No. 4 UF Baseball & No. 1 Florida State Conclude Regular-Season Series
Monday, April 9, 2012 | Baseball
No. 4 Florida (25-7/7-5 SEC) begins a four-game road trip this week on Tuesday night with a visit to Tallahassee to face No. 1 Florida State (27-5/14-1 ACC) in the third and final meeting between the Sunshine State rivals during the regular season.
UF has taken each of this season's encounters, 9-2 in Gainesville on March 13 and 4-1 in Jacksonville on March 27. The sold-out game from Dick Howser Stadium will be carried on ESPN3 and can be heard on Country 103.7 The Gator starting at 6 p.m.
This Florida-Florida State baseball game is part of the Fresh from Florida Sunshine Showdown Series. Presented by Fresh from Florida, its goal is to remind all fans of the importance of buying home grown and harvested products from Florida. It supports our state's farmers and fishermen, and our local economies.
The Gators dropped two of three games at home to No. 7 LSU last weekend, falling on Thursday (7-6), winning on Friday (7-0) and coming up short on Saturday (8-7). The Seminoles swept a weekend series at No. 23 Georgia Tech (2-1 (10), 12-7, 8-4) and are in first place in the ACC with a 14-1 mark. FSU's Mike Martin became the third Division I head coach to reach 1,700 career wins with Sunday's triumph.
In the teams' last meeting, Florida tallied three runs with two down in the sixth inning on a two-run triple by freshman Casey Turgeon (Palm Harbor, Fla.) and an RBI single by junior Vickash Ramjit (Miami, Fla.) on its way to a 4-1 victory over Florida State on March 27 in front of 10,751 fans at The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. The Gator bullpen threw 5.1 scoreless innings to clinch the regular-season series between the Sunshine State rivals for the first time since 2009. The triumph was Florida's first in Jacksonville since a 16-7 win over FSU on April 3, 2007.
Freshman Johnny Magliozzi (East Milton, Mass.) (3-0) induced an inning-ending double play after the Seminoles loaded the bases in the top of the sixth and picked up the win, while junior Austin Maddox (Jacksonville, Fla.) hurled a 1-2-3 ninth for his eighth save in as many chances. Ramjit (2-for-4) added an insurance RBI single in the eighth inning.
Held scoreless through the first five innings, the Gators used a two-out, two-run triple by Turgeon and an RBI single by Ramjit to seize a 3-1 lead in the home part of the sixth. Junior Mike Zunino (Cape Coral, Fla.) had a one-out single into left field, ending the night for junior Scott Sitz, who gave up two hits, totaled five strikeouts and issued three walks over 5.1 innings. Senior Brian Busch had junior Brian Johnson (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) fly out to center field and then freshman Taylor Gushue (Boca Raton, Fla.) drew a walk. Turgeon launched a ball to deep center field that grazed off the glove of a diving James Ramsey and allowed both Zunino and Gushue to come across. Senior Hunter Scantling took over for Busch (0-1) and surrendered an RBI single into right field by Ramjit that gave UF a two-run advantage.
In front of a record crowd of 6,005 fans at McKethan Stadium on March 13, Florida used a 9-2 victory over Florida State to extend its winning streak to 14 games to match the school record accomplished twice previously (March 20-April 11, 2001 and Feb. 21-March 17, 2004). The Gators' triumph in the first of the three regular-season meetings between the rivals snapped the Seminoles' streak of 10-straight victories and improved head coach Kevin O'Sullivan to 5-0 at home in his tenure versus FSU.
After Florida State plated a pair of runs in the third, senior Preston Tucker (Tampa, Fla.) (2-for-4) clubbed a three-run bomb in the bottom of the inning to move the hosts in front and the Gators would score six additional unanswered runs to secure the win. Senior Greg Larson (Longwood, Fla.) (3-0) picked up the decision as the Gator bullpen, led by a perfect three-inning stint by junior Steven Rodriguez (Miami, Fla.), tossed 6.1 scoreless innings and surrendered just two hits. Maddox entered the contest with two Seminoles aboard in the eighth and retired all four batters he faced over 1.1 innings to record his sixth save. Florida also put its leadoff runner on base in seven of its eight at bats, tallied single runs in the fourth, sixth and seventh and finished the scoring with three runs in the eighth. Junior Nolan Fontana (Winter Garden, Fla.) (2-for-3, three runs, two RBI) belted his fourth homer of the season in the sixth, Zunino and senior Daniel Pigott (Ormond Beach, Fla.) drove in two runs apiece and freshman Josh Tobias (Greensboro, N.C.) was 2-for-3.
With the 6,005 spectators packed into McKethan Stadium on March 13, seven of Florida's top-10 single-game crowds have now come against Florida State. Before this season, the previous high-water mark of 5,930 fans was established on March 15, 2011, when UF defeated the Seminoles, 5-4, in 10 innings. The Gators set a single-game attendance record last Saturday, when 6,108 fans watched the series finale against No. 7 LSU.
