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How to Watch: Florida baseball vs Vanderbilt Commodores in SEC Tournament

adam dubbin
·3 min read

Florida baseball won the opening game of its 2023 Southeastern Conference Tournament endeavor on Wednesday night, 7-6, in walk-off fashion after 11 innings of play. Now, the Gators face the Vanderbilt Commodores on Thursday, May 25, at the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama, for the third round of college baseball action.

The Orange and Blue swept Vandy at home in a three-game weekend series from March 12-14, run-ruling the opposition in the opener while earning the victory in the next two by a 6-2 score. The ‘Dores, however, are the No. 4 seed in this tournament and still put together a solid regular-season run, so anything can happen.

Take a look below at everything you need to know about Thursday night’s Florida-Vanderbilt matchup in the 2023 SEC Tournament.

How to Watch

THURSDAY (~8:30 p.m. EDT)

Probable Starters

Team

Pitcher

Record

ERA

FLORIDA

RHP Brandon Sproat

7-3

4.85

VANDERBILT

LHP Hunter Owen

4-0

3.16

Probable Starters Notes

Florida has its ace, Brandon Sproat on the mound against Vanderbilt. Last time out against the Commodores, Sproat struck out five over six scoreless innings. He wasn’t perfect, though, giving up five hits and walking three. Vanderbilt should get opportunities to score on Sproat, but capitalizing can be tough against him.

Hunter Owen was scratched from his regular season start against Florida, and he hasn’t thrown in game since May 5. Similar to Jac Caglianone, he has upper-90s stuff but does better when he holds back and stays in the mid-90s. Short outings have been a problem, but he’s a raw talent with a ton of upside. The curveball plays at times and the changeup can really baffle inexperienced hitters coming off the fastball. — David Rosenberg

Projected Starting Lineup

Pos.

Player Name

AVG

OBP

SLG

AB

R

H

HR

RBI

C

BT Riopelle

.263

.395

.508

179

43

47

10

50

1B

Jac Caglianone

.350

.408

.816

217

62

76

28

76

2B

Cade Kurland

.317

.417

.613

199

62

63

15

44

3B

Colby Halter

.235

.348

.404

136

26

32

3

25

SS

Josh Rivera

.361

.460

.629

194

56

70

14

58

LF

Wyatt Langford

.399

.527

.827

173

66

69

16

41

CF

Michael Robertson

.241

.370

.293

174

39

42

1

19

RF

Tyler Shelnut

.300

.381

.542

120

24

36

6

23

DH

Luke Heyman

.336

.387

.603

131

24

44

9

33

Other Players to Watch

Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

Enrique Bradfield Jr. might be the Commodore to worry about the most. He’s a .300 hitter that turns singles into triples with his speed and an elite defender in center field. Then there’s RJ Schreck, who leads the team with a .325 average, 13 home runs and 55 runs batted in. He’s been in a slump lately, but that’s what they said about BT Riopelle right before he hit a walk-off home run,

Nick Maldonado has been elite of the bullpen with six saves and a 1.61 ERA and 37 strikeouts through 28.0 innings and 20 appearances. — Rosenberg

Series History

OVERALL

146-78-1

AT HOME

84-24

AWAY

57-47-1

NEUTRAL

5-7

Prediction

It’s hard to tell whether Florida will ride the wave for the rest of the tournament after BT Riopelle’s walk-off shot or not. Having Sproat on the mound against Vandy’s Sunday guy favors Florida, but anything can happen in Hoover.

Vanderbilt should put up a fight, but this is Florida’s game to lose considering the regular season sweep.

Prediction: Florida wins, 7-4 — Rosenberg

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Story originally appeared on Gators Wire