Baseball Huge Series Coming up: Florida & Georgia Full Breakdown

[JasonHigdon]

Florida Gators vs. Georgia Bulldogs Series Preview
(Hector)





The Florida Gators are back home for their three-game weekend series versus one of their biggest rivals. The Gators will take on the Georgia Bulldogs as they look to get back on track in SEC play.



Florida comes into this series with an 18-5 record but hasn’t won a conference game yet. George comes to Gainesville with a 21-2 record after winning two out of three last weekend versus Kentucky. Here is the series preview between the Florida Gators and the Georgia Bulldogs.



Georgia Bulldogs



The Georgia Bulldogs will take on the Florida Gators in their first SEC road series of the season. The Bulldogs will be led by their head coach, Wes Johnson, who’s in his second season at Georgia.



The Georgia pitching staff will also be led by their ace left-handed pitcher, Charlie Goldstein. The fifth-year senior has struggled through his first five starts of the season. He has posted a 7.36 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, and nine strikeouts in 7.1 innings pitched.



On Saturday, junior right-handed pitcher Brian Curley will make his first start for the Bulldogs. Curley has made seven appearances with a 1-0 record, 3.29 ERA, 0.73 WHIP, a .068 opponent batting average, and eighteen strikeouts in 13.2 innings pitched. Georgia has not announced their Sunday starter in the series finale.



At the plate, the Georgia offense has one of the most productive offenses in the SEC. As a team, the Bulldogs have a .317 team batting average and 1.073 OPS. Fifth-year senior Ryland Zaborowski has helped lead the Bulldogs offense. The Miami of Ohio transfer is slashing .444/.568/1.079 with 28 hits, four doubles, twelve home runs, 40 RBIs, and a team-high 1.647 OPS.



Senior outfielder Robbie Burnett is another impact bat for Georiga. The UNC-Asheville transfer is slashing .414/.620/.986 with 29 hits, five doubles, eleven home runs, a team-high eleven stolen bases, and a 1.606 OPS. Two other Georgia Bulldogs to watch in the series are Tre Phelps and Nolan McCarthy.



Florida Gators



The Florida Gators are still searching for their first win in conference play after getting swept versus Tennessee. However, Florida will be without one of their top arms in their pitching staff.



The Florida pitching staff will miss sophomore right-handed pitcher Liam Peterson for the series. Peterson is out for the series due to general soreness. Freshman right-handed pitcher Aidan King will be on the mound for Florida on Friday night. King has pitched like one of the best freshman arms in the country. He has a 3-1 record with a 0.81 ERA, 0.72 WHIP, a .169 opponent batting average, and 26 strikeouts in 22.1 innings pitched.



Florida has not announced a starting pitcher for Saturday’s game. In the series finale, redshirt sophomore right-handed pitcher Jake Clemente will get the start. Clemente has posted a 1-0 record with a 4.24 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, a .138 opponent batting average, and 24 strikeouts through 17 innings pitched.



The Florida Gators’ offense looks to bounce back after a poor showing in Knoxville last weekend. Junior shortstop Colby Shelton is leading Florida’s offense. The former Alabama transfer is slashing .407/.471/.615 with a team-high 37 hits, thirteen doubles, two home runs, 20 RBIs, and a 1.086 OPS.



Junior catcher Brody Donay has cooled down a bit but is still having a productive season. The former Virginia Tech transfer is slashing .373/.500/.800 with 28 hits, six doubles, eight home runs, and a team-high 1.300 OPS. Two other Florida hitters to watch in this series are Brendan Lawson and Blake Cyr.

 

[JasonHigdon]

No. 13 Florida Set for SEC Home Opener vs. No. 4 Georgia. Florida has won eight of the last 10 series against Georgia, backed by an 18-12 record during that span.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 13 Florida is set to host arch-rival No. 4 Georgia this weekend in the Gators' SEC Home Opener spanning from Friday, March 21 through Sunday, March 23.

Friday night's series opener between the Gators (18-5, 0-3 SEC) and Bulldogs (21-2, 2-1 SEC) is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+. Game two airs on SEC Network on Saturday at 12 p.m. while Sunday's finale is slated for 1 p.m. on SEC Network+

Florida enters as winners of four of its last five against the Bulldogs, taking two of three in Athens last season (L 9-4, W 7-4, W 19-11) to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament. In fact, Florida has dropped its last two series openers against UGA while rallying to win the series in both 2023 and 2024.