In the Gators' last trip to Tallahassee, Scantling tossed seven scoreless innings of three-hit ball and matched his career high of seven strikeouts to lead Florida State to a 3-1 win in front of 6,357 fans on April 12, 2011, at Dick Howser Stadium, at the time the 13th-largest crowd in the facility's history.
With the victory, the Seminoles claimed three of the four regular-season meetings between the Sunshine State rivals. Holding a 1-0 lead in the seventh, the hosts plated a couple of runs on wild pitches and kept the Gators off the scoreboard until the ninth inning. Daniel Bennett yielded an RBI single to Johnson (2-for-4) with one down in the final frame and UF later had a pair of runners aboard, but the right-hander prevented any more runs to notch his second save. Alex Panteliodis had a then-season-high five strikeouts and gave up four hits and one run over five innings for the Gators, while Tyler Thompson (Tequesta, Fla. (2-for-4) had his first multiple-hit outing of the season.
This past weekend, Florida split its first two games at home with No. 7 LSU, falling in Thursday's opener, 7-6, before evening the series with a 7-0 shutout on Friday. The Tigers captured the rubber game, 8-7, on Saturday afternoon. The Gators' last three SEC series have gone to a deciding third game (1-2 record). After a McKethan Stadium-record crowd of 6,108 fans for the finale, the three-day series drew a school-record total of 16,388 spectators, surpassing the previous total of 14,838 for the series against South Carolina from March 25-27, 2011.
The trio of Fontana (.294, 30 runs, 21 RBI), Ramjit (.326, 13 RBI) and Tucker (.328, 27 RBI, nine homers) was each 4-for-11 (.364) in the series. Zunino (.351, 36 RBI, 12 doubles, nine homers) was 5-for-14 (.357) with four doubles, while Gushue (.238, 20 RBI) and Pigott (.333, 29 runs, 22 RBI) batted .333 apiece.
LSU overcame a 7-2 deficit with six unanswered runs for a series-clinching 8-7 victory on Saturday, as sophomore Ty Ross brought home senior Grant Dozar with the decisive run on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the eighth inning. Fontana was 2-for-4 with his first career three-run homer in the setback and Tucker's 60th double at Florida moved him one shy of Mark Ellis' school-record total set between 1996-99. Sophomore right-hander Jonathon Crawford (Okeechobee, Fla.) (3-1, 4.37) tossed a career-high six scoreless innings and Zunino was 3-for-5 with three RBI and a pair of doubles to lead UF to a 7-0 win on Friday night. After Crawford pitched brilliantly and out-dueled LSU sophomore starter Kevin Gausman (5-1), he was followed to the mound by Maddox (2-2, 2.01, eight saves), who registered three strikeouts and retired all six batters he faced over two innings. Rodriguez (3-1, 2.83) recorded the first two outs of the ninth and freshman Justin Shafer (Lake Wales, Fla.) had a game-ending strikeout to secure Florida's second shutout of the season and just its second over the Tigers in the series history. Led by multiple-hit efforts by Zunino, Fontana (2-for-4, two RBI), Pigott (2-for-5, two runs) and Gushue (2-for-4), the Gators enjoyed an 11-4 advantage in hits. UF used a two-run double by Zunino on the third and sent nine batters to the plate during a four-run seventh that put the game out of reach. LSU withstood a ninth-inning rally by UF to claim the opener of the three-game weekend series with a 7-6 victory on Thursday night, snapping the Gators' home winning streak at 15 games. Florida trailed 6-2 in the fourth and was down 7-4 in the eighth before a two-out, two-run single by Ramjit (3-for-4, career-high four RBI, two doubles) narrowed the gap to a run.
Gator Bytes
*Head coach Kevin O'Sullivan is 7-11 (.389) against Florida State, 5-0 (1.000) in Gainesville, 1-4 (.200) in Tallahassee and 1-7 (.125) at neutral sites.
*The Gators will be seeking their first win at Dick Howser Stadium since a 10-2 victory on April 14, 2009.
*UF is attempting just its second-ever sweep of the regular-season series with the Seminoles and first since taking a pair of meetings in Gainesville on April 11-12, 1958 (8-7, 8-1).
*The Gators are trying for their third win over FSU this year, something that has not happened in the regular season since 1989, when Florida took two games in Gainesville on Feb. 18-19 (5-1, 6-5) and then split a couple of meetings in Tallahassee on April 11-12 (5-0, 5-7).
*During the 2005 campaign, the Orange and Blue dropped two out of the three regular-season matchups (W, L, L) before downing the Seminoles in the NCAA Gainesville Super Regional to punch its first ticket to Omaha in seven years (8-1, 8-5).
*Florida will be playing the nation's top-ranked team for the first time since April 15, 2008, when Florida State collected a 4-2 triumph in Tallahassee.
*UF and FSU occupy the top two spots, respectively, in the Ratings Percentage Index and the Strength of Schedule ratings compiled by Warren Nolan.
