No. 1 Baseball Renews Rivalry With No. 24 Miami
Wednesday, March 2, 2011 | Baseball
Sunshine State foes No. 1 Florida (7-1) and No. 24 Miami (4-4) will meet three times this weekend at McKethan Stadium. Friday's series opener will begin at 7 p.m., followed by games on Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 12:30 p.m. that will each be carried live on Sun Sports. All three contests between the Gators and Hurricanes will be shown on GatorVision Online as well.
Both teams competed at the second annual Florida Four Tourney held at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa on Tuesday and are looking to get back on track after suffering defeats. In the first game of the day, the Hurricanes dropped a 4-2 decision to USF. The Gators endured their first loss of the season in the nightcap to fifth-ranked Florida State, 5-3.
In a matchup of left-handers, sophomore Brian Johnson (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) (2-0, 0.00) will start for the hosts in game one against UM freshman Bryan Radziewski (1-0, 0.82). Johnson has begun the campaign with 12 scoreless frames and has limited opponents to a .081 batting average. He retired the first 17 Boston College hitters he faced last Thursday night and has notched 11 strikeouts while giving up just one walk.
Saturday's contest will feature a couple of sophomore right-handers, UF's Hudson Randall (Atlanta, Ga.) (1-0, 1.64) against the Hurricanes' E.J. Encinosa (0-1, 6.00). Randall has 10 strikeouts in 11 innings this year and limited BC to one run and four hits in five innings last Friday despite not being involved in the decision.
Freshman RHP Karsten Whitson (Chipley, Fla.) (2-0, 0.87) will oppose Miami sophomore righty Eric Whaley (2-0, 2.13) in the series finale. Whitson picked up his second win last Sunday to complete the sweep of Boston College with a 5.1-inning stint in which he surrendered five hits and one run, with five K and a walk.
The Gators and Hurricanes met five times on the diamond last season, three in Coral Gables at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Stadium and twice at McKethan Stadium. Florida took two of the three regular-season meetings, taking the opener, 7-1, before falling, 9-6. UF then claimed the rubber game by a 4-2 count. The Gators swept both games of the NCAA Gainesville Super Regional, winning 7-2 and 4-3 in 10 innings, to end UM's season for the second-consecutive year.
Head coach Kevin O'Sullivan has a 7-6 (.538) record against Miami, 4-3 (.571) in Gainesville and 3-3 (.500) in Coral Gables. The Gators have taken six of the past seven meetings.
Florida will enter the series a school-record home winning streak of 21 games. UF's last loss at McKethan Stadium came on April 23, 2010, an 8-3 setback to No. 4 Arkansas in the opener of the weekend series. The Gators have captured their last 11 regular-season weekend series in Gainesville since falling two out of three to No. 16 Ole Miss from April 17-19, 2009.
FSU (8-0) used a five-run third inning to down the Gators, 5-3, in front of 7,869 fans on Tuesday night. The Seminoles' fourth-straight win over the Gators came in the first of the four regular-season meetings between the Sunshine State rivals. After Florida pulled to within 5-3 in the sixth, FSU's relievers retired the final 10 Gator hitters to secure the victory. Sophomore right-hander Scott Sitz (2-0) worked five innings for the win, while senior Mike McGee struck out the side in the ninth to pick up his first save.
Junior Tommy Toledo (Tampa, Fla.) (0-1) gave up two hits and three runs, with three walks and one strikeout over 2.1 innings, and was followed to the mound by junior Alex Panteliodis (Tampa, Fla.) (2.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R). Junior Preston Tucker (Tampa, Fla.) went 2-for-4 with an RBI single in the third, while junior Daniel Pigott (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and sophomore Kamm Washington (Boynton Beach, Fla.) had back-to-back two-out singles in the sixth. UF's pitchers yielded a season-high five walks and its defense committed a season-high two errors.
In the teams' last meeting, Austin Maddox (Jacksonville, Fla.) delivered a two-out RBI double in the top of the 10th inning to drive in Nolan Fontana (Winter Garden, Fla.) with what proved to be the winning run as Florida upended Miami (Fla.), 4-3, on June 12, 2010, to sweep the NCAA Gainesville Super Regional.
