Series Preview: Gators baseball closes out regular season against Gamecocks

Florida baseball didn’t have the 2022 season it expected to with a decent amount of returning bats and a top-notch recruiting class to bolster the pitching staff. With three games left to play in the regular season, the Gators need to take two of three games against the South Carolina Gamecocks this weekend to finish 15-15 in conference play.

The pitching staff has taken a step forward recently, but that comes after team ace Hunter Barco’s season ended early with Tommy John surgery. Brandon Sproat and Brandon Neely have stepped up nicely, and it appears that Nick Pogue has recovered enough from his own Tommy John surgery to be considered the team’s No. 3 starter. Blake Purnell has received a bit of help in the bullpen with the emergence of Fisher Jameson in recent weeks as well.

Wyatt Langford continues to be the team’s best bat with a .365 batting average and 19 home runs, and Sterlin Thompson is coming off a three-homer game against FSU where he also delivered a walk-off, two-run shot. BT Riopelle has also been clutch for the team, both at the plate and behind it. A betting man would put money down on Riopelle going in the top seven rounds of the draft this year.

On the other hand, Jud Fabian is in the slump of his life. He has just one hit in his last 30 at-bats and hasn’t put together a multi-hit game since May 3. A few weeks ago, it seemed like Fabian’s gamble to come back for one more year would pay off, but the decrease in strikeouts and increase in walks only goes so far when you’re batting .162 against the conference.

South Carolina isn’t the toughest team in the SEC to beat, so Fabian and Florida have a good chance at turning things around this weekend against them.

Projected Starting Lineup

Probable Starters: Thursday (7 p.m. EDT)

NOTES: Brandon Sproat has stepped up big time for the Gators since Hunter Barco went down and he was moved into the No. 1 spot in the starting rotation. Over his last seven starts, Sproat has worked a minimum of 5 1/3 innings and has a 3.48 ERA. That includes outings against No. 7 Arkansas, No. 1 Tennessee and No. 21 Vanderbilt.

Brett Thomas, on the other hand, hasn’t gone more than four innings in any of his nine appearances (five starts) this season. He’s transitioning from the bullpen to the rotation and should be the easiest for Florida to get to this weekend.

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

NOTES: Brandon Neely has also stepped up big time since Barco’s exit. The freshman stumbled in his first collegiate start against then-No. 2 Arkansas but has since been every bit of the pitcher Florida has desperately needed all year. His best outing to date came against Tennessee when he gave up just one run over seven innings of one-hit work. He’s left after about four innings in each of his last three starts, though, so this is a chance for him to get back to where he was before the playoffs begin.

Noah Hall is an Appalachian State transfer that has settled in nicely to the Gamecocks’ rotation. He can go deep in games, often lasting until the seventh inning or later against conference opponents. His production has been a bit back-and-forth lately giving up five runs in one start and then following it up with seven innings of shutout baseball. If that pattern holds, this weekend will be a rocky one for him.

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

NOTES: There’s no guarantee Nick Pogue actually gets the start on Saturday. He did get the No. 3 spot against Missouri last weekend and Mississippi State the week before though, so it’s likely that Sully calls his name once again. Pogue is returning from Tommy John surgery and has slowly ramped up over the season. He had his first quality start of the year against the Tigers and could solidify his spot in the rotation with another on Saturday.

Will Sanders might be South Carolina’s best starter, so it makes sense for the Gamecocks to throw him against Pogue with the team needing one more win to secure a spot in the SEC Tournament. Sanders can put up big strikeout numbers and typically is in for six or seven innings.

Series History

NOTES: South Carolina actually has the upper hand in the overall series against Florida, but the Gators still win at home often against the Gamecocks. The last 10 matchups between these two have been split evenly thanks to a three-game sweep by South Carolina in 2021 and no games in 2020.

Follow the Action

THURSDAY (7 p.m. EDT)

• Watch: SEC Network+

• Listen: ESPN 98.1FM/850AM WRUF

• Live Stream: fuboTV (try it free)

FRIDAY (3 p.m. EDT)

• Watch: SEC Network+

• Listen: ESPN 98.1FM/850AM WRUF

• Live Stream: fuboTV (try it free)

SATURDAY (2 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, 8-3

GAME 2: Florida, 7-4

GAME 3: South Carolina, 5-3

SERIES: South Carolina needs one win, so I expect them to get it with the pitching matchup in their favor on Saturday. Other than that, this looks like an easy shot at revenge for the Gators after last year’s sweep. UF has played fairly well over the last few weeks, at least compared to the slump that came at the beginning of conference play, and they need to take two of three to finish 15-15 in conference play.

Gators take the series, 2-1.

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