No. 6 Florida Awaits Siena in Final Non-Conference Series. UF enters the series leading the NCAA in hits (186), runs (176), home runs (40) and slugging percentage (.670).

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The sixth-ranked Florida Gators welcome the Siena Saints to Condron Family Ballpark for the final non-conference series of the season, spanning from Friday, March 10 through Sunday, March 12. Each installment of the three-game set will stream on SEC Network+.

Florida (12-3) faces Siena (2-10) for the first time since sweeping the Saints in Gainesville from Feb. 16-18, 2018. With a 15-0 all-time record in the series, the Gators are 7-0 against Siena under Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan.

In what will be the third-ever three-game series between the two programs, the Gators enter having outscored the Saints by an average of 9.5 runs/game while scoring 12.3 runs/game.

Pitching Matchups

Friday | 6:30 p.m. (SECN+)

Saturday | 4 p.m. (SECN+)

Sunday | 1 p.m. (SECN+)

Siena

RHP Arlo Marynczak (0-1, 5.51 ERA)

RHP Ryan Bates (1-1, 5.63 ERA)

LHP Sebastian Bentz (0-2, 14.40 ERA)

Florida

RHP Brandon Sproat (3-0, 4.86 ERA)

RHP Hurston Waldrep (2-0, 4.76 ERA)

LHP Jac Caglianone (1-0, 2.08 ERA

The Gators stayed at No. 6 in the D1Baseball Top-25 this week despite picking up a top-25 series victory. Florida sits as highly as No. 2 according to Baseball America.

SERIES PROMOS The Florida baseball program will hold its first-ever Mar10 Night on Friday against Siena, featuring the addition of a variety of Super Mario-themed components to the fan experience on game day. The promotion includes a Nintendo Switch giveaway, hidden mystery boxes throughout the ballpark and specially-themed in-game elements.

FOOD TRUCK SCHEDULE

There will be two food trucks located in the Dizney Grove area beyond the outfield wall on each day of the weekend series.

Friday: Cilantro, Churros & Cream

Saturday: Kona Ice, Popadop's Kitchen

Sunday: Halo Donuts, Twisted Tikka

SCOUTING THE SAINTS Picked to finish eighth out of 11 teams in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, Siena is off to a 2-10 start to the campaign. The Saints are hitting .189 as a team with four home runs while pitching to the tune of an 8.59 ERA.

LAST TIME OUT After taking two of three from No. 22 Miami to pick up a third-straight series win, Florida swept FAU in a two-game midweek series. Shortstop Josh Rivera went 3-for-4 with two homers and nine RBI in game one, while Tyler Nesbitt and Philip Abner combined for a two-hit shutout in game two. Rivera's nine RBI are the third-most by any SEC, ACC, Pac-12 or Big-12 player this season. Nesbitt (5.0 IP, 2 H, 6 K) and Abner (3.0 IP, BB, K) notched career highs in innings pitched while blanking the Owls. Across the last five games, the Gators are 4-1 with a .333/.443/.696 team slash line and 15 home runs.

OFFENSIVE DOMINANCE Through 15 games, Florida has made a clear-cut case as the nation's top offense, ranking first in hits (186), runs (176), home runs (40) and slugging percentage (.670). Florida has 16 more hits, seven more runs and two more homers than the next-closest teams. The Gators also sit fifth in the NCAA in batting average (.348), sixth in doubles (36) and seventh in triples (eight). Florida leads the SEC in runs scored, doubles, total bases (357), slugging, hits, plate appearances (534), RBI, doubles, triples, home runs and at bats (468). The Gators' 357 total bases are 50 more than the next closest SEC program (Alabama, 307).

RUNNING THE SHOW The Gators are one of two NCAA teams to have scored six or more runs in every game this year (the other being Wake Forest). Florida's run differential of plus-93 is the team's best through 15 games since the 2003 season (plus-98). The Gators have scored in 72 of 122 batted innings this year (59.0%).

THE THREE HORSEMEN Florida's weekend rotation of Brandon Sproat, Hurston Waldrep and Jac Caglianone is a combined 7-0 with a 3.88 ERA, .168 BAA and 81 strikeouts against just 30 hits over 51 innings - translating to a 14.3 K/9 and 5.3 H/9. Meanwhile, opposing weekend starters are 0-8 with an 11.53 ERA, .168 BAA and 29 strikeouts in 32 frames. All three starters have at least 23 strikeouts and have thrown 16.0-plus innings through three starts.

