Florida Baseball Welcomes FIU for Two-Game Series
The wins keep rolling in for Florida baseball. The Gators rounded out the windy weekend with a three-game series sweep against Kennesaw State at Condron Family Ballpark, an effort that helped them climb to No. 10 in the D1 Baseball rankings released Monday.
The Gators (7-1) will now host a two-game home series against FIU (6-2) on Tuesday, eying their ninth straight series win. Tuesday’s game is set for a 6:30 p.m. start and Wednesday’s is at 6 p.m. with coverage on SEC Network+ and ESPN 98.1-FM/850-AM WRUF.
Redshirt sophomore Kyle Jones, the Gators’ leadoff batter, has posted a .500 batting average after averaging .636 against Kennesaw. Freshman Cash Strayer and sophomore Brendan Lawson are not far behind with .423 and .417 averages, respectively.
FIU is coming off a four-game series win against Holy Cross. Power hitter Luca Reyes knocked a three-run homer in the second inning and walked off the game with a grand slam in Game 2 of the series.
The Panthers have burned through 17 pitchers this season with no clear ace. Junior Jordan Vargas spent the most time on the mound with 8.2 innings pitched and a 9.35 earned-run average over three games.
It’s the first meeting between the state teams in 28 years. This series allows Florida to reset after a tumultuous visit from Kennesaw State (3-3).
Florida starting pitchers Liam Peterson and Aiden King opened strong on the mound for the Gators in the first two games last weekend. Peterson pitched 5 1/3 innings in the series opener, allowing only one hit and no runs. King kept this energy going into Saturday’s game, claiming his spot on the hill for six of the seven shutout innings, striking out five.
Sunday, however, was a different ballgame.
With sickness swamping the Gators, Florida struggled on the mound. The team used six pitchers in the series finale.
Sophomore Jackson Barberi entered in the fourth after running a 101-degree fever throughout the previous three days. He pitched 2 1/3 innings for Florida, striking out three and allowing two hits. Barberi earned his first win of the season.
The Gators were down 3-0 after the rocky first inning. Florida scored in every inning after the first and fought for the sweep.
“Good teams figure out a way to win, even when you don’t play as well as you should,” UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan said.
Given the state of Florida’s bullpen, O’Sullivan was not shy about the fact Florida will probably burn through four-to-five relievers in each of the coming FIU games.
“We’ve got some other guys that have not thrown yet, and you’ll see them on Tuesday and Wednesday,” O’Sullivan said. “[We will] Hopefully have everybody back for Miami.”
One thing is on the mind for the Gators as they head into the next series.
“I just want to win everything,” pitcher Cooper Walls said.
The Gators will start righty Luke McNeillie (1-0, 0.00 ERA) today, while they face FIU right-hander Quin McManmon (0-0, 2.45).
Category: Baseball, Feature Sports News, Gator Sports, Gators Baseball, SEC
