#7 FLORIDA GATORS VS #5 VANDERBILT COMMODORES FRIDAY, MAY 12 - 5:30 PM ET | SATURDAY, MAY 13 - 6:30 PM ET | SUNDAY, MAY 14 - 1 PM ET CONDRON FAMILY BALLPARK AT ALFRED A. MCKETHAN FIELD (GAINESVILLE, FLA.) TV/STREAM SEC NETWORK (FRIDAY) | SEC NETWORK+ ( SATURDAY & SUNDAY) RADIO ESPN 98.1FM/850AM WRUF (GNV) | WJXL 1010 AM (JAX) RADIO/TV ANNOUNCERS Radio: Jeff Cardozo & Sean Kelley (Friday), Jeff Cardozo & Steve Russell (Saturday & Sunday) TV: Kyle Peterson & Mike Ferrin (Friday), Sean Kelley & Nick Belmonte (Saturday & Sunday) SERIES HISTORY OVERALL 143-78-1 IN GAINESVILLE 81-24 AWAY 57-47-1 NEUTRAL 5-7 NOTABLE The last four series have been won by the home team. Florida has claimed five of the last seven series overall
Florida OVERALL / SEC 37-12 / 15-9 H / A / N 27-6 / 9-6 / 1-0 D1BASEBALL RANK 7 RPI 11 HEAD COACH Kevin O’Sullivan / 664-314 (16th season) PROB. STARTER RHP Brandon Sproat (6-2, 4.84 ERA) RHP Hurston Waldrep (6-3, 5.07 ERA) LHP Jac Caglianone (4-2, 4.91 ERA) Vanderbilt VERALL / SEC 35-13 / 17-7 SEC H / A / N 23-5 / 8-6 / 4-2 D1BASEBALL RANK 5 RPI 6 HEAD COACH Tim Corbin / 876-413-1 (21st season) PROB. STARTER LHP Carter Holton (4-0, 3.51 ERA) LHP Devin Futrell (6-2, 2.56 ERA) LHP Hunter Owen (3-0, 3.42 ERA)
Page 1 VANDY PREVIEW: Florida welcomes Vanderbilt to Condron Family Ballpark for the first time since April 30 to May 2, 2021 when the Gators took two of three games for a series win (L 7-11, W 11-8, W 5-3). Josh Rivera (5-for-11) batted .455 in that series with three runs scored and was named the SEC Newcomer of the Week. The home team has claimed the last four series between UF and Vandy, with Florida having posted victories in five of the last seven series. Vanderbilt won the first two games in Nashville last season for a series win, as Deric Fabian homered in the top of the 10th inning to help Florida steal the finale. BT Riopelle (5-for-12) hit .417 in the series and swatted three homers in the opener. Florida wields a commanding 30-20 lead in the series vs. Vanderbilt under Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan including a dominant 16-5 mark at home. LAST TIME OUT: The Orange & Blue posted a 2-2 record last week, coming from behind for a 7-5 Tuesday win over Florida State before dropping two of three at Texas A&M in College Station over the weekend (W 6-5, L 2-15, L 2-3). Wyatt Langford was UF's top hitter over those four games, going 5-for-12 (.417/.563/1.000) with two home runs, one double and two steals. Philip Abner was excellent in relief, throwing 2 2/3 innings over two scoreless appearances with five strikeouts and zero walks. IN THE RANKINGS: Florida fell to No. 7 in the D1Baseball Top 25 this week following the series loss at Texas A&M, representing UF's lowest ranking since Week 2 of the season. The Gators are ranked as highly as No. 5 according to the USA Today Coaches Poll. HOME SERIES STACKS: Florida is 8-0 in home series this season featuring 10-straight series wins at Condron Family Ballpark dating back to last season. The Gators are 20-4 in home series with four sweeps this season alone, hitting .330/.437/.606 with 9.6 runs/game, 10.9 hits/game and 4.9 runs allowed/game. Overall, Florida has claimed 14 of its last 16 series dating back to last season including nine of 11 in SEC play. RELENTLESS REPTILES: Just under half (45.9%) of Florida's wins this season have been in comeback fashion (17), surpassing last year's 66-game total of 13 (19.7%). After going 0-20 last season when trailing after six innings, Florida has three wins in that scenario in 2023 and is 4-1 when tied after six. Even more impressively, the Gators are 14-6 when the opponent scores first this season, compared to 11-15 last year.
