Florida Baseball Reworks Pitching Rotation for Georgia
Florida baseball faces another SEC challenge this weekend at Athens, Ga., to take on its oldest conference rival, the No. 4 Georgia Bulldogs. And it will do it with a different look to its pitching rotation the first two days.
Right-handed pitcher Aidan King (4-2, 1.62 ERA) moves up to Friday starter, while righty Liam Peterson (1-2, 4.03) moves back to the Saturday starter. Righty Russell Sandefer RHP (2-1, 3.00) remains as the Sunday starter.
Georgia will pitch righty Joey Volchko (6-0, 3.89) on Friday, RHP Dylan Vigue (3-1, 2.83) on Saturday and will wait to announce its Sunday pitcher.
The Gators (25-9, 7-5 SEC) are coming off a 4-3 win Tuesday at No. 5 FSU to sweep the Sunshine State Classic. This victory was highlighted by a solid pitching performance from Cooper Walls, who allowed only three hits and one run across 3.1 innings, as well as freshman closer Joshua Whritenour, who retired five of the six batters he faced to secure his sixth save.
Florida’s offense put on a show against FSU. Junior outfielder Hayden Yost and senior designated hitter/catcher Cole Stanford both hit solo home runs, while sophomore outfielder Kyle Jones went 2-for-3 with a run.
Injuries and illnesses have been plaguing the Gators for the past few weeks. Senior outfielder Blake Cyr has been in concussion protocol after running into the right field wall to catch a fly out against Ole Miss on Friday, while sophomore infielder Brendan Lawson has missed the last three games due to illness. The two account for Florida’s top hitters and the offense has struggled to get things going without them.
The defense has been questionable as well. Star sophomore reliever Jackson Barberi is out about four weeks with an oblique injury and key reliever Ricky Reeth is still questionable with a shoulder injury. The rest of the limited bullpen will need to step up against a Bulldogs team that ranks top 10 in hits and home runs. Cyr, Lawson and Reeth are expected back this weekend.
Florida sits in sixth in the SEC standings, as its last conference outing resulted in a 2-1 weekend series loss to Ole Miss.
Meanwhile, Georgia (28-6, 10-2) is coming off a 28-3 run-rule victory against Presbyterian College on Tuesday. The Dawgs hold the top spot in the league standings after the series sweep against Mississippi State in Starkville last weekend.
Georgia’s explosive offense will be led by junior infielder Tre Phelps, who sports an impressive .413 batting average. Second is junior catcher Daniel Jackson with a .408 batting average.
First pitch Friday is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Foley Field. Coverage begins at 5:55 p.m. on 98.1-FM/850-AM WRUF and on SEC Network+ five minutes later. Game 2 on Saturday is at noon on ESPN2, while the series finale begins at noon Sunday on the SEC Network.
Category: Feature Sports News, Gator Sports, Gators Baseball
