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After taking the first two games from the Duke Blue Devils over the weekend Florida State (16-7, 6-3) was unable to complete the sweep but the two wins combined with their mid-week stomp of UCF was enough to jump into the top five. Meanwhile Florida (17-7, 3-3) squeaked out a mid-week win against Bethune-Cookman but lost the last two games of their home series against LSU and dropped from eight to 14. This was supposed to be the second meeting between the instate rivals but the game in Gainesville was postponed earlier due to weather.
UF has had a bit of an uneven season thus far. They started off with a series loss to Liberty, who had been ranked #15 last week, but rebounded with seven straight wins. A Friday night loss to Miami was shaken off by taking the series from the ‘Canes and then Seton Hall and Alabama leading to a series loss to LSU. Despite the uneven play the Gators have still been a top team and a win will not likely come easy for the ‘Noles.
As you’d expect Florida has some monster arms in the pen but hasn’t found a mid-week starter. The Gators have leaned heavily on Nick Ficarrotta and Blake Purnell and you’d expect to see both of them for at least one inning against FSU. Both pitchers have a WHIP well below 1.00 and are strike out machines.
The offensive side for Florida is elite but has been uneven at times early this season. Although it’s still a small sample size it seems like the Florida offense can just disappear but when it’s there it’s impressive. Florida State starter Carson Montgomery is going to have to replicate his effort against UCF to give FSU a chance.
UF top performers:
LF Wyatt Langford .360 AVG/ 9 HR/ .719 SLG
CF Jud Fabian .287 AVG/ 10 HR/ .701 SLG
RF Sterlin Thompson .337 AVG/ 7 HR / .642 SLG
Tuesday 3/29, 7:00 PM
Probable starters: Carson Montgomery (3-0, 2.81 ERA) vs RHP Garrett Milchin (1-0, 1.64 ERA)
How to watch: SECN
How to listen: 100.7 FM
Tomahawk Nation will have updates in the game thread and on our Twitter.