The No. 7 Florida baseball team is back at Alfred A. McKethan Stadium this weekend for a three-game series with the Big South’s Winthrop Eagles, starting tonight at 6:30.
The Gators lead the all-time series 8-3, winning their last two matchups with the Eagles in 2011 under coach Kevin O’Sullivan.
Winthrop (3-3) is coming off a two-game sweep of George Mason, outscoring the Patriots 10-1.
The Eagles have been hitting well. Their batting average sits at .302, the best in the Big South Conference.
At the plate, senior infielder Grant English leads Winthrop with 10 hits, good for a .417 batting average.
Senior starter Nate Pawelczyk (2-0, 1.50 ERA) leads the Eagles on the mound. The Big South Pitcher of the Week is expected to pitch on Sunday, which will set up quite a matchup between he and UF starter Jack Leftwich (2-0, 1.64 ERA). Tyler Dyson will face Thad Harris on Friday, while Tommy Mace will go against Zach Peek on Saturday.
The Gators (6-4) have struggled in midweek games, going 1-3 to start, but with their three-day rotation in place during weekend series, they have won five of six.
Youth has been key for the Gators so far this season.
Freshman first baseman Kendrick Calilao has been arguably the team’s best hitter through 10 games. He earned co-SEC Freshman of the Week honors after a 7-for-12 performance against the Miami Hurricanes last weekend.
Another freshman who seems to have figured it out is third baseman Cory Acton. The Fort Lauderdale, Florida, native has reached base in nine straight games and is 6 for 12 in his last four.
Closer Nolan Crisp has also been a great contributor for the team, as he already has five saves this season. Both are early enrollees that could be playing high school ball but are making big plays for the seventh-ranked college program in the nation.
The veterans have been the surprise so far this year for the Gators, and not in a good way. All of the junior and senior starters have yet to get it going as senior designated hitter Nelson Maldonado currently boasts the highest batting average among them at .250.
Florida’s weekend rotation has excelled.
The trio Dyson, Mace and Leftwich has combined to go 4-0 in six starts, striking out 30 batters in that span.
They’ll be tasked with stopping a Winthrop lineup that features six players with batting averages over .300.
Follow Evan Lepak on Twitter @evanmplepak and contact him at
elepak@alligator.org.
Tyler Dyson will start in Game 1 of the Gators' three-game series against Winthrop Friday at 6:30 p.m.
