The Gators have won four straight against the Ospreys and are 17-5 in the series under Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In the team’s final tune-up before the start of Southeastern Conference play, the fifth-ranked Florida Gators host the North Florida Ospreys at 6 p.m. on Tuesday night with coverage on SEC Network+.
This is the third-straight season that the Ospreys (10-7) have visited Gainesville, where the Gators (15-3) have won seven of the last eight at home. Florida enters with a four-game winning streak vs. UNF overall including a 17-5 mark under Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/kevin-o-sullivan/1551> (13-3 at home).
Across the all-time series, Florida wields a 17-7 advantage featuring a 13-4 record in home matchups.
Pitching Matchups
Tuesday | 6 p.m. (SECN+)
FAU RHP Clayton Boroski (1-2, 4.50 ERA)
Florida RHP Tyler Nesbitt<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/tyler-nesbitt/15500> (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Links WATCH<https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/d22bcc62-3674-4ae2-9d23-068f464d7115> | LISTEN<https://floridagators.com/watch/?Live=5071&type=Archive>
The Gators moved up one spot to No. 5 in the D1Baseball Top-25 this week and rank as highly as No. 2 in the nation according to Baseball America and Perfect Game. Florida sits at No. 4 in the USA Today Poll.
SCOUTING THE OSPREY
Picked to finish ninth out of 14 Atlantic Sun teams, North Florida enters with a 10-7 record and winners of four of its last six. As a team, the Ospreys are hitting .306/.500/.895, led by catcher Jakob Runnels (.421/.500/.895). On the mound, UNF sports a 6.94 ERA backed by a .955 fielding percentage.
LAST TIME THEY FACED
Florida went 2-0 in a home-and-home with UNF last year, winning 3-1 in Gainesville on Feb. 23 thanks to nine combined innings of one-run ball from Brandon Sproat<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/brandon-sproat/15508> (5.0 IP, 1 R 8 K), Blake Purnell<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/blake-purnell/15502> (1.2 IP) and Ryan Slater<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ryan-slater/15506> (2.1 IP, 4 K) while Colby Halter<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/colby-halter/15495> provided a two-run homer. In the March 1 rematch in Jacksonville, Josh Rivera<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/josh-rivera/15504> (2-for-5, 5 RBI) and Deric Fabian<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/deric-fabian/15492> (3-for-4, 2 RBI) both homered, with Fabian smacking the first long ball of his career en route to a career-high three hits. Sproat, Carsten Finnvold<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/carsten-finnvold/15494> (W, 2.0 IP, 2 K), Brandon Neely<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/brandon-neely/15499> and Purnell all turned in scoreless outings.
THE REFRESH
Florida swept FAU in a two-game midweek set, then took all three against Siena in a home weekend series to complete a 5-0 week and secure wins in six-straight contests. Across the last five games, the Gators are hitting .358/.485/.654 with 10 homers, 24 extra-base hits, 30 walks and just 23 strikeouts. Meanwhile, UF has pitched to a 3.15 ERA with 52 strikeouts against 15 walks in 40 innings.
NON-CON RESUME
Off to a 15-3 start (.833) 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 34-6 across its previous 40 non-conference games (.850).
AMERICA’S NO. 1 OFFENSE
Outside of ranking fourth in on-base percentage (.451), Florida leads the SEC in every major offensive stat: batting average (.352), slugging (.665), runs (202), hits (221), RBI (181), doubles (41), triples (10), home runs (T-first, 45) total bases (417), plate appearances (754) and at bats (627). Of those numbers, the Gators also sit atop the nation in hits, runs scored, home runs and slugging. UF has 10 more hits and seven more runs than any other team in the country, and 65 more total bases than the next-closest SEC program (South Carolina).
