Florida baseball’s final series of the regular season against South Carolina kicks off over the weekend, but there’s one more midweek game to play before the Gators can begin to focus on the Gamecocks. Florida State travels to Condron Family Ballpark on Tuesday for a rescheduled game against UF that was originally supposed to take place on March 15.
The Gators took game one of the series at a neutral site in Jacksonville by a score of 6-3, and FSU took game two on April 12 in Tallahassee, 5-0. The rubber match comes at a time when Florida has found its groove again, but that could disappear quickly with the wrong guy on the mound. [autotag]Nick Pogue[/autotag]’s four-run first halted all momentum gained going into the last game between these two.
It should be a big day for the bullpen regardless of who starts. At least, that’s how midweek games have gone all year for the Gators, so there’s little reason to expect a change now.
[autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag], [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] and [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] continue to be a force at the top of the order, but [autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag] is struggling, especially against the Southeastern Conference. He’s hitless through seven at-bats against the ‘Noles this year, but he has managed to draw a pair of walks and scored once.
If UF wants to make a deep run in the postseason, they’ll need Fabian’s bat to do more than just hit for power. This could be the breakout game to do it as it’s likely his last opportunity to get the best of FSU.