DON'T ROCK THE SPROAT, BABY Dating back to April 29 of last season when he took over the Friday night role vs. Kentucky, Sproat has made nine starts and is 8-0 with a 2.56 ERA, 58 strikeouts and 20 walks across 56 1/3 innings - and Florida is 9-0. That equates to an average of 6.3 innings per start over that period, during which Sproat has pitched at least five innings with three earned runs or fewer in every outing. He has won four-straight starts dating back to his regional outing vs. Central Michigan.

KEEPS A RIGHT ON A-HURSTON After striking out 13 vs. Cincinnati on Feb. 25, Waldrep struck out a career-high 14 batters against No. 22 Miami on March 4. He is the first UF pitcher to strike out 14 since Rob Bonanno's 15 vs. Georgia on May 19, 1994. With 27 strikeouts in his last two starts, Waldrep's 33 total punchouts rank second in the NCAA behind Paul Skenes of LSU (36). Waldrep boasts a 17.5 K.9 and .215 BAA through 17 innings.

JAC OF ALL TRADES Caglianone is tied for the NCAA lead with 11 homers while slashing .387/.449/1.000 with 25 RBI and 21 runs. Caglianone ranks T-10th in the NCAA in slugging (T-third SEC) and T-seventh in RBI (third in SEC). He is currently on pace to hit 55 homers over a 75-game stretch, and 40 in the 55-game regular season. On top of that, he boasts a 2-0 record, 2.08 ERA, .133 BAA and 23 strikeouts in 17 1/3 innings. He has allowed just eight hits through three starts.

LAUNCHING PAD With an NCAA-leading 40 home runs, the Gators have homered in 12-straight games, which is tied for the team's longest such streak in the last 25 years (4/10/18-4/28/18). UF has gone deep in 14 of 15 games including blasting multiple in nine of the last 10. Florida is on pace to hit 146 homers in the regular season alone, which would blow past the school record of 132.

LANGFORD GOES POW As the reigning SEC Co-Player of the Week and Perfect Game/Rawlings National Player of the Week, All-American outfielder Wyatt Langford is quietly having a monster season. He has drawn 14 walks against just eight strikeouts while batting .455/.579/.982 with six homers, 15 extra-base hits, 28 runs and 18 RBI. He leads the nation with 28 runs scored and paces Florida in batting, OBP (24th in NCAA) and hits (T-sixth in NCAA, T-first in SEC). Alongside Rivera, he is one of two Gators to have reached base safely in all 15 games. Tying the program record with 26 homers in 2022, Langford had four homers through 15 games. He has six already in 2023, while Caglianone sports 11.

THE GRAND RIVERA With a 3-for-4 night including two home runs, Rivera drove in a career-high nine runs for Florida vs. FAU on March 7 - the most by a UF player since JJ Schwarz drove in 10 vs. Stetson on April 7, 2015. Rivera's 27 RBI lead UF and rank fifth in the NCAA. He is off to a blistering start, slashing .400/.514/.818 with seven home runs, one triple, 22 runs and three steals. He has been even better across Florida's last ten games, hitting .410/.510/1.000 with seven homers and 23 RBI. Defensively, Rivera has made one error in 15 games for a .978 fielding percentage.

NON-CON RESUME Off to a 12-3 start this season, Florida went 20-5 (.800) against non-conference regular season opponents in 2022. That mark featured a 19-3 record following the opening weekend of the year. Adding the totals together, UF is 31-6 across its previous 37 non-conference games (.838).

HITS PARADE The Gators have 186 hits through 15 games (12.4 hits/game). Florida has produced double-digit hits in 13 of 15 contests including seven or more in all 15.

QUICK WORK Florida hurlers have recorded 1-2-3 frames in 49 of the 128 innings so far this year (38.3%). In seven of those innings, UF pitchers struck out the side in order. This feat has been accomplished by six different pitchers, with Waldrep doing it twice.

DRAFT BUZZ ESPN's Kiley McDaniel recently released his list of top-100 prospects for the 2023 MLB Draft, with Langford coming in at No. 1 overall (Waldrep - No. 19, Sproat - No. 54). According to MLB Pipeline, Langford ranks No. 3 overall, followed by Waldrep (No. 10) and Sproat (No. 78).

ON DECK Florida hosts North Florida on Tuesday at 6 p.m. on SEC Network+. No. 16 Alabama then visits for SEC Opening Weekend from Thursday, March 16 through Saturday, March 18.

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