After being swept soundly at Arkansas, the Florida Gators return to McKethan Stadium this weekend hoping to get back into the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division race.
The Tennessee Volunteers provide the opposition for coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s Gators, who didn’t pitch, hit or defend well in Fayetteville. Since then, the Gators (11-7) have won twice, knocking off Florida State, 5-4, on St. Patrick’s Day at home and UCF, 7-3, Wednesday in Orlando.
It’s hard to panic after just one weekend in conference. Georgia, ranked by some polls as the No. 1 team in the country, lost two out of three games last weekend to an Alabama team which wasn’t ranked in many polls. The LSU Tigers, another highly ranked SEC team, won two of three from Kentucky but struggled mightily.
Indeed, the SEC is a league of parity. Despite being swept, the Gators are only one game out of first place, which is occupied by Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt, all with 1-2 records. In the Western Division, Arkansas (3-0) is one game ahead of Alabama, LSU, Auburn, Mississippi and Mississippi State.
The Volunteers (9-9) are one of the more Jekyll and Hyde teams. The Volunteers have struggled during their midweek games, losing to USC Upstate and Austin Peay. They were 9-8 during midweek games last season.
The main reason for this is the pitching staff. The top of the rotation for Tennessee could match any team in the conference. Junior left-hander Nick Hernandez and sophomore left-hander Bryan Morgado were outstanding last season and expectations were high before this season for the duo.
Hernandez has been a little more consistent this season. His 0-1 record and 4.50 ERA may not strike fear from the stat sheet, but his mound presence and stability is what makes him a solid Friday night starter for the Volunteers. He gave them eight solid innings in last Friday’s game against Auburn, allowing four runs on eight hits and nine strikeouts. The Gators will send junior right-hander Jeff Barfield (2-0, 0.55) against him in the 6:30 p.m. series opener.
But Morgado has struggled early in 2009. He is 1-0 but boasts an ERA of 6.23. He was moved out of the weekend rotation before last season’s SEC opening series against Auburn, in which the Volunteers lost two games to one. Morgado did get the start against Coastal Carolina on Tuesday, going four innings and allowing only one run on one hit, which was a home run. He also recorded seven strikeouts. Morgado will pitch against Florida senior RHP Patrick Keating (2-3, 4.37) Sunday at 12:30 p.m.
The third starter will most likely be junior right-hander Stephen McCray. He is tied for the most starts on the team with four and has a 3-0 record. His 2.84 ERA leads the pitching staff. He has a .300 batting average against him, allowing 21 hits in 19 innings, but he has actually been the most consistent starter for Tennessee this season, despite not having the accolades of Hernandez and Morgado. Florida freshman LHP Nick Maronde (1-1, 2.14) will oppose him in Saturday’s 4 p.m. game.
The Florida offense may be near the bottom of most categories in the conference, but Tennessee is right there with the Gators. The star of the lineup is sophomore outfielder Kentrail Davis. He played on Team USA last summer along with Florida center fielder Matt den Dekker. Davis has everything you want in an outfielder, and he is a legitimate five-tool prospect.
Davis is currently hitting a fourth-best .306 on the team. He only has three home runs and nine RBI going into this weekend, but he has a team-leading 19 walks. His numbers may be down a little bit, but he will still line up in his third spot in the batting order. The preseason All-America accolades may have added some extra pressure to him. But it’s only a matter of time before he breaks out and begins to hit as he is capable.
Catcher Blake Forsythe has been the biggest bat in the Tennessee lineup this year. He is hitting .433 with nine home runs and 23 RBI. He is second on the team in walks, with16. He does lead the team in strikeouts with 16.
P.J. Polk and Josh Liles are the next two most feared bats. Polk boasts a .364 batting average but only has two walks in 55 at-bats. Liles is hitting .338 with three home runs and 14 RBI. He also has stolen a team-leading seven bases this year. No one else has more than two.