No. 1 Florida Travels To No. 5 LSU To Begin SEC Play
Thursday, March 17, 2011 | Baseball
No. 1 Florida (15-2) travels to No. 5 LSU (16-1) for a three-game weekend series at Alex Box Stadium to raise the curtain on the 30-game Southeastern Conference schedule. The Gators are riding a five-game winning streak after edging No. 4 Florida State, 5-4, in 10 innings on Tuesday night, while Tigers won their fifth-straight outing on Wednesday with a 12-8 triumph at Nicholls State.
All three games of the series will be televised and streamed online as well. Friday's series opener at 7 p.m. will be carried live on CSS, Channel 259 on Cox Communications in Gainesville, and will also be shown on ESPN3.com. Game two on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. will be televised on FOX Sports Florida and GatorVision Online, while Sunday's finale at 1 p.m. will be on Cox Sports Television, Channel 259 on Cox Communications in Gainesville, and will be carried on GatorVision Online.
Sophomore left-hander Brian Johnson (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) (4-0, 1.12) will take the ball in game one against Tiger freshman right-hander Kurt McCune (3-0, 1.11). Johnson has claimed all four of his starts this season, with 25 strikeouts and three walks in 24 innings. The southpaw has limited opponents to a .146 batting average and will be making his third career start against LSU after splitting two encounters last year in Gainesville and at the SEC Tournament. Johnson worked a season-high seven innings to defeat Rhode Island last Friday, giving up six hits and three runs with five K.
In a match-up of righties in the second game, sophomore Hudson Randall (Atlanta, Ga.) (2-0, 1.08) will oppose freshman Kevin Gausman (3-0, 3.28). Randall boasts a 19-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio over his four starts spanning 25 innings. In his last outing, he matched his season high of seven innings in which he gave up five hits and three runs (one earned) to pick up the victory over the Rams.
Freshman right-hander Karsten Whitson (Chipley, Fla.) (3-0, 2.21) will make his SEC debut in Sunday's third game of the set against Tiger senior RHP Ben Alsup (3-1, 2.01). Whitson picked up the win to complete the sweep of URI last weekend with a five-inning stint in which he permitted four hits and two runs and totaled four strikeouts. The rookie has 22 K in 20.1 innings of work this spring.
Last season, Florida claimed nine of its 10 SEC series and the team's 22 victories in league play was its highest total in school history, eclipsing 21 in both 1988 (21-6) and 1998 (21-8). During Kevin O'Sullivan's first three seasons at the helm, UF finished 17-13 and was the runner-up in the East in 2008, claimed the division title in 2009 with a 19-11 mark that was one game back of league co-champions LSU and Ole Miss and brought home the program's first SEC crown since 2005 and repeated as the East champion last year.
After dropping two of three games at No. 17 Ole Miss from March 26-28, 2010, the Gators took league series from No. 17 Vanderbilt (2-1), Tennessee (2-1), Kentucky (2-1), No. 4 Arkansas (2-1), No. 9 LSU (3-0), Alabama (2-1), Georgia (3-0) and No. 6 South Carolina (2-1). This stretch of eight-straight weekend triumphs in conference play was the longest for the Orange and Blue since the league went to a 30-game regular-season format starting in 1996.
Since 2001, Florida has alternated series losses and wins on the initial weekend of SEC action, emerging on top in even-numbered years.
Year Opponent Sequence Series Record, East Finish
2001 Tennessee L, L, L 0-3 16-14, 4th
2002 Ole Miss W, W, W 3-0 20-10, 2nd
2003 at LSU L, L, T 0-2-1 13-16-1, 3rd
2004 Arkansas W, L, W 2-1 17-13, T-2nd
2005 at Ole Miss W, L, L 1-2 20-10, 1st
2006 Arkansas W, L, W 2-1 10-20, 6th
2007 Miss. State L, W, L 1-2 15-15, 3rd
2008 Auburn W, W, W 3-0 17-13, 2nd
2009 at Arkansas L, L, L 0-3 19-11, 1st
2010 Miss. State W, W, W 3-0 22-8, 1st
2011 at LSU TBD TBD TBD
In the teams' most recent encounter, LSU banged out 19 hits in a 10-6 victory over the Gators in the first round of the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala., on May 26, 2010. It marked the fifth-consecutive year that the eighth-seed had downed the top seed on day one of the double-elimination affair. The Bayou Bengals avenged a three-game sweep endured in Gainesville from April 30-May 2. LSU used the win as a springboard to its third SEC Tourney title in a row, notching other wins over Vanderbilt (7-5), Ole Miss (8-0) and Alabama (4-3) in the final.
