Florida Opens SEC Tournament Against Gamecocks
Florida Opens SEC Tournament Against Gamecocks
Florida has won 15 of the last 23 matchups vs. South Carolina and is coming off a series victory over the Gamecocks last weekend.
HOOVER, Ala. – Florida faces South Carolina for the fourth-straight game on Tuesday afternoon to open the 2022 SEC Tournament.
Airing on SEC Network, Tuesday's matchup will begin following the conclusion of the 10:30 a.m. ET game between Georgia and Alabama.
The Gators are coming off their fourth-straight home series win over the Gamecocks, winning the first two games, 14-5 and 8-0, before dropping the finale, 4-1. Florida is 50-51 all-time against South Carolina and 3-7 in neutral-site games. However, the Gators are 28-19 vs. the Gamecocks under Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan including 2-4 at neutral sites.
Pitching Matchup Tuesday | ~2 p.m. (SECN) South Carolina RHP Will Sanders Florida RHP Brandon Sproat
IN HOOVER Florida is 71-66 all-time in the SEC Tournament and went 3-1 last year with a trip to the semifinals.
LAST TIME OUT The Gators are fresh off a 3-1 week, having walked off No. 20 Florida State before taking two of three against South Carolina. In the game one win over South Carolina, outfielder Wyatt Langford notched his second-straight two-homer game, homering on the first pitch of the bottom of the first inning for the second time in as many contests. In game two, right-handed pitcher Brandon Neely pitched seven shutout innings on three hits with a career-high 10 strikeouts to earn the win. Last Tuesday, Florida won in an instant classic, walk-off win over No. 20 Florida State. Langford homered in each of his first two at bats, but it was outfielder Sterlin Thompson who broke a 5-5 tie with a walk-off, two-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.
COMING IN HOT Since reshuffling the top of the lineup for the start of the Kentucky series (Langford, Thompson, Fabian, Riopelle), Florida has won 12 of its last 15 games and is 9-3 across its last four SEC series. During that stretch, Florida is batting .282/.407/.524 as a team with 29 home runs and 59 total extra-base hits, scoring 7.8 runs per game while allowing only 3.2 runs per game. The pitching staff has clearly turned a corner in that period, as evidenced by a 2.89 team ERA and .222 batting average against across 134 innings.
ONE-TWO PUNCH Most impressively, Langford is hitting .431/.564/.931 in 15 games since being moved to the leadoff spot, with eight home runs, 25 runs, 13 RBI, 14 walks and three strikeouts. He has reached base safely in 11 of 15 leadoff plate appearances (.733 OBP), and is hitting .667 (8-for-12) leading off games with three homers, one triple, one double and nine runs. Thompson has been nearly as solid in the two-hole with a .431/.581/.706 line, collecting three homers, 19 runs, a team-high 20 RBI, 16 walks and 10 strikeouts.
LANGFORD's LEGENDARY YEAR Recently named to the All-SEC Second Team, Langford paces Florida in batting (.360), on-base percentage (.452), slugging (.720), runs (61), hits (76), home runs (21), RBI (55), on-base plus slugging (1.172), multi-hit games (23) and three-hit games (10). He ranks T-first in the SEC in homers, T-second in runs, third with 152 total bases, third in slugging, tied for third in hits, tied for seventh in RBI, ninth in batting average and 10th in on-base percentage.
20-HOMER DUO For the first time in program history, two Gators have eclipsed 20 home runs in the same season: Langford (21) and outfielder Jud Fabian (20). Fabian accomplished the feat last year and is now one of two players (Brad Wilkerson, 1997-98) with back-to-back 20-homer seasons at Florida. Only six Gators have ever hit 20 home runs in a season in Orange & Blue. Langford is tied for the SEC lead with 21 homers (T-13th nation) while Fabian ranks fourth with 20 (T-18th nation). Florida is one of three teams in the country with two players with 20 home runs or more, alongside Maryland (Chris Alleyne & Matthew Shaw) and Old Dominion (Matt Courtney & Andy Garriola).
GENERATIONAL OUTFIELD On May 12, D1Baseball released its updated list of top-100 outfielders in college baseball with Langford (No. 10), J. Fabian (No. 19) and Thompson (No. 27) all making the cut. Florida is the only team in the nation to have all three starting outfielders ranked inside the top 30.
DON'T ROCK THE SPROAT Right-handed pitcher Brandon Sproat has won each of his last four starts (4-0), owning a 1.85 ERA, .209 BAA and 20 strikeouts across 24 1/3 innings. Sproat has gone 5 1/3-plus innings in eight-straight starts and has thrown 5.0-plus frames in 11 of 14 starts this year while allowing three earned runs or less in 10 of those outings.
MOM, THEY'RE MOCKING ME In MLB Pipeline's most-recent 2022 MLB Mock Draft, Thompson is projected to the Chicago White Sox at No. 26 overall. Over at The Athletic, Keith Law has J. Fabian going to the Houston Astros at No. 28 overall and Thompson to the Tampa Bay Rays at No. 29.
ALL-CONFERENCE BACKSTOP Starting catcher BT Riopelle leads all SEC catchers in slugging percentage (.581), home runs (14) and RBI (50). He owns a .306/.373/.581 slash line on the year, earning him First Team All-SEC honors at catcher. During the month of April, Riopelle led all SEC catchers with seven home runs, 22 RBI and a .672 slugging percentage.
GOING STREAKING Thompson is riding a 25-game on-base streak, batting .385/.500/.560 during that span. Meanwhile, Langford has reached in 17-straight games, slashing .409/.540/.848 with eight homers, 25 runs, 13 RBI, 15 walks and four strikeouts across the streak.
PRETEND IT'S A SEED Florida is currently projected as the No. 2 seed at the Coral Gables Regional in the NCAA Tournament in D1Baseball's projections.
HISTORIC HOME RUN PACE Florida ranks 11th in the country with 102 home runs. The Gators hit their 71st home run in the 37th game of the season this year, matching the team's total from all of last season's 60-game schedule. Florida's 102 home runs represents the program's third-highest total ever, as well as the most under O'Sullivan (2018 - 100). To move into second all-time, the Gators must pass the 2002 team's mark of 111 home runs (Record: 132, 1998).
NEELY DEALS In seven starts since joining the rotation, Freshman All-SEC right-hander Neely is 2-1 with a 2.95 ERA, .173 BAA and 44 strikeouts across 36 2/3 innings. He is coming off seven shutout innings with three hits allowed in his most-recent start against South Carolina in which he struck out a career-high 10 batters.
POGUE LIFE Across his last three starts, right-handed pitcher Nick Pogue is 2-1 with a 3.68 ERA, 22 strikeouts and one walk across 22 innings.
THE FABIAN FILE 2021 All-American J. Fabian ranks fourth in the SEC with 20 home runs, T-ninth with 53 runs scored, T-13th with 51 RBI and second with 56 walks (T-third nationally). Fabian's strikeout rate is down 8.8% from last season's mark of 29.4%, sitting at 20.6% in 2022. Fabian currently boasts 52 career homers, which ranks fourth all-time at Florida. His next milestone will come at 55 homers, where Brad Wilkerson awaits in third all-time.
STATE OF THE DEFENSE Florida ranks 11th in the nation with a .981 fielding percentage. J. Fabian and Langford have not committed an error all season long, combining for a 1.000 fielding percentage across 223 defensive chances.
ON DECK The winner of Tuesday's game between Florida and South Carolina advances to face No. 2-seed Texas A&M on Wednesday following the conclusion of the 10:30 a.m. ET matchup.