Florida Baseball Weekly Report - Week 3
Monday, March 2, 2015 | Baseball
Florida Baseball Weekly Report – March 1, 2015
(Games from Feb. 23-March 1)
Overall Record: 10-1 (8-1 at home, 2-0 on road)
SEC Record: 0-0
Record Last Week: 4-0 (3-0 at home, 1-0 on road)
Streak: Won 5
Last Week's Results (4-0):
Tuesday, Feb. 24 – Defeated Florida Atlantic, 10-8
Friday, Feb. 27 – Defeated Stony Brook, 1-0
Saturday, Feb. 28 – Defeated Stony Brook, 14-3
Sunday, March 1 – Defeated Stony Brook, 6-2
This Week's Schedule (All Times Eastern)
Tuesday, March 3 – at No. 15 UCF (10-1/AAC), Jay Bergman Field, 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, March 4 – host No. 15 UCF (10-1/AAC), McKethan Stadium, 7 p.m. (SEC Network+)
Friday, March 6 – host Maine (2-8/America East), McKethan Stadium, 7 p.m. (SEC Network+)
Saturday, March 7 – host Maine (2-8/America East), McKethan Stadium, 4 p.m. (SEC Network+)
Sunday, March 8 – host Maine (2-8/America East), McKethan Stadium, 1 p.m. (SEC Network+)
Team Notes
Florida (10-1) went 4-0 last week, defeating Florida Atlantic on Tuesday, 10-8, before sweeping a weekend series against Stony Brook by scores of 1-0, 14-3 and 6-2… The Gators raised their winning streak to five games and their pitching staff kept the Seawolves scoreless in 24 of 27 innings…UF is hitting .308 overall with 26 doubles, 13 homers and three triples, while its team earned run average is 2.18 and its fielding percentage is .982…Senior third baseman Josh Tobias (.409) batted .571 (8-for-14) last week and matched the school record with hits in eight consecutive at bats, highlighted by a 5-for-5 performance on Saturday…Junior shortstop Richie Martin (.306, 15 runs) and freshman catcher/designated hitter JJ Schwarz (.342, 13 RBI) were each 6-for-13 (.462) during the Gators' four victories…Junior left fielder Harrison Bader (.415) continues to pace the Orange and Blue in batting average, RBI (19), homers (5) and slugging percentage (.902) and went 6-for-11 (.545) with five runs, four RBI, three walks, a homer and a double versus SBU…The Gators' starting pitchers on the weekend, sophomore RHP Logan Shore (2-0, 0.00), sophomore LHP A.J. Puk (2-1, 4.61) and sophomore RHP Dane Dunning (3-0, 1.12) were a combined 3-0 against Stony Brook with a 1.37 ERA in 19.2 innings, allowing seven hits and three runs…Dunning threw a career-high 6.2 scoreless innings as the Gators downed the Seawolves again on Sunday…Sophomore John Sternagel opened the scoring with a two-run homer to left field in the second inning, his first big fly of the year…Tobias (2-for-4) had led off with a triple to right field, his seventh consecutive at bat with a hit after singling in the eighth inning on Tuesday and going 5-for-5 in game two…Tobias expanded the Gators' lead to 3-0 in the third inning with a two-out solo homer that hit the scoreboard overlooking right field…His first round-tripper of the season tied the school record of eight straight hits set by Kurt Keene from May 8-11, 1999…Puk worked a career-high 6.2 innings, while Tobias (5-for-5) and Bader (2-for-3) drove in three runs apiece as the Gators clinched the series with a 14-3 victory over the Seawolves on Saturday…Eight of the Gators' 16 hits went for extra bases and the Orange and Blue tallied 10 runs with two out…UF collected its fifth come-from-behind victory of the season and the three-run deficit matched the club's largest overcome this year (trailed 3-0 to FAU in a 10-8 triumph)…Florida's five runs in the opening frame marked the fourth time this season it had scored five or more runs in an inning…UF scored 10 runs with two out and totaled eight RBI with two down…Puk matched his personal best of seven strikeouts set against UConn on March 8, 2014…Bader became the first Gator to steal home since Tobias accomplished the feat on March 12, 2010, against Florida Gulf Coast…Bader had three RBI for his fifth multiple-RBI effort of the season…Tobias' five hits surpassed his career best versus Valparaiso at the NCAA Bloomington (Ind.) Regional on June 1, 2013...He became the first Florida player with a five-hit effort since Preston Tucker against Kentucky on May 21, 2011…
Shore (pictured, photo by Tim Casey) and senior Bobby Poyner (0-0, 1.93) combined on a three-hitter and Schwarz drove in the game's only run with a sixth-inning double to lift UF to a 1-0 victory on Friday night…The triumph was the 300th for eighth-year Gator head coach Kevin O'Sullivan, who reached the plateau the fastest in school history…O'Sullivan reached the triple century standard in his 456th game, while Dave Fuller (1948-75) earned his 300th win in his 467th game and Joe Arnold (1984-94) hit the mark in 483 games…Shore tossed 6.1 scoreless innings and only allowed one hit while striking out three Seawolves…The righty has now tossed 15.1 consecutive scoreless innings dating back to last season…Poyner pitched the final 2.2 innings and retired seven of the nine Stony Brook hitters he faced to pick up his first save of the season and the fifth of his career…Florida recorded its first shutout since May 8, 2014, when the Gators downed Vanderbilt, 1-0, in the series opener in Gainesville…Last Tuesday, Florida defeated Florida Atlantic, 10-8, at Roger Dean Stadium, 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 (1-0, 2.16, three saves) came in to close the game out over the final two innings…Schwarz (2-for-4) drove in three runs, while Martin (4-for-5) scored three runs on the night…Sophomore Buddy Reed (.292, nine RBI) also had a three-hit night and scored a pair of runs…Florida plays a home-and-home series against No. 15 UCF (10-1), visiting Orlando on Tuesday before welcoming the Knights to McKethan Stadium on Wednesday…The Gators host Maine (2-8) in a three-game series next weekend.
