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. Then the Gators beat the Vanderbilt Commodores on Thursday, 6-3.
The Orange and Blue once again face off with Vandy on Saturday, May 27, at the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama, for the semifinals of the SEC Tournament.
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 Saturday afternoon’s Florida-Vanderbilt matchup in the 2023 SEC Tournament.
How to Watch
SATURDAY (~4:00 p.m. EDT)
Probable Starters
|
Team |
Pitcher |
Record |
ERA |
|
FLORIDA |
LHP Jac Caglianone |
6-2 |
3.96 |
|
VANDERBILT |
LHP JD Thompson |
2-1 |
4.67 |
Probable Starters Notes
Jac Caglianone has put together back-to-back quality starts over the past two weeks, and the first came against Vanderbilt. He doesn’t need to strike out nine over 6 2/3 innings again, but Kevin O’Sullivan won’t complain if he gets another performance like that from Cags.
The bullpen is fairly deep after playing just two games in the tournament and getting strong starts from Brandon Sproat and Hurston Waldrep.
JD Thompson pitched in the 10-0 loss Vanderbilt suffered against Florida. He gave up two runs over 1 1/3 innings and walked three. The Gators should come into this game confident and get to him early again. — David Rosenberg
Projected Starting Lineup
|
Pos. |
Player Name |
AVG |
OBP |
SLG |
AB |
R |
H |
HR |
RBI |
|
C |
BT Riopelle |
.267 |
.397 |
.551 |
187 |
46 |
50 |
13 |
58 |
|
1B |
Jac Caglianone |
.348 |
.409 |
.799 |
224 |
65 |
78 |
28 |
76 |
|
2B |
Cade Kurland |
.306 |
.410 |
.592 |
206 |
63 |
63 |
15 |
44 |
|
3B |
Colby Halter |
.235 |
.348 |
.404 |
136 |
26 |
32 |
3 |
25 |
|
SS |
Josh Rivera |
.362 |
.467 |
.638 |
199 |
59 |
72 |
15 |
61 |
|
LF |
Wyatt Langford |
.392 |
.519 |
.807 |
181 |
67 |
71 |
16 |
41 |
|
CF |
Michael Robertson |
.237 |
.364 |
.288 |
177 |
39 |
42 |
1 |
19 |
|
RF |
Tyler Shelnut |
.283 |
.367 |
.512 |
127 |
24 |
36 |
6 |
23 |
|
DH |
Luke Heyman |
.331 |
.380 |
.604 |
139 |
25 |
46 |
10 |
34 |
Other Players to Watch
Saul Young/News Sentinel
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 .316 average, 13 home runs and 55 runs batted in. Davis Diaz has been hot during the playoffs.
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 |
147-78-1 |
|
AT HOME |
84-24 |
|
AWAY |
57-47-1 |
|
NEUTRAL |
6-7 |
NOTES: Florida could even up the neutral site series with a win.
Prediction
BT Riopelle won’t be the hero, but Jac Caglianone might create enough offense to deliver himself a convincing win on the mound. Look for the lefty from Tampa Bay to dominant this one as Florida improves to 5-0 against Vanderbilt this season.
Prediction: Florida wins, 8-2.
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