The Gators have been on a tear since dropping the opening series of the season to Liberty, but all of the team’s success has come against unranked opponents. Florida baseball gets its first chance to prove itself against a ranked opponent against the Miami Hurricanes in Coral Gables this weekend.
The matchup comes at the perfect time for the Gators. The team has scored over 10 runs in each of the last four games, including a brutal 17-0 beating of Florida A&M on Wednesday. Infielder Colby Halter and Sterlin Thompson have hit safely in each of Florida’s games so far this season, and Jud Fabian and Josh Rivera have picked things up lately. Kris Armstrong, who started the season off hitting .050, is also starting to find his swing again.
Left-hander Hunter Barco has been one of the best pitchers in the country early on, and he’ll keep his Friday spot in the weekend rotation. Brandon Sproat is taking over for Pierce Coppola in the weekend rotation. Coppola was a late scratch last week after a back injury flared up. The hope was that he’d be able to pitch early in the season before shutting down to get surgery, but that seems less likely by the day.
Florida has the clear edge on offense with a superior batting average and twice as many home runs as Miami, but the pitching staff are about equal. The Hurricanes are ranked No. 21 in the nation with a 2.25 ERA and the Gators are just behind at No. 23 with a 2.30 ERA.