Florida vs. Stony Brook Series Notes
SEC Weekly Release
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After a 10-8 victory over Florida Atlantic on Tuesday, No. 2 Florida (7-1) hosts Stony Brook (2-4) from the America East Conference in a weekend series. The Gators and Seawolves each advanced to the CWS during the 2012 season but did not cross paths in Omaha, Neb.
The anticipated pitching matchups are sophomore right-hander Logan Shore (1-0, 0.00) facing Seawolves' junior right-hander Tim Knesnik (0-1, 4.00) in Friday's series opener at 7 p.m., sophomore left-hander A.J. Puk (1-1, 5.14) opposing SBU junior left-hander Tyler Honahan (1-0, 2.53) in game two of the series on Saturday at 4 p.m. and Gator sophomore righty Dane Dunning (2-0, 1.93) meeting Stony Brook sophomore left-hander Daniel Zamora (1-0, 1.64) in Sunday's finale at 12 p.m.
All three games of the weekend series can be heard through GatorZone.com and on the Gator IMG Sports Network with Jeff Cardozo and Bob White. There will be no live streaming this weekend. 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.
PARKING IMPACT
There will be a parking impact for Florida Athletic Events (including Gator Baseball) in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center Lot beginning on Sunday, March 1, and going through Sunday, March 8. The work is part of campus electrical infrastructure upgrades and will cause the following:
- Parking spaces south of the parking garage will not be available
- One ADA spot adjacent to the O'Connell Center will not be available
- Movement west of the parking garage and south of the parking garage will be limited to one lane of traffic flowing south and then east; there will be well-marked directional signage and foot traffic should not be affected
QUICK HITS ABOUT THE GATORS
- UF will be playing at home for the third straight weekend after sweeping Rhode Island and defeating Miami twice. After hosting Stony Brook, the Gators will also face Maine (March 6-8) and Tennessee (March 13-15) in weekend series at McKethan Stadium before going to Ole Miss for their second SEC series.
- After scoring eight runs in its series victory over No. 8 Miami, Florida erupted for 10 runs on 13 hits against FAU on Tuesday night.
- Sophomore OF Buddy Reed, named SEC Co-Player of the Week on Monday for the first time in his career, is hitting .458 (11-for-24) in his last five games, with a trio of three-hit games. With seven RBI in eight games, he has already surpassed last year's total of six RBI in 60 games.
- The Orange and Blue has pounded out 27 extra-base hits, with 16 doubles, nine homers and two triples, with a .481 slugging percentage.
- Led by junior Harrison Bader's four dingers, UF has nine homers already. It didn't reach nine round-trippers last season until the 27th game on March 29 against LSU.
- UF has used 15 different pitchers and its quartet of sophomore starters, RHP Logan Shore, RHP Dane Dunning, LHP A.J. Puk and RHP Brett Morales, is a combined 5-1 with a 2.70 ERA and registered 27 strikeouts in 30 innings.
- Junior RHP Taylor Lewis (1-0, 0.00) claimed last Friday's win over No. 8 Miami and has saved the Gators' last two victories over UM and FAU.
- The Gators have plated 68 runs in eight games. They did not reach this plateau offensively until the 17th game last season on March 12.
- UF started three freshmen in its season opener: Dalton Guthrie (2B), Mike Rivera (C) and JJ Schwarz (DH). Five rookies started the finale against No. 8 Miami last Sunday: Logan Browning (RF), Guthrie, Christian Hicks (3B), Rivera and Schwarz.
- Guthrie has batted .353 (12-for-34) out of the leadoff spot with eight runs and has hit safely in seven of the Gators' eight outings.
- Florida is 14-for-18 on the basepaths, with thefts from eight different players. Rivera has thrown out three of the seven runners who have tried to steal on him and he is 2-for-2 on his own.
- Schwarz (.310, 12 RBI) belted his third homer last Saturday and had three more RBI versus FAU. Five of his nine hits have gone for extra bases.
- Junior shortstop Richie Martin went 3-for-4 with three runs and two RBI on Tuesday to raise his batting average to .296.
Harrison Bader is hitting a team-best .367 with 15 RBI and four homers (Photo by Tim Casey).
SERIES NUGGETS
The Gators and Seawolves have met just once on the diamond, with Florida pitching a 22-0 shutout on April 7, 1982, in Gainesville.
Under the direction of Jack Rhine, Florida was 34-25-1 overall that season and claimed the SEC Championship and Eastern Division titles with a 14-8 league mark. The Orange and Blue won the SEC Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Atlantic Regional in Coral Gables, Fla.
LAST TIME OUT
Florida defeated Florida Atlantic, 10-8, at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Fla., the spring training home of the Miami Marlins and the St. Louis Cardinals. The Gators used a three-run eighth inning to take the lead and junior Taylor Lewis came in to close the game out over the final two innings.
Freshman JJ Schwarz (2-for-4) drove in three runs, junior Richie Martin (3-for-4) scored three runs and sophomore Buddy Reed also had a three-hit night and scored a pair of runs. The top three hitters for the Orange and Blue on Tuesday night, freshman Dalton Guthrie, Reed and Martin, were 8-for-15 (.533) with seven runs and four RBI.
Taylor Lewis (1-0, 0.00) has a pair of saves for the Gators (Photo by Tim Casey).
WHEN YOU GET KNOCKED DOWN…
Four of the Gators' seven wins this season have come when they have been behind, including both victories over No. 8 Miami, and they overcame a 3-0 deficit to upend FAU.
ABOUT THE SEAWOLVES
Head coach Matt Senk is in his 25th season at Stony Brook. The 2012 NCBWA National Coach of the Year, he has delivered 19 winning seasons, three regular-season championships, four conference tournament crowns and four NCAA Tournament appearances to the Seawolves in 2004, 2008, 2010 and 2012, highlighted by a trip to the 2012 College World Series.
In that magical season, Stony Brook downed host Miami and then won three straight elimination games to take the NCAA Coral Gables Regional. The following weekend, the Seawolves knocked off LSU in the NCAA Baton Rouge Super Regional to become only the second No. 4 seed ever to advance to the CWS and the first Northeast school since 1986 to advance to Omaha.
Last spring, Stony Brook went 35-18 overall and captured the America East title with an 18-5 league record. However, the Seawolves dropped an 8-7 decision to Binghamton in the America East Tournament Championship and did not advance to NCAA Regional play.
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. For all of the latest information on Florida baseball, log on to GatorZone or follow the team's Twitter account @GatorZoneBB.
