#19 Florida at #3 LSU MAY 2 (Thu.) 6:30 p.m. -- TELEVISED ON ESPNU MAY 3 (Fri.) 6:30 p.m. -- TELEVISED ON CST and CSS MAY 4 (Sat.) 12:00 p.m. -- TELEVISED ON ESPN2 Mainieri: "Florida has great ball players, and so does LSU, and this shapes up as a highly competitive matchup...It's really what college baseball is all about. Two heavyweights are going to go at it, and I can't wait to coach these games. We're in good position. We've just got to get the job done." Randy Rosetta: "There is plenty of talent in both dugouts, and there figures to be plenty of competitive baseball for three games when they get together." Glenn Guilbeau: "SEC baseball powers LSU, Florida begin key series" Mason Katz: "We're going to face a lot of different arms -- a lot of good arms," LSU senior Mason Katz sad. "Every arm they bring out of the pen is a very good pitcher. Most of them throw hard and have good secondary stuff and we're going to have to swing the bats well. If we knock a starter out early, it means we're doing some things right offensively, but against Florida, we can't let down if that happens." Ty Ross: "We know we have to be ready for all kinds of different guys against them."
comments from the Gators: "Any time you go and beat LSU, it would definitely make a statement no matter what time of the year it was," sophomore catcher Taylor Gushue said. Just three Gators — senior Vickash Ramjit, redshirt sophomore Zack Powers and senior Cody Dent – have played at LSU's rowdy Alex Box Stadium, where the Tigers average 10,810 fans and are 28-3 this season. "We don't have many players that have played in that environment," Florida coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. "Bottom line, we just have to play well." "It's going to be a challenge," O'Sullivan said. "But hey, that's what you sign up for in this league." on South Carolina winning the series at LSU last week: "It shows any team can beat them," freshman Richie Martin said. "We have confidence going in that we can beat any team." Kevin O'Sullivan -- O’Sullivan is 10-6 (.625) against LSU: 6-3 (.667) in Gainesville, 4-2 (.667) in Baton Rouge and 0-1 (.000) at the SEC Tournament. Richie Martin -- drafted by the Seattle Mariners Taylor Gushue -- Top100 recruit by Perfect Game
Florida in the SEC coaches' preseason poll: SEC Eastern Division #1 (89 points) -- Vanderbilt (currently: #1/1/2/2/2) #2 (67 points) -- Florida (currently: #19/21) #3t (59 points) -- South Carolina (currently: #9/9/14/15/15) #3t (59 points) -- Kentucky (currently: #19/23/23) #5 (41 points) -- Georgia #6 (29 points) -- Tennessee #7 (23 points) -- Missouri Points were compiled on a 7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis for each division. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team.
Preseason National Coaches' Poll, votes for #1: SEC 10 -- Arkansas 3 -- Vanderbilt 3 -- LSU 1 -- Florida ACC 4 -- UNC 2 -- Florida State PAC 4 -- UCLA 3 -- Arizona 1 -- Stanford
Randy Rosetta: Because of the wave of new players -- especially on the pitching staff -- the Gators wobbled through the first few months and dipped to five games below .500 (11-16) when the last weekend of March arrived. Since then, Florida is 14-4 (.778) and has won 10 of 14 (.714) conference games (and has won their last three SEC series straight, over South Carolina, @Missouri, Tennessee) Mainieri: "Like any program you have to have a transition phase," LSU Coach Paul Mainieri said of the Gators. "They've brought in great players. It's just that they're a little younger than the kids that they've been used to playing. As the season has gone on, their players have gotten their feet under of them and have gotten comfortable with this level of baseball." University of Florida Athletic Dept: --"UF fell to No. 10 Kentucky twice on the opening SEC weekend at McKethan Stadium, was on the short end of a 2-1 series at No. 2 Vanderbilt, took two of three games from No. 11 Ole Miss, dropped a pair of outings at No. 17 Mississippi State, swept No. 8 South Carolina, won two at Missouri and defeated Tennessee twice." --"Since a 4-3 defeat in 11 innings to No. 11 Ole Miss on March 29 that dropped their record to 11-16 (.407), the Gators have gone 14-4 (.778)" --"Since freshman Richie Martin (Brandon, Fla.) returned to the lineup as a position player in CF for the final game of the series at No. 17 Miss. State, UF is 11-2 (.846). He started the year at shortstop, suffered a broken finger on March 3 against No. 21 Miami (FL) and missed 14 games." --"UF has played the toughest schedule to date in the nation, as its opponents have a combined record of 1,181-654 (.644) as of Wednesday." here's a look at what Florida has done against the currently-ranked Top 25... Before March 18: #8/8/9/9/10 Florida State -- L 1-2 @Jacksonville #16/16/17/17/21 Indiana -- L 1-4, W 6-4, L 4-7 #19/23/23/26 Kentucky -- W 4-1, L 5-11, L 2-6 Since March 18: at #1/1/2/2/2 Vandy -- W 7-1, L 1-6, L 4-5 (7 innings) at #8/8/9/9/10 Florida State -- W 4-3 #9/9/14/15/15 South Carolina -- W 3-2, W 4-3, W 14-5 at #15/15/17/22/28 Miss State -- L 3-7, L 0-2, W 8-3 #18/22/21/24/26 Ole Miss -- L 3-4 (11 inn), W 7-0, W 4-0
Mainieri said sophomore left-hander Cody Glenn will start Game 1 tonight (because there are storms in the area and he doesn't want to have to start Nola then get rained out and have to start him again and break up his rhythm) when asked what he hoped to get from Glenn: "Whatever it takes to win," Mainieri said. "There's a great responsibility pitching the opening game of the series. We'd like him to pitch deep into a game and save the bullpen, but really the most important thing is to get your team off to a good start. If Cody can just go out there and command the zone and do the things he does the best and give us a chance to win, I'll be happy." catcher Ty Ross: "That's going to be my whole focus Thursday night -- keeping (Glenn) under control, getting him to staying within himself, not overthrowing, not doing anything more than what he's done all year for us," Ross said. "He's kept us in a lot of big games, and if he pitches like that, he's going to give us a chance to win."
Rosetta: O'Sullivan will send his ace out for the opener (tonight). Jonathon Crawford is a familiar face to LSU. Last season he logged 6 shutout innings (completing shutting LSU down) Baseball America (who rated Crawford the #2 pitcher in the SEC this year behind Stanek): "Crawford, who threw a no-hitter in regionals and then starred for Team USA last year, is a marquee ace with a lively 92-96 fastball, a plus 82-84 slider and an improving changeup"
Top 25 matchups this weekend: #1/1/2/2/2 Vanderbilt v #9/9/14/15/15 South Carolina -- Columbia, SC #3/3/3/3/4 LSU v #19/21 Florida -- in Baton Rouge, LA #8/8/13/14/16 Arizona State v #22/25 Stanford -- in Tempe, AZ #12/14/14/16/16 Arkansas v #19/23/23 Kentucky -- in Lexington, KY
Gator batters Top 1 - single, that was it Top 2 - nothing Top 3 - two bunt singles, walk, bases loaded, run scored on error, and that was it. 1-0 Gators Tiger batters Bot 1 - Boss singled that was it Bot 2 - Rhymes doubled that was it Bot 3 Moore and McMullen walked, and KATZ COMES THRU WITH AN RBI SINGLE! MOORE SCORES FROM 2ND! 1-1 after 3