NESBITT TIDBIT
Tuesday’s scheduled starter Tyler Nesbitt<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/tyler-nesbitt/15500> is coming off a career-high five shutout innings in last week’s start against Florida Atlantic. The Labelle, Fla. native allowed just two hits in the first inning, finishing with six strikeouts. The final 14 Owls he faced went 0-14 against him, as he retired 11-straight batters from the first until the fifth before an infield fielding error snapped the streak. Nesbitt combined with southpaw Philip Abner<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/philip-abner/15488> to deliver a complete-game, eight-inning shutout of FAU in an 11-0 victory. Nesbitt carries a 1-0 record, 0.00 ERA, .100 batting average against and six strikeouts across 5 2/3 frames into Tuesday’s start.
STARTING LINE
Florida starting pitchers have combined for an 11-0 record, 3.44 ERA, .186 batting average against and 119 strikeouts in 83 2/3 innings (12.8 K/9) through 18 games.
PEN(T) UP ENERGY
The Florida bullpen has shown substantial improvement over the last four games: 1-0, three saves, 15.0 innings pitched, 1.80 ERA, .179 batting average against, 23 strikeouts and just four walks.
RIVERA’S CAREER YEAR
Rivera is off to a torrid start offensively, having blasted eight home runs in just 65 at bats – one shy of his career high of nine in 2022 in 224 at bats. That’s an improvement from 24.9 HR/AB to 8.1 HR/AB. Last week in game one vs. FAU, Rivera went 3-for-4 with two homers and nine RBI – a new season high for the Gators and the most by a UF player since JJ Schwarz drove in 10 vs. Stetson on April 7, 2015. On the season, Rivera is slashing .400/.512/.815 and ranks fifth in the NCAA (second in SEC) with 31 RBI, which is one short of his career high of 32 in 64 games last season. He has drawn 14 walks against seven strikeouts, ranking top-10 in the SEC in runs, total bases, hits and homers.
CAGLIAGONERS
Two-way standout Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/15489> leads the NCAA with 13 home runs through 18 games, which is three more big flies than the next-closest SEC hitter (Colby Shelton, Alabama, 10). With a .417/.481/1.069 batting line, he ranks second in the nation in slugging and tied for sixth with 30 RBI. Caglianone has homered at least once in every midweek and weekend series of the campaign thus far and has not gone three-straight contests in the lineup without a homer all season. He is on pace for a school-record 39 home runs in the 55-game regular season alone.
GRILLIN’ RIBEYES
Five different Gators have already driven in 23 runs or more while six have 18-plus RBI. Florida is the only team with five hitters ranked inside the top-13 in the SEC in RBI: Rivera, Caglianone, BT Riopelle<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/bt-riopelle/15503>, Ty Evans<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ty-evans/15491> and Cade Kurland<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-kurland/15514>.
BLAST OFF
Florida’s 15-game active home run streak marks the program’s most-consecutive contests with a homer in the last 25 years. Across the previous 15 games, UF has hit 43 long balls for an average of 2.9 per game. Florida has homered in 17 of 18 games overall and is on pace to swat a program-record 137 homers in the regular season (1998: 132).
HAVE MERCY
Florida enters Tuesday’s game having won two-straight matchups via the 10-run rule. During UF’s six-game win streak, four wins have come via the run rule, raising the Gators’ overall season total to seven.
QUICK WORK
On Sunday, Clete Hartzog<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/clete-hartzog/15521> struck out the side for UF for the eighth time so far in 2023. Six Gators have combined for those eight 1-2-3 innings with three strikeouts, with Hartzog and Hurston Waldrep<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/hurston-waldrep/15517> both accomplishing the feat twice.
HIT & RUN
18 games in, Florida has a run differential of plus-115 while scoring in 84 of 142 batted innings this season (59.2%). The Gators have a nation-leading 221 hits (12.3 hits/game), producing double-digit knocks in 16 of 18 contests and seven-plus in every matchup this season.
DRAFT BUZZ
ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel recently released his list of top-100 prospects for the 2023 MLB Draft, with outfielder Wyatt Langford<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/wyatt-langford/15497> 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 opens SEC play with a three-game series against No. 24 Alabama spanning from Thursday, March 16 through Sunday, March 18. Thursday’s series finale airs on SEC Network at 7 p.m.
###