Anthony Ranaudo worked a season-high 7.2 innings, giving up eight hits and six runs (five earned), and registered five strikeouts. The right-hander was supported by a Tiger offense that had eight of its nine starters contribute at least two hits. For the Gators, Matt den Dekker was 2-for-5 with three RBI, coming on a two-run double and a solo shot, and Johnson was 3-for-4 with a pair of two-baggers. Johnson was on the hook for the loss after yielding nine hits and seven runs over 3.2 innings.
Last season, Florida posted its first regular-season sweep of LSU since 1996 and just its second over the Tigers in school history in Gainesville from April 30-May 2, 2010. UF batted .390 (39-for-100) and out-scored LSU, 28-14 over the three games. Thirteen of the 39 hits went for extra-bases, as the Gators had eight doubles, four homers and a triple. All three starting pitchers, LHP Alex Panteliodis (Tampa, Fla.), Randall and Johnson, collected victories and registered a combined 1.40 ERA with 13 strikeouts and one walk in 19.1 innings. den Dekker hit a team-leading .615 (8-for-13) and led Florida with five runs and three stolen bases in three attempts.
Johnson picked up the win and belted his first career grand slam and den Dekker went 5-for-5 with four RBI and four runs as UF notched a 13-6 win on Sunday. Johnson worked 6.1 innings, giving up nine hits and three runs (two earned), with four strikeouts and zero walks and went 2-for-4 with a career-high four RBI. He was supported by a Gator offense that totaled 16 hits, with all nine starters contributing at least one hit. Josh Adams (Jacksonville, Fla.) poked two doubles and scored twice, while Austin Maddox (Jacksonville, Fla.) launched a homer off All-American Matty Ott.
Randall limited LSU to one run over eight innings and was supported by an 11-hit attack in Florida's 7-3 victory over the Tigers on Saturday. The righty established a then-career high with seven strikeouts and scattered seven hits while working eight innings. den Dekker (2-for-4) moved the Gators in front for good in the third inning, while both Daniel Pigott (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Mike Zunino (Cape Coral, Fla.) were each 2-for-4.
Panteliodis fired five scoreless innings on Friday night before the game was suspended with the Gators holding a 7-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth. The lefty had four K and gave up four singles in picking up his career-high seventh win. Adams connected on a three-run homer in the second inning and Tyler Thompson (Tequesta, Fla.) was a perfect 3-for-3 with three RBI. Kevin Chapman pitched 2.2 scoreless and hitless innings to secure the 8-5 triumph and earn the save.
Florida was 14-14 away from Gainesville last season and went 4-1 in league series, taking down Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama and South Carolina by 2-1 margins and falling twice in three meetings at Ole Miss. The Gators are 2-1 so far this year on the road but have played just one true road game (8-1 win at USF on March 9). UF split a pair of neutral-site games, defeating FAU in Jupiter (13-2 on Feb. 22) and losing to FSU in Tampa (5-3 on March 1).
In the Gators' last contest, Pigott delivered a walk-off single in the 10th inning that scored sophomore Nolan Fontana (Winter Garden, Fla.) with the winning run as UF edged No. 4 Florida State, 5-4, on Tuesday night in front of a record crowd of 5,930 fans at McKethan Stadium. The Seminoles used a four-run third to grab the lead but were held scoreless for the final seven innings of the contest. The teams have now split two of their four regular-season meetings, with contests remaining in Jacksonville on March 29 and in Tallahassee on April 12.
After junior right-hander Anthony DeSclafani (Freehold, N.J.) (3-0) retired the Seminoles in order to begin each club's first extra-inning affair of the season, Fontana ripped a one-out triple into the right-field corner off FSU senior Mike McGee (0-1). Pigott (3-for-4) battled to a 3-2 count before slicing a single into center field that snapped a four-game slide for the Gators against their Sunshine State rivals. The game-winning hit represented Pigott's career-best fourth RBI of the night and the junior also set a personal best with two walks.
Pigott is off to phenomenal start, leading the Gators in batting average (.483), RBI (18), doubles (10) and slugging percentage (.707) and he is tied with classmate Preston Tucker (Tampa, Fla.) for the top spot in multiple-hit (nine) and multiple-RBI (five) games. In 54 games last season, Pigott hit .268 with 22 RBI and 10 doubles and had eight multi-hit outings and six multiple-RBI efforts.
With the 5,930 spectators packed into McKethan Stadium on Tuesday night, eight of Florida's top-10 single-game crowds have come against Florida State. The previous mark of 5,783 fans was established on June 12, 2010, when UF defeated Miami (Fla.), 4-3, in 10 innings in game two of the NCAA Gainesville Super Regional to advance to the CWS for the first time since 2005. The highest attendance for the Gators and Seminoles had previously been 5,719 for a 6-1 UF win on March 18, 2008.
