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Series Preview: Florida finishes off regular season at Kentucky

David Rosenberg
·5 min read

After sweeping the Vanderbilt Commodores, the Florida Gators baseball team is ready to end the regular season with a three-game series at Kentucky.

The pitching staff is changing up the order after Hurston Waldrep’s start got rained out a week ago, but things should be fairly normal otherwise, aside from a Thursday night start.

Florida is currently the No. 2 team on the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, and Kentucky is ranked No. 20, despite a four-spot slide this week. A sweep would guarantee UF the top spot in the SEC East and perhaps lead the Gators to the top overall seed in the SEC Tournament.

Arkansas is the only team with a better conference record than Florida at 19-8, but that leaves just one game of separation between the two clubs.

Here is the final regular season series preview of the year!

Projected Starting Lineup

Pos.

Player Name

AVG

OBP

SLG

AB

R

H

HR

RBI

C

BT Riopelle

.260

.395

.515

169

42

44

10

45

1B

Jac Caglianone

.351

.401

.817

208

58

73

27

73

2B

Cade Kurland

.317

.414

.619

189

58

60

15

44

3B

Colby Halter

.239

.352

.410

134

26

32

3

25

SS

Josh Rivera

.370

.467

.647

184

55

68

14

56

LF

Wyatt Langford

.400

.535

.813

160

61

64

14

37

CF

Michael Robertson

.256

.388

.311

164

39

42

1

19

RF

Tyler Shelnut

.318

.405

.589

107

23

34

6

23

DH

Luke Heyman

.347

.401

.619

118

22

41

8

30

 

Probable Starters: Thursday (6:30 p.m. EDT)

Team

Pitcher

Record

ERA

FLORIDA

RHP Hurston Waldrep

6-3

5.00

KENTUCKY

RHP Travis Smith

4-2

4.81

NOTES: Waldrep got rained out last week, so Kevin O’Sullivan is giving him the Thursday game and keeping Sproat in the Friday slot. It’s not as weird as it may seem and there’s nothing to read into here.

The big thing with Waldrep right now is how he deals with the new delivery. Since umpires forced him to change his motion, things haven’t been the same, made evident by a rising 5.00 ERA.

This is his last chance before the playoffs to get right.

Travis Smith took over the Friday night role against South Carolina a few weeks ago. He’ll get the call against No. 2 Florida as well this weekend. His 3.62 ERA is impressive considering the competition he’s faced his age. Smith isn’t a big strikeout guy, and that could hurt him. Florida isn’t the team you want making consistent contact with the ball.

Probable Starters: Friday (6:30 p.m. EDT)

Team

Pitcher

Record

ERA

FLORIDA

RHP Brandon Sproat

7-2

4.44

KENTUCKY

RHP Zack Lee

4-2

3.42

NOTES: Brandon Sproat has been consistent all year in the Friday spot of Florida’s rotation, so there’s no reason to interrupt his flow.

Sproat is seven strikeouts from the 100 mark, so expect him to pitch for swing and miss, as usual. He’s a two-time SEC Pitcher of the Week this year and is 7-2. Most Gator fans know what to expect from Sproat right now, but he could go short to keep the arm fresh for the playoffs.

Zack Lee could have gone pro last year, but he decided to return to UK and has put up a 3.42 ERA and 58 strikeouts through 55 1/3 innings. a 1.38 WHIP means he deals with runners on base fairly often, but he’s done a good job at limiting runs. His batting average against and home runs are both a bit high, so the Gators could put up a few longballs against him.

Probable Starters: Saturday (2p.m. EDT)

Team

Pitcher

Record

ERA

FLORIDA

LHP Jac Caglianone

5-2

4.47

KENTUCKY

TBD

TBD

TBD

NOTES: Jac Caglianone is coming off his best pitching performance as a Gator and it would mean everything to repeat the performance against Kentucky. Attacking the zone early is key, and Caglianone’s changeup playing off his fastball is what separates his good start from the bad ones. If that changeup is on, Florida will be fine.

Kentucky is still figuring out who will throw on Saturday, so nothing on that for now.

Other Players to Watch

© Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK

Jackson Gray and Hunter Gilliam are the two bats to worry about the most. Gray is batting .375 with 14 doubles, six triples and five home runs. He’s an extra-base machine and scores often because of it (63 runs leads the team).

Gillam is the power threat with 11 homers. His 1.028 OPS is second only to Gray’s 1.140, and his 63 runs batted in lead the team.

Kentucky likes to run, too. The Wildcats have swiped 86 bags in 112 attempts. They should run on Florida this weekend whenever possible.

Series History

OVERALL

147-71-1

AT HOME

79-30

AWAY

62-38-1

NEUTRAL

6-3

NOTES: Florida has dominated the series, historically, and there’s no reason to expect anything different this weekend. This is one of the best Gators team in a while and they want to finish the regular season on top.

Follow the Action

THURSDAY (6:30 p.m. EDT)

FRIDAY (6:30 p.m. EDT)

SATURDAY (2 p.m. EDT)

* Watch links go directly to game feed

Predictions

GAME 1: Florida, 6-4

GAME 2: Florida, 8-2

GAME 3: Florida, 10-1

This is the kind of series that snowballs if Florida wins Game 1. After sweeping Vanderbilt, you have to assume this club comes out and plays just as well against Kentucky.

SERIES: Florida sweeps and finishes on top of the SEC, 3-0.

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Story originally appeared on Gators Wire