No. 21 Baseball Faces Arkansas In Key Series
Friday, April 11, 2008 | Baseball
After taking both meetings from North Florida in its mid-week series, No. 21 Florida (23-10) resumes Southeastern Conference play by hosting Western Division rival Arkansas (17-14) for three games at McKethan Stadium. The Gators have an 8-4 league record, one game behind Georgia (20-12/9-3 SEC) in the East. The Razorbacks have a 3-8 SEC mark, placing them 3.5 games behind Ole Miss (22-11/7-5 SEC). The teams have split the last four series, with each club holding serve at home.
Sophomore right-hander Billy Bullock (Balm, Fla.) (3-2, 3.09) will start Friday's opener at 6:30 p.m. against UA left-hander Dallas Keuchel (2-1, 3.44). Bullock went six innings in his last outing at Tennessee, allowing three hits and two runs, but was not involved in the decision.
Saturday's matchup at 4 p.m. features UF junior righty Patrick Keating (Harrisburg, Ill.) (5-0, 2.66) opposing Arkansas righty Justin Wells (2-0, 4.68). Keating picked up his fourth SEC win in as many starts last Sunday as the Gators salvaged the finale on Rocky Top.
Freshman RHP Tommy Toledo (Tampa, Fla.) (4-2, 2.63) hopes to get back on the winning track in Sunday's third game at 1 p.m. versus Hog southpaw Cliff Springston (4-1, 3.24). Toledo yielded seven runs (one earned) and six hits over 4.1 innings in the 12-6 setback to Tennessee last Saturday, marking the first time in seven starts that he did not work at least five frames.
Florida edged UNF, 3-2, on Wednesday night to finish off the two-game sweep at home and take the regular-season series by a 2-1 margin. An inning-ending double play in the eighth preserved the one-run triumph, as sophomore right fielder Jonathan Pigott (Ormond Beach, Fla.) gunned down a UNF runner attempting to score the tying run on a fly ball into shallow right field. Freshman Travis Lawler (College Station, Texas) worked 3.2 innings (3 H, 3 K, 1 ER) to improve to 2-0, while sophomore Clint Franklin (Orlando, Fla.) notched his second save by tossing two scoreless and hitless innings.
Pigott was the hero of Tuesday night's game, delivering a tie-breaking two-out RBI single in the seventh en route to a 5-3 win. The Gators had overcome a 3-0 deficit with three runs in the third. UF's top five hitters in the lineup were a combined 12-for-24 (.500) with four runs and four RBI. Senior Josh Edmondson (LaGrange, Ga.) (3-1, 2.64) worked 2.2 scoreless frames and junior Avery Barnes (High Springs, Fla.) and sophomore Matt den Dekker (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) chipped in with three hits apiece. Sophomore Kyle Mullaney (Jacksonville, Fla.) worked a season-high six innings and registered a career-high five strikeouts in the opener. The righty was able to withstand a second stanza in which he surrendered three runs on five hits.
After managing just a 17-17 showing at McKethan Stadium last year, Florida is off to a 19-3 (.864) start to 2008. It is the club's best record after 22 games on its own turf since the 2004 team started 20-2 (.909). 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 has already defeated Auburn (3-0) and LSU (2-1) in home series.
Florida's trio of weekend starters, Bullock, Keating and Toledo, are 8-2 with a 2.68 ERA in the four league series. Keating is the only pitcher to have claimed all four of his league starts. Freshman Josh Adams (Jacksonville, Fla.) (fourth, .409, 14 RBI) and sophomore Cole Figueroa (Tallahassee, Fla.) (sixth, .404, 10 RBI) are among the league leaders in batting average, while nine of Adams' 18 hits in SEC play have gone for extra bases. Although Mullaney is 0-2 with a 7.25 overall ERA, the righty has two saves and a 2.08 ERA in four conference appearances. UF is tied for the top spot with Auburn in stolen bases with 17, while Figueroa's five thefts land him in a three-way tie for the lead. The Gators have issued the fewest walks (29) but have totaled a league-low 54 strikeouts.
Arkansas posted a three-game sweep of the Gators in Fayetteville last April. After being postponed due to weather issues on Friday, the Razorbacks claimed both ends of a doubleheader against the Gators on Saturday, 14-3 and 7-1, then came from behind to take the finale, 10-7. The Gators overcame a 4-0 with a six-run sixth before allowing a game-tying two-run shot in the seventh. Austin Pride snapped a 6-6 tie with a jack to left field to open the eighth. However, the Hogs plated four runs on two hits and an error in the bottom of the frame to pull out a three-run victory.
Arkansas registered a team batting average of .344 (33-for-96) and a staff earned run average of 2.67 while out-scoring the Gators, 31-11. Florida hit .211 (20-for-95) as a squad and its hurlers compiled an ERA of 11.25. The squad was 4-for-24 (.167) with runners in scoring position and batted .074 (2-for-27) with two out. On the opposite side, the Hogs were .424 (14-for-33) with RISP and were 14-for-34 (.412) and drove in 14 runs with two down. Matt LaPorta extended his hitting streak to a career-high 15 games by going 4-for-9 (.444) over the three contests and belted his 16th homer.
Florida leads the all-time series, 18-14, and has a 10-5 advantage in Gainesville. UF is 7-2 against SEC Western Division foes (3-0 over Auburn, 2-1 over both Ole Miss and LSU) and the Razorbacks have faced Georgia (1-2), LSU (1-2), Vanderbilt (0-2) and Auburn (1-2) in conference play.
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