After dropping the weekend series to LSU, No. 14 Florida baseball has a chance to bounce back against the No. 5 Florida State Seminoles on Tuesday.
It’s supposed to be the second meeting of the season between the two clubs, but the March 15 game was postponed due to weather. That means the in-state rivalry will kick off at a Financial Ballpark in Jacksonville where neither club has home-field advantage. Last year’s two-game series was split with each team earning a win in their home stadium.
[autotag]Garrett Milchin[/autotag] is the starter for Florida. His last start came against Florida A&M when he pitched five solid innings, but this will be a much more difficult outing to navigate safely. It also comes at a time of pressure for UF.
The Gators hit below .200 as a team over the weekend, and they’re at No. 23 Georgia for the upcoming weekend series. This team relies on its veteran lineup to work the young pitching staff out of jams, but it’s becoming clearer and clearer that Florida can’t play that style with a shaky starting staff aside from [autotag]Hunter Barco[/autotag].
Milchin’s experience against Florida State (four starts against the Seminoles in his career) should come in handy. He’s given up a 7-spot and also cruised through six innings of one-run ball against FSU, so he knows he’s capable of taming them.
If he can get some run support early, Florida could take the momentum and use the few solid pieces it has in the bullpen to close it out. The Gators haven’t dropped three games in a row all year, so look for them to give their all to avoid it happening on Tuesday.
The first pitch is at 7 p.m. EDT.