#8 Vanderbilt vs #9 Florida
The third game of the tournament will be between the 8th seeded Vanderbilt Commodores and the 9th seeded Florida Gators. First pitch of this game will be at 5:30 eastern and will be televised on SEC Network.
These two teams faced off in Nashville in April. Vanderbilt won two out of three games in this series. This is a very even matchup. Florida has a better offense, but Vanderbilt has a better pitching staff.
Florida's pitching has been very bad this season, which has resulted in them going with more bullpen games. The last few game ones of series have included appearances from Pierce Coppola, Jake Clemente, Jameson Fisher, Cade Fisher, Ryan Slater, and Frank Menendez. Expect to see something similar to this in game one.
Vanderbilt's game one starter has been Bryce Cunningham for weeks. He will more than likely start against Florida. This season, Cunningham has a 6-4 record with an earned run average of 4.54 in 73.1 innings pitched and has struck out 88 batters.
This will be a fun matchup. If Vanderbilt can limit the runs allowed, they should be able to score more than Florida.
The winner of this game will play Tennessee on Wednesday.