No. 1 Florida Begins Homestand With Mid-Week Series Against Winthrop
Monday, March 21, 2011 | Baseball
Boasting an eight-game winning streak, matching the longest in Kevin O'Sullivan's four-year tenure, No. 1 Florida (18-2/3-0 SEC) kicks off a stretch of five home games this week by hosting Winthrop (9-9/2-1 Big South) in a two-game set on Tuesday and Wednesday at McKethan Stadium. Each contest begins at 7 p.m.
Florida's 18-2 mark equals the program's most victories through 20 games, as the 1952 team started 18-1-1 on it way to a 21-4-2 mark. Under head coach Dave Fuller, that Gator club battled to a 13-13 stalemate with Miami (Fla.) in its 21st game.
Sophomore Steven Rodriguez (Miami, Fla.) (0-0, 2.25) will make his first start of the season and the second of his career in the opener with the Eagles and will meet Winthrop right-hander Wade Newman (0-1, 7.36). Over seven appearances this year, the Gator lefty has a 2.25 earned run average with six strikeouts and three walks in 8.0 innings. Rodriguez has given up 10 hits and five runs (two earned). In his only previous start, he did not receive a decision against Florida Atlantic on May 12, 2010 (2.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 K, 0 BB).
Junior Alex Panteliodis (Tampa, Fla.) (1-0, 6.00) will make his third-consecutive mid-week start on Wednesday against a WU pitcher to be announced. In 12.0 innings of work, the southpaw has 12 K and two walks, and has allowed 17 hits and eight runs. In his last outing on March 15 versus Florida State, Panteliodis was not involved in the result (2.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 K, 1 BB).
Winthrop represents the third different team that Florida has faced this season which is named the Eagles. The Gators swept Boston College in their second series (4-0, 9-3, 7-2) but then suffered a 7-0 setback to Georgia Southern on March 8 that ended their school-record 24-game winning streak at McKethan Stadium.
The Gators are 15-0 with five sweeps of weekend series and are 3-2 in mid-week games. The three wins over LSU extended the club's regular-season weekend series run of triumphs to 13 dating back to a 2-1 series defeat at No. 17 Ole Miss over the weekend of March 26-28, 2010.
Florida collected the program's first-ever sweep of No. 5 LSU in Baton Rouge by scores of 5-4, 1-0 and 7-3 last weekend. The Gators batted .314 (32-for-102) in the series at Red Stick, compared to .260 (27-for-104) for the Tigers. UF held a 13-7 advantage in scoring, with seven extra-base hits (three homers, three doubles and a homer) and posted come-from-behind victories on Friday and Sunday. Junior Jeff Moyer (Winter Springs, Fla.) (.333) was a perfect 4-for-4 in the series with three RBI, while junior Preston Tucker (Tampa, Fla.) (.378, 17 RBI, 12 R, 8 doubles) was 5-for-12 (.417) and sophomore Nolan Fontana (Winter Garden, Fla.) (.329, 19 R, 17 BB) was 4-for-11 (.364). Florida's pitching staff compiled an ERA of 1.67 and had 18 strikeouts and six walks in 27 innings at LSU, while the Gator bullpen allowed two runs (one earned) in 10.1 innings, with 11 strikeouts and an ERA of 0.87.
Making his first appearance on the mound in league action, sophomore Austin Maddox (Jacksonville, Fla.) (1-0, 1.12) fired 4.1 scoreless innings and gave up two hits to collect his first collegiate win on Sunday. In his SEC debut, freshman right-hander Karsten Whitson (Chipley, Fla.) (3-0, 2.52) permitted six hits and three runs (two earned) over 4.2 innings. Trailing 3-0, the Gators used a five-run fourth to seize the lead on a two-run single by sophomore Mike Zunino (Cape Coral, Fla.) (.299, 19 R, 15 RBI), a two-run, two-out pinch-hit single by Moyer and an RBI triple by Fontana. UF tacked on solo homers by senior Josh Adams (Jacksonville, Fla.) (.318, 14
RBI, 12 R) in the sixth and Moyer in the ninth to finalize the Orange and Blue's second-straight regular-season sweep of the Tigers.
