No. 1 Baseball Ends Homestand Against Samford On Tuesday
Monday, March 19, 2012 | Baseball
Following a three-game sweep of Eastern Division rival Vanderbilt to begin SEC play, No. 1 Florida (19-1) will complete its season-high 10-game stretch at McKethan Stadium by hosting Samford (13-7) on Tuesday night. The game will be carried live on Sun Sports and start at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs are 4-2 in Southern Conference games after taking two of three contests from Furman over the weekend (2-3, 11-1, 4-1).
Freshman Johnny Magliozzi (East Milton, Mass.) (1-0, 5.91) will be making his third start and fifth appearance of the year and will oppose Bulldog junior left-hander Lex Rutledge (0-1, 12.15). Over 8.2 innings, Magliozzi has given up 14 hits and five runs, with four strikeouts and three walks. He earned his first collegiate win in the finale at Miami (Fla.) on March 4.
Having claimed 19 of their first 20 games, the Gators are off to the best start in school history. Florida is also an impressive 7-1 (.875) against top-25 opponents and sports a 16-1 (.941) home record.
Over the weekend, Florida opened league action by sweeping Vanderbilt for the first time since 2008 by scores of 10-2, 5-1 and 8-2 to increase its winning streak to a school-record 17 games. The Gators have started league action 3-0 for the fourth time in five seasons under Kevin O'Sullivan. Florida batted .284 (25-for-88) in the series, registered a 1.67 earned run average, held a 23-5 scoring advantage and did not commit any errors. UF has played error-free baseball in 11 of 20 games this season and has a .985 fielding percentage.
Senior outfielder Preston Tucker (Tampa, Fla.) .321, 22 RBI, 8 HR) started SEC action by going 4-for-11 (.364) with six RBI, four runs, two homers and a couple of walks, while senior outfielder Daniel Pigott (Ormond Beach, Fla.) (.286, 17 RBI) was 4-for-13 (.308), had four RBI and scored four runs. UF's trio of starting pitchers, junior RHP Hudson Randall (Atlanta, Ga.) (3-0, 3.45), junior LHP Brian Johnson (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) (3-0, 3.16) and sophomore RHP Jonathon Crawford (Okeechobee, Fla.) (2-1, 4.43) each picked up victories and combined for 21 strikeouts and three walks in 17.2 innings, while limiting the Commodores to two runs for a 1.02 ERA.
Crawford tossed five shutout frames in his SEC debut and UF matched its season high with three home runs in an 8-2 win on Sunday afternoon. Crawford was supported by a UF offense that produced solo homers from freshman Taylor Gushue (Boca Raton, Fla.) (.290, 16 RBI, 5 HR) in the second inning, Tucker as part of a three-run third inning and freshman Casey Turgeon (Palm Harbor, Fla.) (.298, 10 RBI, 3 HR) in the fifth frame. Johnson allowed two singles over six shutout innings and matched his career high of nine strikeouts to lead the Gators to a 5-1 win on Saturday. UF's victory secured their third-straight regular-season series triumph over the Commodores. Holding a 1-0 lead in the fifth, the Gators used a two-run single by Pigott and a two-run homer by Tucker to seize control of the contest. On Friday, Florida used a five-run fifth inning and added four more runs in the seventh en route to a 10-2 victory over Vanderbilt in the SEC opener. Randall allowed two runs and matched his season high of six strikeouts over 6.2 innings for the victory, Tucker (2-for-5) tallied three RBI and Pigott was 3-for-5 and scored twice as the hosts scored 10 unanswered runs. Three Gator relievers, junior Steven Rodriguez (Miami, Fla.) (3-0, 3.07), freshman Corey Stump (Lakeland, Fla.) (0-0, 0.00) and freshman Justin Shafer (Lake Wales, Fla.) (0-0, 4.15), combined to toss 2.1 scoreless innings.
Tucker was chosen as the SEC Player of the Week on Monday for the first time in his career. He batted .400 (6-for-15) in Florida's four victories last week, including a team-best .364 during the Gators' first sweep of the Commodores since 2008. Five of his six hits went for extra bases, with three homers and two triples, and he collected nine RBI, scored six runs and drew two walks. The two-time All-SEC selection boasted a slugging percentage of 1.267 and an on-base percentage of .500.
Last Tuesday, Tucker turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead with a three-run homer in the third inning against No. 6 Florida State and was 2-for-4 with a triple and two runs in the 9-2 victory that snapped the Seminoles' 10-game winning streak. He then opened SEC play by going 2-for-5 with three RBI on Friday night, delivering a run-scoring single as part of a five-run fifth and roping a two-triple in the seventh. Tucker blasted a two-run homer in the Gators' four-run fifth on Saturday, when he was 1-for-3, and connected on a solo shot and was 1-for-3 with a pair of runs in Sunday's finale. On the season, Tucker is hitting .321 with a team-leading eight home runs, has totaled 22 RBI and scored 20 runs.
