Florida Baseball: Gators can’t get caught looking ahead vs Aggies
![Florida's infielder Cade Kurland (4) celebrates his two run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning against Alabama, Thursday March 16, 2023, at Condron Family Baseball Park in Gainesville, Florida. Florida beat Alabama 3-0. [Cyndi Chambers/ Gainesville Sun] 2023Gator Baseball March 17 2023 Condron Family Ballpark Alabama](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2Fd8fb2f1e350e9285d9fe9e2832e2414ae20a47b7a3f0442766e8c2ffdcd58c01.jpg "Florida's infielder Cade Kurland (4) celebrates his two run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning against Alabama, Thursday March 16, 2023, at Condron Family Baseball Park in Gainesville, Florida. Florida beat Alabama 3-0. [Cyndi Chambers/ Gainesville Sun] 2023Gator Baseball March 17 2023 Condron Family Ballpark Alabama")
Florida baseball has a massive series on the horizon against Vanderbilt that could determine the SEC East and lock up a top-eight seeding for the Gators for the NCAA tournament.
But before that series, Florida has to take care of business this weekend on the road against a formidable opponent in Texas A&M
Florida Baseball: Don’t get trapt
The Aggies ended a five-game losing streak with a win over Tarleton on Tuesday, but they have lost their last four SEC games. They are currently tied for third place in the SEC West, 6.5 games behind division-leading LSU. On the other hand, Florida is currently standing 14-7 in SEC play, just two games behind Vanderbilt.
The Aggies have a 13-11 all-time record against Florida, including a 6-3 record at Blue Bell Park. Texas A&M has won 12 SEC series since Jim Schlossnagle took over the program in last season, tied for the most among SEC teams with Florida, LSU, and Tennessee.
The Aggies are led by outfielder Jace LaViolette, just a freshman, leading the team with 11 home runs, 43 RBI, and 12 stolen bases.
Austin Bost is the player Texas A&M would like to get going, as he had a .360 batting average with a .451 on-base percentage last season. This year though, he is only hitting .226 with three home runs. To his credit, his on-base percentage is still .358, as he does have 30 walks and six HBP. He is also second on the team in RBIs, behind LaViolette, with 33.
All the usual suspects for Florida will be in action. Beyond winning the series, the biggest storyline for Florida baseball will be whether Jac Caglianone can set the school record for home runs in a single season. He tied the record on Tuesday in Jacksonville when he hit his 26th home run of the season.
The Gators don’t have a midweek opponent next week before the Vanderbilt series, so expect Kevin O’Sullivan to unload the bullpen as needed in this series.
The first pitch is tonight at 7 PM, and all three games can be viewed either on the SEC Network or streamed on SEC+.
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