Behind a combined shutout from sophomore Hudson Randall (Atlanta, Ga.) (3-0, 0.85) and juniors Greg Larson (Longwood, Fla.) (0-1, 2.63) and Nick Maronde (Lexington, Ky.) (0-0, 1.46), the Gators edged LSU, 1-0, on Saturday night. The victory enabled the Gators to clinch just their second-ever series triumph in Baton Rouge and marked the first time that the Tigers had been held scoreless in the new Alex Box Stadium. It was the club's fourth shutout of the campaign, exceeding the three that the Gator pitching staff threw in 64 games last season. Randall (3-0) scattered eight singles over 6.2 innings and was followed to the mound by Larson (0.2 IP, 1 H) and Maronde, who struck out four batters over 1.2 innings to collect his first save of the year. Junior Daniel Pigott (Ormond Beach, Fla.) (.431, 19 RBI) drove in the lone run in the first inning with his team-leading 11th double that brought across Fontana, who had drawn a walk to start the contest.
Down to its final two outs in the ninth inning, Florida used a game-tying solo homer by Zunino and a go-ahead two-run single by Fontana en route to a 5-4 victory in the league opener on Friday night. The triumph marked just the third time in its last 11 visits to Baton Rouge that UF claimed game one of the series. The Tigers clawed to within 5-4 on an RBI double with none out in the bottom of the ninth before junior Anthony DeSclafani (Freehold, N.J.) (3-0, 1.20) recorded the final three outs to strand the pinch runner on second base to pick up his third save. Sophomore Brian Johnson (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) (4-0, 1.53) received a no-decision after a 5.1-inning stint in which he allowed five hits and two runs.
Gator Bytes
*Florida has not faced Winthrop since an 8-4 victory in Feb. 17, 2002.
*Through 20 games each season under Kevin O'Sullivan, the Gators started 16-4 (.800) in 2008, 13-7 (.650) in 2009, 17-3 (.850) last season and 18-2 (.900) this year.
*UF had 24 homers at this point in 2010 and has 13 round-trippers so far this spring, four apiece by junior Preston Tucker and sophomore Mike Zunino.
*As of the report released on Monday, the Gators' average attendance of 4,014 ranks eighth in the country this week, while their total of 56,200 spectators ranked 10th. The top three schools by average hail from the SEC (LSU, 10,868; Ole Miss, 7,990; South Carolina, 7,417).
*Florida's starting pitchers are 12-1 with a 1.93 ERA this year with 89 strikeouts and 18 walks in 102.1 innings. The Gators' relievers are 6-1 with six saves and a 2.75 ERA in 78.2 innings, with 80 K and 12 walks.
*UF is 12-for-33 (.364) pinch-hitting, led by junior Jeff Moyer (4-for-8,.500), and sophomore Kamm Washington (4-for-7, .571).
*The Gators hold a 123-55 scoring advantage, led by a 22-5 disparity in the second inning. UF has the edge in every inning except the ninth, when it has been out-scored, 7-5.
*Florida is an unblemished 14-0 when scoring first and also 14-0 when out-hitting its foe.
*The Gators have played error-free baseball in 10 games (10-0) and their fielding percentage of .975 ranks fourth in the SEC.
*According to the league's statistics in overall games, UF's .315 batting average is third behind Tennessee (.334) and LSU (.316) and its staff ERA of 2.29 is first, ahead of Vanderbilt (2.45) and South Carolina (2.76).
*Zunino enters the week on an eight-game hitting streak, coinciding with five UF wins. He is 11-for-30 (.367) with 10 RBI, eight runs, four stolen bases and three walks in that span. Zunino's six multiple-RBI games leads UF.
*Sophomore Nolan Fontana had a six-game hitting streak in which he is 10-for-22 (.455), with seven walks, six runs, five RBI and three extra-base hits.
*Florida has totaled 49 two-out RBI, including 11 by junior Daniel Pigott and eight by senior Josh Adams. The Gators have a .309 (67-for-217) clip with two down.
*Leadoff batters are 1-for-14 (.071) against junior Anthony DeSclafani, who has held opponents to a .164 average. The righty's three wins have surpassed his season total of two from 2010 and he boasts a strikeout to walk ratio of 17:2.
