No. 5 Florida Heads To Tampa For Wednesday Matchup at USF
Tuesday, February 17, 2015 | Baseball
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After sweeping Rhode Island at McKethan Stadium to begin the 2015 campaign, No. 5 Florida (3-0) had its Tuesday night contest against Florida A&M postponed. The Gators will visit USF (2-1) on Wednesday night before welcoming No. 8 Miami (4-0) to town for a weekend series.
The game at Red McEwen Field can be heard through GatorZone.com and on the Gator IMG Sports Network with Jeff Cardozo and Steve Russell. Live stats for each game will be available on GatorZone.com and fans can also follow updates of each game on @GatorZoneBB, the official Twitter account of the Gator baseball team.
QUICK HITS ABOUT THE GATORS
- With the series sweep of Rhode Island, Florida improved to 8-0 in season-opening series under Kevin O'Sullivan.
- Florida's offense came out firing on opening weekend, as the squad hit .340 (36-for-106) and outscored Rhode Island, 37-5.
- The Orange and Blue pounded out 16 extra-base hits, with nine doubles, six homers and a triple, and boasted a .613 slugging percentage.
- Led by junior Harrison Bader's three dingers, UF had six homers on the weekend. It didn't reach six round-trippers last season until the 21st game on March 18 against Florida State.
- Florida's pitching staff limited the Rams to five runs in 27 innings for a 1.67 ERA, with 25 strikeouts and four walks.
- UF used 12 different pitchers in the series and its trio of sophomore starters, RHP Logan Shore, RHP Dane Dunning and LHP A.J. Puk, was a combined 3-0 with a 1.93 ERA and registered 13 strikeouts in 14 innings.
- The Gators swept their first series of the campaign for the first time since 2011 by downing the Rams by scores of 9-1, 22-3 and 6-1.
- The total of 37 runs was the highest for Florida to begin a year since 2006 (40 runs), when it dominated Cincinnati (10-0, 10-4, 20-4).
- Head coach Kevin O'Sullivan claimed his 200th win at McKethan Stadium on Saturday and is now 201-63 (.761) on his own turf.
- UF started three freshmen in its season opener: Dalton Guthrie (2B), Mike Rivera (C) and JJ Schwarz (DH). Five rookies started the finale on Sunday: Logan Browning (RF), Guthrie, Christian Hicks (1B), Rivera and Schwarz.
- Guthrie batted .462 (6-for-13) out of the leadoff spot, highlighted by a 4-for-5 outing on Sunday in which he scored three runs and had two doubles.
- Florida was 5-for-5 on the basepaths, with five thefts from five different players. URI was just 4-for-9 on stolen-base attempts and Rivera threw out three of the four runners who tried to steal on him.
- Junior right-hander Taylor Lewis was the only pitcher with multiple appearances, as he closed the victories on Friday and Sunday.
- Junior Richie Martin belted his second career homer on Sunday and was 3-for-10 (.300) on the weekend with four runs, two RBI and two walks. The shortstop did not make any errors on 15 chances (six putouts, nine assists).
DRAWING THE START
Sophomore Brett Morales will be making his first appearance of the season for the Gators and will oppose USF redshirt freshman righty Tommy Peterson (0-0, 0.00). The Gator right-hander made 11 appearances and five starts in '14 and was 0-0. In 23.1 innings, Morales totaled 16 strikeouts and issued 10 walks. He did not allow any runs in four SEC outings spanning six innings and registered four strikeouts.
SERIES NUGGETS
Florida had reeled off 12-straight victories over USF before the Bulls ended the slide at McKethan Stadium on April 24, 2012, with a 5-3 win. The Gators have countered with a pair of triumphs the past two seasons, 12-1 on April 23, 2013, and 8-2 on May 13, 2014.
Head coach Kevin O'Sullivan is 12-1 (.923) against USF, 10-1 (.909) in Gainesville and 2-0 (1.000) in Tampa. UF holds a 55-24 (.696) advantage in the all-time series.
Single-Game Tickets, Season Tickets and the Complete Game Mini-Plans can be purchased online through GatorZone or by calling the Gator Ticket Office at 1-800-34-GATOR from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday
