Series Preview: Florida looking to stay dominant in SEC play against Georgia

The Florida Gators are staying in Gainesville this weekend to host the Georgia Bulldogs for a weekend series, and UF is looking to get some revenge on the diamond for what’s been a lopsided series on the football field for the last few years.

Thankfully, Georgia is much worse at baseball than it should be considering the Peach State is one of the most-talent-rich prep regions in the country for the sport. Florida has no such problem and regularly recruits the top pitchers and position players from each state (see Cade Fisher).

That difference should be apparent on the scoreboard over the weekend, and Florida could get another mercy rule win after succumbing to the new rule last Sunday. It will be interesting to see how Florida’s weekend rotation gets along. Brandon Sproat and Hurston Waldrep seem to be hitting a nice streak of near-quality starts and are this close to being a lights-out 1-2 for UF.

There were flashes of it last weekend against Tennessee, and Georgia isn’t a team either arm should struggle against. Jac Caglianone is the big question mark after failing to make it out of the first inning last Sunday. All eyes will be on him to see if Florida needs to make a change to the rotation or not.

Offensively, this team is going to keep hitting and they’re going to do it well. Florida is third in the nation in home runs and boasts three of the best players at their positions in the country: left fielder Wyatt Langford, first baseman Jac Caglianone and shortstop Josh Rivera.

The trio has shifted to the top of the order and produced strong results against UT last week.

Here’s a look at what’s on tap for the weekend.

Projected Starting Lineup

Notes: Michael Robertson and Ty Evans haven’t been hitting for great average or getting on base a ton recently. Evans secured his spot with a three-run homer on Tuesday against Florida State, but expect [autotag]Matt Prevesk[/autotag] to get a chance to pinch hit at some point or even to start one game.

Luke Heyman’s numbers have come down a bit with some more playing time under his belt, but he’s still an above-average hitter that should find his way into the lineup most nights.

Probable Starters: Friday (7:00 p.m. EDT)

NOTES: Brandon Sproat finished last week’s outing one out shy of a quality start, but he still earned the win after 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball. Georgia’s offense isn’t loaded with a ton of bats batting above .300, so Sproat might be able to get this quality start this time.

The focus this week should be getting back to two or fewer walks in a start. He did it against Alabama and Ole Miss but has since given up seven free bases over the last two weeks.

Georgia is throwing left-handed junior Jaden Woods on Friday. Woods hasn’t earned a win yet in conference play, but he has good swing-and-miss stuff that can get him double-digit strikeouts on any given day. The team’s lefties (Halter, Robertson and Riopelle) could struggle in this one, and we could even see [autotag]Tyler Shelnut[/autotag] at third because of it.

Woods has a 90-93 mph fastball that usually has good location and causes righties to whiff. His slider is the breaking pitch to make note of, and there’s a changeup that’s starting to show a little bit more.

Probable Starters: Saturday (7:00 p.m. EDT)

NOTES: Hurston Waldrep is the best strikeout pitcher in college baseball not named Paul Skenes. His 75 strikeouts are the second-most in the country, and he’s looking like a top-10 overall pick in the draft to some experts.

Beating up on Georgia isn’t going to impress too many pro scouts at this point, but it’s a good chance to show off his stuff and play catch up to Skenes. Waldrep struck out 14 against Miami, so that’s the bar.

Georgia has a few options for Saturday if the Bulldogs are going with its No. 2 on Sunday. Left-hander Charlie Goldstein might be the best option, but that would make it three lefties in a row for UGA.

Goldstein has eaten innings out of the bullpen, so maybe turning to a Nolan Crisp or Matthew Hoskins for the first two or three innings is a plan.

Probable Starters: Sunday (1:00 p.m. EDT)

NOTES: This is the big one. Jac Caglianone has struggled to throw his fastball for strikes lately, and he tends to overthrow when he realizes things aren’t going his way. Some composure and four innings are all fans can ask for from Cags this week.

Georgia knows Caglianone has been struggling, and that’s why lefty Liam Sullivan is getting the ball on Sunday. He’s a 2023 draft prospect that works in the low to mid-90s and has a high 70s sweeper. His low-80s changeup has also developed nicely but the mid-70s curveball has not.

This is Georgia’s best (3.08 ERA, .209 batting average against), but Florida can still hit him.

Other Players to Watch

Photo by Carly Mackler/Getty Images

There are two big threats at the top of Georgia’s lineup. Left fielder Connor Tate and first baseman Charlie Condon are hitting .389 and .445, respectively, in the second and third spots of the order.

Condon leads the team with 13 home runs and is on the Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list. Tate is a senior who was named to a preseason All-SEC player is just behind Condon with 11 homers. Third baseman Parks Harber is also a power threat with 10 bombs on the year. He hasn’t seen the ball quite as well, though, and has struck out 33 times this season.

Series History

NOTES: Florida got swept by Georgia last year and has lost seven of the last nine meetings, but the Gators are still dominant in the all-time series. Maybe UF will choke and keep UGA’s winning ways going, but history says this should be a series win for the Gators.

Follow the Action

FRIDAY (7 p.m. EDT)

• Watch: SEC Network+

• Listen: ESPN 98.1FM/850AM WRUF

• Live Stream: fuboTV (try it free)

SATURDAY (7 p.m. EDT)

• Watch: SEC Network+

• Listen: ESPN 98.1FM/850AM WRUF

• Live Stream: fuboTV (try it free)

SUNDAY (1 p.m. EDT)

• Watch: SEC Network+

• Listen: ESPN 98.1FM/850AM WRUF

• Live Stream: fuboTV (try it free)

* Watch links go directly to game feedv

Predictions

GAME 1: Florida, 8-3

GAME 2: Florida, 12-4

GAME 3: Florida, 8-7

SERIES: The Gators are perfectly capable of sweeping this series, but the record hasn’t been great against the ‘Dawgs recently. National championship teams don’t slip up and drop series to lesser teams, so that’s the test this week. Getting through Sunday will be the biggest challenge. Caglianone needs to step up and Sully needs to be ready to move on quickly if he doesn’t. Florida, 3-0.

Story originally appeared on Gators Wire