Florida Ballpark’s lights will flicker on Wednesday night when the Gators play their fifth game in six days, this time against their third different opponent.
Florida will host the Stetson Hatters for its second weekday game after a Tuesday win against Georgia State, a 5-1 victory and head coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s 577th triumph, a program record.
The Gators’ story this season continues to focus on their performance at the plate. The team boasts a .300 batting average through the first 13 games and averaged more than eight runs and 11 hits per game. Their stunning extra-inning loss to Florida Atlantic March 3 is the only 2021 game in which they scored less than 5 runs.
The real headline of the bats, however, centers around hit streaks. Third-year left fielder Jacob Young broke a school record Sunday with a 30th straight game hit, a run that came to a close Tuesday after 647 days. Young owns the highest average on the team (.367) as well as the most hits (22) and doubles (7).
Junior designated hitter Jordan Butler garnered little attention so far but strung together a 12-game hit streak of his own before that also ended Tuesday. Butler batted .327 with four doubles and eight RBIs through Tuesday’s game. No home runs or flash plays allowed the slugger’s consistency to fall slightly under the radar, but his hit streak matured all its own.
Wednesday’s first pitch lies unclaimed for now, but two names to keep an eye on are freshman Chase Centala and Timmy Manning. Centala started for the first time in college Feb. 25, when he threw four scoreless innings against North Florida. Manning sacrificed just two hits and no runs in 4.2 innings of relief work in his debut season.
Stetson lost just three of its first 13 games, but all three came last weekend when South Florida swept the team. The Hatters won eight of their 10 games against North Alabama and Florida A&M, who combine for a single victory in 2021. However, a pair of wins against Central Florida bolster Stetson’s resume.
Stetson’s offense won’t match Florida’s, with a .252 team average and six starters under .225 for the season. Outfielder Nick DiPonzio batted .450 with a trio of home runs and eight RBIs through eight games but hasn’t seen action since Feb. 27. Graduate student Hernan Sardinas leads the Hatters with 15 RBIs and the best slugging percentage (.521) of anyone except DiPonzio.
The Hatters’ strength lies on the mound. Stetson boasts a team 2.94 ERA — half a run lower than the Gators (3.42). All four starting pitchers struck out at least 15 batters in 2021, and freshman southpaw Anthony DeFabbia tossed a seven-inning shutout of Florida A&M on opening weekend.
DeFabbia conceded just three runs in 14 innings for a 1.93 ERA, the lowest of Steson’s four leadoff arms. All three other Stetson starters saw action this weekend, so expect the lefty to start the night.
Even if the Gators chase off the first man on the mound, Stetson boasts six starts with ERAs below 1.10, so Wednesday could present the toughest challenge yet for Florida’s red-hot bads.
Contact Ryan Haley at rhaley@alligator.org or follow him on Twitter @ryan_dhaley
Ryan Haley, a UF journalism senior with a sports & media specialization from Jacksonville, Florida, is Summer 2022's Engagement Managing Editor. He grew up playing a bunch of different sports before settling on golf, following Rory McIlroy and all Philadelphia sports teams. He also loves all things fiction, reading, watching shows and movies and talking about whatever current story or character is in his head.