Gator Bytes
*After Tuesday night, the Gators will be on the road for eight-straight outings (at South Carolina for three games, versus Florida State in Jacksonville, at Ole Miss for three games and at North Florida). Florida is 3-0 away from McKethan Stadium courtesy of three wins at
Miami (Fla.).
*The Gator bullpen is 9-1 with seven saves and a 1.90 ERA this season, with 80 strikeouts and 12 walks in 80.1 innings.
*UF's starting pitchers are 10-0 with a 3.36 ERA, with 81 K and 20 BB in 96.1 innings.
*Junior Austin Maddox (1-0, 0.52, 6 saves) surrendered a run in the ninth inning on Sunday against Vanderbilt, snapping a string of 20-consecutive scoreless appearances dating back to April 15, 2011, at Georgia.
*Maddox is 6-for-6 in save opportunities and has 23 strikeouts and zero walks in 17.1 innings. He had five saves last season and UF's mark for saves in a campaign is 13 by Danny Wheeler in 1994 and Josh Fogg in 1998. Leadoff hitters are 1-for-14 (.071) against Maddox, who is already tied for seventh on the school's career list with 11 saves with former teammates Billy Bullock (2007-09) and Kevin Chapman (2007-10).
*Florida holds a 153-56 scoring advantage and has out-scored foes, 44-6, over the final three innings.
*Eleven of UF's 19 victories have been come-from-behind.
*Senior Preston Tucker, who leads the Gators with eight homers and has 49 in his career, seeks to join Matt LaPorta (74, 2004-07) and Brad Wilkerson (55, 1996-98) as the only players at Florida in the 50-HR club.
*Junior Mike Zunino's next homer will tie him with Mark Ellis (1996-99) and Mario Linares (1988-91) for sixth on the school's career list with 36 bombs.
*The Gators have clubbed 31 homers in 20 games after totaling 69 HR in 72 games last season. Eight different players have left the yard, led by Tucker (8), Zunino (7), freshman Taylor Gushue (5) and junior Nolan Fontana (4). The Orange and Blue has multiple homers in 11 games and has at least one jack in 17 of 20 contests this season.
*Florida's three solo shots on Sunday marked the third time this season with three homers in a game, also at Miami (Fla.) on March 3 and against Florida Atlantic on March 6.
*Tucker's next double will move him past Jeff Corsaletti (2002-05, 56) for third on the Gator chart. Ellis holds the top spot with 61 two-baggers.
*The Gators are 10-0 this year when opponents score first and are 15-0 when out-hitting their foe.
*Senior Greg Larson's total of nine appearances has increased his career to 96, matching Josh Edmondson (2005-08) for fifth on the school's all-time list. Larson (3-0, 1.08) has notched wins over No. 8 Miami (Fla.), Florida A&M and Florida State and has 16 strikeouts in 16.2 innings this year. He has matched his single-season best for victories set in 2009 and 2010.
*Gushue has started 19 games at three different positions - 11 at first base, five at designated hitter and three at catcher.
*With senior outfielder Tyler Thompson sidelined, senior Daniel Pigott will shift from left to center field and freshman Justin Shafer will see more action in left field. In 11 games, including nine starts, Shafer is batting .290 (9-for-31) with 10 RBI, four sacrifice flies, three walks, two doubles and a run. Thompson was hitting .319 with 12 runs and nine RBI before being hurt in the opener of the Vanderbilt series.
*UF has 11 errors through 20 games for an SEC-leading .985 fielding percentage and has played error-free in 11 contests (10-1).
*Junior Nolan Fontana has reached base in his last 15 games, a stretch is which he is batting .404 (21-for-52) with 20 runs, 14 walks, 11 RBI, five stolen bases, four homers and three doubles.
*UF has 33 doubles on the year but none in the past two games.
*The squad's pitching staff has registered at least seven strikeouts in its last 13 outings, with a high of 14 at Miami (Fla.) on March 4. It has at least five K in every game this year.
*Since the 8-6 victory over Bethune-Cookman on Feb. 21, UF has not allowed an opponent more than five runs in a stretch of 16-straight games.
*The Gators are 5-for-14 (.357) pinch-hitting, while opponents are 5-for-23 (.217).
*Florida is 8-for-27 (.296) with the bases loaded and has 24 RBI and foes are 1-for-11 (.091).
*Twenty-eight of the squad's 141 RBI have come with two out, led by five from Zunino.