After the Gators had tied the game in the top of the ninth on a two-out throwing error by the Hurricanes that would have ended the game, the right fielder misplayed Fontana's fly ball to right field to start the 10th, resulting in Fontana reaching second base. The miscue was Miami's seventh of the contest. Pigott advanced Fontana into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt and Daniel Miranda had Tucker hit a grounder for the second out. Maddox stepped to the plate and ripped a double down the right-field line to put the Gators on top.
With the tying run on second base in the bottom of the 10th, Greg Larson (Longwood, Fla.) was called in to replace Steven Rodriguez (Miami, Fla.), who gave up two hits over one inning of work. The right-hander caught Michael Broad looking on strikes and then had Rony Rodriguez ground out to Fontana at shortstop, who fired a bullet across the diamond to Tucker at first base for the final out. Larson collected his third save by setting down both batters he faced. Randall (6.2 IP, 3 H, 5 K) kept Miami off the scoreboard until the seventh and departed with two outs and runners on the corners before the Hurricanes seized the lead on a three-run homer by sophomore Nathan Melendres.
Panteliodis went the distance for his first career complete game and established a personal best with 12 strikeouts as UF defeated Miami (Fla.), 7-2, in the opener of the best-of-three NCAA Gainesville Super Regional on June 11, 2010. The southpaw retired the final 14 Hurricane hitters of the contest and yielded three hits to register UF's first complete game since Stephen Locke accomplished the feat against Alabama on May 10, 2008. The southpaw's effort was the first complete game by a Gator pitcher in the NCAA Tournament since Tommy Boss twirled nine innings in an 8-1 triumph over Florida State in Game 1 of the NCAA Gainesville Super Regional on June 10, 2005.
UF plated three unearned runs with two out in the third on a bases-loaded infield single by Johnson and a two-run single by Mike Zunino (Cape Coral, Fla.) with the sacks full. After Miami countered with a two-run homer by Yasmani Grandal in the fourth to pull within 3-2, Florida answered with three runs on an RBI grounder by Matt den Dekker and a two-run single by Maddox to build a 6-2 advantage. Tyler Thompson (Tequesta, Fla.) closed the scoring with a homer in the fifth.
The Gators claimed two of three regular-season meetings at No. 10 Miami (Fla.) for the squad's first regular-season series triumph over the Hurricanes since 2007. Fontana went 7-for-11 (.636) with four runs, two stolen bases and boasted a perfect fielding percentage in 11 chances at shortstop. Tucker batted .500 (5-for-10) during the series with three walks, two doubles and scored twice.
Florida captured the opener, 7-1, as Panteliodis held UM hitless into the fifth and registered a then-career-high eight strikeouts. Making his initial start of the season, Panteliodis gave up two hits over 5.2 innings and was supported by an offense that plated four runs in the third and three in the eighth. Nick Maronde (Lexington, Ky.) collected his first career save with seven strikeouts over 3.1 hitless and scoreless innings. Josh Adams (Jacksonville, Fla.) and Maddox (.333 during the series) opened the scoring with two-run singles in the fourth inning. Zunino drove in a then-career-high two runs, courtesy of his eighth-inning single.
On Saturday, Miami scored three unearned runs in the fifth to turn a one-run deficit into a lead it would not relinquish on its way to a 9-6 win. Bryson Smith (Watkinsville, Ga.) had his first homer at Florida with a three-run bomb in the seventh and his first theft in the second inning. The duo of Toledo and Kevin Chapman limited Miami to four hits and Smith bashed a three-run homer to lift Florida to a 4-2 victory in the rubber game on Sunday. The Gators took a series in Coral Gables for just the fifth time since 1960. Toledo, who missed the 2009 season while recovering from an injured shoulder, scattered three hits and gave up one earned run over five innings. In his third start and fourth appearance of the campaign, the righty totaled four strikeouts. Chapman recorded his second save with a career-long four-inning relief stint in which he gave up one hit with a pair of strikeouts. The southpaw had not surrendered any earned runs in five appearances. Smith (1-for-4) launched his second three-run homer in as many days in the fourth inning to move the Gators in front for good. UF hit .296 (32-for-108) in the series, out-scored the Hurricanes by a 17-12 count and was 7-for-9 on the basepaths.
