No. 5 Gators Tilt With Hatters Tuesday in DeLand
Tuesday, March 24, 2015 | Baseball
Gainesville, Fla. -- The No. 5 Gators will look to string together a couple of wins Tuesday when they visit Stetson for a non-conference mid-week clash at Melching Field at Conrad Park in DeLand. The Gators (20-5, 3-3 SEC) and Hatters (14-11, 0-0 A-Sun) will meet for the first of two games this season Tuesday in a 6:30 p.m. showdown. Gator fans can watch the match-up live on GatorVision.
Florida Game Notes | Florida Baseball Weekly Report
Florida and Stetson will be meeting for the first time since 2009, when UF took both games that season (5-2 and 15-4). Florida owns a 78-34 advantage all-time in the history of the series and enters Tuesday having won two straight against the Hatters. Florida is coming off its second SEC series of the season at Ole Miss, where the Rebels took the weekend set with 4-1 and 5-2 victories in the first two games. The Gators salvaged the third game with an 8-4 victory in the second game of Saturday's weather-induced twinbill. The Hatters, who have yet to start conference play, enter the mid-week tilt with Florida after winning a home series with Long Island, using 6-3 and 19-1 wins Friday and Sunday, respectively, at Melching Field. LIU won Saturday's contest, 8-1.
The Gators will go with freshman right-hander Alex Faedo (1-0, 1.50 ERA) Tuesday, while Hatter righty Mitchell Jordan (0-1, 3.27 ERA) will be opposite Faedo on the mound for Stetson.
FLORIDA | STETSON BROADCAST INFORMATION
All three games of the weekend series can be heard through GatorZone.com and on the Gator IMG Sports Network with Jeff Cardozo and Adam Schick on the call, while the clash will stream live on GatorVision. 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.
FLORIDA | STETSON SERIES NOTES
· Florida lead the all-time series with Stetson, 78-34, including a 34-21 advantage in DeLand. The Gators and Hatters are meeting for the first time since 2009 and will play once this season in DeLand at Conrad Park (March 24), and once in Gainesville at McKethan Stadium (April 7)
· Gator head coach Kevin O'Sullivan is 2-0 against the Hatters, having won one game at DeLand and one at home his second season as the head skipper at Florida in 2009
· Florida enters the match-up with Stetson with a 20-5 overall record and will look to continue a win streak after taking the final game of its three-game set in Oxford. The Orange and Blue have won two straight against the Hatters entering Tuesday's tilt
UF | SU SERIES HISTORY
| Series Record: | Florida leads, 78-34 |
| At Gainesville: | Florida leads, 41-11 |
| At DeLand: | Florida leads, 34-21 |
| Neutral Sites: | Florida leads, 3-2 |
| 1-Run Games: | Florida leads, 10-9 |
| 2-Run Games: | Stetson leads, 9-8 |
| Shutouts: | Florida leads, 14-4 |
| Most Runs, Florida: | 24 (24-9 win in 1951) |
| Margin, Florida: | 15 (19-4 in 1947, 24-9 in 1951) |
| Most Runs, Stetson: | 15 (15-12 win on 3/11/00) |
| Margin, Stetson: | 9 (9-0 win on 5/3/74) |
| Longest Win Streak, Florida: | 12 (4/21/93-4/11/01) |
| Longest Win Streak, Stetson: | 3, 4x, (last 4/16/82-3/3/83 |
| Current Streak: | Florida won 2 |
FLORIDA TEAM AND PLAYER NOTABLES
· Florida got off to one of its best starts in school history with a 16-2 (.889) record heading into conference play. UF's 16 wins tied for the second-most in school history entering conference play against Tennessee last week. The Gators were 18-4 (.818) before SEC play in 2004 and Florida was 16-1 (.941) before league play in 2012. The 2004 team (43-22 overall) lost in the Super Regionals and the 2012 team (47-20 overall) advanced to the College World Series in Omaha
· UF has six double-digit run outputs this season, while the pitching staff has seven double-digit strikeout performances on the year, including 12 Ks twice in the last week (vs. FSU 3/17 & at Ole Miss 3/21)
· Florida's 12 hits in its series finale at Ole Miss gave the Gators double-digit hits in half of its SEC games so far this season and in seven of its last 10 games
· On the hill, Florida's pitching staff has an earned run average of 2.64 (23rd in NCAA) and defensively, Florida boasts a fielding percentage of .981 (ninth in NCAA)
· The Gators' pitching staff also ranks seventh nationally in WHIP (1.06) and ninth nationally allowing just 6.85 hits per nine innings
· Offensively, the Orange and Blue rank third nationally in doubles (58), 13th in triples (10) and are 13th in runs scored (177). Florida's .459 slugging percentage ranks 15th in the country, its .300 batting clip 34th in the NCAA entering the Stetson game
· The Gators have outscored their opponents, 177-84, are 15-0 this season when scoring first and the Orange and Blue also pose a threat on the base paths, checking in at 22nd in the nation with 38 stolen bases
· Current career hitting streaks entering the match-up with the Hatters: Sophomore CF Buddy Reed (12), since the start of the Maine series, has hit .333 (14-of-42) with three doubles, two triples, 10 RBI and four walks through the stretch, while freshman catcher/designated hitter Mike Rivera (4) is one shy of tying his career-high five straight games with a hit. Rivera additionally has at least one RBI on his last four games.
· Junior LF Harrison Bader ranks among the nation's leaders in several major hitting categories: ninth in home runs (7), eighth in slugging percentage (.760) and eighth in RBI (29)
· Last week, the Gators' 16 hits against the Noles were one shy of a season-high 17. Nine of UF's 16 hits were manufactured by the freshman class. Mike Rivera paced the pack with a 3-for-5 showing at the dish with two runs scored and one RBI, while fellow catcher/DH J.J. Schwarz (2-for-5) jacked a three-run homer. Rivera and fellow first-year Jeremy Vasquez then turned around and both went 1-for-3 in the series opener at Ole Miss for two of UF's three hits
· UF's first two pitchers in the series finale at Ole Miss had big Ks -- starter Dane Dunning with a career-tying five through 4.1 innings pitched, while Bobby Poyner picked up the win (1-1), his first of the season with 3.1 innings of scoreless relief with six strikeouts, one shy of his career-high seven
