Baseball Hosts USF Tuesday Night
Tuesday, May 13, 2008 | Baseball
Florida (30-20) wraps up the non-league portion of its schedule on Tuesday when it hosts USF (26-24) at McKethan Stadium in a 6:30 p.m. matchup. The Gators are coming off a difficult series loss at Alabama, while the Bulls salvaged the finale of their three-game set at nationally-ranked St. John's.
Freshman Tommy Toledo (Tampa, Fla.) (4-4, 3.88) will be making his 10th start of the campaign versus his hometown school. Over 48.2 innings spanning 11 appearances, the right-hander has allowed 48 hits and 27 runs (21 earned). The Tampa native has issued 26 walks and notched 22 strikeouts, while limiting foes to a .264 batting average.
His most recent start came at No. 12 South Carolina on May 2, when he limited the Gamecocks to one run on three hits in 3.1 innings. Coming out of the bullpen on Sunday, he was charged with three runs on four hits during a wild eighth inning that saw Alabama rally from a 7-2 deficit to even the score before collecting the victory in the ninth. USF will counter with left-hander Teddy Kaufman (3-2, 5.12)
With a 14-13 SEC record, the Gators are currently locked into a four-way tie for fourth place with Alabama, Kentucky and Ole Miss, a half-game ahead of Arkansas (13-13) and one game in front of South Carolina (13-14). The top eight teams will advance to the double-elimination SEC Tournament to be held in Hoover, Ala., over May 21-25. UF hosts Vanderbilt (37-15/15-11 SEC) starting on Thursday.
Playing on the road for the first time in '07 following an 11-game homestand, Florida trailed USF, 5-3, entering its final at bat at Red McEwen Field last February. The Gators erupted for seven runs on five hits, none bigger than Matt den Dekker's (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) bases-clearing triple to left field which snapped a 5-5 stalemate. Avery Barnes (High Springs, Fla.) opened the decisive frame with a base-hit and later roped an RBI double for added insurance in the 10-5 triumph. The defeat snapped an eight-game home winning streak for the hosts. Kyle Mullaney (Jacksonville, Fla.) notched his first career victory with one inning in relief, while David Hurst caught the Bulls' clean-up hitter, Addison Maruszak, looking on strikes with the sacks full to end the game.
After splitting the first two games at Western Division foe Alabama over the weekend, Florida suffered an 8-7 loss in Sunday's rubber game. Senior 1B Brandon McArthur (Seffner, Fla.) and den Dekker were each 6-for-14 (.429) against the Crimson Tide. In the third meeting with the Tide, McArthur belted his first homer since Feb. 9, 2007 and matched a season high with three RBI. He is hitting .340 overall and a team-high .383 in league activity. den Dekker is riding a nine-game hitting streak that has raised his average to .318 and is a perfect 17-for-17 on the basepaths this season.
UF held a 7-2 lead with two outs in the eighth before the Tide countered with five runs in that frame to tie the score. Although freshman right fielder Riley Cooper (Clearwater, Fla.) robbed Matt Bentley of a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth, pinch runner Jeff Texada scored from second base with the winning run on the sacrifice fly. Junior Patrick Keating (Harrisburg, Ill.) (8-0, 3.27) received his second-straight no-decision after working 7.1 innings in which he scattered seven hits and was charged with four runs (three earned). Sophomore Cole Figueroa (Tallahassee, Fla.) (.332, 48 RBI) went 3-for-5, scored three runs and clubbed his seventh homer to tie freshman Josh Adams (Jacksonville, Fla.) (.333, 47 RBI) and den Dekker for the team lead.
Junior Stephen Locke (Tampa, Fla.) (4-2, 2.99) hurled his second career complete game to help the Gators to a 6-2 win on Saturday. The left-hander scattered seven hits and gave up one earned run. He surrendered six singles and one double and went the distance on 96 pitches. McArthur and den Dekker were each 3-for-5 as UF exceeded its win total from last year with its 30th victory.
Down to their final strike in the top of the ninth on Friday, Florida used a bases-loaded, two-run single by Barnes to seize a 6-5 lead. However, the Tide answered with a two-run walk-off double in the home part of the inning by sophomore pinch hitter Del Howell to grab a 7-6 decision.
Gator Bytes
*Florida is 23-6 in the friendly confines of McKethan Stadium.
*Barnes SEC-leading 25 stolen bases are the most by a Gator since Kevin Estrada swiped 35 in 2001.
*Tied for fifth in the SEC with 17 doubles, Adams has gone without a two-bagger for 11-straight games.
*den Dekker has established career highs across the board in batting average (.318), runs (44), RBI (43), walks (24), doubles (seven) and triples (two).
*With an SEC-best seven sacrifice flies, Figueroa is within two of tying the single-season school mark shared by Mark Kiger (2000) and Brad Wilkerson (1997).
*Since suffering a ruptured ACL on April 2, McArthur is 19-for-48 (.396) and has driven in 12 runs. Only Barnes (.400) has a higher clip during that 13-game stretch.
*The Gators have scored five or more runs in nine-straight games (5-4) and have registered double-digit hit totals in seven of their last eight contests.
*UF's bullpen is 10-12 with nine saves and a 4.48 ERA and the starters are 20-8 with a 3.85 ERA through 50 games.
*The Gators were 9-for-11 on stolen bases at Alabama and are 98-for-116 on the year. The 1992 club swiped 103 to rank 10th on the single-season chart.
*Cooper has started the last seven games in right field and is 6-for-24 (.250) with seven RBI, four runs and 10 strikeouts.
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