Tag: series preview

Series Preview: Florida finishes off regular season at Kentucky

The college baseball regular season comes to an end this weekend, but Florida should make a deep postseason run.

After sweeping the Vanderbilt Commodores, the Florida Gators baseball team is ready to end the regular season with a three-game series at Kentucky.

The pitching staff is changing up the order after Hurston Waldrep’s start got rained out a week ago, but things should be fairly normal otherwise, aside from a Thursday night start.

Florida is currently the No. 2 team on the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, and Kentucky is ranked No. 20, despite a four-spot slide this week. A sweep would guarantee UF the top spot in the SEC East and perhaps lead the Gators to the top overall seed in the SEC Tournament.

Arkansas is the only team with a better conference record than Florida at 19-8, but that leaves just one game of separation between the two clubs.

Here is the final regular season series preview of the year!

Series Preview: Florida hosts Vanderbilt in final home series of 2023

Florida and Vanderbilt are battling for SEC East supremacy in the final weeks of the season. Will being at home help the Gators take the series this weekend?

The Florida Gators have lost two of their last three weekend series against SEC clubs, and No. 4 Vanderbilt is coming to town for a three-game set that could decide who wins the SEC East.

The Gators are ranked No. 5 in the nation by USA TODAY Sports and are 2.0 games back of the Commodores for the top spot in the East. A sweep would put Florida on top of the division, but anything less might make a first-place finish difficult.

At one point in the season, Florida looked like the best offensive team in the country. While that might still be true, opponents have put together their best pitching weekends of the season against the Gators over the past couple of series. Is it simply bad luck or is there something deeper going on causing the team’s woes?

Here’s a look at the club heading into the weekend series against Vanderbilt.

Series Preview: Florida travels to College Station to face TAMU

Can Florida make it two sweeps in a row? The Gators face the Texas A&M Aggies on the road this weekend.

The Florida Gators are headed to College Station this weekend to face the Texas A&M Aggies for a weekend series.

UF is coming off a sweep of Missouri last weekend and a close win over Florida State during the week. The goal is to make it seven in a row this weekend against an Aggies club that’s under .500 against the conference.

Jac Caglianone should set the school record for home runs at some point this weekend. He hit No. 26 to tie the record held by Matt LaPorta and Wyatt Langford on Tuesday against the Seminoles.

It’s unfortunate that the Florida faithful likely won’t see the record broken at Condron Ballpark, but Cags should hit plenty more over the next month and in 2024.

It should be an exciting weekend for the Gators and a good road test after being swept in Columbia by South Carolina two weeks ago.

Here’s a look at what’s on tap.

Series Preview: Florida headed to South Carolina for top-10 matchup

Florida is back on the road for a three-game set with No. 6 South Carolina. The Gators haven’t dropped a series all year, but this will be a major test for the club.

Florida’s top-10 matchup with South Carolina over the weekend should be the toughest test of the Gators’ season so far.

The Gamecocks are ranked No. 6 in the country by D1Baseball.com and feature one of the most dangerous bats in the country in freshman right fielder Ethan Petry. Vanderbilt managed to snag two from South Carolina last weekend, and Florida hoping it can do the same.

To do so, the duo of [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] and Hurston Waldrep need to continue to be elite for the Gators. Waldrep has worked himself into top-10 draft pick territory with some big strikeout numbers, and Sproat is starting to show some of the consistency scouts have been hoping for since laying eyes on his 99 mph fastball.

[autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] had his first good start in almost a month last weekend against Georgia, and a repeat performance this week would be a major confidence boost.

Regardless of what he does on the mound, Caglianone is going to hit. He’s four homers shy of the school record and there are still 17 games left in the season. A big weekend could get him there on the road.

South Carolina’s starting rotation is strong, though. Maybe not as good as Florida’s, but it should be one of the best Florida sees all year. Of course, the same could have been said before the Tennessee series too.

Here’s a look at the weekend ahead and everything you need to know going into a major SEC series for the Gators.

Series Preview: Florida looking to stay dominant in SEC play against Georgia

Florida vs. Georgia is always a big deal. The two SEC rivals are meeting up on the baseball diamond this weekend. Here’s what Gators fans need to know.

The Florida Gators are staying in Gainesville this weekend to host the Georgia Bulldogs for a weekend series, and UF is looking to get some revenge on the diamond for what’s been a lopsided series on the football field for the last few years.

Thankfully, Georgia is much worse at baseball than it should be considering the Peach State is one of the most-talent-rich prep regions in the country for the sport. Florida has no such problem and regularly recruits the top pitchers and position players from each state (see [autotag]Cade Fisher[/autotag]).

That difference should be apparent on the scoreboard over the weekend, and Florida could get another mercy rule win after succumbing to the new rule last Sunday. It will be interesting to see how Florida’s weekend rotation gets along. [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] and [autotag]Hurston Waldrep[/autotag] seem to be hitting a nice streak of near-quality starts and are this close to being a lights-out 1-2 for UF.

There were flashes of it last weekend against Tennessee, and Georgia isn’t a team either arm should struggle against. [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] is the big question mark after failing to make it out of the first inning last Sunday. All eyes will be on him to see if Florida needs to make a change to the rotation or not.

Offensively, this team is going to keep hitting and they’re going to do it well. Florida is third in the nation in home runs and boasts three of the best players at their positions in the country: left fielder [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag], first baseman Jac Caglianone and shortstop [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag].

The trio has shifted to the top of the order and produced strong results against UT last week.

Here’s a look at what’s on tap for the weekend.

Series Preview: Florida faces major road test in No. 11 Tennessee

The Florida Gators haven’t dropped a series yet this season, but a big SEC showdown in Knoxville against the Tennessee Volunteers should test the boys in Orange and Blue.

