No. 7 Florida Travels To Mississippi State For SEC Weekend Series
Thursday, April 16, 2015 | Baseball
Florida vs. Mississippi State Series Notes
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 7 Florida (28-10/9-6 SEC) journeys to Starkville on Super Bulldog Weekend for three games against Mississippi State (22-16/6-9 SEC). This is the sixth of the 10 SEC series and the Gators will be on the road three of the next four weekends (at Mississippi State, host Kentucky, at Georgia and at No. 4 Vanderbilt).
Sophomore right-hander Logan Shore (5-2, 2.16) will face Bulldog senior southpaw Lucas Laster (4-2, 2.52) in Friday's series opener at 7:30 p.m., sophomore right-hander Dane Dunning (4-1, 3.19) will oppose MSU sophomore right-hander Austin Sexton (3-3, 3.52) in game two of the series on Saturday at 3 p.m. and a Gator pitcher to be announced will face redshirt junior Preston Brown (5-3, 3.81) in Sunday's finale at 3 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 Steve Russell. Friday's series opener will be carried on SEC Network+ through participating TV providers only through WatchESPN, Saturday's game will be carried on the SEC Network with Gabe Gross and Tom Hart and Sunday's game will be shown on ESPNU with Gross and Hart calling the action. 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
- Florida saw its four-game winning streak come to an end with a 4-3 loss to No. 13 Florida State in 12 innings at Tallahassee on Tuesday night.
- It was the first time all season that UF was defeated when out-hitting its foe (26-1) and was the first time it fell when ahead after seven innings (24-1).
- The Gators will be away from the friendly confines of McKethan Stadium, where they are 23-3 (.885) this year, for their next three games.
- Over their four triumphs last week, the Gators batted .415 (66-for-159), had a slugging percentage of .748 and outscored opponents, 60-12.
- Florida had 25 extra-base hits (14 homers and 11 doubles), totaled 55 RBI (compared to 10 for opponents) and had 22 walks and 22 strikeouts.
- The Orange and Blue registered double-digit hits and double-digit runs in every game, notched a perfect fielding percentage and continues to lead the nation with a .985 clip.
- Florida is tied for first in the SEC with Texas A&M and tied for fourth in the country with 42 homers. The squad had 26 homers in 63 games last season.
- The Gators' team batting average of .308 is third in SEC and 13th nationally, trailing LSU (.319) and Texas A&M (.316) in the league statistics.
- The club also rates sixth in hits (409), seventh in runs (285) and is tied for ninth in scoring (7.5 runs per game) in the latest NCAA statistics.
- UF committed its first error since March 31 on Tuesday night and is has played error-free in 21 of 38 games with an 18-3 (.857) mark.
- Sophomore RF Ryan Larson (.337, 22 runs, 17 RBI) batted .545 (6-for-11) with five runs last week and went 6-for-9 (.667) in the sweep of South Carolina.
- Freshman C/DH JJ Schwarz (.314, 46 RBI, 13 HR) hit .529 (9-for-17) with 15 RBI, 12 runs, seven homers and a slugging percentage of 1.882 last week. He belted a school-record four homers against Stetson, tying the SEC's single-game mark set in 1982 by Kentucky's Bill Sandry, and established a UF single-game mark with 18 total bases. Schwarz hit .364 (4-for-11) with a team-high seven runs, five RBI and three homers during the three wins over the Gamecocks, including a two-homer showing in the finale. He went 2-for-4 with another blast and a double against the Seminoles.
- Junior SS Richie Martin (.308, 37 runs, 25 RBI) went 7-for-14 (.500) last week, highlighted by a career-high six RBI in the Gators' series-clinching victory over South Carolina, junior LF Harrison Bader (.357, 43 RBI, 11 HR) had a .474 (9-for-19) average with nine RBI, three homers and three doubles and junior CF Buddy Reed (.320, 30 RBI, 30 runs, 14 stolen bases) was 8-for-17 (.471) with eight runs and five RBI.
- Senior 3B Josh Tobias continues to lead Florida's offense with a .378 batting average overall and a .390 performance in SEC play.
- Reed (14-for-19) and Martin (14-for-17) are the Gators' top threats on the basepaths and the team is 56-of-74 (.757) in stolen base attempts.
- On the mound, freshman RHP Alex Faedo (3-1, 2.12) picked up a pair of wins last week and sophomore RHP Logan Shore is 5-2 with a 2.16 ERA in nine starts.
- According to the most recent SEC statistics, Florida ranks No. 1 in fielding percentage (.985), No. 3 in team batting average (.308) and No. 5 in team ERA (3.40).
- Schwarz is first in the league in RBI (46), second in home runs (13) and third in slugging percentage (.693), Bader is second in slugging (.722), second in RBI (43) and third in home runs (11), while Tobias is fifth in batting average (.378) and ninth in slugging percentage (.622).
SERIES NUGGETS
Florida holds a 59-44 (.573) advantage in the all-time series, and the Gators have a 25-22 (.532) edge in Starkville.
Head coach Kevin O'Sullivan is 12-5 (.706) against Mississippi State, 7-2 (.778) in Gainesville, 3-3 (.500) in Starkville and 2-0 (1.000) at the SEC Tournament.
This will be the first weekend set between the Gators and Bulldogs since MSU notched a 2-1 series win in Starkville in 2013.
TICKETS
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.
