Gator Baseball GatorBaseball: UF vs. MSU

[FireFoley]

Top 10 matchup this weekend at the Mac as the Gators host Cowbell. All 3 Cowbell starting pitchers sport an ERA below 2.00, but hopefully the hot Gator bats from their thrashing of the on Tuesday will stay hot this weekend and cause those ERA's to rise. Also the Saturday starter for Cowbell is a freshman who I heard was drafted fairly high out of high school and surprised by not signing and going to college. So will be interested in seeing him Should be some great baseball this weekend. Need to get the SEC season off to a good start as we travel to a very good Vandy team next week!

 

[Double Gator Dad]

I can’t go to the first two games but I will be there Sunday. Tough test for the Gators

 

[FireFoley]

Gators drop the opener 6-5 as Mc connell strikes out to end the game and the tying run on 3rd base. Gators trailed 6-2 in bottom of 9th but scored 3 but just could not manage the tie. Mace pitched well enough to win giving up a solo homer and wild pitched a guy in before giving way to Ruth. MSU bats came alive and a misplay by Young at 2B, although he was not given an error gave Cowbell the lead which they would not relinquish. Cowbell starter was stingy and allowed a solo homer to Dalton and a single to Matt Damon. Blake Reese had a big pitch hit single in the 9th and given that hit, along with Young's misplay at 2B and his inability to catch up to SEC pitching tonite, I expect Reese back at 2B for the next game!

 

[Ocalaman]

Gators drop the opener 6-5 as Mc connell strikes out to end the game and the tying run on 3rd base. Gators trailed 6-2 in bottom of 9th but scored 3 but just could not manage the tie. Mace pitched well enough to win giving up a solo homer and wild pitched a guy in before giving way to Ruth. MSU bats came alive and a misplay by Young at 2B, although he was not given an error gave Cowbell the lead which they would not relinquish. Cowbell starter was stingy and allowed a solo homer to Dalton and a single to Matt Damon. Blake Reese had a big pitch hit single in the 9th and given that hit, along with Young's misplay at 2B and his inability to catch up to SEC pitching tonite, I expect Reese back at 2B for the next game!

Accurate post. Miss. St. pitching dominated us until the very end. We were charged with no errors, but a couple of misplays hurt us. They were just a little bit netter than us tonight in each phase of the game. Mace was very good, but the inexperienced bullpen got exposed. Leftwich needs to be sharp tomorrow. The Bulldogs are a very experienced and very good team and it's going to take our best effort to beat them.

 

[Jbossgator8]

Florida-Mississippi State to Conclude Series with Saturday Doubleheader - Florida Gators

Double header today starting at 2pm because of rain on Sunday.

 

[Ocalaman]

UF loses Game 1 on Saturday 10-5, then salvaged Game 3 4-2. Leftwich and the bullpen got roughed up in the 1st game, as Gator hitters continued to strike out - 13 times Friday night, 12 times in Saturday's opener. Tyler Dyson pitched a solid 6 innings to get the win and avoid the sweep, while Jacob Young played left field in place of Langworthy and robbed Jake Mangum of a 3-run HR in the 7th that would have put the Bulldogs ahead. Christian Scott got a 2.1 inning save and looked very good.

 

[FireFoley]

Very long day/nite at the park and as Ocala summed it up well, the Gators salvaged Game 3 which I think was huge for a few reasons. You don;t want to get swept at home and go to Vandy 0-3. However MSU is a very good team and looks like an Omaha team in all facets. BTW that frosh pitcher named Ginn, who was the 1st round pick of the Dodgers last draft and turn down millions to go to school, is the real deal.. he is a Friday nite starter on 99.9% of all teams. 94-95 mph fastball with movement and very little effort. he was untouchable for 5 innings. he is going to be something to watch the next 3 years.

As for the Gators, this series had to open many of the young guys eyes what SEC play is all about. All 3 of our starters pitched well enough to win, granted Leftwich gave up a few homers (which he will do) but they were solo shots. The young bullpen shows that just throwing strikes over the plate will get hit hard. Quality pitches are very important. We still were unable to move a runner from 2nd to 3rd with no outs nor able to plate a run with a man on 3rd and less than 2 outs. Happened on more than one occasion. Yes MSU starters are very good, but we must make productive outs. Game 3 defensive lineup was interesting, but done surely to generate offense and we swung better bats in Game 3. Young looked much more comfy as an outfielder and if he keeps hitting this could happen more often.

Getting that win made the weekend tolerable and to me was important for nothing more than the mindset. This team does not have an unlimited ceiling, however they are far from the ceiling they do have. The fact that there is plenty of talent and plenty of room for development means that the end goal is still achievable. 20+ wins in SEC play is a pipe dream b/c this league is extremely tough and we do not have a stacked deck this year. But we have plenty of cards and an above .500 record in SEC play would be a very good season.

 

[dz_23]

Nice recap guys, I decided to stay at the Players Championship this weekend, catch you guys next time in town!

 

[BMF]

Glad we salvaged game 3. MSU is a very good team. Hopefully we keep improving as the year moves along. Some of these young kids are going to be stars by next season, taking some lumps right now though.

 

[Ocalaman]

Glad we salvaged game 3. MSU is a very good team. Hopefully we keep improving as the year moves along. Some of these young kids are going to be stars by next season, taking some lumps right now though.

Baseball schedule is always brutal, but the team should show a lot of improvement from now to the end of the season. However, we could pay for the growth with more losses than we're used to along the way. Pitching is just not up to par with past teams under O'Sullivan, at least so far. The defense is not nearly as strong either and pitching and defense is what the Sully success has been built upon.