Gators Baseball hosts sliding Georgia

Rivalry week continues at Condron Ballpark as the No. 3 Florida Gators welcome the Georgia Bulldogs to Gainesville for a three-game set. The Gators come in with a record of 28-6 and are coming off of a comeback win against Florida State on Tuesday.

Previous Games

The Gators have been playing rivalry games for the better part of a week now. Before their comeback win against the Seminoles, the Gators were in Knoxville for a three-game series with the rival Volunteers. Florida won the first two games of the set, before dropping the finale by a 14-2 final. Brandon Sproat and Hurston Waldrep earned wins in the first two games of the set, and seven different Gators hit homers during the series.

The Gators struggled for much of their midweek game against Florida State, before scoring four runs in the eighth inning to earn a 5-3 win.

OUR STATE™ 😤#GatorsWin | #GoGators

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— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) April 12, 2023

Ty Evans hit a game-winning three run homer in the eighth inning to seal the win for the Gators. Cade Fisher pitched two scoreless innings in relief to earn the victory, and Brandon Neely struck out the side in the ninth to lock down the save.

No Bite In These Dawgs

Unlike the Gators, Georgia is not coming into this series with a lot of momentum. The Bulldogs dropped their midweek matchup to Clemson by a score of 8-1. Georgia did take two of three in their last conference series against Kentucky, but come in at only 3-9 in SEC play. Georgia has lost conference series against South Carolina, Auburn, and Vanderbilt, with the losses to South Carolina and Vanderbilt being sweeps. The Bulldogs head to Gainesville just 18-15 overall.

What To Look For

The Gators have yet to lose a conference series this season and they look to continue that trend. The Gators have won conference series against Alabama, Ole Miss, Auburn, and Tennessee. The series wins include a sweep of the Rebels in Oxford. Brandon Sproat will take the hill in the series opener, as he looks for his sixth win of the season. Sproat will be followed on the mound by Hurston Waldrep and Jac Caglianone.

The Gators offense will be looking to stay hot. Florida ranks in the top-10 nationally in slugging percentage, home runs, runs, hits, and triples. The Gators .316 batting average is good for second in the SEC and fifteenth in the NCAA. Two-way star Jac Caglianone leads the SEC, as well as the nation, with 19 home runs on the season.

The Bulldogs will try to spoil the Gators record of winning four straight SEC series to open the year. They will look for just their second conference series win of the season.

Looking Ahead

Following the series with Georgia, the Gators have a midweek matchup at home with Florida A&M. They will then travel to Columbia to take on the No. 6 South Carolina Gamecocks. The Bulldogs will travel to Clemson for a midweek matchup with the Tigers before returning home for a three-game set against the Arkansas Razorbacks.