Page 2 TOP-5 IN HOMERS & SLUG: Backed by double-digit runs in 20 games and 10-plus knocks in 29 contests, Florida ranks top-10 nationally in home runs (fourth - 101), slugging (fifth - .565) and runs scored (ninth - 424). The Gators lead the SEC with eight more hits than any other team (495), as well as slugging, triples (18), at bats and total bases (923) - boasting 50 more bases than the next-closest SEC team (LSU - 873). Meanwhile, the Gators are scoring in 46.8% of their batted innings (184 of 393). VANDY VOLITION: Florida is 25-7 against Vanderbilt across the last 32 meetings in Gaines- ville dating back to 2000 (.781). In the last three home series, Florida is 7-2. Six of the last seven series in Gainesville have been won by UF. QUIET WYATT?: Despite missing seven games to injury this season, outfielder Wyatt Lang-ford has improved in nearly every stat in 2023, such as OBP (.538 - second in SEC), batting average (.399 - third), runs (57 - third), walks (42 - third), slugging (.784 - fifth) and doubles (15 - seventh). He has 16 more walks (42) than strikeouts (26), and his 12 homers through 42 games are just two shy of last year's pace, when he had 14 jacks after 42 contests. Langford has reached base or scored a run in all but two games. CAGS BREAKS HR RECORD: First baseman/left-handed pitcher Jac Caglianone broke Florida's single-season home run record with his nation-leading 27th long ball of the season on Saturday night at Texas A&M. The blast broke a tie with Matt LaPorta (2005) and Langford (2022), as Caglianone is on pace to swat 30 homers in the regular season alone and 36 if the Gators play 66 games, which would break Ivan Melendez's BBCOR record of 32 set last season. Caglianone leads the SEC in slugging (.853) and home runs with five more homers than any other player while ranking fifth nationally in slugging and sixth with 69 RBI (second in SEC). CADER THE TATER KING: Freshman Cade Kurland has hit more home runs (14) in a single season than any other second baseman in program history. The record was previously held by Ted Rich (13 in 1992) for 31 years. Kurland is hitting .300/.389/.594 with 18 multi-hit games and 12 multi-RBI performances. PHIL OF THE HILL: Southpaw Philip Abner has worked to a 3.91 ERA with 14.5 strikeouts per nine in 23 innings. He has produced scoreless appearances in 12 of his outings, including two-straight last week spanning 2 2/3 frames. THE BRANDY MAN CAN: Two-time SEC Pitcher of the Week Brandon Sproat is 6-2 this season and 11-2 in his last 18 starts dating back to 2022. Florida is 15-3 in Sproat's last 18 starts including 11-2 this season. He has gone five innings in all but one of his last 18 starts. Sproat's 88 strikeouts are tied for 22nd nationally (T-third in SEC). Sproat and Hurston Waldrep rank second and third in the SEC in strikeouts, as Waldlrep's 102 also sit fourth in the NCAA. OUR RIVERA RUNS THRU IT: As a leading candidate for the Brooks Wallace Award for the nation's top shortstop, Josh Rivera is in line for career highs in total bases (116), batting (.367), OBP (.465), slugging (.655), homers (14), runs (55), RBI (55) and steals (12). He ranks top-15 in the SEC in runs (sixth), RBI (ninth), batting (10th), hits (11th), steals (13th), total bases (T-13th) and OBP (14th). His .344 average in SEC play leads all Gators and ranks 14th in the conference. As one of two Gators to start all 49 games, Rivera has reached base safely in 46 contests, notching hits in 41 games including 20 of the last 22. His 14 homers are one shy from tying Brady McConnell (15 - 2019) for the most by a UF shortstop while his 55 RBI are tied with Mark Kiger (2002) for second in a season at the position. TOUGH AS NEELS: Closer Brandon Neely leads the SEC with four more saves than any other player, as he has 10 saves in 10 chances this season. He wields 49 strikeouts in 32 innings, translating to 13.8 strikeouts per nine. CAUGHT A WHIFF: Florida ranks eighth nationally and is in line to set a school record with 11.0 strikeouts per nine as a team (9.9 in 2016). The Gators have double-digit strikeouts in 31 of 39 games. AHEAD OF THE CURVE: Florida is 37-12 (15-9 SEC) through 49 games. Last season, UF was 31-18 through 49 games and 11-13 in SEC play after 24 conference contests.
