The Back Alley Archives

IHate. Right now I'm in Panama City. If all goes as planned I'll be heading home on Friday with plans to stop in Tally to catch the game. You planning on going?

The big obstacle at the Tallahassee Regional is fairly obvious for Florida: It's the top-seeded and host Florida State Seminoles.

But before the Gators, seeded second, can even consider that challenge, an equally dangerous opponent awaits them today when they open regional play against Tulane at 1 p.m. at Dick Howser Stadium.

Wait, third-seeded Tulane, losers of five of its last six as dangerous as FSU?

When ace Shooter Hunt (9-3, 2.45) is on the mound, yes. Hunt, a junior right-hander, is the Conference USA pitcher of the year, a Golden Spikes Award finalist and is considered one of the top arms in the nation. He will oppose Gators junior lefty Stephen Locke (5-2, 3.07).

Gator coach Kevin O'Sullivan is no stranger to Hunt's repertoire.

"I saw Shooter out of high school as a matter of fact," O'Sullivan said. "He went to Virginia his first year, then transferred to Tulane. I actually recruited him at Clemson. He has a strong arm."

With a fastball in the low 90s, Hunt ranks third in the nation with 119 strikeouts in 91 innings. He is also holding opponents to a .156 average.

Gator senior Brandon McArthur said Hunt won't be any different than any other No. 1 pitcher in the SEC.

"We've seen those guys in the SEC," McArthur said. "We've seen guys like that throughout the year. He's obviously a very good pitcher. But nothing we haven't seen before."

In order to win the Tallahassee Regional, Florida will also be looking to reverse a trend that has seen them struggle on the road this season. The Gators are 27-6 at home, but just 7-16 away from McKethan Stadium.

"Guys got to realize, we're five wins away no matter where we're at," McArthur said. "We weren't expecting to host. We were kind of looking to go on the road. So that's what we've got to do.

"We've been in battles on the road every weekend in the SEC. A lot of those games were very close games. We need to be able to put another hit or another pitch together to be successful in crunch time."

Florida hit .329 at home, scoring 8.2 runs per game while posting a 3.53 ERA. It's been a different story on the road, though. The Gators hit .271, averaged 5.6 runs while recording a 5.01 ERA on the road.

"Home-field advantage is big in every sport," pitcher Patrick Keating said. " We know how to compete on the road, but we haven't figured out how to win on the road."

This will be Florida's last chance to figure it out.

"Two more losses and our season is over," McArthur said. "That is something we've driven home the last few days of practice."