The Gators will go from walk-off winners to walking into the eye of the storm against the Hurricanes.
No. 2 Florida and No. 3 Miami will play a three-game set at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field this weekend.
Both teams enter this weekend’s series with about as impressive of an early-season resume as possible. Florida (5-0) and Miami (4-0) have laid waste to their competition, each winning their games by more than six runs on average.
Both teams’ offenses are on fire to start the season, and it will take elite starting pitching to extinguish the flames.
UF’s ace Tommy Mace (1-0) will toe the rubber for Florida tonight against Miami’s high-octane offensive attack. The junior right-hander gave up two runs in six innings pitched in Florida’s season opener against Marshall on Feb. 14.
The Gators will send out junior Jack Leftwich (1-0) on Saturday but have yet to announce a starter for Sunday’s matchup. Last week’s Sunday starter, Nick Pogue (1-0), allowed five runs on six hits through three innings.
Florida will face redshirt senior Brian Van Belle (1-0) to open the series. Van Belle matched Mace’s six innings pitched in his first start but didn’t allow a single run in Miami’s Feb. 14 win against Rutgers.
Miami’s projected starters for the rest of the series are junior Chris McMahon (1-0) for Game 2 and sophomore Slade Cecconi (1-0) for Game 3.
Florida still has a good chance to cause damage to Miami’s undefeated pitching corps. Through its first five games, UF has 51 runs, the third-most in coach O’Sullivan’s 13-year tenure with the Gators. The only seasons in which the Gators had more were in 2008 (58) and 2015 (54).
A huge reason for Florida’s run-scoring purge are hot starts from Jud Fabian, Austin Langworthy and Kirby McMullen.
Fabian leads the Gators with 10 hits, two home runs, seven RBI and nine runs scored through five games. The sophomore center fielder has taken the early leap that coach O’Sullivan said he expected, making much more contact than in his freshman season, which he finished with a .232 batting average.
Langworthy has been a solid contributor to begin his senior season in left field. UF’s leading returning home run hitter from a year ago has six hits, one home run and five RBI so far.
McMullen leads all starters with a .467 batting average. The senior third baseman has tacked on seven hits with six runs scored and four RBI.
Miami has an arsenal of dangerous hitters as well. Adrian Del Castillo and Gabe Rivera are supergiants in Miami’s star-studded lineup.
Del Castillo has seven hits, two home runs, eight RBI and five runs scored in just 12 at bats. The sophomore catcher has been the Hurricanes' leading offensive force so far.
Rivera has also been a major catalyst for Miami over its first four games. The junior outfielder has six hits, one home run, five RBI and four runs scored in 13 at-bats.
Florida trails in the all-time series 124-130-1, and is 46-80 against Miami in Coral Gables. The Gators are 12-3 against the Hurricanes over their last 15 games, though, and have won the past five series.
Follow Dylan on Twitter @dylanoshea24 and contact him at doshea@alligator.org.
UF pitcher Tommy Mace (left) speaking with coach Kevin O’Sullivan (middle) and catcher Brady Smith (right) during the UM series last year.
