After
an eight-game road swing, No. 1 Florida (24-5/6-3 SEC) returns to the friendly confines
of McKethan Stadium for the first time since March 20 for a three-game set
against No. 7 LSU (23-6/6-3 SEC). The Gators dropped a 10-5 decision at North
Florida on Tuesday, while the Tigers extended their winning streak to six games
with a 10-2 victory over Louisiana College.
Game
times this weekend are 7:30 p.m. on Thursday (ESPNU), 7 p.m. on Friday (Fox
Sports Florida) and 4 p.m. on Saturday. All three contests can be heard live on
Country 103.7 The Gator and the final two games will be carried on GatorVision
Online.
Junior left-hander Brian Johnson
(Cocoa Beach, Fla.) (4-0, 3.29) will start Thursday’s opener against Tiger
sophomore righty Kurt McCune (1-3, 4.76). On Friday, sophomore righty Karsten
Whitson (Chipley, Fla.) (1-0, 4.05) will make his first start since Feb. 26
and will oppose LSU sophomore Kevin Gausman (5-0, 2.27). The series finale will
pit junior righty Hudson Randall (Atlanta, Ga.) (3-1, 3.56) against LSU
sophomore righty Ryan Eades (4-1, 1.91).
The Gators and Tigers have each played three
league series and sport identical 6-3 records. Florida swept Vanderbilt on the
opening weekend, took two of three at No. 6 South Carolina and fell twice at
No. 16 Ole Miss. Meanwhile, LSU defeated No. 21 Mississippi State twice, lost
at Auburn twice and then swept No. 3 Arkansas last weekend in Baton Rouge. Seven
of the Tigers’ nine SEC outings have been decided by one run (5-2 record).
Florida is led offensively by junior catcher Mike
Zunino (Cape Coral, Fla.), who is hitting .350 with 33 RBI, nine homers and
eight doubles, while senior outfielder Preston Tucker (Tampa, Fla.) has
a .324 clip to go along with 26 RBI and nine round-trippers. Senior center
fielder Daniel Pigott (Ormond Beach, Fla.) is hitting .333 overall with
27 runs and 20 RBI and leads the squad with a .375 SEC average. Junior
shortstop Nolan Fontana (Winter Garden, Fla.) (.293) has scored 27 runs,
drawn 18 walks and is 7-for-7 on the basepaths. UF is hitting .293 as a team,
with 47 doubles and 41 homers, and has out-scored opponents by a 181-91 margin.
The Gators have compiled a staff earned run
average of 3.08. Junior Austin Maddox (Jacksonville, Fla.) is 2-1 with a
2.08 ERA and has registered eight saves, sophomore Daniel Gibson (Lutz,
Fla.) is 1-0 with a 1.10 ERA in 13 appearances, senior Greg Larson
(Longwood, Fla.) is 3-0 with a 1.14 ERA in 14 appearances and junior Steven
Rodriguez (Miami, Fla.) is 3-1 with a 2.25 ERA in 14 appearances.
