No. 8 Baseball Hosts Jacksonville On Tuesday
Monday, April 5, 2010 | Baseball
After taking two of three games against No. 17 Vanderbilt, No. 8 Florida (20-7/6-3 SEC) entertains Jacksonville (16-13/8-4 Atlantic Sun) on Tuesday at McKethan Stadium. The game will begin at 6:30 p.m. and be carried live on GatorVision Online. This will be the Gators' last home game until April 23 versus Arkansas, as the Orange and Blue hit the road for a grueling eight-game swing in which they will face Tennessee (April 9-11), Florida State (April 13), Kentucky (April 16-18) and USF (April 21).
In a matchup of right-handers, sophomore Greg Larson (Longwood, Fla.) (0-0, 12.54) will draw the start against Dolphin senior Glenn Witkowkski (2-3, 7.59). Larson will be making his first start of the season and just the second start of his career. The righty from Longwood, Fla., has surrendered 16 hits and 13 runs over 9.1 innings of action this spring, with 10 strikeouts and one walk. In Larson's collegiate starting debut, he limited No. 15 Florida State to one hit over a career-high 4.1 innings before reaching a predetermined pitch count in Tallahassee on April 14 last year. UF raced out to a 10-0 lead before the hosts plated two runs in the seventh.
In the teams' last meeting, Florida knocked off Jacksonville, 7-4, on May 12, 2009, at McKethan Stadium to conclude the non-league portion of its schedule. Mike Mooney snapped a 2-2 tie with a three-run homer in the fourth and Matt den Dekker (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) was 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and scored twice. Alex Panteliodis (Tampa, Fla.) notched a then-career-high six strikeouts and earned the victory after working four innings on a pitch count. Billy Bullock recorded his 11th save with a scoreless ninth, matching John Pricher (1992) for the fourth-most in a single season.
Left-hander/designated hitter Brian Johnson (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) was chosen as the SEC Freshman of the Week on Monday after playing a key role in the Gators' series triumph over No. 17 Vanderbilt. On Saturday, the rookie became the first player from UF since Brad Wilkerson in 1998 to start in an SEC weekend series on the mound and also bat for himself and clinched the series victory by holding the Commodores scoreless for the first 5.2 innings in the 7-3 win. Johnson allowed seven hits and one run with a walk and a strikeout and was 3-for-3 with a run scored at the plate to help his own cause.
The lefty improved to 3-1 overall and is a perfect 2-0 in SEC action with a 1.04 earned run average. He has limited league foes to a .250 batting average during his three conference starts. Johnson led the Gators with a .556 (5-for-9) performance over the weekend, starting all three games at designated hitter and having at least one hit in all three outings. He also drew three walks and registered a .667 on-base percentage.
In seven appearances, including six starts, Johnson is 3-1 with a 3.09 ERA and has a 4:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (20:5) in 32.0 innings. He boasts a .455 (5-for-11) average in four games as the Gators' DH.
Johnson became the third member of head coach Kevin O'Sullivan's top-ranked recruiting class to be named the SEC's Freshman of the Week this season, joining right-hander Hudson Randall (Atlanta, Ga.) (March 1) and shortstop Nolan Fontana (Winter Garden, Fla.) (March 8).
With a 17-2 (.895) start to the home slate, O'Sullivan sports a 74-18 (.804) record at home. The 2-1 series win over Vanderbilt over the weekend pushed the Gators to 21-3 (.875) in regular-season series under his tutelage at McKethan Stadium.
The Gators captured the first two games against Eastern Division rival Vanderbilt to post its first series win over the Commodores since 2008. den Dekker (.345, 20 RBI) snapped a 1-1 tie in Friday's opener with a two-run homer in the seventh and the UF posted a 3-2 triumph. He went 4-for-11 (.364) in the series and scored a team-best four runs. Junior Kevin Chapman (Coral Springs, Fla.) (1-0, 1.40) collected his team-leading fifth save and has registered 18 strikeouts in 19.1 innings. Senior Jeff Barfield (Perry, Ga.) (1-0, 2.55) notched his first win since last March against Stetson with 1.1 innings of relief after Panteliodis (6.1 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 6 K, 2 BB).
While double threat Johnson certainly did his part on Saturday, sophomore Daniel Pigott (Ormond Beach, Fla.) (.255, 13 RBI) tied a career-high with three RBI and scored twice in game two. The Commodores avoided the sweep on Sunday by limiting UF to a season-low five hits in a 7-0 win. It was the first time under O'Sullivan that the Gators had been blanked at home and the squad saw an eight-game home winning streak come to an end. The Gators batted .231 (21-for-91) and compiled a 3.67 ERA over the three games with Vandy.
Gator Bytes
*The Gators and Alabama have committed a league-low 22 errors apiece in 27 games and UF boasts a .979 fielding percentage that is the best in the league. UF has played flawless defense in 15 of 27 contests this spring and sports a 13-2 (.867) mark in those contests.
*Florida is 8-3 (.727) against Sunshine State opponents this season - 3-0 against USF; 2-1 versus Miami (Fla.); 1-0 against both UCF and Florida Gulf Coast; 1-2 against Florida State.
*Freshman Austin Maddox (Jacksonville, Fla.) continues to lead the Gator offense in batting average (.360), slugging percentage (.623), RBI (34), multiple-hit games (14), multiple-RBI games (10), doubles (nine) and homers (seven).
*den Dekker (.345) holds team highs in runs (33), stolen bases (10-for-13) and triples (two) and has a .433 (13-for-30) average with two outs.
*As a rookie, Pigott totaled 21 RBI in 51 games played. He has already driven in 13 runs in 22 games this season, highlighted by a pair of three-RBI outputs against Vanderbilt (4/3) and Ole Miss (3/28).
*After den Dekker occupied the position for the first 24 contests, Fontana has batted in the leadoff spot for the past three games and gone 1-for-8 (.125) with four walks, one hit-by-pitch and a strikeout.
*The only constant in Florida's lineup this season has been sophomore Preston Tucker (Tampa, Fla.) (.354, 21 RBI) batting third and Maddox in the clean-up role.
*Sunday's game against Vanderbilt marked only the second time all year that the Gators did not record an extra-base hit (USF, 2/21).
*Eight of UF's 18 wins are of the come-from-behind variety. The Gators overcame an 8-0 deficit in the second inning to post a 13-8 win against FGCU on March 24. UF also trailed 8-0 at No. 6 Georgia in third inning on May 1, 2009, before notching a 10-9 victory in 11 innings.
*The Gator bullpen is 8-1 with nine saves and a 4.34 earned run average. Florida is 17-0 when leading after six innings and 19-0 when ahead after the seventh.
*UF's nine saves this year are from four different relievers: Barfield (two), Chapman (five), Larson and sophomore Nick Maronde (Lexington, Ky.).
*Opposing left-handers are 2-for-21 (.095) against Chapman and righties are 12-for-50 (.240). Leadoff hitters have not reached base in nine opportunities against freshman Steven Rodriguez (Miami, Fla.).
*UF's pitching staff has held opponents under six runs 20 times and the Orange and Blue is 18-2 (.900) in those games. Florida's ERA in overall games is 3.94 and it has a 3.99 ERA in nine SEC outings.
*Twelve of den Dekker's 20 RBI this year have come with two outs, while Maddox leads the club with 15 RBI with two down.
*UF holds a 181-119 advantage on the scoreboard, featuring a 35-12 disparity in the sixth inning and a 23-7 edge in the fourth stanza.
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