Gators Open SEC Tournament against Texas A&M

HOOVER, Ala.--No. 11 seed Florida (33-23, 13-17 SEC) will face No. 6 seed Texas A&M (36-19-1, 16-13-1 SEC) to open the 2019 Southeastern Conference Tournament in Hoover on Tuesday morning.

The winner will advance to face No. 3 seed Georgia on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.

PITCHING MATCHUPS

	Tuesday \| 10:30 a.m. ET (SEC Network)
UF	RHP Tommy Mace (8-4, 5.18 ERA)
TAMU	LHP Asa Lacy (7-4, 2.13 ERA)

SERIES HISTORY | Overall: Texas A&M leads, 11-7. At SEC Tournament: TAMU leads, 2-0. Notable: Florida won a regular-season series at Texas A&M last season. The two teams did not face each other in the 2019 regular season. The Gators and Aggies have met twice in the SEC Tournament, with Texas A&M winning both matchups (6-3 in 2013; 12-5 in 2016).

SEC TOURNAMENT HISTORY: The Gators are 68-64 all-time in 38 career SEC Tournament appearances. Under Coach O'Sullivan, Florida is 22-18 in Hoover with two tournament titles (2011 and 2015).
STRONG FINISH: With their backs against the wall, the Gators went on the road and swept Missouri in Columbia with a strong weekend on the mound. It was the first home series loss for Missouri this season; the Tigers had lost just three games in Columbia prior to the weekend sweep by the Gators. With the sweep, Florida finished the regular season with an RPI of 25 and the nation's No. 3 toughest schedule. Including six games against Miami and Florida State, the Gators finished 18-18 against SEC/ACC teams.
FORMULA FOR SUCCESS: Florida's winning formula this season has come from its offense. The Gators are 25-2 when out-hitting the opponent and 20-4 with scoring six runs or more. Conversely, UF is 13-19 when scoring less than six runs and 4-19 when out-hit by the opponent.
TOUGH SLEDDING: Nine of Florida's final 10 games in the regular season came against Top 25 opponents. The Gators faced #8 Georgia, #24 Tennessee and #22 Missouri in the final three weeks.
FINDING THE ZONE: The pitching staff posted a 1.67 earned run average at Missouri, matching its best weekend in SEC play in 2019, and limited the Tigers to a .170 batting average against, its lowest in 14 weekend series in 2019. All three starting pitchers tossed at least five innings; Tommy Mace allowed two earned runs over 6.2 innings, Jack Leftwich pitched a complete-game shutout in Friday's 2-0 win and Nick Pogue did not allow a run in 5.1 innings.
LEFTWICH LIGHTS OUT: The Orlando native turned in the best performance of his career in a must-win game for the Gators, pitching a complete-game shutout at Missouri. He limited the Tigers to just two hits, for a .071 average against, and matched his career high with nine strikeouts. It was the first complete-game, 2-hitter by a Florida pitcher since Logan Shore vs. Georgia on April 22, 2016.
SUPER SOPH: SS Brady McConnell is the Gators' triple crown leader, hitting .344 with 15 home runs (including 11 HR in SEC play) and 45 RBI on the season. He also leads the team with 23 multi-hit games. His 15 homers are the most by a UF shortstop in school history, surpassing Mark Ellis' 14 homers in 1998.
EL CAPITAN: Senior captain Nelson Maldonado is hitting .350 average (20-57) with four homers and 13 RBI over the last 15 games. On the season, he's set new career bests with 10 home runs, 13 doubles and a .581 slugging pct.
LANGWORTHY ON FIRE: Junior Austin Langworthy is 38-for-113 (.336) with 24 RBI and 15 extra-base hits in his last 30 games. He started the season in a slump, hitting just .187 (17-for-91). On the season, he has already set new career bests in home runs (8), RBI (35) and slugging percentage (.461).
HOW BOUT DEM APPLES: Sophomore catcher Brady Smith (who's doppelganger is Matt Damon) has been on a tear over his last 23 games, hitting .358 (24-for-67) with three home runs and 10 RBI. He surpassed his totals from his freshman season with five home runs and 19 RBI on the year.
HIDDEN GEM: Freshman Nick Pogue has made three starts over the Gators' past seven games, the first three of his career. In that span, he has posted a 0.57 earned run average (1 ER in 15.2 IP) with just six hits allowed, three walks and 12 strikeouts.

Gators Calendar