Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Gator Baseball: April Recap

As the Gator baseball team heads into its final month of the regular season, it's time for me to recap how the Gators did in April. The grind of the season has not weighed too much on the Gators as they went a respectable 10-5 during the month. They went 2-2 in their four SEC weekend series as they swept both South Carolina and Mississippi State, but dropped two out of three games to both Missouri and Kentucky. The Gators are now 33-12 on the season and 13-8 in SEC play.

In the Gators' final game against rival Florida State this year, the Seminoles walked off with a solo home run in the 12th inning to win the game 4-3 and the season series 2-1. This is definitely not my game of the month. My game of the month was a record-breaking affair that occurred on a rainy Tuesday night in Gainesville. 

On April 7th against the Stetson Hatters, freshman JJ Schwarz immortalized himself in Gator baseball lore as he hit FOUR home runs with TEN RBIs! He is the first Gator EVER to hit four home runs in a single game and yes the 10 RBIs are a school record as well. The Gators won the contest 22-2 and my respect and admiration for Schwarz has been at an all-time high ever since. It was one of the most amazing individual offensive performances in the game of baseball that I have ever seen in my life!

Now, let's take a look at the Florida Gator stat leaders through the month of April.

Offense

Hits: Dalton Guthrie (62) (Freshman)

RBI's: JJ Schwarz (49) (Freshman)

Home Runs: JJ Schwarz (13) (Freshman)

Batting Average: Josh Tobias (.355) (Senior)

Slugging %: Harrison Bader (.643) (Junior)

On Base %: Harrison Bader (.450) (Junior)

Stolen Bases: Richie Martin  (16) (Junior)

Runs Scored: Richie Martin (41) (Junior)

Strikeouts: Buddy Reed (36) (Sophomore)

Walks:  Harrison Bader (26) (Junior)

Defense

Assists: Dalton Guthrie (134) (Freshman)

Putouts: Mike Rivera (194) (Freshman)

Errors: Richie Martin/Dalton Guthrie (5) (Junior/Freshman)

Fielding %: Josh Tobias/Harrison Bader (.1000) (Senior/Junior)

Pitching

Wins: Logan Shore/A.J. Puk (6) (Sophomores)

Losses: Logan Shore/A.J. Puk (3) (Sophomores)

Strikeouts: Alex Faedo (47) (Freshman)

ERA: Starting Pitcher and Relieving Pitcher - Logan Shore (2.44) (Sophomore) Bobby Poyner (1.87) (Senior)

Shutouts: Logan Shore (2) (Sophomore)

Saves: Taylor Lewis (6) (Junior)

Appearances: Taylor Lewis (20) (Junior)

The Gators have 10 games left in the regular season. They have 3 SEC weekend series remaining (at Georgia, at #7 Vanderbilt, and Auburn) with one non-conference game left against USF on May 5. Currently, Florida is just two games back behind Vandy. If the Gators can finish the season strong by winning all three of these series, then the SEC East title (and a #1 or #2 seed in the SEC Tournament) will be theirs. It is going to be an exciting final month of the regular season, and it will be interesting to see if the Gators rise to the occasion to defend their SEC East crown.

*All stats accredited to Gatorzone.com

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