Florida Gators vs. FAMU Rattlers Series Preview

The Florida Gators will host the FAMU Rattlers for a three-game weekend series at Florida Ballpark. Florida A&M comes into Gainesville still searching for their first win of the 2021 season. FAMU is 0-8 to start the season with losses to Stetson and USF.

As for the Gators, Florida is looking to rebound after snapping their five-game winning streak with a 3-2 extra innings loss to the No. 21 FAU Owls.

The Gators have some things to clean up after dropping their third game of the season earlier this week. With FAMU coming into town on Friday night, Florida will have a quick turnaround in order to focus on their upcoming weekend series.

Due to the forecast of inclement weather tomorrow, the No. 6-ranked Florida baseball team will host Florida A&M in a doubleheader today, with first pitch of game one slated for 4:02 p.m.The second game of the twin-bill will begin 50 minutes after the conclusion of game one. The series finale will remain the same on Sunday, March 7th, with a 1 p.m. first pitch.

The FAMU Rattlers will take on the Florida Gators in Gainesville and will be led by their head coach, Casey Dunn. The Florida A&M head coach is in the middle of his eighth season.

FAMU comes into this series facing a tall task going up against one of the top college baseball programs in the country. FAMU will need a lot of things to improve if they want a steal a game away from the Gators.

FAMU’s pitching staff has been off to a slow start in the 2021 season. Their team ERA is 7.14 which currently ranks 201st in the country. FAMU’s pitching staff will be led by their Friday night ace Kyle Coleman. The 6’7” 230-pound right-hander has struggled in his two starts of the season. Coleman has a 0-2 record with a 7.84 ERA and has a .317 opponent batting average.

Redshirt-senior right-handed pitcher Chandler Benton is expected to get the start on Saturday. Benton has a 0-2 record with an 8.59 ERA, 1.64 WHIP, and has walked seven batters in 7.1 innings pitched. As for the Sunday pitcher, it’s expected to go to Josh Hancock but redshirt-junior Josh Barr could also get the start as he already has one start this season for the Rattlers.

As for the offense, FAMU currently has one of the worst offenses in college baseball. Their team batting average is .177 which ranks 216th out of 235 teams. The one bright spot in FAMU’s lineup is junior outfielder LJ Bryant. The Georgia native is the only hitter from FAMU that’s batting over .300 with more than one start.

Bryant leads the Rattlers in batting average (.348), hits (8), total bases (12), slugging percentage (.522), on-base percentage (.448), and OPS (.970). Catcher Tucker Rayburn is another solid player on FAMU’s lineup. He leads the team in home runs with two but is also off to a slow start. Rayburn is slashing .174/.208/.435 with four hits, two RBIs, and a .643 OPS

Florida comes into the series with a 6-3 record with wins versus Miami, UNF, and Samford.

The Gators will feature the same weekend rotation as they have had all season. Junior right-handed pitcher Tommy Mace will be on the mound Friday night. Mace had a career night last Friday versus Samford. Mace pitched six innings allowing three hits, no runs, no walks, and a career-high eleven strikeouts.

Junior right-handed pitcher Jack Leftwich will get the start on Saturday and freshman left-handed pitcher Hunter Barco will be on the mound for the series finale on Sunday. Leftwich looked good in his second start earning his first win of the season. Barco still didn’t look great against Samford but he did make some strides and recorded ten strikeouts in five innings pitched.

The Florida Gators offense has been off to a nice start in the 2021 season. In nine games, Florida has scored 77 runs which tied for 8th nationally with FAU and Southern Illinois. The Gators are also averaging 8.6 runs per game which is ranked 22nd in the country. The Gators also have a .301 team batting average that ranks 30th in the country.

The Gators' offense is off a red hot start due to the production from their entire lineup and freshmen. Leadoff hitter Jacob Young still has his 27-game hitting streak alive that dates back to 2019. Young leads the Gators in hitting with a .395 batting average, 17 hits, seven doubles, eight RBIs, and .996 OPS.

Florida has also had three true freshmen come in the lineup and make a big impact from the bottom of the order. Freshmen Sterlin Thompson, Colby Halter, and Jordan Carrion have all been very productive on the Gators lineup.

Thompson has played in eight games with seven starts while batting .280 with seven hits and walks with a .855 OPS. Halter has also played in eight games with seven starts while batting .321 with nine hits, one triple, one home run, ten RBIs, and a .941 OPS. Lastly, Carrion has played in seven games with five starts while batting .381 with eight hits, four RBIs, six runs scored, and a .816 OPS.

While the young guys are raking, some of the veterans are struggling. Shortstop Josh Rivera tore it up against Miami but only has two more hits since the Miami series. Rivera is .205 with three RBIs, a .612 OPS, and a six errors on defense.

Unanimous All-American outfielder Jud Fabian is also off to a slow start for the Gator. Fabian does lead the team in home runs with four but is also only batting .237 with a team-high 15 strikeouts. Rivera and Fabian will look to turn things and get their numbers up against one of the worst pitching staffs in college baseball.

As for injuries, starting third baseman Kirby McMullen is still day-to-day and could return to play this weekend. Left-handed pitcher Ryan Cabarcas could make his season debut this weekend and right-handed pitcher Ben Specht is unlikely to throw this weekend.