Series Preview: Florida set to host Siena for weekend series

The No. 6 Florida Gators are set to host a Siena Saints club over the weekend that just recently won its first two games of the season.

It’s a David and Goliath mismatch, but Florida isn’t likely to go down after getting hit with a stone… or two, or three. The Gators boast the best offense in all of baseball and are among the early favorites to go all the way this season.

UF’s trio of MLB-bound arms, Brandon Sproat, Hurtson Waldrep and Jac Caglianone, should dominate the Saints’ lineup, and the bullpen may not be needed too much if the offense can get the 10-run rule into effect early.

This is Florida’s last nonconference weekend series before hosting Alabama in a week. It should be a chance for the team to pad the stats before diving into a difficult SEC schedule.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Gators take all three of these games in seven innings, and the ball should continue to fly out of the ballpark at an absurd rate.

Projected Starting Lineup

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

NOTES: Sproat put together a quality start last week against Miami, going six innings and striking out nine while giving up just three runs. Four walks prove that his command is still a work in progress early on, but he’s slowly finding his rhythm. Siena is the perfect opponent for Sproat to tune things up before facing Alabama next weekend.

Arlo Marynczak is 6-foot-8-inches tall and has a no-hitter under his belt, but Florida probably won’t struggle against him too much. UCF shelled him for seven runs (four home runs) in 4 1/3 innings, but Miami struck out 11 times over seven innings. Perhaps some of the younger bats in the lineup will get fooled, but the heart of the lineup (Langford-Caglianone-Rivera) should feast.

Probable Starters: Saturday (4 p.m. EST)

NOTES: Hurston Waldrep set a career-high with 14 strikeouts last week (and he had 13 the week before), but the Gators’ bullpen blew it against Miami and lost the game anyway. This week, UF needs to make it up to Waldrep. He’ll carve up the Siena bats without issue, but the offense needs to back him up after last week.

Freshman right-hander Ryan Bates also had a good outing against Miami, but that doesn’t mean Florida won’t get to him on Saturday. Jacksonville scored eight on him two weeks ago, and Florida is a much better-hitting team than JU is. Still, Bates doesn’t give up too many longballs, which is the Gators’ biggest strength. They’ll have to manufacture runs to get him out of the game.

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

NOTES: Shohei Ohta- I mean, Jac Caglianone will pitch for Florida Sunday, and there’s really nothing this guy can’t do. He has the lowest ERA of any Florida pitcher right now and is leading the nation in home runs. He’ll shove again on Sunday, and the real test will start for him next week against Alabama.

Junior Sebastian Bentz has had a few rough outings for the Saints. One came against Jacksonville and saw three runs cross over 3 2/3 innings, and the other saw five runs through just 1 1/3 innings. Starting a guy that has a 14.40 ERA on Sunday against UF seems like waving the white flag, but what else is there for Siena to do?

Other Players to Watch

AP Photo/Sean Rayford

There isn’t a lot to say here this week. The facts are that Siena has just one batter hitting at exactly .300 and none over. To make things even worse, that batter, Nick Bergamotto, isn’t even an everyday player for the Saints. He has just 20 at-bats while the everyday starters are in the mid-30s.

Four players on the team have hit a single home run, so there isn’t much power to speak of, and the pitchers on the roster with an ERA of 3.00 and lower have only pitched about four innings apiece.

Series History

NOTES: This is as one-sided as it gets. The most recent matchup came in 2018 and Florida outscored Siena 36-5. The mercy rule should help limit things, but this series should only end one way.

Follow the Action

FRIDAY (6:30 p.m. EST)

• Watch: SEC Network+

• Listen: ESPN 98.1FM/850AM WRUF

• Live Stream: fuboTV (try it free)

SATURDAY (4 p.m. EST)

• 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 feed

Predictions

GAME 1: Florida, 13-2

GAME 2: Florida, 15-0

GAME 3: Florida, 11-1

SERIES: Not only do I think Florida will dominate this series, but I also believe the Gators will take each game by at least 10 runs in seven innings. It’s too big of a mismatch on the field to ignore, and Florida is crushing good teams like Miami early on. Gators sweep in 21 innings, 3-0.

Read more

Check out Gators Wire’s other position previews for the 2023 season:

• Catchers

• First Basemen

• Second Basemen

• Third Basemen

• Shortstops

• Outfielders

• Starting Pitchers

• Relief Pitchers

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Story originally appeared on Gators Wire