Florida’s Danny Young, racing after a ball bouncing down the first base line, didn’t intend to collide with FSU’s D.J. Stewart.
A few words were exchanged, a few shoves were dealt, and a few seconds later both dugouts were empty.
Almost a year ago, Florida’s 4-1 victory over FSU at neutral-site Jacksonville nearly escalated into a full-scale brawl.
Each season, the hostility between the two teams is palpable. It manages to seep into every meeting, even as records change and new players arrive.
"Oh man. Well, the first game was fun," said freshman Jeremy Vasquez, whose Gators defeated the Seminoles 14-8 in their first meeting on March 17. "The crowd, the fans there — you could just feel the rivalry."
"I mean, I saw what happened last year. … It’s just crazy."
No. 4 Florida (23-6) will look to earn its sixth straight win against No. 10 FSU (22-7) when the two teams meet at 6 p.m. in Jacksonville.
Florida enters the game with uncertainty surrounding its pitching staff. In last Friday’s doubleheader against Alabama, starter Aaron Rhodes was solid in Game 1, allowing one run in three innings. In Game 2, Logan Shore pitched all nine innings in arguably the best game of his career.
However, UF’s relief pitchers were responsible for 11 of the 17 runs scored in the series, and have frequently given up big innings in close contests.
The good news for Florida’s pitchers has been the consistency of the offense. UF is second in the Southeastern Conference in slugging percentage (.468), third in runs scored (210) and tied for third in home runs (25).
Harrison Bader leads the SEC in slugging percentage (.733), home runs (8), and is tied for first in RBI (33).
The Gators have at least one player in the top-10 in the conference of nearly every major offensive category, including on base percentage, hits and runs scored.
"(The pitchers) should feel like they don’t have to do so much," coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. "Last year was a totally different year it seemed like. We played a lot of low scoring games. A lot of stuff fell on the pitching staff last year. It’s different this year, and actually it should be easier for them. We’re gonna score more runs. So they should feel good about the offense and not feel like they’ve got to carry the load."
But during the times in which Florida’s offense isn’t clicking, like late in last Friday’s 12-9 extra-inning loss to Alabama, its players expressed the need for a consistent bullpen.
"We just had a couple letdowns," Dalton Guthrie said after UF allowed seven seventh-inning runs in the loss. "We just got to stop the bleeding. Defensively and pitching, we should’ve done something. Somebody needs to make plays, somebody needs to make a pitch. It’s just, we have to prevent the big inning, and hopefully we’ll fix that by tomorrow."
Right-hander Alex Faedo (1-0) will get the nod on the mound tonight, and the Gators will likely have senior Bobby Poyner available as the left-hander recovers from a hamstring injury.
The Gators are also waiting on the return of power-hitter Peter Alonso, who is expected to make his debut sometime this week after breaking his foot before the season opener.
The added offense Alonso will provide to the lineup is expected to further help UF’s bullpen.
"It’s my job to figure out the roles and where we go from here," O’Sullivan said of his pitching staff on Friday. "We got enough talent. There’s no question we have enough talent. We’re just not pitching very well right now. But it’s a long season."
Follow Ian Cohen on Twitter @icohenb
Harrison Bader rounds first base after hitting an RBI triple in the first inning of Florida's 14-8 win against Florida State on Tuesday at McKethan Stadium.
