No. 5 Florida State baseball (24-7, 9-3) looks to avoid being swept by arch-rival Florida (24-9, 7-5) in the final matchup between the two sides in the regular season this year. In the only game between FSU and UF in Tallahassee this year, the Marching Chiefs will be in attendance.
The Seminoles and Gators are going in opposite directions after FSU picked up a massive series win on the road against Virginia, and UF choked away its three-game set to Ole Miss last
weekend. Link Jarrett’s team dropped game one against UVA, but battled back to win the final two games of the series with dominant pitching and timely at-bats to secure a fourth-straight ACC series win. Florida State jumped into the top 5 in the three major rankings this week, its first appearance there this season.
While the Noles come into this matchup with momentum, it will be critical for FSU to start off the week on the right foot in what could be their toughest four-game stretch of the season. After tonight’s game, Florida State heads north to Atlanta for a three-game set against Georgia Tech that begins on Thursday, not Friday. The Yellow Jackets seem to be a cut above the rest of the country, in a tier with UCLA and Texas, so securing a win tonight will be critical to buoy FSU’s week.
As mentioned, UF appears to be heading into tonight’s contest on a downswing after dropping two of three at home to Ole Miss, but that did not affect the Gators in the previous two games against FSU. In the opening matchup between UF and Florida State, Florida dropped two of three to High Point, but outclassed Florida State to take the opening game of the series. Two weeks ago, UF was swept by Alabama, but then shut out Jarrett’s team to take the series.
FSU vs. Florida: How to watch, stream, pitching matchup
- Date: Tuesday, April 7
- Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
- Pitching matchup: FSU TBA vs. UF TBA
- How to watch: ESPN2
- How to listen: WFLA 100.7 FM in Tallahassee; seminoles.leanplayer.com everywhere
Gators hitters to know:
- Soph. INF Ethan Surowiec: Slashing .317/.429/.553 while starting every game for the Gators this season…Tied for the team lead in hits (39) and RBI (31).
- Soph. INF Brendan Lawson: Slashing .352/.556/.802 while leading UF in home runs (11) and total bases (73)…Did not play final two games of series against Ole Miss due to an illness.
- R-Soph. OF Kyle Jones: Slashing .305/.388/.445 while appearing in every game for UF this year…Leads the team in stolen bases with 16.
