No. 4 Florida (39-14/20-7 SEC) welcomes Eastern Division rival Kentucky (24-28/7-20 SEC) to McKethan Stadium beginning Thursday night in the 10th and final SEC series of the campaign. The Gators and Wildcats will tangle at 7 p.m. both Thursday (live on GatorVision Online) and Friday (live on FS Florida and GatorVision Online) before concluding the three-game set on Saturday at 4 p.m. (live on FS Florida/FSN and ESPN3.com).
At 20-7 in league activity, the Gators are locked into a three-way tie for the top spot in the overall and Eastern Division standings with No. 2 South Carolina (42-11) and No. 3 Vanderbilt (42-8). The Gamecocks finish at Alabama (31-22/13-14 SEC), while the Commodores wrap up at Georgia (27-26/15-12 SEC). There are four teams tied for first in the Western Division with identical 13-14 records: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn and Mississippi State. The top eight teams will advance to Hoover, Ala., for the double-elimination 2011 SEC Tournament that will be held from May 25-29.
UF sophomore left-hander Brian Johnson (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) (7-3, 3.38) will oppose Wildcat sophomore southpaw Taylor Rogers (3-6, 5.01) in the series opener. Johnson is 3-3 with a 4.50 earned run average in nine league starts, with 37 strikeouts and 11 walks in 48 innings. He has dropped his past two outings (May 6 at Arkansas - 4.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K and May 14 at Vanderbilt - 4.1 IP, 9 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) and will be facing UK for the first time.
Friday night’s matchup will feature sophomore RHP Hudson Randall (Atlanta, Ga.) (8-2, 2.14) against Kentucky junior right-hander Alex Meyer (6-5, 3.06). Randall is seeking his first victory since April 29 after falling at Arkansas (7.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 5 K) and getting a no-decision at Vanderbilt in his last start (5.0 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 0 K). The righty is 6-2 with a 2.59 ERA in league activity, with 25 strikeouts and five walks in a team-high 59 innings. A projected top-10 pick in the upcoming Major League Baseball Draft, Meyer leads the SEC in strikeouts (101), innings pitched (94), complete games (four) and complete-game shutouts (two).
The Gators’ leader with 67 strikeouts in 68 innings, freshman Karsten Whitson (Chipley, Fla.) (6-0, 2.51) will start Saturday’s finale against a Wildcat hurler to be announced. The rookie right-hander is 3-0 with a 2.64 ERA in league play but has two-straight no-decisions. Last Sunday at Vanderbilt, Whitson gave up five hits and three runs over 4.1 innings, with five punch-outs and one walk.
The Gators are seeking their 12th SEC Championship after bringing home the crown in 1952, 1956, 1962, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1988, 1996, 1998, 2005 and 2010. LSU’s total of 14 titles leads the conference, while Alabama is second with 13 and Florida is next with 11.
UF is trying to repeat as the league champion for the second time in school history and the first time since 1981-82 and become the first program to collect back-to-back trophies since LSU accomplished the feat in 1996-97. In addition, Florida is aiming for its third-consecutive Eastern Division title, last done by the Gators from 1996-98. UF’s 20 division titles is the highest total in the SEC, as LSU is second with 15.
Now in his fourth season, Kevin O’Sullivan is attempting to become the fourth Gator head coach to win multiple SEC Championships, along with Dave Fuller (1952, 1956, 1962), Joe Arnold (1984, 1988) and Andy Lopez (1996, 1998).
Florida has brought home seven SEC titles in 2010-11 (men’s basketball, women’s cross country, men’s golf, soccer, women’s tennis, men’s indoor track & field & volleyball) to lead the SEC. This is the fourth time that UF has collected seven league titles in a single season (1996-97, 1997-98 & 2009-10). UF’s highest total is eight (1991-92) and Georgia equaled the SEC record with eight titles in 2005-06. If the Gator baseball team takes the SEC this weekend, it will be the program’s 50th league title in the past 10 years.
The Gators need one more victory to reach the 40-win plateau for the 20th time in school history. They are also seeking to post three 40-win campaigns in a row for the first time since 1996 (50-18), 1997 (40-24) and 1998 (46-18). Last year was the first time since 2002 that the Orange and Blue collected 40 wins during the regular season and was one shy of the single-season team mark of 41 set in 1989 (41-18 reg. season), 1991 (41-19 reg. season), 1996 (41-14 reg. season) and 1998 (41-13 reg. season).
Florida will recognize six players in pre-game ceremonies on Friday night: second baseman Josh Adams (Jacksonville, Fla.), right-hander Matt Campbell (Tampa, Fla.), right-hander Justin Poovey (Granite Falls, N.C.), outfielder Bryson Smith (Watkinsville, Ga.), right-hander Tommy Toledo (Tampa, Fla.) and outfielder Paul Wilson (Lakeland, Fla.).
