After a two-week home stretch, Tennessee is back on the road this weekend facing Florida (24-11, 6-9 SEC) in a three-game series in Gainesville.
Tennessee will be without suspended coach Tony Vitello for the first two games of the series as the Vols look to build upon their 14-1 conference record.
Let’s take a look at Florida entering the weekend series.
How The Gators Got Here
Florida entered the 2022 season coming off of one of the most disappointing seasons in the Kevin O’Sullivan era. The Gators didn’t enter this season with the pressures of the top ranked team, but have disappointed to date this season.
The Gators were picked to finish second in the SEC East and was No. 9 in D1Baseball’s preseason rankings. At the midway point in SEC play, Florida is tied for fourth in the SEC East and unranked in every major college baseball ranking.
Florida’s pre-conference slate had some good and bad, highlighting with a series victory at Miami and lowlighting with a home series loss to Liberty. The Gators are 1-1 in their first two midweek matchups with Florida State this season.
After winning two out of three in Tuscaloosa the first week of the SEC schedule, the Gators have struggled. Florida lost two out of three at home — where they’ve mostly been strong this season — to LSU and Georgia swept rival-Florida in Athens.
The highlight of Florida’s conference season was its series win at home over Arkansas. While the Gators have had their struggles this season, the series win over the Razorbacks shows their high ceiling. It’s Arkansas’ only series loss this season.
Florida enters the matchup following a series loss at Vanderbilt and a midweek win versus Stetson.
Pitching Matchups
Both teams enter the weekend series with new found injuries on the mound. Florida shut down ace and Friday night starter Hunter Barco indefinitely after dealing with elbow discomfort following last week’s start at Florida.
Tennessee avoided the worst when a Zane Denton line drive drilled Chase Dollander in the right arm and knocked him from the game in the Vols’ Saturday win over Alabama.
Dollander is “day-to-day” with a deep bone bruise in his arm, but is doubtful to pitch in his normal Saturday slot.
Let’s take a look at the projected pitching matchups.
Tennessee RHP Chase Burns (6-1, 2.22 ERA) is looking to bounce back from a poor two-week stretch that’s been his first collegiate pitfall on Friday night.
For Florida, RHP Ryan Slater is making his first start of conference play in Barco’s absence. The redshirt freshman has a 3.52 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP in 12 bullpen appearances and one start in 30.2 innings pitched this season.
RHP Brandon Sproat is the Gators’ Saturday starter posting a 4-3 record and 4.91 ERA in nine starts this season. Sproat has struggled in SEC play this season, posting a 7.98 ERA and near 2.00 WHIP thanks to back-to-back poor starts against Alabama and LSU.
Tennessee’s game two starter is “TBD” due to Dollander’s injury. Dollander is in Gainesville with the team and is officially “day-to-day”. We’ll see if he’s on the active roster this weekend but we would be surprised if he makes his usual start.
If Dollander doesn’t go, look for Tennessee to start Blade Tidwell (2.70 ERA) and relieve him with Camden Sewell for extended innings. Tidwell — who missed the first six weeks of the season due to a shoulder injury — has yet to pitch more than two innings in an outing this season.
Florida Sunday starter Brandon Neely has made just two starts this season entering the weekend posting a 1-0 record and 4.30 ERA. In his two starts, the right-handed pitcher gave up four earned runs in 3.2 innings pitched against Arkansas and one earned run in 6.1 innings pitched against Vanderbilt.
“QB1” Drew Beam gets the ball for Tennessee to close the series. The former two-sport star at Blackman High School has been steady all season, posting a 8-0 record and 1.50 ERA.
Florida Bats To Know
Florida’s offense leans on the long ball, hitting the second most home runs in the SEC and fifth most home runs in the country to date.
The Gators have three of the top five home run hitters in the conference starting with junior outfielder Jud Fabian. Fabian has been in a battle with Tennessee third baseman Trey Lipscomb for the SEC’s home run lead all season. Fabian enters the weekend hitting .291 with 16 homers.
However, Wyatt Langford has been the Gators’ best hitter and one of the conference’s best hitters all season. The sophomore has a team high .348 batting average and 42 RBIs while adding 13 home runs.
BT Riopelle rounds out the slugging trio, hitting .317 with 12 home runs and 33 RBIs on the season.
Sterlin Thompson (.336 BA and seven home runs) and Josh Rivera (.282 BA and five home runs) round out the Gators hitting over .280 entering the weekend.
Florida is a power heavy lineup, ranking third in the SEC in smuggling percentage but just 12th in on-base percentage.
Game Times/How To Watch
Friday — 6:30 p.m. ET first pitch streaming on SEC Network+.
Saturday — 6:30 p.m. ET first pitch streaming on SEC Network+.
Sunday — 1 p.m. ET first pitch streaming on SEC Network+.