The Gators have claimed eight of the last 10 series in the rivalry, going 18-12 in the span. Florida is 195-116-2 overall and 102-45-1 vs. Georgia all-time, including marks of 32-18 (overall) and 18-6 (home) under Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan

CHECKING OUR POLLS
Florida fell from No. 7 to No. 13 in the D1Baseball Top 25 on Monday despite going 1-3 in four road games against top-five opponents. The Gators are ranked as highly as No. 6 nationally by the NCBWA while also coming in at No. 8 per Baseball America.

SERIES PROMOS
Friday: Florida Baseball puzzle for the first 500 kids 12 & under
Saturday: Balloon artist
Sunday: Snapback hats for the first 1,000 fans; face painter; kids run the bases postgame

FOOD TRUCKS
There will be two food trucks located in the Dizney Grove area beyond the outfield wall on each day of the weekend series.

Friday: 352 Munchies, Rastafar Ice
Saturday: Mayflower, Tough Guy Cookies
Sunday: Donut NV, Fat Tiki

COMFY AT CONDRON
Florida has promptly returned to its winning ways at Condron Family Ballpark in 2025, as the Gators are 15-1 at home to open the campaign. In those 16 games, the Gators are slashing .363/.478/.625 with 27 homers and 30 steals while pitching to a 3.16 ERA and 191-to-43 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 128 innings. Conversely, opponents have batted .207/.295/.287 with six homers and 12 steals while producing a 12.05 ERA and 96-to-82 K-to-BB-ratio on the mound.

SULLY SUPERLATIVES
Coming off the program's 14th trip to the College World Series and second in as many seasons, O'Sullivan is in his 18th year at the helm. Since O'Sullivan's 2008 arrival, Florida leads the nation with 290 SEC wins, 37 MLB debuts, 16 NCAA berths (T-1st), 10 top-eight seeds, nine College World Series trips, nine Super Regionals hosted and six SEC titles. The Gators have advanced to nine of the last 14 College World Series. With a 290-192 record (.602) in SEC play since 2008, Florida leads the conference as the only program above .600 in that span.

LAST TIME OUT
The Gators are fresh off back-to-back, run-rule victories during the midweek slate. Florida defeated Jacksonville, 16-4, and Florida A&M, 14-4, finishing off both teams in just seven innings. The Gators scored 30 combined runs in 13 offensive innings during its two midweek games.

NATIONAL RANKINGS
After 23 games, Florida is ranked inside the top-30 teams nationally across 16 statistical categories. Leading the SEC with the ninth-most shutouts (three) in the country, the Gators boast the fifth-best strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.67) and fifth-highest strikeouts per nine (12.5) nationally. Florida also ranks eighth in the nation in doubles (53), 11th in hit-by-pitches (49), 11th in hits (238), 14th in WHIP (1.18), 15th in batting average (.326), 16th in runs scored (198), 20th in slugging percentage (.543), 21st in home runs (34), 21st in hits allowed per nine (7.24), 22nd in walks allowed per nine (3.4), 23rd in on-base percentage (.436), 27th in fielding percentage (.979) and 28th in sacrifice flies (13).

THE STARTING LINE
In 15 weekend starts alone, Florida has already matched its quality starts total (five) from all of last season, including 2024 midweek games and the entire postseason. The Gators weekend rotation has combined for an 8-2 record, 2.45 ERA, .166 batting average against and a 107-to-24 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 69 2/3 innings.

YOUNG KING AIDAN
True freshman right-hander Aidan King dominated No. 2 Tennessee across six innings of one-run ball in game two, allowing just four hits and one walk while striking out six. Not only did the outing mark King's SEC debut as well as his first-career road start, but it represented back-to-back quality starts for the rookie in his first-two career starting nods. King carries a 0.81 ERA, .169 batting average against and 26-to-3 strikeout to walk ratio into his first-career home SEC start - which will coincidentally also be his first Friday night start. King has allowed one run in 19 1/3 innings over his last five appearances.

MURDERER'S ROW
Florida's retooled lineup features as many as seven hitters with an OPS above 1.000: catcher/designated hitter Brody Donay (1.300), infielder Cade Kurland (1.176), infielder Colby Shelton(1.086), outfielder Blake Cyr(1.081), infielder Brendan Lawson (1.064), utilityman Justin Nadeau (1.052) and infielder Bobby Boser (1.015). The first six members of that contingent are all batting at least .350 on the season. 12 Gators have posted multi-hit games on the year while nine different UF players have logged three-hit games.

