No. 4 Baseball Begins Four-Game Homestand Against FAU
Tuesday, May 11, 2010 | Baseball
Following a key road series victory over Western Division rival Alabama, No. 4 Florida (33-12/17-7 SEC) welcomes Sun Belt leader Florida Atlantic (31-17/19-8 SBC) to McKethan Stadium for a Wednesday night matchup. The game will begin at 6:30 p.m. and be shown live on GatorVision Online.
Freshman Steven Rodriguez (Miami, Fla.) (0-0, 2.04) will make his starting debut after 12 appearances out of the bullpen against a pitcher to be determined since FAU faces Florida Gulf Coast on Tuesday night. Over 17.2 innings, the lefty has registered 15 strikeouts, permitted four walks, surrendered 18 hits and allowed four runs. Left-handed hitters are 8-for-29 (.276) and right-handed hitters are 10-for-41 (.244) against Rodriguez, while leadoff batters are 1-for-16 (.063) against him.
In the teams' last meeting, an eighth-inning sacrifice fly by Florida Atlantic's Nick Criaris snapped a 6-6 tie and lifted the Owls to a 7-6 victory on March 4, 2009. FAU used a six-run sixth to erase a 4-0 deficit and Hugh Adams pitched a scoreless ninth for his third save after the Gators put their first two runners aboard in the final frame. Matt den Dekker (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) socked a three-run homer and the duo of Avery Barnes and Riley Cooper was each 2-for-4 but UF stranded 10 runners. Right-hander Anthony DeSclafani (Freehold, N.J.) turned in a solid second career start, holding Florida Atlantic hitless over 5.1 innings. After walking the leadoff batter of the game, the Freehold, N.J., native retired the next 14 Owls and notched a career-high seven strikeouts. He was not involved in the decision after giving up one hit over 5.1 innings and was charged with three runs.
The Orange and Blue is 10-4 (.714) against in-state opponents this season, with four wins against USF, two against Miami and one apiece versus Florida Gulf Coast, Florida State, Jacksonville and UCF. The Gators fell three times to the Seminoles and once to the Hurricanes. After facing FAU, Florida will wrap up the regular-season portion of its schedule next Tuesday night versus North Florida.
With a 23-3 (.885) start to the home slate, Kevin O'Sullivan sports an 80-19 (.808) record at home. The sweep of LSU between April 30-May 2 pushed the Gators to 23-3 (.885) in regular-season series under his tutelage at McKethan Stadium. Wednesday will be O'Sullivan's 100th game at home.
Last weekend, Florida captured the first two games at Alabama to clinch its first road series victory over the Crimson Tide since 2004. The Gators posted a 9-3 win on Friday and a 14-8 triumph on Saturday before UA avoided the sweep with a 10-8 decision in the finale. With two league series remaining, Florida is tied for first in both the overall and Eastern Division standings with South Carolina (36-11/17-7 SEC). Florida batted .362 (42-for-116) in Tuscaloosa, out-scored the Tide by a 31-21 count and had 17 extra-base hits with 10 doubles and seven homers. UF was 12-for-13 on the basepaths.
Freshman catcher Mike Zunino (Cape Coral, Fla.) (.283, 33 RBI) led the Gators with a .500 (6-for-12) average and had a team-high seven RBI to go along with three runs and two homers. He had multiple-hit efforts in all three games and is riding a career-high 10-game hitting streak in which he is 17-for-38 (.447) with 14 RBI and 10 runs. Zunino has raised his average from .220 to .283 during the skein, rates fourth on the club with 33 RBI and is tied for third with eight homers. den Dekker was 7-for-16 (.438) with four RBI and four runs on the weekend and leads UF in batting average (.363), runs (47) and stolen bases (18-for-23). Freshman third baseman Austin Maddox (Jacksonville, Fla.) hit .417 (5-for-12) with five RBI, five runs and two more homers. The rookie slugger has a .354 average and paces the Gator offense with 55 RBI, 15 doubles and 15 homers, 11 of which have come in SEC play. Maddox is one shy of the school's freshman record for homers set by Jason Dill in 1998.
Josh Rutledge (3-for-5) set a career high with six RBI and the Crimson Tide snapped a 6-6 tie with three runs in the fifth to capture the finale, 10-8. den Dekker (2-for-5) matched his career high with his eighth homer, Maddox was 3-for-5 with two doubles and two RBI, including his team-best 15th round-tripper, and Zunino went 2-for-4 with his eighth homer. Florida hit a season-high six batters and committed three errors to fall short in its bid for its first sweep at Alabama since 1988.
UF used a pair of five-run innings to post a 14-8 win over the Tide on Saturday. The Gators' season-high seventh-straight triumph clinched UF's sixth-consecutive SEC series and marked the team's first series victory at Alabama since 2004 and just the second since 1995. The Crimson Tide had not lost a league series at home to an Eastern Division opponent since the Gators accomplished the feat in '04, ending a stretch of 14-straight wins. Freshman Brian Johnson (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) (2-for-3, two runs) belted his second grand slam. Zunino (2-for-4, two runs) clubbed a three-run shot and sophomore Preston Tucker (Tampa, Fla.) (3-for-5, two RBI) had a solo homer to support the pitching of sophomore left-hander Alex Panteliodis (Tampa, Fla.) (8-2, 3.19), who worked into the seventh.
