Florida has won each of its three weekend series to start the season, but the Gators haven’t figured out how to take a two-game set during the week just yet. After splitting home-and-home series with Jacksonville and South Florida, UF will be hosting the Florida Atlantic Owls on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Like most of Florida’s midweek opponents, FAU isn’t the toughest team to beat in the nation, but it’s still a program that had 35 wins a season ago and is returning the heart of its lineup. Gators head coach Kevin O’Sullivan likes to throw young arms during the week, and this Owls lineup is the type to take advantage of such a situation.
Florida should be able to score more than FAU, though. The Gators lead the nation in hits (164), home runs (35) and slugging percentage (.671) and are top five in both batting average (.350) and runs scored (147). The tandem of Wyatt Langford and Jac Caglianone might be the best in all of baseball, and senior leaders Josh Rivera and BT Riopelle are both shining as well. Freshman Cade Kurland has also emerged as one of the team’s most consistent hitters.
| Position | Player Name | AVG | OBP | SLG | R | H | HR | RBI |
| C | BT Riopelle or Luke Heyman | .407 | .500 | .593 | 9 | 11 | 1 | 11 |
| 1B | Jac Caglianone or BT Riopelle | .414 | .485 | 1.069 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 13 |
| 2B | Cade Kurland | .542 | .607 | 1.042 | 10 | 13 | 3 | 10 |
| 3B | Colby Halter or Tyler Shelnut | .211 | .250 | .368 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| SS | Josh Rivera | .448 | .541 | .828 | 13 | 13 | 3 | 14 |
| LF | Wyatt Langford | .200 | .250 | .200 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| CF | Michael Robertson | .393 | .550 | .821 | 14 | 11 | 2 | 8 |
| RF | Ty Evans | .344 | .417 | .594 | 7 | 11 | 1 | 15 |
| DH | Tyler Shelnut | .261 | .393 | .609 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 4 |
| Team | Pitcher | Record | ERA |
| FLORIDA | RHP Yoel Tejeda Jr. | 0-0 | 4.05 |
| FAU | LHP Evan Waterbor | 1-0 | 1.80 |
NOTES: Yoel Tejeda Jr. has made two starts for the Gators so far and seen mixed results. He struck out four against Jacksonville last week but also ended up getting pulled in the top of the third after walking four batters. He hasn’t gone more than three innings so far this year, so the goal should be to get through four today. His 4.05 ERA looks worse than it is. Errors extended an inning against South Florida and allowed those runs to score. In fact, they probably should be unearned.
Florida Atlantic left-hander Evan Waterbor will take the mound against Tejeda. He finished the 2020 and 2022 seasons with and ERA above 6.00, but the former was shortened by COVID-19. So far, he’s put together two good starts against UCF and Miami, but…
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