Florida Gators Baseball Series Wrap Up: Josh Rivera breakout party
![Florida's infielder Josh Rivera (24) heads for home off Florida's catcher BT Riopelle's (15) homer in the bottom of the first inning against Charleston Southern's Buccaneers, Friday, February 17, 2023, at Condron Family Baseball Park in Gainesville, Florida. The Gators beat the Buccaneers 13-3. [Cyndi Chambers/ Gainesville Sun] 2023Gator Baseball February 17 2023 Condron Family Ballpark Season Opener](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2F1c7900bc872274394e31fd47d7392b1d59ea1cde1d69dfaf833d19a4ebb4ff56.jpg "Florida's infielder Josh Rivera (24) heads for home off Florida's catcher BT Riopelle's (15) homer in the bottom of the first inning against Charleston Southern's Buccaneers, Friday, February 17, 2023, at Condron Family Baseball Park in Gainesville, Florida. The Gators beat the Buccaneers 13-3. [Cyndi Chambers/ Gainesville Sun] 2023Gator Baseball February 17 2023 Condron Family Ballpark Season Opener")
Last season, Josh Rivera had a decent season but nothing that indicated he was ready to take the next step forward for Florida Gators baseball. He hit .254, had nine home runs, and drew 33 walks, numbers that almost mimicked to a tee what he did in 2021.
But if his performance against Cincinnati is anything to go by, the shortstop in his fourth season with the team might be a breakout star for the squad in 2023.
Florida Gators Baseball: Get the brooms out. Again.
Following its collapse against USF, the Gators faced minimal resistance against the Cincinnati Bearcats during their three-game home series. In all three games, Florida was on the board by the 2nd inning and had five runs by the 5th inning in all three games as well.
While Jac Caglianone might have grabbed the biggest headlines following his three home runs on Sunday, it was Rivera that had the most consistent series over the weekend.
On Friday he was 2-5 with a triple during Florida’s 13-6 win.
He improved upon that with a 2-4 outing on Saturday that featured a 1st inning grand slam as Florida once again cruised to a 13-3 mercy rule win.
Whole lotta salami 🍖#GoGators // 📺: https://t.co/ZTT7P76xxo pic.twitter.com/0oaZQ72gXa
— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) February 25, 2023
During Sunday’s home run fest where eight of Florida’s 13 hits were home runs, Rivera made sure he got in on the act as he went 3-4 with a walk and two more home runs.
Rivera is now hitting .448 on the season with 14 RBIs and six walks to give him an on-base percentage of .541.
Rest of the best
Scoring runs last season for Florida Gators baseball was far from a strength as the squad ranked 118th in the country in runs per game. Though it’s early in 2023, Florida has a top-10 offense nationally. Cade Kurland had seven more hits during the Cincinnati series and leads the squad with a .547 batting average. Caglianone is hitting .414 and BT Riopelle is hitting .407.
If there is one critique of the Gators right now it’s the bullpen. Starters Brandon Sproat, Hurston Waldrep, and Caglianone have all been solid enough in their two starts.
But Kevin O’Sullivan is still searching for an arm that can come in and shut things down. Over the weekend the Gators trotted out five different guys in relief, but the only clean outing was the one Blake Purnell had on Friday (which was followed by a zero-out outing on Sunday).
In the long run, come NCAA tournament time, Florida will need to rely on more than just their bats.
But until then, enjoy the highlights from the offense.