No. 17 Gators Travel To No. 6 Georgia
Thursday, April 30, 2009 | Baseball
Riding a five-game winning streak, No. 17 Florida (31-14) heads into the homestretch of the Southeastern Conference schedule by traveling to Athens for a weekend series at defending league champion No. 6 Georgia (33-12). The Bulldogs are tied with LSU atop the standings with identical 14-7 marks, while the Gators are second in the East and tied for fourth overall with Ole Miss with a 13-8 record. Six teams are within two games of first place in the SEC.
Head coach Kevin O'Sullivan's club capped a perfect 5-0 week last Sunday with its first sweep of Eastern Division rival South Carolina in 12 years. UF had not taken all three games from the Gamecocks between April 25-27, 1997, and improved its home record to 24-6 (.800). The Gators have captured 12 of their last 15 games and are now 7-2 (.778) against their SEC East counterparts this season.
Senior left-hander Stephen Locke (Tampa, Fla.) (3-0, 2.97) will start Friday's opener at 7 p.m. on FSN Florida against Bulldog senior right-hander Trevor Holder (7-2, 3.79). Locke captured his third-straight start with a strong effort in the first meeting with South Carolina last Friday. Over a season-high 8.1 innings, the southpaw yielded six hits and two earned runs and matched his season best of six strikeouts.
Freshman right-hander Anthony DeSclafani (Freehold, N.J.) (4-1, 3.02) will draw the starting assignment on Saturday at 1 p.m. versus Georgia junior lefty Alex McRee (4-0, 3.12). The game will be carried live on CSS. DeSclafani worked 5.1 innings in game two of the USC series, allowing six hits and three runs, but was not involved in the decision.
UGA will send sophomore righty Justin Grimm (2-3, 4.42) to the hill in Sunday's finale at 2 p.m. against a Gator hurler to be announced. In addition to the television coverage for the first two games from Foley Field, all three contests will be carried on GatorVision Online.
Senior Avery Barnes (High Springs, Fla.) (.364 overall, .375 SEC average) was the catalyst for the triumphs over the Gamecocks last weekend, going 8-for-13 (.615) with six runs after being moved back into the leadoff spot. He was 2-for-4 with two runs and tied the game in the fifth inning with an RBI single on Friday as Gators overcame a 2-0 deficit and posted a 9-4 triumph. Barnes led off Saturday's game with a homer and went 3-for-4 with two runs, a sacrifice bunt and his 10th stolen base as UF clinched its first series win over USC since 2005 with an 8-3 decision. In the finale, he opened the contest with a single that jump-started a four-run first inning and went 3-for-5 with a pair of runs.
Junior Billy Bullock (Balm, Fla.) (1-2, 1.35) saved the final two victories over the Gamecocks, giving him eight saves on the season. Over four appearances last week, the righty was 1-0 with two saves and did not permit any runs over six innings. Named the SEC Freshman of the Week for the third time this spring on Monday, Preston Tucker (Tampa, Fla.) (.344 overall, .366 SEC) hit .462 (6-for-13) against South Carolina and delivered a pair of RBI singles in the first game. On Saturday, the rookie was 3-for-5 and drove in two more runs, giving him a team-high 57 RBI.
The Gator pitching staff registered a 2.00 ERA in the series, the offense batted .364 (36-for-99) and out-scored USC by a 26-12 margin. Junior Tony Davis (Cooper City, Fla.) raised his mark to 5-0 with a pair of scoreless innings on Saturday in relief of DeSclafani (5.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 K). Holding a 4-3 lead in the seventh, UF used a two-out, two-run double by senior Brandon McArthur (Seffner, Fla.) to create breathing room. Sophomore Josh Adams (Jacksonville, Fla.) (3-for-5) tallied four RBI and scored twice on Sunday and freshman Alex Panteliodis (Tampa, Fla.) (4-5, 3.78) surrendered one earned run over 5.1 innings to earn his first SEC victory.