Former Gator catcher Joe Mercandante is in his seventh season as a member of the Hurricanes' coaching staff. The Gainesville native earned a couple of varsity letters at UF during the 2002-03 seasons and appeared in 37 games, with a .312 (10-for-32) average and 19 runs batted in. Mercadante coached at his alma mater, P.K. Yonge High School, before heading to Miami.
Gator Bytes
*After suffering its first loss last season to Florida State, the Gators captured two of three contests in Coral Gables.
*The seven-game winning streak by the Orange and Blue from the start of the year until Tuesday equaled the longest run of the 2010 season that was done twice (April 24-May 9 & May 12-22).
*Junior Daniel Pigott's current seven-game hitting streak is the longest by a UF player and brings him closer to his career best of 12 games from April 9-May 8, 2010. Pigott went 5-for-10 against BC last weekend and was 1-for-4 versus Florida State.
*The Gator pitching staff had walked five batters in 63 innings entering Tuesday night but then issued five free passes.
*Florida's hurlers have totaled eight or more strikeouts in every outing, with a high of 13 against USF on Feb. 20 (nine by freshman Karsten Whitson, two by junior Greg Larson and one apiece by sophomore Steven Rodriguez and freshman Daniel Gibson).
*Three of sophomore catcher Mike Zunino's four hits last weekend went for extra bases, as he was 4-for-9 (.444) with a two doubles and a two-run dinger in the finale.
*Junior Preston Tucker continues to swing a hot stick, as he went 5-for-12 (.417) in the sweep of the Eagles, had the lone multiple-hit effort for the squad against FSU (2-for-4) and leads Florida with three multiple-RBI games.
*UF has four homers in their eight outings, two apiece by Tucker and Zunino.
*The Gators are 7-for-11 on the basepaths, while opponents are 1-for-2.
*Florida is hitting .365 (38-for-104) against left-handers and .317 (52-for-164) against right-handers.
*Lead-off batters are 31-for-66 (.470) for the Gators, but just 14-for-72 (.194) for opponents.
*Gator pinch-hitters are 4-for-11 (.364) this year, as sophomore Cody Dent, junior Ben McMahan and junior Jeff Moyer are 1-for-3 (.333) and sophomore Kamm Washington is 1-for-2 (.500).
*Opposing hitters are 7-for-50 (.140) with runners in scoring position, while Florida is 35-for-103 (.340).
*Florida has totaled 11 sacrifices, led by two sac flies apiece by senior Josh Adams and sophomore Austin Maddox. Adams has a team-high three sacrifice hits.
*The Gators have roped 17 doubles, led by three apiece from sophomore Brian Johnson, Pigott and Preston Tucker.
*Junior Nick Maronde came through with back-to-back strikeouts with two runners aboard in the sixth on Sunday in relief of freshman Karsten Whitson and set down all four Florida State hitters he faced on Tuesday.
*Sophomore Steven Rodriguez threw three scoreless frames to collect his first save of the season in the 4-0 blanking of Boston College. Foes are 0-for-6 with runners on base against the southpaw. The Gators' two shutouts are one shy of their 2010 season total.
*Florida is 5-for-10 (.500) with the bases loaded, while its foes are 1-for-2 (.500).
*Led by seven from Pigott and four from sophomore Brian Johnson, the Gators have 21 two-out RBI, compared to just fourfor opponents.
*Opponents are batting just .081 against Johnson - lefties are 1-for-10 (.100) and righties are 2-for-27 (.074).
*After notching a school-record .978 fielding percentage last year, the Gators have picked up right where they left off by committing just four errors through their first eight games for a .987 clip.