Freshman right-hander Hudson Randall (Atlanta, Ga.) (6-3, 2.94) twirled seven shutout innings and all nine starters contributed a hit as the Gators took Friday's opener, 9-3. Randall claimed his fourth-straight win by yielding eight hits, with three strikeouts and a walk. Zunino (2-for-4) drove in three runs, freshman Nolan Fontana (Winter Garden, Fla.) (.286, 17 RBI) went 3-for-5 with two runs and two doubles and Maddox (2-for-5, two RBI) connected on a homer. The Gators also turned a season-high four double plays… UF totaled seven hits in the first two innings and began the game 7-for-10 (.700).
Gator Bytes
*Besides freshman Mike Zunino's 11-game hitting streak, senior Matt den Dekker enters the week on an eight-game run in which he is 19-for-37 (.514) with nine RBI, nine runs and six stolen bases and freshman Brian Johnson is on a career-high six-game skein in which he is 8-for-18 (.444) with eight RBI, six runs and two grand slams.
*Versatile freshman Austin Maddox, who has started games at designated hitter (17), third base (16), first base (11) and catcher (one), leads the Gators in RBI (55), multiple-RBI games (16), doubles (15), and homers (15). He needs two more dingers to eclipse Jason Dill's freshman record of 16 homers that was set in 1998. Preston Tucker set the single-season school record of 85 RBI last year, when he claimed the team's Triple Crown with a .364 batting average, 85 RBI and 15 home runs.
*In the league statistics released on Monday, sophomore lefty Alex Panteliodis ranked eighth in ERA (3.19) and opposing batting average (.235) and 11th in innings pitched (67.2). His eight wins equal the most by a UF pitcher since Patrick Keating had eight in 2008. The last player to reach double-digit wins for the program was Alan Horne (10, 2005).
*Freshman Hudson Randall is fifth with a 2.94 ERA in overall games and is third in league games with a 2.47 ERA. The righty is 6-3 in 14 appearances, including a team-high 11 starts.
*Opponents are 22-for-36 on stolen-base opportunities against the Gators, while Zunino has thrown out 10 of 29 runners.
*Florida clubbed seven homers during the series at Alabama and has 61 on the year to rate sixth in the league. Oddly enough, the squad has 31 jacks at home and 30 away.
*UF was 12-for-13 on the basepaths at Alabama and is now second in the SEC with 72 thefts in 96 chances. Senior Matt den Dekker is 18-for-23 to lead the team and needs five more stolen base to match Jim Watkins (1978-79) for fifth on the school's career list with 65 SB.
*Last Saturday, den Dekker became the fifth Gator to reach 200 runs scored in his career. With 202 over the past four years, he trails Mark Ellis (240), Brad Wilkerson (239), David Eckstein (222) and Mark Kiger (212) on the school's all-time list.
*den Dekker has played in 216 games to rank 10th at Florida and will pass Mike Stanley (217, 1982-85), Brandon McArthur (218, 2005-09) and Ned Brigham (219, 1986-89) this week. His 202 starts are currently tied with Dave Majeski (1989-92) for seventh, while Jeff Corsaletti (207, 2002-05) occupies the sixth spot.
*With 240 hits, den Dekker needs seven more to crack the top 10 - Ben Harrison (247, 2001-04) and with 144 RBI, he needs six more to match the duo of Brian Rose (2000-03) and Jason Dill (1998-2001) for ninth. den Dekker is also tied for sixth in career sacrifice flies (12), is sixth in strikeouts (148) and ranks seventh in at bats (776) and hit-by-pitches (24).
*Junior LHP Kevin Chapman is 2-0 with a team-low 1.36 earned average in 22 appearances covering 33.0 innings. He is tied for second in the SEC with eight saves.
*Led by 11 from Billy Bullock, Florida totaled 13 saves in its 42 victories in 2009. UF has 13 saves already this year from four players: Chapman (eight), senior Jeff Barfield (two), as well as sophomores Greg Larson (two) and Nick Maronde (one).
*Florida's bullpen is 11-2 with 13 saves and a 4.71 ERA in 177.2 innings, its starters are 22-10 with a 3.76 ERA in 220.1 innings.
*The Orange and Blue enjoy a 323-210 scoring advantage, led by a 44-12 disparity in the fourth inning and a 46-24 cushion in the fifth frame. UF holds the advantage in each inning except the second, when foes have a 39-31 edge.
*The Gators are 24-4 (.857) scoring first and 9-8 (.529) when their opponents do. UF is 26-3 (.897) when having more hits than its foe and 6-9 (.400) when out-hit.
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