After beating the No. 13 Ole Miss last weekend and getting a few extra days of rest thanks to a rainy midweek game against Florida State, the Florida Gators baseball club is poised to continue its hot start in the SEC game against USA Chestnut Tigers this week.
The Tigers are currently 17-7-1 and 2-4 against the conference, with both SEC wins coming against the conference Georgia Bulldogs. It won’t help that Auburn beat his ace, right-hander Joseph Gonzalez, especially since Florida is averaging just under 10 runs a game at the Condron Family Ballpark.
Meanwhile, the Gators had pretty good pitches over the weekends. Ole Miss is probably a better batting team than Auburn right now, so Brandon Sprat, Hurston Forest Rep And Jac Caglianone should all return to the Hill this weekend.
Speaking of Florida’s Golden Spike nominee, Caglianone still leads the nation in home runs, hitting four big flies last weekend to celebrate Wyatt Langford’s return to the lineup. Expect both to have big weekends, with Langford being the series MVP after a mild comeback.
It should be another fun weekend for Florida Gators fans, and chances are the broomsticks will come out again.
Planned starting lineup
position | player name | avg | OBP | SLG | AWAY | R | H | MR | RBI |
C | [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] | .309 | .387 | .536 | 97 | 22 | 30 | 4 | 31 |
1B | Jac Caglianone | .400 | .462 | .971 | 105 | 32 | 42 | 17 | 38 |
2 B | [autotag]Cade Kurland[/autotag] | .378 | .470 | .694 | 98 | 35 | 37 | 8th | 33 |
3B | [autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] | .266 | .373 | .500 | 64 | 19 | 17 | 3 | 12 |
ss | [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] | .402 | .500 | .804 | 97 | 37 | 39 | 11 | 39 |
LF | Wyatt Langford | .386 | .521 | .843 | 70 | 30 | 27 | 7 | 19 |
CF | [autotag]Michael Robertson[/autotag] | .289 | .455 | .342 | 76 | 21 | 22 | 0 | 9 |
RF | [autotag]Ty Evans[/autotag] | .243 | .307 | .417 | 103 | 20 | 25 | 3 | 29 |
IE | [autotag]Tyler Shelnut[/autotag] | .279 | .380 | .574 | 61 | 15 | 17 | 4 | 9 |
Estimated Starters: Saturday (6:30 p.m. EDT)
team | jug | Record | EPOCH |
FLORIDA | RHP Brandon Sproat | 4-0 | 3.60 |
CARBONS | RHP Will Cannon | 2-0 | 2.29 |
REMARKS: Sproat started the SEC game with a brilliant full game against Alabama, but he wasn’t nearly as sharp against a tough Ole Miss team to bang at the plate. Auburn is more like Alabama so expect at least a quality start from Sproat. The Tigers aren’t the biggest swing-and-miss team, though, so set the over/under on strikeouts to 6.5 this week.
Will Cannon will start the season for the first time against Florida on Friday after playing nine games outside the bullpen for Auburn this season. His 2.29 ERA has gotten him a shot as the Tigers look to replace Gonzalez at the top of the rotation. He’s worked 4 2/3 innings and 3 innings on his last two starts, so don’t expect more than five from him on Friday.
Estimated Starters: Saturday (6:30 p.m. EDT)
team | jug | Record | EPOCH |
FLORIDA | RHP Hurston Forest Rep | 4-1 | 4.78 |
CARBONS | RHP John Armstrong | 5-0 | 3.91 |
REMARKS: Waldrep’s strikeout numbers have declined somewhat since the beginning of SEC play, but that was to be expected to some degree. However, this could be the weekend he returns to double-digit strikeouts after a patchy performance against Ole Miss a weekend ago.
John Armstrong is another bullpen guy for Auburn to get a shot in the starting rotation. Florida will likely give him a warm welcome as an SEC starter and give Armstrong his first loss of the season. He’s particularly effective against left-handers, though, so watch out.
Estimated Starters: Sunday (1 p.m. EDT)
team | jug | Record | EPOCH |
FLORIDA | LHP Jac Caglianon | 3-0 | 3.41 |
CARBONS | LHP Tommy Vail | 2-1 | 3.57 |
REMARKS: Caglianone ran eight boys in 3 2/3 innings last weekend and has struggled on the mound for the past few weeks. There’s no guarantee Caglianone will pick things up again here, and this is clearly the game Auburn thinks can win in the series.
That’s why the Tigers throw their signature Friday arm, Tommy Vail, on Sunday. This strategy has been used by many teams against the Gators this season, but it hasn’t always paid off.
Other players to watch
Grayson Belanger/Auburn Athletics
On the record, Auburn is a fairly easy-to-read team. They have two power hitters, Bryson Ware and Justin Kirby. Ware is also second on the team at a .404 average, but Kirby is an all-or-nothing hitter with 30 strikeouts in the season. It also wouldn’t be surprising if Kirby added five more to that total in this series.
Sophomore Ike Irish is another guy to watch out for. He leads the team with a .416 batting average and a 1.117 OPS. Other than that, Cole Foster is the only other Tiger to bat over .305 with more than 25 at-bats.
It should be a good weekend for Gators pitching if they can navigate the tricky parts of the lineup.
series history
IN TOTAL | 119-134-2 |
AT HOME | 66-50 |
AWAY | 45-81-1 |
NEUTRAL | 8-3-1 |
REMARKS: Florida hasn’t lost that streak since 2017 when they were swept down the street. Auburn could be ahead in the all-time series, but Florida can cut the deficit by three this week if all goes well.
Follow the action
SATURDAY (6:30 p.m. EDT)
SATURDAY (6:30 p.m. EDT)
SUNDAY (1pm EDT)
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predictions
GAME 1: Florida, 10-4
GAME 2: Florida, 13-2
GAME 3: Florida, 7-6
SERIES: The Gators are as hot as any team in the country right now, and Auburn will be battling them this weekend. Sunday seems to be the only real chance for Florida’s lineup to hit a wall and Caglianone’s recent struggles lead me to believe the game will be close. But not the others.
Florida wins the series 3-0.
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Source : sports.yahoo.com