No. 3 Florida is riding a three-game win streak after taking two from Auburn and a midweek game against Bethune-Cookman. Now, the Gators face a major test on the road against the No. 11 Tennessee Volunteers.

The Vols came into the Swamp and swept the Gators a season ago before infamously taking photos with some of the football team’s equipment while they showered in the locker room. Gator Nation didn’t care for those antics at all, but the best way to get UT back would be to sweep them in Knoxville this weekend.

That’s a tall order, but Florida’s lineup is loaded and among the best in the nation. [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag], [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] and [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] might be the most threatening 2-3-4 in all of college baseball, and the other six hitters in the lineup are all major threats to get on base as well.

On the mound, [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] and [autotag]Hurston Waldrep[/autotag] have each shown glimpses of excellence this season but they can’t seem ever to get it going on the same weekend. Caglianone has struggled with his fastball command in recent weeks, but he’s primed for a bounce-back outing.

Here’s a look at everything you’ll need to know about the Florida-Tennessee series this weekend.

Series Preview: Florida looking to stay hot in SEC play against Auburn

Another weekend of Florida baseball hopefully means another series win for the Gators. The Auburn Tigers are in town this weekend for a three-game set.

After sweeping No. 13 Ole Miss last weekend and getting a few days of extra rest thanks to a rained-out midweek matchup against Florida State, the Florida Gators baseball club is ready to continue its hot start in SEC play against the Auburn Tigers this week.

The Tigers are currently 17-7-1 and 2-4 against the conference, with both SEC wins coming against the Georgia Bulldogs. It won’t help that Auburn is down its ace, right-hander Joseph Gonzalez, especially because Florida is averaging just under 10 runs a game at Condron Family Ballpark.

Meanwhile, the Gators have had fairly good pitching on the weekends. Ole Miss is probably a better-hitting team than Auburn right now, so [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag], [autotag]Hurston Waldrep[/autotag] and [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] should all bounce back on the mound this weekend.

Speaking of Florida’s Golden Spike candidate, Caglianone is still leading the nation in home runs and hit four big flies last weekend to celebrate Wyatt Langford’s return to the lineup. Expect both to have big weekends with Langford being the MVP of the series after a mild comeback.

It should be another fun weekend for Florida Gators fans, and there’s a chance that the brooms come out again.

Series Preview: Florida faces first road test against No. 13 Ole Miss

Florida’s first road series of the season is against the reigning national champions, but the Gators are coming into town confident.

No. 3 Florida has had plenty of success within the walls of Condron Family Ballpark this season, but now the Gators must prove themselves on the road with an away series coming against the No. 13 Ole Miss Rebels starting on Friday.

Update: Due to inclement weather, Florida and Ole Miss will begin the series on Saturday with a doubleheader starting at 2:30 p.m. EDT. The second game will begin approximately an hour after the first ends.

Ole Miss, of course, won it all a season ago, but the Rebels are coming off a three-game sweep at the hands of Vanderbilt last weekend. A seven-inning 11-1 victory over Arkansas Pine Bluff during the week isn’t going to fix things immediately for Mississippi. Still, it was an excellent bounce-back performance for an offense that only put up four runs last weekend.

Meanwhile, Florida has won 14 of its last 16, including victories over a then-ranked No. 22 Miami club and No. 24 Alabama. Ole Miss will be Florida’s biggest test yet, but the pitching staff should be strong enough to give the Gators the edge.

Mississippi’s pitching isn’t good enough to hold down Florida’s bats either. If Vanderbilt scored 27 runs in three games a week ago, Florida should be able to put up at least 20 even with a bad game. Wyatt Langford might not be back just yet, but Florida’s got plenty of fire power to win this series with.

Series Preview: Florida begins SEC play with Alabama Crimson Tide

It’s finally time for SEC play and No. 24 Alabama is headed to Gainesville this weekend to give the Florida Gators a test at home.

Florida is set to host the No. 24 Alabama Crimson Tide to kick off SEC play and it should be another good test for a Gators team that boasts the top offense in the nation.

[autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] is set to return to left field after missing three games with a groin injury. He took a foul ball last weekend and decided to heal up before the meaty part of the schedule got underway. [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] enters the series as the nation’s leader with 13 home runs, but the big question is whether he’ll keep pace now that the competition is improving.

The same question is there for Florida’s three-headed monster of a weekend rotation, [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag], [autotag]Hurston Waldrep[/autotag] and Caglianone. They’ve all been excellent against lesser competition and Miami, but the SEC is a completely different animal.

Then there’s the bullpen, which has seemed to be at the root of each of Florida’s three losses so far this season. Kevin O’Sullivan has enough arms to get through one or two days of long relief, but a third day might be stretching things.

Here’s a look at this weekend’s series against Alabama.

Series Preview: Florida set to host Siena for weekend series

Florida’s final weekend series before conference play starts should be extremely one-sided as a 2-10 Siena club comes to town.

The No. 6 Florida Gators are set to host a Siena Saints club over the weekend that just recently won its first two games of the season.

It’s a David and Goliath mismatch, but Florida isn’t likely to go down after getting hit with a stone… or two, or three. The Gators boast the best offense in all of baseball and are among the early favorites to go all the way this season.

UF’s trio of MLB-bound arms, [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag], [autotag]Hurtson Waldrep[/autotag] and [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag], should dominate the Saints’ lineup, and the bullpen may not be needed too much if the offense can get the 10-run rule into effect early.

This is Florida’s last nonconference weekend series before hosting Alabama in a week. It should be a chance for the team to pad the stats before diving into a difficult SEC schedule.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Gators take all three of these games in seven innings, and the ball should continue to fly out of the ballpark at an absurd rate.