MOUND MONSTERS
Florida pitchers have produced a 257-to-70 strikeout-to-walk ratio across 185 1/3 innings pitched this season. The Gators have fanned double-digit batters in 17 of 23 games. Showing excellent control, Florida has walked two batters or fewer 12 times, and four or less in 18 games.

BELTIN' SHELTON
Coming in with an SEC-leading 13 doubles and 37 hits, Shelton has collected three knocks in each of the last two games to raise his slash line to .407/.471/.615. Shelton has reached base safely in all 23 games to open the season, which stretches 26 contests dating back to the 2024 College World Series. The junior has refined his approach this season, consistently hitting to the opposite field while drastically cutting down on strikeouts. Shelton's strikeout rate sits at a minuscule 8.7% after fanning at a 26.4% clip one year ago, as he has drawn more free bases (12 - 8 BB, 4 HBP) than strikeouts (nine).

CYRIOUSLY LOCKED IN
Having reached base safely in all 21 games he has played in, Cyr enters the Georgia series riding a 10-game hitting streak. During that span, Cyr has slashed .412/.447/.706 with three homers, one double, 10 RBI and 10 runs scored. He is coming off a 3-for-3, six-RBI performance with one homer against Florida A&M on Wednesday in his return to the lineup after a two-game absence.

STEALING THE SHOW
The Gators have stolen 38 bases in 45 attempts (84.4%), equating to 1.7 steals per game. For reference, the Gators averaged 0.7 steals per game last season. After 23 contests, the Gators are already 88.4% of the way to reaching their 2024 steals total (43). Boser leads the team with six stolen bases in six attempts, while Cyr and outfielder Hayden Yost are both 5-for-5. 11 different Gators have stolen a base this season.

ALEX FILTH-POTT
In his second season, right-handed pitcher Alex Philpott is tied for first in the SEC with seven games finished (in seven appearances). Headlined by two saves, Philpott has produced stellar numbers as the UF closer thus far: 3.38 ERA, .179 batting average against and a 16-to-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 10 2/3 frames.

RESPECT THE B-LAW
Leading the Gators with 25 RBI (13th in SEC) in his true freshman campaign, Lawson has started all 23 games in the UF infield at first or second base. The Canadian rookie is hitting .351/.480/.584 with five homers, three doubles, 22 runs and four steals. He has shown an advanced eye at the plate, as evidenced by a team-high 15 walks.

DEMOLITION DONAY
Ranking eighth in the SEC in homers (eight) and 11th in slugging (.800), Donay paces the Orange & Blue in both categories as well as owning a .500 on-base percentage. The 6-foot-5 slugger has also swiped five bags this season.

STREAKY MARKERS
In addition to Shelton (23) and Cyr's (21) on-base streaks, Nadeau and Kurland have both reached safely in 11-consecutive games. Shelton leads the roster with 13 multi-hit performances and a trio of three-hit games while Lawson ranks second on the Gators with nine multi-knock games. Donay has driven in multiple runs in eight contests, followed by Lawson and Boser with seven apiece.

RELENTLESS REPTILES
Florida has secured six come-from-behind victories in its 18-5 start. Last season, the Gators delivered 21 wins in comeback fashion, featuring 12 of the team's 13 SEC wins. Florida trailed in six of its 2024 postseason victories and claimed five-straight NCAA Tournament elimination games to keep its season alive. Going back two seasons, 22 of the 2023 Gators' program-record 54 victories came via comebacks.

PARKING/SHUTTLES
Fans are encouraged to park at the Fifield and IFAS lots during the weekend. An increased number of shuttles will be available for transportation to the ballpark each day. No parking is permitted anywhere on the grass, sidewalks, or along streets. Doing so runs the risk of receiving a parking citation.

ON DECK
The Gators face off with Florida State in Jacksonville on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

 

[eau gallie]

we have a mountain to climb and the results this weekend could determine the approach for the rest of the season. Lose 2 or 3 and the conference race is basically over leading to an experimental approach over the course of the season. 2 0r 3 wins creates a little more urgency to.to be aggressive.

 

[Time Bandit]

Now Peterson is hurt?
The hits just keep on coming.

 

[HRodriguez]

Now Peterson is hurt?
The hits just keep on coming.

Doesn’t seem serious. Could be back next weekend

 

[Opus One]

Doesn’t seem serious. Could be back next weekend

“ general soreness “
Apparently he knows nothing about getting old! 😉