Gator Baseball Heads To Jacksonville Tonight

The Gator baseball team travels to Jacksonville today to take on JU.  They will play them again Wednesday night in Gainesville.

Florida is 5-7 this season, while JU is 4-7.  The Gators came back from a six game losing streak to take two of three games from the previously undefeated Miami Hurricanes this past weekend.  The series began with a Friday night loss of 3-2 but the Gators rebounded and won Saturday and Sunday to claim the series.  Despite this, Gator coach Kevin O’Sullivan says they still have things to work on.

Sophomore Justin Shafer went 3 for 4 in Sunday’s win, including two RBI’s. Freshman Harrison Bader went 2 for 4 and picked up his first career triple down the first base line that also sent in a run in the Gators’ four run third inning.

Florida’s shortstop Richie Martin will be out three to four weeks after breaking a finger in Sunday’s game. The freshman was attempting to bunt when his finger was injured on a pitched ball.  Martin had an X-ray Monday morning.  Covering shortstop for Martin will be senior Cody Dent.

JUhas lost its last two games after being shut out by TCU at home on Saturday and Sunday.  So far this season the Dolphins have played three game series against Radford, Richmond, and TCU but picked up only a series win over Richmond after bouncing back from an 8-3 loss in the Friday night opener.

The last meeting between Florida and Jacksonville was in May 2011 at McKethan Stadium where the Gators were handed a loss of 11-2.  Playing second base and scoring three runs for JU in that matchup was Taylor Ratliff, who is now on Florida’s roster as a transfer but he will be redshirted this year.

Making his third start of the year on the mound will be Florida’s right hander Justin Shafer. For the Dolphins, junior right hander Zach Gordon will be the opposing pitcher. Making Wednesday’s start on the mound for JU will be sophomore righty Alex McRae. Florida’s Wednesday starting pitcher is yet to be announced.

You can catch all the action of the game by tuning into ESPN Radio 850/900 with live coverage beginning at 5:55pm. First pitch will be thrown at 6pm at John Sessions Stadium in Jacksonville on Tuesday.

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