Top Performers Last Week
Dane Dunning, Sophomore, Right-Hander, 6-3, 190, Fleming Island, FL
*Improved to 3-0 on Sunday with a career-high 6.2 scoreless innings to finish the Gators' sweep of Stony Brook
*Scattered three hits and registered four strikeouts in keeping the Seawolves off of the scoreboard during his outing
*Over 16 innings this season, Dunning has 13 strikeouts, a 1.12 ERA and has limited opponents to a .111 average
Harrison Bader, Junior, Outfielder, 6-0, 190, Bronxville, NY
*Went 6-for-15 (.400), scored five runs, totaled four RBI and drew four walks last week
*Batted .545 (6-for-11) in the sweep of Stony Brook
*Came through with an RBI single to plate Richie Martin in the fifth inning on Sunday and scored in the seventh on a base-hit by Mike Rivera
*Was 2-for-3 with three runs and three RBI in game two with SBU, cranking his team-leading fifth homer and roping a two-run double
*Opened the series with the Seawolves by going 3-for-4 and scored the game's lone run on a double by JJ Schwarz
*Paces Florida in batting average (.415), RBI (19), extra-base hits (10), homers (5) and slugging percentage (.902)
Richie Martin, Junior, Shortstop, 6-0, 185, Brandon, FL
*Hit .462 (6-for-13) and led the Gators with six runs
*Had a double, scored a run and delivered a sacrifice fly in Sunday's 6-2 victory over Stony Brook
*Was 1-for-3 with a pair of runs and a walk as the Gators clinched the series on Saturday
*Set a career best with four hits against Florida Atlantic, scored three runs and tallied a couple of run-scoring singles
*Is hitting .306 with 15 runs, eight walks and six RBI
A.J. Puk, Sophomore, Left-Hander/First Baseman, 6-7, 225, Cedar Rapids, IA
*Worked a career-high 6.2 innings to earn the series-clinching win against Stony Brook on Saturday
*Matched his career best of seven strikeouts
*After giving up a homer in the opening frame, Puk retired 13 Seawolves in a row until surrendering a two-out single in the fifth inning
*Came through with a pinch-hit RBI grounder in the eighth inning of the Gators' win over Florida Atlantic
*Is batting .300 this season and is 2-1 on the mound with 13 strikeouts in 13.2 innings
JJ Schwarz, Freshman, Catcher/Designated Hitter, 6-1, 205, Palm Beach Gardens, FL
*Turned in a .462 (6-for-13) average during Florida's 4-0 week
*Went 4-for-9 (.444) with two doubles, one run and an RBI as the Gators took all three games from Stony Brook
*Was 2-for-3 in the finale to extend his hitting streak to six games
*Doubled on Saturday and also scored a run
*Drove in the lone run of the game in the series opener with the Seawolves with a sixth-inning double that brought in Harrison Bader
*Tallied three RBI and was 2-for-4 in the mid-week triumph over Florida Atlantic
*Ranks second on the Gators with a .342 average and is second with 13 RBI
It was another stellar week for freshman JJ Schwarz (Photo by Tim Casey).
Logan Shore, Sophomore, Right-Hander, 6-2, 215, Coon Rapids, MN
*Tossed 6.1 scoreless innings in Florida's 1-0 victory over Stony Brook on Friday night to earn the decision
*Yielded only a leadoff double to start the game and finished with three strikeouts and three walks
*Is 2-0 on the season and has thrown 15.1 consecutive scoreless frames dating back to last season
Josh Tobias, Senior, Third Base, 5-10, 205, Greensboro, NC
*Batted a team-best .571 (8-for-14) as the Gators claimed all four of their games last week
*Tied a school record with hits in eight consecutive at bats, last done by Kurt Keene from May 8-11, 1999
*Hit a scorching .778 (7-for-9) in Florida's sweep of fellow 2012 NCAA College World Series participant Stony Brook, with four RBI and three runs
*Went 2-for-4 with a solo homer, his first triple of the season and two runs during Sunday's finale with the Seawolves
*Was a career-best 5-for-5 and tied his career high with three RBI on Saturday on a double and a pair of run-scoring singles
*Had an RBI single in the eighth inning that brought in Jason Lombardozzi with an insurance run in UF's 10-8 win over FAU
*Has a .409 (9-for-22) average in 10 games played this year and has played flawless defense
