Despite dropping the first two installments, the Gators have won 22 of the last 28 meetings in the series. Florida is 35-21 vs. the Seminoles under head coach Kevin O’Sullivan including an 9-7 record on the road. The Orange & Blue trails in the all-time series by six games at 127-133-1.
GET TO KNOW THE NOLES
Florida State is 26-5 this season with a 7-5 record in ACC play. The Noles are slashing .329/.419/.573 as a team with 58 homers and pitching to a 3.62 ERA on the mound.
LAST TIME OUT
The Gators are coming off a 1-3 week, defeating Florida A&M in a midweek contest before falling in three one-run games at Missouri (2-1, 4-3, 11-10). Florida posted an even run differential on the week, scoring 24 runs across the four games while allowing 24 on the hill. Offensively, the Gators batted .215/.346/.496 with 11 home runs, compared to opponents’ hitting .274/.354/.363 with two long balls.
CHECKING OUR POLLS
The Gators dropped to No. 24 in the D1Baseball Top 25 following the road trip to Columbia, Mo. Florida is ranked as highly as No. 16 nationally per Perfect Game, also coming in at No. 18 according to the USA Today Poll.
RELENTLESS REPTILES
Florida boasts nine come-from-behind wins on the season, with all six of Florida’s SEC victories coming in comeback fashion. The Gators wield three walk-off victories already this year.
GOING STREAKING
The longest active on-base streaks on the team belong to outfielder/infielder Tyler Shelnut (18 games) and first baseman Jac Caglianone (17), with the latter pacing Florida with a 10-game hit streak.
YOUNG GUNS
Florida has used 10 freshman pitchers featuring six in SEC play, with both totals pacing the SEC. Tennessee is the next-closest with eight freshman pitchers used this year. Florida’s six freshman hurlers in SEC play is twice as many as the next-closest schools.
BLAKE SUPERIOR
Across his last nine appearances dating back to March 12 vs. FSU, right-hander Blake Purnell has posted a 0.87 ERA in 10 1/3 innings. In that span, he has struck out 10 against one walk while holding opposing hitters to a .182 batting average. He sports a 4.30 ERA over 15 games spanning 14 2/3 frames this season.
HITTER HIGHLIGHTS
Florida has three hitters with an OPS above 1.000 in Caglianone (1.261), infielder Colby Shelton (1.069) and Shelnut (1.024), as well as outfielder Ty Evans at .999. That quartet has accounted for 46 of Florida’s 67 homers this season. All four players are getting on base above a .395 clip while slugging .570 or higher.
JAC OF ALL TRADES
Caglianone is hitting .391/.480/.781, leading Florida in every slash category as well as a 1.261 OPS. He is third in the SEC in hits (50) and homers (16), sixth in batting and t-fourth in total bases (100). On the mound, he paces the team with a 3.67 ERA and 1.37 WHIP while ranking fourth in the SEC in BAA (.183) across 34 1/3 innings. Among qualified SEC pitchers, Caglianone is tied for the third-fewest hits allowed (22), seventh-fewest homers allowed (three) and 10th-fewest earned runs surrendered (14). He has not allowed a hit until at least the third inning in five of six starts and has taken three no-hitters into the fourth or later.
GARY ON GUARD
After leading NCAA Division I in pitch framing last season, catcher Tanner Garrison ranks third in the SEC with seven runners caught stealing (7-for-13) while sporting the top caught-stealing rate at 53.8%. He has a 1.000 fielding percentage this season.
McDEALIN’
Since the start of SEC play, freshman right-hander Luke McNeillie leads the Gators with a 1.32 ERA across seven appearances across 13 2/3 innings. He has fanned 20 batters against five walks in that span while also boasting a team-best .196 batting average against that features just two extra-base hits (both doubles).
SLATER-AID
Having thrown 2 2/3 scoreless innings this past weekend, right-handed pitcher Ryan Slater wields a 2-0 record, 3.86 ERA and .252 batting average against in 30 1/3 innings. His 16 appearances lead the team and rank second in the SEC behind Mississippi State’s Cam Schuelke (18).
ON DECK
Florida welcomes South Carolina to Condron Family Ballpark for a three-game series this upcoming weekend. Games one and two will stream on SEC Network+ on Friday (6:30 p.m.) and Saturday (4 p.m.). The series finale is scheduled for Sunday at 12 p.m. on SEC Network.
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