Last April, the Gators rebounded from a 7-4 loss to fifth-ranked Georgia to claim the final two games of the series by identical 7-2 margins. UF ended a three-series SEC slide and handed the Bulldogs their first conference series loss of the campaign. On the weekend, Florida was 30-for-99 (.303) with eight extra-base hits (six doubles, two homers) and was 6-for-6 on stolen bases.
Patrick Keating (Harrisburg, Ill.) matched his career-high of six strikeouts and improved to 8-0 by working 6.2 innings in the finale in which he yielded seven hits and two runs. At the time, the righty was 7-0 in seven SEC starts with a 2.68 ERA. Josh Edmondson worked 2.1 scoreless innings to collect his second save. McArthur roped a three-run double in the third stanza to open the scoring. Adams was 4-for-11 (.367) with four runs, a two-run homer and two walks and Matt den Dekker (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) was 4-for-11 (.367) with three runs, three stolen bases, two runs and two walks. It marked the first time since 1998 that the Gators defeated the Bulldogs at home by four or more runs in back-to-back games.
Locke crafted the first complete game of his career to help Florida even the series on Saturday. The lefty scattered eight hits, including seven singles, and was helped by three Gator double plays in the 7-2 win. Locke had two strikeouts and one walk to notch his first SEC victory since March 17, 2007, against Mississippi State and kept UGA off the scoreboard until the fifth inning. den Dekker was 3-for-3 and scored twice and became the first UF player with three thefts in a game since Jonathan Tucker versus Vanderbilt on March 27, 2004.
In its most recent trip to Athens, Florida registered its first sweep of Georgia at Foley Field since 1993 by handling the Bulldogs three times over March 30-April 1, 2007. Matt LaPorta enjoyed another productive weekend, going 6-for-11 (.545) with six RBI and four more homers, not to mention a remarkable 1.636 slugging percentage. He homered twice in Florida's wins on Friday and Saturday. den Dekker's solo dinger with two down in the top of the 11th completed the series sweep of the Bulldogs. Davis and Bullock provided the Gator pitching staff with two quality starts to complete the series with the 'Dogs. In his starting debut, Davis limited UGA to one run over 5.1 innings to pick up the win. Bullock worked 5.2 frames in the finale, yielding one run, but was not involved in the decision.
Home-field advantage in the Florida-Georgia series hasn't meant much in recent years, as the Gators have emerged victorious from their last three visits to Athens (2003, 2005, 2007) and posted a 7-2 mark and the Bulldogs had back-to-back sweeps in the Sunshine State under their belts (2004, 2006) before falling in the final two games at McKethan Stadium last season.
Both the Gators and Bulldogs have enjoyed success against the Eastern Division in 2009, as Florida is 7-2 (3-0 over South Carolina and Tennessee, 1-2 against Vanderbilt) and Georgia is an unblemished 6-0 (sweeps of Kentucky and Tennessee).
UF and UGA have each played Alabama, Arkansas, Ole Miss and Tennessee during league play. Georgia swept the Vols, took two of three from the Hogs and dropped two of three to the Crimson Tide and Rebels for a cumulative record of 7-5 (.583). Florida has also posted a 7-5 (.583) record following sweeps of the Crimson Tide and Vols and series defeats to Arkansas (3-0) and Ole Miss (2-1).
Georgia is 20-7 (.741) at Foley Field this year, including 6-3 (.667) in SEC activity. The Gators are 7-8 (.467) away from Gainesville and have taken three of their nine league road outings (0-3 at Arkansas, 1-2 at Vanderbilt, 2-1 at Auburn).
After totaling 10 come-from-behind victories in its total of 34 wins last season, Florida has accumulated 19 triumphs when trailing this year in 45 games played. UF is 23-2 when leading after six innings, 5-7 when trailing and is 3-4 when tied after the frame.
Gator Bytes
· Florida enters the weekend with an earned run average of 3.59 that leads the SEC and ranks fifth in the nation.
· The Gator staff's ERA is currently the lowest since 1992 (3.34) and is a significant improvement from the year before O'Sullivan arrived on the scene, when the 2007 contingent had a 5.27.
