Fresh from their Southeastern Conference series win at Auburn, the Florida Gators travel to Tallahassee tonight for the rubber game of the three-game season series with the Florida State Seminoles. The first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
The Gators (23-12) and the Seminoles (21-11) come into the game with one victory each in the first two games. On St. Patrick’s Day, Florida won 5-4 in Gainesville. Buddy Munroe delivered a single that scored Matt den Dekker, and freshman Alex Panteliodis threw 4.1 innings
The Seminoles won the second game of the series, played March 31 at The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville, 3-2. The game lasted only five innings because of a thunderstorm. Preston Tucker tied the game at 2-2 with a single but FSU won it on Jack Posey’s homer in the fifth.
Florida State coach Mike Martin plans to start senior right-hander Bo O’Dell (3-1, 5.40 ERA) and follow him with the team’s usual Friday night pitcher Sean Gilmartin (6-1, 2.84 ERA) for an inning. Sophomore Geoff Parker (3-1, 6.27 ERA) will also get work.
Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan hasn’t announced his pitching plans, but the starter figures to come from a group of three – Patrick Keating (2-3, 6.75 ERA), Greg Larson (2-1, 1.12 ERA) and Justin Poovey (2-0, 6.23 ERA) – and the Gators will also use multiple pitchers in the game.
Florida must try to contain a Florida State team that has been extremely hot lately. The Seminoles are coming of an Atlantic Coast Conference series victory against the North Carolina Tar Heels, one of the top teams in the country. The two wins in the series by Florida State came in walk-off fashion. Rafael Lopez hit a sacrifice fly to end the game on Friday night, while Jason Stidham ended Sunday’s game with a run-scoring single.
The spark plug for the Seminoles is center fielder Tyler Holt. The sophomore is hitting .425 with five home runs and 20 RBI. He is also 15-of-17 in stolen base attempts.
Shortstop Stephen Cardullo has adjusted to the No. 2 spot in the lineup, boasting a .395 batting average with seven home runs and 22 RBI. He has been a liability in the field, however, with eight errors.
Stidham is the returning star from last year’s potent Florida State offense. This season, the junior second baseman is hitting .333 with five home runs and 30 RBI.
Florida hopes to continue riding the hot bat of freshman first baseman Preston Tucker. In the last week alone, Tucker hit .522 (12-of-23), with four home runs, 21 RBI and a slugging percentage of 1.043. Those statistics earned Tucker SEC Freshman of the Week honors for the second time this season. Tucker leads the team in batting (.359), slugging percentage (.624), total bases (73), RBI (45), multiple-RBI games (11), home runs (7) and sacrifice flies (3). In Florida’s last 10 games, Tucker is batting .442 with seven extra-base hits and 30 RBI.
Following tonight’s game, the Gators return home to play Stetson on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. and then play host to Mississippi in a three-game SEC series beginning Friday night at 6:30.