The No. 15 Florida Gators (16-8, 3-3 SEC) took a tumble in the polls after getting swept on the road by the then-No. 25 South Carolina Gamecocks this past weekend to drop their first conference series. Now, the squad looks to get back on track against the Mercer Bears (13-10, 2-1 SoCon) in a midweek solo matchup between two schools with a longer history than you might think.
The Bears lost their last game against the Wofford Bulldogs on Saturday but had been riding an eight-game winning streak prior to that — with three postponed games sprinkled in there as well. Most notably on their schedule is a three-game series they had with South Carolina at the beginning of the month in which they were swept, but also managed to keep the score respectable in all three losses including a 1-0 defeat in the final game.
Historically, the Gators hold a narrow one-win lead in this series that stretches back all the way to 1913 when Florida swept a three-game series in Gainesville. The two battled back and forth in that first decade of play, with Mercer holding a strong upper hand by the mid-20s. The two schools took a 54-year hiatus from 1931 to 1985, but before the break — which featured 40 total games — the Bears held a 24-16 edge on the Gators, though UF won the last two.
Once the series resumed in 1985, Florida went on to win 10 more consecutive games stretching their series-long winning streak to 12 and ultimately accrued 16 wins in 17 games up to 2005. However, Mercer has won the last three meetings — all in Gainesville — in 2006, 2014 and 2018. The series may tilt heavily toward the Gators over the past few decades, but the Bears have the historical momentum coming into this game.
Here is a look below at the starting pitchers lined up for Tuesday’s solo game along with the projected starting lineup. Scroll down further for interesting excerpts from the media guide.