#3 FLORIDA GATORS AT #6 SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS THURSDAY, APRIL 20 - 7:30 PM ET | FRIDAY, APRIL 21 - 7 PM ET | SATURDAY, APRIL 22 - 2 PM ET FOUNDERS PARK (COLUMBIA, S.C.) TV/STREAM ESPNU (THURSDAY) | SEC NETWORK+ (FRIDAY & SATURDAY) RADIO ESPN 98.1FM/850AM WRUF (GNV) | WJXL 1010 AM (JAX) RADIO/TV ANNOUNCERS Radio: Jeff Cardozo & Sean Kelley TV: Tom Hart & Chris Burke (TH), Dave Weinsten & Kip Bouknight (FRI),
SERIES HISTORY OVERALL 51-51 IN GAINESVILLE 29-16 IN COLUMBIA 28-18 NEUTRAL 4-7 NOTABLE Florida has claimed 16 of the last 24 games vs. South Carolina and enters on a 13-series win streak dating back to last season.
TOP-10 MATCHUP:Florida visits South Carolina in Columbia after facing the Gamecocks four times last season. The Gators went 3-1 in the series, taking two of three at home (W 14-5, W 8-0, L 1-4) before winning a 10-inning battle in Hoover, 2-1. As a result, UF enters the weekend with a 16-8 record vs. SC under Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan including 10-10 on the road. Prior to being swept in 2021, Florida had not lost a series in Columbia since O'Sullivan's inaugural 2008 season. HEAVYWEIGHT BOUT:Florida and South Carolina pace the SEC and are tied for second nationally with 31 wins. The matchup features two of the top-three home run hitting teams in the country, as the Gamecocks rank first with 88 while the Gators sit in third with 82. Florida's .589 slugging percentage is good for second in the NCAA. Carolina's .567 mark ranks fifth. LAST TIME OUT:The Gators are coming off a 17-7 win over FAMU in seven innings on Tuesday after going 3-1 across four home games last week. Jac Caglianone, Luke Heyman and Deric Fabian homered in the onslaught, with the former two players driving in four apiece. Heyman became the first Gator with three sac flies in a game since Justin Shafer did so - also vs. FAMU - on March 7, 2012. Florida's eight runs in the second inning marked a season high. BORDER BATTLE REFRESH:Florida posted its 15th comeback win of the season in game two vs. Georgia, with outfielder Michael Robertson walking off the Dawgs with a single in the ninth. Jac Caglianone pitched five innings of two-run ball to earn the win in the rubber match while also hitting two home runs including a grand slam en route to seven RBI. IN THE RANKINGS: Florida remained at No. 3 in the D1Baseball Top-25 this week and ranks as highly as No. 2 according to Baseball America and Perfect Game. ROAD WARRIORS: Florida is 8-1 on the road this season and are outscoring opponents by 3.0 runs/game. Offensively, Florida is averaging 2.8 homers/game and 10.4 hits/game. STACKING SERIES: Florida has won 13-straight series dating back to last season including nine consecutive in SEC play. The Gators are 22-5 in weekend series this year and 31-8 over their last 13 series.
JUST A SEC: UF last dropped an SEC series from April 22-24, 2022 vs. No. 1 Tennessee. That This means a series win at SC would make it a calendar year without a series loss for UF. Since O'Sullivan took the reins in 2008, Florida's .618 winning % in regular season SEC play is tops in the SEC (268-166). CASE FOR NATION'S TOP OFFENSE:Powered by double-digit runs in nearly half of its games (18), Florida ranks top-10 nationally in slugging (second - .589), home runs (third - 82), runs (fourth - 361), triples (seventh - 17) and hits (eighth- 410) while sitting in 18th with a .316 batting average (second in SEC). The Gators lead the SEC in slugging, hits, triples, at bats and total bases - boasting 64 more bases than the next-closest SEC team (South Carolina - 700). The Gators are scoring in 48.5% of their batted innings (147 of 303). Florida has a run differential of plus-160, averaging 9.5 runs/game and 10.8 hits/game. TRIPLE THREAT/TRIPLE SLASH:Florida's torrid offense is led by the three-headed monster of Wyatt Langford (.389/.546/.796), Jac Caglianone (.382/.430/.892) and Josh Rivera (.400/.491/.757), who hit consecutively in the Gator order. Rivera has the lowest OPS of the bunch at 1.248, as the trio is the only in the SEC to all sport an OPS above 1.200. Interestingly enough, each player leads Florida in a different triple-slash category: Rivera in batting (.400), Langford in on-base percentage (.546) and Caglianone in slugging (.892). RELENTLESS REPTILES:Nearly half of Florida's wins this season have been in comeback fashion (15), surpassing last year's 66-game total of 13 (19.7%). After going 0-20 last season when trailing after six innings, Florida is 3-4 in that scenario in 2023, and 3-0 when tied after six innings. Even more impressively, the Gators are 13-4 when the opponent scores first this season, compared to 11-15 last year. WE'RE GOING STREAKING!:Rivera is riding an 11-game hitting streak, slashing .436/.510/.718 with three homers, two doubles, 13 RBI, 13 runs and eight walks vs. four strikeouts over the course of it. Catcher BT Riopelle has reached base in 17-straight games. RIVERA MEANS MORE:With a .407/.471/.780 slash line, Rivera, is hitting .84 points higher than any Gator in SEC play. He leads UF in hitting, slugging, runs and steals in SEC games. STARTING OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT: Over the last five games, Florida starters are 2-0 with a 3.41 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, and .175 BAA in 29 innings.
GOLDEN SPIKES CANDIDATES: Rivera and Caglianone were named to the Golden Spikes Midseason Watch List on April 5. Rivera has already set career highs in homers (14), RBI (52), runs (50) and steals (11), ranking among the top bats in the nation in runs (T-fourth in NCAA, second in SEC) , RBI (T-12th in NCAA, fifth in SEC), homers (T-20th in NCAA, eighth in SEC) and hits (56 - T-37th in NCAA, T-fifth in SEC). Caglianone's 22 homers are three more than former UF teammate Kris Armstrong's 19 for the nation's lead, and are four more than the next-closest SEC player, Ethan Petry. As the fastest Gator ever to 20 homers - doing so in 37 games and besting Jud Fabian's record by 12 (49) - he is four away from tying the school record (26). He leads the SEC in hits (60), at bats (157) and total bases - with 20 more than any player. Cags ranks fourth nationally in slugging and RBI. DON'T ROCK THE SPROAT, BABY: Righthander Brandon Sproat has lost one decision across his last 15 starts. In that span, Sproat is 10-1 with a 3.45 ERA and 10.4 K/9 across 88 2/3 innings, equating to an average of 5.9 innings/start. His 12.7 strikeouts per nine rank 28th nationally. He is 1-0 with a 1.65 ERA in 16 1/3 innings vs. South Carolina (four games). KEEPS RIGHT ON HURSTON: Ranking second in the country behind LSU's Paul Skenes with 83 strikeouts, righty Hurston Waldrep has thrown four quality starts in his last five outings and UF is 4-0 across his last four (Waldrep 3-0). With a 14.4 K/9, Waldrep has six-plus strikeouts in all nine starts and eight or more in four-straight. BABY GRANNIES: Freshmen Cade Kurland (2-for-5) and Luke Heyman (2-for-5) each hit grand slams in game one vs. Georgia. Both players are mainstays in the UF lineup, with Kurland ranking third on the team in multi-hit games (16) and multi-RBI games (11). The duo has 17 homers in 57 combined gamesm