· According to the last Ratings Percentage Index released by the NCAA, Georgia is 12th and Florida is right behind in the 13th spot.
· UF is 25-5 (.833) against unranked opponents and 6-9 (.400) against Top-25 foes.
· Over the first 32 games, Florida committed 52 errors and was flawless in the field just seven times. In the past 13 contests, the Gators have been charged with 11 miscues and played perfect baseball on five occasions. UF is 10-2 (.833) when not committing an error this year.
· McArthur (.315) and freshman Daniel Pigott (Ormond Beach, Fla.) (.310) each enter the Georgia series on a season-best seven-game hitting streak. Both players are 8-for-25 (.320) during the skeins.
· Locke (3-0, 2.97) will be making his third career start against Georgia and will try to improve on his 2-0 record and 1.23 ERA. The left-hander fired a complete-game gem in game two of the series last April (8 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 K) and hurled 5.2 scoreless innings in his SEC starting debut on April 10, 2005, as UF claimed the deciding third game of the series with a 10-1 victory.
· All six of Locke's appearances this season have been starts and his strikeout to walk ratio is 25:8.
· DeSclafani (4-1, 3.02, 36 K, 6 BB) is set for his seventh start of the spring, third against a league foe. The righty collected the series finale triumph at Auburn on April 12 with a 6.1-inning stint in which he held the Tigers to one run on four hits. DeSclafani registered six K that afternoon on the Plains. He did not receive a decision last Saturday against USC after giving up six hits and three runs over 5.1 innings.
· Barnes leads the Orange and Blue in both overall (.364) and SEC (.375) batting average and boasts an eight-game hitting streak in which he is 16-for-32 (.500) with 12 runs and five RBI. The outfielder leads the club with 49 runs, 17 multiple-hit games and five triples and is the runner-up in RBI (35), stolen bases (10), slugging percentage (.586) and on-base percentage (.442).
· den Dekker looks to get back on track this weekend after going 5-for-33 (.152) over the last three league series against Auburn, Ole Miss and South Carolina.
· After an eight-game stretch without a save, the Gators picked up two in a row to complete the series with the Gamecocks.
· Bullock's eight saves match Josh Fogg (1997) and Darren O'Day (2006) for the 10th-best single-season total in school history. Fogg (1998) and Danny Wheeler (1994) share the school record of 13.
· Junior shortstop Mike Mooney (Loxahatchee, Fla.) has a team-leading on-base percentage of .492 and has raised his average to .351 with an 18-for-40 (.450) performance over the past 15 games since returning from a foot injury that had sidelined him for 10 games. Mooney has scored 15 runs and drawn 15 walks during the span.
· Florida's bullpen is 17-7 with a 3.03 ERA and has collected 10 saves while limiting foes to a .256 batting average. All five of Davis' (5-0, 2.81) victories have come in relief. In comparison, the Gator starters are 14-7 with a 4.08 ERA, with Locke (3-0, 2.97), Panteliodis (3-3, 4.83) and DeSclafani (2-0, 3.60) leading the way when drawing starts.
· Over 19 appearances, freshman RHP Greg Larson (Longwood, Fla.) is 3-1 and has recorded a 1.12 earned run average in 24.0 innings.
· Senior Teddy Foster (Jacksonville, Fla.) (.333) is 9-for-22 (.409) over the past nine games with 11 RBI, six runs and three homers. Entering the season, the catcher had played in 37 games and had a career batting average of .259 (14-for-54) with eight runs, three RBI and two round-trippers.
· In the overall statistics from the league office, Florida ranks first in pitching (3.59 ERA), fifth in hitting (.308) and 12th in fielding (.964). Through seven league series, the Gators are first in lowest ERA (4.10), second in batting average (.315) and 10th in fielding percentage (.966).
· The quartet of Locke (3-0), Davis (3-0), junior Clint Franklin (Orlando, Fla.) (2-0) and Larson (2-0) have notched perfect records in league action.
· Over the past two seasons, the Gators are 2-7 in SEC road series but are 7-2 in league series held in Gainesville.
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