GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The Wildcats will face their toughest test of the young season as they take on the No. 4-ranked Florida Gators, Wednesday night in Gainesville.
Wednesday, February 28
Opponent: Florida (5-1, 0-0 SEC)
Time: 6:30pm
Location:Gainesville, Fla. | Condron Family Ballpark
Live Stats: https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=502880
Watch: https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=8734414b-ca03-4479-ba36-92813c909c72
Listen: https://floridagators.com/showcase?Live=5339
ix masterful innings from Wildcat starter
Daniel Gaviria were the difference as the Wildcats escaped Fort Myers with a win in the series finale over FGCU, Sunday afternoon at Swanson Stadium.
The early innings flew by as the Wildcats and Eagles scattered seven hits apiece through the first five innings.
FGCU stranded multiple runners in both the first and the second, but could not scrape anything across.
B-CU's best early threat came in the second as Jorge Gonzalez singled, followed by Jose Rodriguez reaching on a throwing error. One batter later, however, a fly ball into center turned into a double play as Gonzalez was tagged out trying to retreat to second after the catch.
B-CU finally broke the stalemate in the sixth after chasing FGCU starter, Chase Kreibel.
Daniel Figueroa legged out an infield single and stole second, setting up
Garrett Chun for the RBI on a single to right center that made it 1-0.
The Wildcats struck for three more in the eighth off another Eagle reliever. After two outs to open the inning, Chun and
Sergio Rivera singled, followed by a
Jorge Gonzalez Febo RBI to make it 2-0.
Manny Souffrain was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Gonzalez made FGCU pay with a single to center, scoring Gonzalez Febo and Rivera to give the Cats a 4-0 cushion.
FGCU took one back in the eighth off the B-CU bullpen on a single, wild pitch, and RBI double from Ian Farrow to make it 4-1.
The Wildcats pushed the lead back up to four in the top of the ninth as
Irvin Escobar scored
Jayme Villafane on a pinch-hit single to close out a 5-1 win.
Daniel Gaviria was masterful in the start, ln six innings, he allowed only four hits and a walk, striking out six in the win.
Dylan Vega and
Pablo Torres finished things up out of the pen for the WIldcats, allowing a combined one run on three hits with two walks and a strikeout over the remaining three innings.
Florida enters Wednesday's contest as the No. 4 team in the country according to D1 Baseball. They are 5-1 on the early season after taking a season-opening loss to St. Johns.
The Gators have enjoyed great success at the plate, with winning scores of 10-0, 13-4, 15-6, and 12-5 during their five-game win streak over UNF and Columbia.
The Gators will enter Wednesday on a back-to-back as they head to DeLand to take on Stetson Tuesday night.
Florida is hitting .327 as a team, led by one of the top players in the country in two-way man Jac Caglianone, who has hit .545 with a homer and eight RBI thus far. The Gators have hit nine homers as a team.
The Gators pitching staff has recorded a 4.50 team ERA with 83 strikeouts and only 25 walks through 52 innings.
Wednesday marks the 47th meeting all-time between B-CU and Florida. The Wildcats are 12-34 in the series all-time. They have dropped five straight against the Gators.
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--#HailWildcats—
