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The No. 12 Florida Gator baseball team (20-9, 5-4 SEC) hits the road for an SEC weekend series with the No. 6 Tennessee Volunteers (25-5, 7-2 SEC).
The Gators enter this weekend’s matchup after back-to-back midweek victories. On Tuesday night the Gators defeated Stetson 7-6 and followed up with 10-0 win over Florida A&M on Wednesday.
The @d1baseball rankings are out ⚾️
SEC teams ranked in the Top 25:
No. 1 @VandyBoys
No. 2 @RazorbackBSB
No. 3 @OleMissBSB
No. 5 @HailStateBB
No. 6 @Vol_Baseball
No. 11 @GamecockBasebll
No. 12 @GatorsBB— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) April 5, 2021
Pitching Matchups
- Friday | Tommy Mace v. Chad Dallas
- Saturday | TBD v. Will Heflin
- Sunday | Hunter Barco v. Blade Tidwell
Keys for the Gators
The keys to a win over a Top 10 SEC team like Tennessee will be minimizing fielding errors and finding consistency at the plate. Add in strong pitching performances from starters Tommy Mace, Jack Leftwich and Hunter Barco and the Gators have a solid shot at taking the series.
Florida has talent in the arms of Mace (4-0), Leftwich and Barco (4-2). Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan experimented on the mound last weekend against Ole Miss, putting Mace and Leftwich in to close the Friday and Saturday games respectively.
However, this weekend Mace and Barco will get their typical starts. The Gators have yet to announce their Saturday starter. Closer Franco Aleman, and relievers Christian Scott, and Trey Van Der Weide will likely make appearances this weekend.
Offensively, the Gators have plenty of solid hitters. After struggling against South Carolina, they managed to find their rhythm against Ole Miss. Now halfway through the season, Florida will have to find a way to get on base in order to secure a victory over Tennessee.
Jacob Young and Nathan Hickey remain standouts at the plate. Young is batting .334 and leads the Gators in both hits (42) and runs (31). In addition, Hickey bats .369 and leads the Gators with 34 RBIs.
Lastly, Florida will have to keep the fielding errors to a minimum against a talented Tennessee team. The Gators struggled with errors in the midweek matchup but will need to play a clean game on the road against the Volunteers.
Taking a Look at Tennessee
The Volunteers have seen recent success against SEC opponents. Tennessee took the series against Georgia, LSU and Alabama. Tennessee infielder Liam Spence is batting over .400 and leads the team in hits (42) and runs (32). The senior has two home runs and 19 RBIs on the season. Additionally, the Volunteers’ Jake Rucker has been impressive at the plate; he has 29 RBIs and four home runs so far this season.
On the mound Tennessee will start Chad Dallas (4-0) on Friday night. The pitcher has allowed 31 hits and 16 runs while striking out 49 batters this season. Saturday will feature Will Heflin (2-1) on the mound and Blade Tidwell (4-1) will get the Sunday start.
How to Watch
- Friday | 6:30 p.m. | Watch: SEC Network+ | Listen: ESPN Gainesville 98.1 FM/850 AM WRUF
- Saturday | 7:00 p.m. | Watch: SEC Network | Listen: ESPN Gainesville 98.1 FM/850 AM WRUF
- Sunday | 1:00 p.m. | Watch: SEC Network+ | Listen: ESPN Gainesville 98.1 FM/850 AM WRUF
