekend Set
Friday, March 28, 2008 | Baseball
Following a mid-week series split against Jacksonville, league-leading No. 18 Florida (18-5/5-1 SEC) returns to Southeastern Conference play by welcoming Western Division rival LSU (15-8/2-4 SEC) to McKethan Stadium for three games.
Sophomore right-hander Billy Bullock (Balm, Fla.) (2-2, 3.23) will start Friday's opener at 6:30 p.m. against Tiger junior left-hander Blake Martin (1-1, 4.10). In his last outing, Bullock worked a career-high eight innings at No. 8 Ole Miss, allowing five hits and four runs, but was not involved in the decision. He has a 3.14 ERA in his two league starts and posted a win over Auburn.
UF right-handers junior Patrick Keating (Harrisburg, Ill.) (3-0, 2.92) and freshman Tommy Toledo (Tampa, Fla.) (4-0, 1.93) will start Saturday (4 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m. - Sun Sports), respectively, against LSU hurlers to be determined. Keating went a career-high six innings in the 6-4 triumph over the Rebels last Saturday and has 14 K in 24.2 innings this year. The most recent SEC Freshman of the Week, Toledo limited UM to six hits and a run over a career-high seven innings on Easter Sunday. The rookie is 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA in league play and has notched victories over Auburn and Ole Miss.
The Gators used a 17-hit offensive barrage to defeat Jacksonville in Gainesville on Tuesday, 11-6, but then succumbed to the Dolphins on their own turf, 8-5, Wednesday. The Tigers also split a pair of games this week, handling Northwestern State (10-3) before falling to New Orleans (8-6) at Alex Box Stadium. LSU was swept at Tennessee before taking two of three from Arkansas in Baton Rouge last weekend.
In the opener versus JU, freshman Josh Adams (Jacksonville, Fla.) was 4-for-5 and matched his career high of five RBI as Florida improved to 15-1 at home this year. Senior Dustin Bamberg (Winter Haven, Fla.) drove in a career-high three runs, while sophomore Cole Figueroa (Tallahassee, Fla.) and senior Jon Townsend (London, Ky.) contributed three hits apiece. Sophomore RHP Clint Franklin (Orlando, Fla.) threw 2.2 scoreless innings to improve to 3-1 on the campaign.
The tables were turned in Jacksonville, as the Dolphins overcame a 5-2 fourth-inning deficit and snapped a 5-5 tie with a three-run seventh. UF matched a season high with 13 runners left on base and its top five hitters in the lineup were a combined 1-for-16 (.063). One bright spot was the performance of Bamberg, who started the game at designated hitter and later pitched the final 1.2 innings with a career-high four strikeouts. Junior Avery Barnes (High Springs, Fla.) saw his career-high 14-game hitting streak end with a 0-for-3 performance. Townsend added three more hits and finished 6-for-10 (.600) with four RBI in the series, while Adams was 4-for-8 (.500) and drove in five runs. Florida hit .347 (25-for-72) over the two games but its pitching staff had a 5.29 ERA.
Adams paces the Orange and Blue in batting average (.388), slugging percentage (.688), RBI (30), doubles (seven) and homers (five). Barnes is nipping at his heels with a .387 clip and is the squad's leader in runs (30), walks (16) and stolen bases (13-for-14). Figueroa (.360) has 29 RBI, 27 runs, 10 stolen bases and six two-baggers. Over the past five games, Bamberg is 7-for-18 (.389) with five RBI and two homers to bring his average to .276.
Kevin O'Sullivan's weekend rotation, consisting of Bullock, Keating and Toledo, is 5-0 with a 2.35 ERA through six SEC games and has surrendered 10 runs in 38.1 frames. With a 1.21 ERA, senior Josh Edmondson (LaGrange, Ga.) (2-0) is currently 11th in the SEC. Over 22.1 innings, the Gator reliever has struck out 16 batters and is among the league leaders in opponent batting average (.200). In 10 games out of the bullpen in '08, Franklin has worked 18.2 innings and sports a 1.45 ERA. He is also limiting hitters to a .266 (21-for-79) showing.
UF captured the first two games over LSU last May to clinch its first-ever series victory at Alex Box Stadium. The Orange and Blue batted .355 (43-for-121) and totaled 15 extra-base hits (seven doubles, six homers, two triples). Florida pounded out 21 hits and socked four home runs on its way to a 19-3 conquest of LSU on Friday night. It was the squad's first road win over the Tigers since March 14, 1999. Matt LaPorta returned to the lineup after missing three games and went 4-for-5 with a pair of homers and matched his career high with six RBI. Chris Petrie (4-for-5) cranked a first-inning grand slam and drove in a career-high five runs as eight of UF's nine starters turned in multiple-hit efforts. Petrie was a double shy of hitting for the cycle. Right-hander Kyle Mullaney (Jacksonville, Fla.) worked a career-high eight innings, permitting three runs on eight hits, to improve to 4-1. The 19 runs were the most the Gators have ever scored against the Tigers and the 16-run margin was their highest in the 75-game history between the squads. Bryan Augenstein (6-5) carried a shutout into the eighth inning as Florida clinched the series victory with an 8-4 defeat of LSU on Saturday. The right-hander registered seven strikeouts, scattered eight hits and did not permit any earned runs over 7.2 innings to collect his second-straight win. Brian Leclerc (3-for-5) extended his hitting streak to a career-high 13 games and matched his season best of four RBI, featuring a towering three-run blast in the seventh. The Gators broke open a scoreless game with three runs in the sixth and had a four-run seventh before the Tigers clawed back with four unearned runs in the eighth. LSU salvaged the finale with a 9-4 victory on Mother's Day. Trailing 4-3, the Tigers used a three-run fourth and four scoreless innings from freshman reliever T.J. Forrest to seal the win. Although Austin Pride went 3-for-4 with his 11th homer, Leclerc's hitting streak ended by going 0-for-5.
While LSU has a 47-29-1 advantage in the series, Florida enjoys a slight 15-14 edge in Gainesville and has taken the last two series by identical 2-1 margins. The Gators are 5-4-1 in their last 10 meetings with the Bayou Bengals.
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