No. 1 Baseball Hosts Florida A&M On Wednesday Night
Wednesday, March 7, 2012 | Baseball
After increasing its winning streak to nine games with a 16-1 victory over Florida Atlantic on Tuesday night, No. 1 Florida (11-1) faces Florida A&M (1-11) of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference on Wednesday night in the teams' first meeting in over five years. The Rattlers fell to North Florida, 19-1, on Tuesday and are seeking to end an 11-game slide.
Having claimed 11 of their first 12 games, the Gators are off to their best start since 2003 and the second-best opening performance in school history. Head coach Dave Fuller's 1952 team began 11-0-1 en route to an overall mark of 21-4-2 and the program's first SEC title. Other Florida teams that started 11-1 happened in 1950, 1956, 1977, 1989, 2002 and 2003. In the five years under Kevin O'Sullivan, Florida has started 9-3 in 2008, 8-4 in 2009, 10-2 in both 2010 and 2011 and 11-1 this season.
A victory over Florida A&M would match the Gators' longest winning streak under O'Sullivan, as last season's squad captured 10 in a row between March 9-25. The school-record winning streak is 14 games, done twice (March 20-April 4, 2001 and Feb. 21-March 14, 2004).
In the last meeting between UF & FAMU, the Gators erupted for a season-high 19 hits and scored in seven of their eight at bats on their way to a 15-1 win over visiting Florida A&M on Feb., 13, 2007. Making his collegiate debut, Kevin Chapman surrendered one hit and notched four strikeouts in five scoreless innings. He was supported by a balanced offense that featured hits by 11 different players, including all nine starters. Matt den Dekker (2-for-3, 3 RBI, 3 R), Cody Neer (2-for-4, 3 RBI) and Clayton Pisani (3-for-4, 2 RBI) each homered as the UF improved to 16-0 all-time against the Rattlers.
Junior Mike Zunino (Cape Coral, Fla.) tallied five RBI with homers in both the first and second innings and senior Tyler Thompson (Tequesta, Fla.) added a two-run dinger and a season-high five RBI as No. 1 Florida (11-1) cruised to a 16-1 victory over Florida Atlantic (8-5) at McKethan Stadium. All nine Gator starters contributed at least one hit as the squad recorded season-highs in hits (16) and runs (16) in posting its ninth-consecutive victory.
Freshman left-hander Bobby Poyner (Wellington, Fla.) (1-0) gave up an unearned run and three hits and had three strikeouts working on a pre-determined pitch count over four innings to pick up the win in his collegiate starting debut. He was supported by an offense that plated three runs in the first inning, a season-best six runs in the second frame, two in the third and three in the fourth to put the game out of reach. Zunino (3-for-3), Thompson (2-for-4), senior Preston Tucker (Tampa, Fla.) (2-for-4, three runs, two RBI) and freshman Casey Turgeon (Palm Harbor, Fla.) 2-for-3) each chipped in with multiple hits and the Gator bullpen consisting of sophomore Keenan Kish (Worcester, Pa.) (2.0 IP, 3 H, 3 K), freshman Ryan Harris (Jupiter, Fla.) 2.0 IP, 3 H, 2 K) and freshman Corey Stump (Lakeland, Fla.) (1.0 IP, 1 H) combined to throw five scoreless innings with five strikeouts and one walk.
Zunino raised his hitting streak to 15 games, two shy of his career high, with a two-run homer in the first inning versus FAU. He added a three-run jack in the second inning for his second multiple homer outing of the season (Feb. 21 vs. Bethune Cookman) and added an infield single in the fourth to finish 3-for-3 and boost his average to a team-leading .465. During his hitting streak, Zunino is 26-for-59 (.441) with 17 runs and 16 RBI. His last game without a hit was a 0-for-3 showing in Florida's CWS opener against Texas on June 18, 2011. The Gator catcher had a 17-game skein from March 9-April 5, 2011.
Gator Bytes
*Mike Zunino's two homers on Tuesday night put him in a tie with former teammate Matt den Dekker (2007-10) for eighth on the school's all-time list with 33 homers. Mark Ellis (1996-99) and Mario Linares (1988-91) are tied for sixth with 36 bombs.
*The Gators have clubbed 20 homers in 12 games, including a stretch of 10-straight outings with a big fly. Eight different players have already left the yard this season.
*After a 2-for-4, three-run, two-RBI effort against FAU, Preston Tucker's next hit will move him past Jeff Corsaletti (273, 2002-05) for fourth place on the school's all-time chart. In addition, Tucker's next double will tie Corsaletti (56) for third on the Gator chart.
*The Gators are 5-0 this year when opponents score first and are 10-0 when out-hitting their foe.
*Junior Nolan Fontana extended his hitting streak to seven games with a leadoff double in the first inning versus the Owls. He is batting .464 (13-for-28) with nine runs, three RBI and three doubles in that stretch. Fontana's career-long streak is 10 games, from May 6-25, 2011.
*The Gator bullpen is 5-1 with four saves and a 2.49 ERA this season, with 52 strikeouts and 10 walks in 50.2 innings.
*Freshman Corey Stump made his collegiate debut with a scoreless ninth against FAU, while sophomore Keenan Kish matched his career-high of three strikeouts with two shutout frames in his first action of 2011.
*Freshman Taylor Gushue has started 11 games at three different positions - five at designated hitter, four at first base and two at catcher.
*UF has eight errors through 12 games and has played error-free in six contests (5-1).
*Thirteen of Florida's 20 home runs have been of the solo variety and the club has hit three homers in an outing twice in its last three games.
*The Gators have scored 14 runs in the second, fourth and fifth innings this year and have out-scored opponents, 91-40.
*With two home runs, senior Tyler Thompson has already surpassed his HR total from 2011 (1) and his eight RBI are nearly halfway to his junior season production of 17.
*UF matched its season high with four doubles on Sunday in Coral Gables and has 24 two-baggers in 11 contests.
*The Gator pitching staff has tallied at least five strikeouts in every outing this year.
