After sweeping No. 13 Ole Miss last weekend and getting a few days of extra rest thanks to a rained-out midweek matchup against Florida State, the Florida Gators baseball club is ready to continue its hot start in SEC play against the Auburn Tigers this week.
The Tigers are currently 17-7-1 and 2-4 against the conference, with both SEC wins coming against the Georgia Bulldogs. It won’t help that Auburn is down its ace, right-hander Joseph Gonzalez, especially because Florida is averaging just under 10 runs a game at Condron Family Ballpark.
Meanwhile, the Gators have had fairly good pitching on the weekends. Ole Miss is probably a better-hitting team than Auburn right now, so Brandon Sproat, Hurston Waldrep and Jac Caglianone should all bounce back on the mound this weekend.
Speaking of Florida’s Golden Spike candidate, Caglianone is still leading the nation in home runs and hit four big flies last weekend to celebrate Wyatt Langford’s return to the lineup. Expect both to have big weekends with Langford being the MVP of the series after a mild comeback.
It should be another fun weekend for Florida Gators fans, and there’s a chance that the brooms come out again.
| Pos. | Player Name | AVG | OBP | SLG | AB | R | H | HR | RBI |
| C | BT Riopelle | .309 | .387 | .536 | 97 | 22 | 30 | 4 | 31 |
| 1B | Jac Caglianone | .400 | .462 | .971 | 105 | 32 | 42 | 17 | 38 |
| 2B | Cade Kurland | .378 | .470 | .694 | 98 | 35 | 37 | 8 | 33 |
| 3B | Colby Halter | .266 | .373 | .500 | 64 | 19 | 17 | 3 | 12 |
| SS | Josh Rivera | .402 | .500 | .804 | 97 | 37 | 39 | 11 | 39 |
| LF | Wyatt Langford | .386 | .521 | .843 | 70 | 30 | 27 | 7 | 19 |
| CF | Michael Robertson | .289 | .455 | .342 | 76 | 21 | 22 | 0 | 9 |
| RF | Ty Evans | .243 | .307 | .417 | 103 | 20 | 25 | 3 | 29 |
| DH | Tyler Shelnut | .279 | .380 | .574 | 61 | 15 | 17 | 4 | 9 |
| Team | Pitcher | Record | ERA |
| FLORIDA | RHP Brandon Sproat | 4-0 | 3.60 |
| AUBURN | RHP Will Cannon | 2-0 | 2.29 |
NOTES: Sproat kicked off SEC play with a brilliant complete game against Alabama, but he wasn’t nearly as sharp against a tough Ole Miss team to beat at the plate. Auburn is more similar to Alabama, so the expectation is a quality start from Sproat at the minimum. The Tigers aren’t the biggest swing-and-miss team, though, so put the over/under on strikeouts at 6.5 this week.
Will Cannon will get his first start of the season Friday against Florida after making nine appearances out of the bullpen for Auburn this season. His 2.29 ERA has earned him a shot as the Tigers look for a replacement at the top of the rotation for Gonzalez. He’s worked 4 2/3 innings and 3…
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