Florida set to face Jacksonville in a two game set
The Florida Gators are looking to continue their hot start to the season Tuesday afternoon in Jacksonville against Jacksonville University.
Florida is fresh off sweeping William & Mary in the season-opening series. They will be looking to keep swinging the bats well as they hit .311 and scored 24 runs in their first three games, including four home runs. The Gators got a lot of production from an unexpected source this past weekend as freshman Austin Langworthy hit .444 with a home run and a double in his first three games at UF. Langworthy also made an impact on the mound as he pitched 2.2 scoreless innings.
The leader offensively for Florida was shortstop Dalton Guthrie, who hit .417 (5-for-12) in his first three games of his Junior campaign. Deacon Liput, Jonathan India, and J.J. Schwarz all had four RBIs this weekend, which led the team.
The mid-week pitchers will be looking to have better success than the weekend starters. Florida’s pitching had a 3.00 ERA over the weekend, but the good news is that William & Mary only had a .188 batting average the entire series.
Starting on the mound in Jacksonville on Tuesday is Sophomore Micheal Byrne. Byrne is transitioning from the bullpen this season. He appeared in 13 games in his freshman season, recording a 3.94 ERA. Opponents had a batting average of .183 against the right-hander last year.
The Jacksonville Dolphins are coming into Tuesday’s match-up with a 2-1 record. They lost to Morehead State before winning two in a row for their first two wins of the season. The Gators and Dolphins are meeting for the 85th time in series history. Tuesday marks the 40th time the Gators have traveled to Jacksonville. Florida leads the all-time series 53-31 but only has a 20-19 advantage when playing in Jacksonville. JU has historically not done very well against top-25 teams as they are 11-33 all-time.
On the mound Tuesday for Jacksonville is Casey Kulina. Kulina will be making his season debut against the Gators. In 2016, he went 4-0 with a 3.71 ERA.
First pitch is set for 6:00 pm from Jacksonville, the game will be televised on ESPN 3.