Gator Bytes
*Head coach Kevin O'Sullivan is 6-4 (.600) against LSU, 5-1 (.833) in Gainesville, 1-2 (.333) in Baton Rouge and 0-1 (.000) at the SEC Tournament.
*In 10 regular-season series at LSU since 1987, the Gators have emerged victorious just once (2007).
*Florida has dropped the series-opening contest in Baton Rouge eight of its last 10 visits, winning in 1993 and 2007.
*The only time in that stretch when the Gators won consecutive games at LSU was on May 11-12, 2007 (19-3, 8-4) to clinch the series before falling on Sunday, 9-4.
*In registering a 22-8 (.733) SEC mark last year, Florida was 8-2 (.800) in both the first and second game of the series and 6-4 (.600) in the finale. UF was 4-1 (.800) in road series openers.
*With 14 apiece, LSU and Alabama have captured the most SEC Championships, with Florida's total of 11 third. The Gators' 20 Eastern Division titles top the list, while the Tigers' 15 Western Division flags are the second-most.
*LSU has brought home six of the SEC's eight national titles in the sport of baseball, taking the prize in 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000 and 2009. Georgia (1990) and South Carolina (2010) were the other CWS victors from the league.
*As of the report released on Monday, the Gators' average attendance of 3,866 ranks 10th in the country this week, while their total of 50,270 spectators ranked eighth. The top four schools by average hail from the SEC (LSU, 10,745; Ole Miss, 7,833; South Carolina, 7,348; Arkansas, 7,216.
*Florida's starting pitchers are 11-1 with a 1.89 ERA this year with 82 strikeouts and 13 walks in 85.2 innings. The Gators' relievers are 4-1 with four saves and a 3.03 ERA in 68.1 innings, with 69 K and 11 walks.
*UF is 9-for-29 (.310) pinch-hitting, led by sophomore Kamm Washington, who is 3-for-6 (.400)
*Freshman Tyler Palmer made his collegiate debut by starting at third base versus USF and went 0-for-3. He has started three of the past five games on the hot corner and is 1-for-8 (.125) but has not committed any errors.
*The Gator pitching staff has eight or more strikeouts in 14 of 17 outings, the lone exceptions were seven against Miami (Fla.) on March 5, six at USF on March 9 and six versus Rhode Island on Saturday.
*The Gators hold a 110-48 scoring advantage, led by a 22-3 disparity in the second inning. UF has the edge in every inning except the ninth, when it has been out-scored, 6-1.
*Florida is an unblemished 13-0 when scoring first and 12-0 when out-hitting its foe.
*Although the Gators have played error-free baseball in nine games (9-0), they have nine miscues in their last six outings (5-1).
*Sophomore Mike Zunino enters the weekend on a five-game hitting streak, coinciding with five UF wins. Zunino is 7-for-18 (.389) with six runs, six RBI, three stolen bases and three walks in that span.
*Eleven of Florida's 38 hits in the series with Rhode Island were doubles and added two more on Tuesday, increasing the Gators' total of two-baggers to 42 this season.
*Junior Nick Maronde retired the first seven Georgia Southern hitters of the game on March 8 and struck out a season-high five over 2.2 innings, with one hit. The southpaw registered three K in 1.1 innings against Florida State on Tuesday and has 16 strikeouts and one walk in 10.2 innings.
*Florida has totaled 44 two-out RBI, including 11 by junior Daniel Pigott and seven by senior Josh Adams. The Gators have a .306 (57-for-186) clip with two down.
*Adams entered last weekend's series with six RBI on the year and tallied seven against the Rams, none bigger than a three-run double on Sunday when UF held a 4-3 advantage in the sixth inning.
*Sophomore Brian Johnson had a stretch of 20.2 scoreless innings to begin the season, putting him third on the Gators' career list. The school record for consecutive scoreless innings of 30 is held by Kelly Prior (April 23-May 13, 1966) and a 21-inning stretch during the 1993 season by Marc Valdes rates second.
*Leadoff batters are 0-for-13 against junior Anthony DeSclafani, who has held opponents to a .140 average. The righty's three wins have surpassed his season total of two from 2010 and he boasts a strikeout to walk ratio of 15:2.
*Florida is 20-for-28 (.714) on the basepaths, as 10 different players have at least one stolen base. Opponents are 7-for-9 (.778) against UF.
*The Gators are 12-0 with four sweeps of weekend series and are 3-2 in mid-week games. The three wins over Rhode Island pushed the Gators to 29-4 (.878) in three-game series under O'Sullivan's tutelage at McKethan Stadium. The fourth-year head coach boasts a 103-20 (.837) mark at home.
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