The No. 1 Florida Gators (22-1, 3-0 SEC) are packing up a 16-game winning streak and hitting the road for its first conference series of the season against the Kentucky Wildcats (15-5, 2-1 SEC). Florida is off to the best start in school history, just edging the 2012 squad that started 21-2.
Last week:
The Gators finished another undefeated week with wins over No. 19 Florida Atlantic and a series sweep of Missouri at home.
Kentucky went 3-1 last week, rebounding after a Friday loss at Georgia to take the series with wins on Saturday and Sunday. The Wildcats handled Morehead State on Tuesday, 10-5, in preparation for this series.
Series history: The Gators have won 10 of their last 15 series against the Wildcats, but Kentucky has taken the last three, including a 2-1 series win last year in Gainesville.
Overall, Florida holds a 135-64-1 advantage in the series. Florida is 13-13 vs. Kentucky under Kevin O’Sullivan. In 2015 Kentucky took victories on Friday and Saturday before a great start from Alex Faedo (5.1 IP) and 16 hits led Florida to a sweep avoiding 10-1 Sunday win.
Scouting Kentucky:
Team batting average: .302
Team ERA: 3.74
Starter ERA: 4.20
Hitters to watch:
2B – JaVon Shelby – Shelby leads the Wildcats with six home runs, 29th best in the country. He’s hitting .300 (18-60) on the season with a .733 slugging percentage.
DH – Gunnar McNeill – The big first baseman leads the team hitting .400 (32-80), has slugged four home runs and is slugging .588. McNeill is also carrying a 15-game hitting streak.
1B – Evan White – Third on the team with a .368 average (32-87) and also leads the team with seven steals in seven attempts.
Scouting Florida:
Team batting average: .301
Team ERA: 2.44
Starter ERA: 2.27
Florida’s pitching staff has been remarkable in 2016. The Gators lead the country in strikeouts (256), are second in the nation in strikeouts to walks ratio (4.65), strikeouts per nine (11.00) and WHIP (0.98).
Pitching matchups:
Friday: RHP Logan Shore (4.0, 2.23 ERA) vs. RHP Zack Brown (1-3, 5.14 ERA)
Shore has faced Kentucky three times in his career, once in Kentucky, one at home and in the 2014 SEC Tournament in Hoover. Shore has a 1-2 record vs. the Wildcats over 18 innings, giving up five earned runs (2.50 ERA).
Shore has been exactly what Florida needs this season. His 38 strikeouts are second on the team, and he’s set the tone for the weekend with all five of his starts, including one complete game.
Brown has started five games this weekend, all on Friday, giving up 30 hits in 28 innings. He’s also walked 12 batters. Last season brown threw seven shutout innings against the Gators in Gainesville, earning SEC Pitcher of the Week honors.
Saturday: LHP A.J. Puk (1-1, 1.88 ERA) vs. RHP Dustin Beggs (5-0, 1.77 ERA)
After two rough starts to his junior campaign, A.J. Puk has gotten better in each of his past three outings, culminating in a season-high seven inning outing against Missouri last Saturday. Puk struck out season-high 11 batters in a seven-inning shutout, issuing just one walk and three hits.
Beggs is the first Kentucky pitcher in the modern era to win his first five appearances of the season. He’s dominated hitters this year, holding opponents to a paltry .161 batting average against him. Beggs was just as impressive against Florida last year, tossing 8.1 innings in Gainesville, giving up six hits and three runs in a win.
Sunday: RHP Alex Faedo (5-0, 2.61 ERA) vs. RHP Kyle Cody (2-1, 6.95 ERA)
If the sophomore slump is real, someone forgot to tell Alex Faedo about it. Florida’s sophomore Sunday starter has five wins and one no decision on the season and leads the team in strikeouts with 45. Opponents are hitting just .166 against him this season. Last year against Kentucky Faedo threw 5.1 innings, earning the lone win for the Gators against the Cats in Gainesville.
How to watch: Florida and Kentucky will play at 7:30 pm ET on Friday night, 7 pm Saturday night and 1 pm on Sunday afternoon. The entire series can be streamed on SEC Network +.