*Florida is 12-6 (.667) against ranked teams in 2012, 8-3 (.727) versus top-10 foes. The Gators are 5-1 (.833) on the road against top-10 clubs this year.
*The Gators are 7-4 (.636) away from Gainesville this season and are 6-4 (.600) on an opponent's home field.
*Until falling in the rubber game to No. 7 LSU, Florida had not lost back-to-back weekend series since 2008, when it dropped series at South Carolina (W, L, L from May 2-4) and Alabama (L, W, L from May 9-11).
*Senior Daniel Pigott's season-high 11-game hitting streak ended in game three against LSU. He batted .438 (21-for-48) with 13 runs, four RBI, two homers, two triples and two doubles in the stretch. The center fielder is batting .333 overall and is second on the club with a .364 SEC clip.
*Florida starting pitchers are 13-2 with a 3.74 ERA and have 123 strikeouts and 31 walks in 144.1 innings.
*The Gator bullpen is 12-5 with nine saves and a 2.70 ERA this season, with 130 strikeouts and 33 walks in 136.2 innings. The team's most recent save came against FSU in Jacksonville on March 27.
*Florida is 18-3 (.857) at home, 6-4 (.600) on the road and 1-0 (1.000) at neutral sites this season. The Gators have faced No. 8 Miami (FL) (3-0), No. 6 South Carolina (2-1), No. 16 Ole Miss (1-2) and North Florida (0-1) in true road games.
*UF has a .293 batting average at opposing parks and its earned run average is 4.69 with two saves.
*Twenty-seven of the club's 42 homers have come at McKethan Stadium.
*Junior Austin Maddox (2-2, 2.01) is 8-for-8 in save opportunities and has 36 strikeouts and seven walks in 31.1 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 2-for-24 (.083) against Maddox, who is seventh on the school's career list with 13 saves after passing former teammates Billy Bullock (2007-09, 11 saves) and Kevin Chapman (2007-10, 11 saves) against Samford. Connor Falkenbach (2002-05) occupies the sixth spot with 16 saves.
*Florida holds a 218-114 scoring advantage and has out-scored foes, 68-24, over the final three innings.
*Sophomore Daniel Gibson has surrendered two runs in 16.1 innings of work covering 13 appearances. The southpaw has 12 strikeouts and five walks, while holding opponents to a .180 clip.
*Junior outfielder Vickash Ramjit tied for the team lead with a .364 (4-for-11) average against LSU and was 3-for-4 with career highs in RBI (4) and doubles (2) in the series opener. The left fielder is batting a team-best .400 (12-for-30) in SEC action.
*Fourteen of UF's 25 victories have been come-from-behind. Last season, 20 of the Gators' school-record 53 wins came after they were trailing.
*Senior Preston Tucker, who is tied with junior Mike Zunino for the team lead with nine homers, joined Matt LaPorta (74, 2004-07) and Brad Wilkerson (55, 1996-98) as the only players at Florida in the 50-HR club with a solo shot in the seventh inning on April 1 at Ole Miss.
*The Gators have clubbed 42 homers in 32 games after totaling 69 HR in 72 games last season. Nine different players have left the yard, led by Tucker (9), Zunino (9), junior Nolan Fontana (6) and freshman Taylor Gushue (5). The Orange and Blue has multiple homers in 14 games and has at least one jack in 22 of 32 contests this season.
*Fontana has already set his career high for homers after having three as a freshman and five as a sophomore. He leads UF in stolen bases by going 7-for-7.
*Florida is batting .321 (104-for-324) with runners in scoring position, as junior Brian Johnson is 11-for-27 (.407) and Pigott is 12-for-31 (.387). Opponents are just 55-for-279 (.197).
*Tucker's double in the first inning versus LSU on Saturday was the 60th of his career, one shy of Mark Ellis' school-record total of 61 set between 1996-99.
*The Gators are 12-4 (.750) this year when opponents score first and are 21-1 (.955) when out-hitting their foe.
*After committing three errors in the LSU series, UF has 26 errors through 32 games for a .978 fielding percentage and has played error-free in 14 contests (12-2).
*The Gators' 26 sacrifice flies are over halfway to the school's single-season mark of 48 done in 2000. UF had 27 sac flies last year, led by a school-record-tying nine by Fontana.
*With 16 appearances this year, giving him 103 in his career, senior Greg Larson is now tied with Josh Fogg (1996-98) for fourth on the Gators' career chart. The righty has played FSU 12 times and is 2-1 with a 2.38 ERA in 22.2 innings.
*Tucker is 13-for-48 (.271) with 14 RBI and six runs in 13 career outings versus the Seminoles, while Zunino has a .231 (9-for-39) average and six RBI in 11 contests. Each player is 2-for-6 (.333) combined in the two meetings this spring.
*Florida's pitching staff has limited FSU to a 10-for-60 (.167) showing at the plate in the first two games, with just one extra-base hit (a double).
