Florida Baseball Takeaways: Still Dealing with Inconsistency
Florida baseball remains unpredictable.
After winning three out of four against two top-5 teams, including a series win on the road against No. 4 Georgia, the Gators lost three out of four at home last week, including a loss against Bethune-Cookman (29-11) and a series loss to then-No. 13 Auburn (27-12, 10-8 SEC) for the first time since 2017.
The Gators (28-13, 10-8) are still 11-3 against Quad 1 opponents, the best record in the country, No. 9 in RPI and third in strength of schedule. They dropped a spot in the latest D1Baseball rankings to No. 21.
As they look to rebound, here are some key takeaways from the series loss to the Tigers.
Defensive Struggles Continue
The Gators continue to struggle on defense. In the last two games against the Tigers, the Gators committed five errors, including four in the rubber match Saturday. Third baseman Ethan Surowiec committed three on his own, including one that resulted in the Tigers taking the lead in the ninth, 4-3. The Tigers added four more runs in the inning before UF cut it to 8-5 in the home ninth for the final margin.
“Yeah, I think obviously we gave up two earned runs yesterday and two earned runs today,” UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan said Saturday. “So, if you have a crooked number in the errors column, you’re not going to win many games. It’s unfortunate.”
The Gators have a .971 fielding percentage, which would be the second-worst for the Gators since 2013.
Pitching Remains Inconsistent
The pitching continues to be hot and cold. The Gators allowed more than five runs, including 13 against Bethune-Cookman, in three out of the four games this past week.
However, the starting pitching has been better since Aidan King became the Friday starter. Liam Peterson has also been pitching better, going five innings against the Tigers on Friday and allowing only one earned run (the Tigers scored four runs due to errors by the Gators). Reliever Luke McNeillie followed suit and pitched four innings and allowed just two hits and one earned run in the loss.
“It was good for him,” O’Sullivan said. “It was good for our team. And good for everybody involved. I thought he pitched with his secondary stuff really well.”
However, against Bethune-Cookman — a bullpen game — each pitcher gave up at least one run. Reliever Cooper Walls continued to struggle when he gave up three runs and four hits without recording an out on nine pitches.
The Gators have allowed 4.78 runs per game in SEC play and they are looking to find consistency from the bullpen.
Gators Lack of Power Hitting
Shortstop Brendan Lawson has not played well recently due to a lingering back issue that has affected his timing at the plate. With him not being at his best, the Gators’ offense has little power to cover for him.
The Gators have 21 home runs in 18 SEC games, tied for 10th in the conference with South Carolina and Oklahoma. Lawson only has two home runs in 14 games started in SEC play. Senior Blake Cyr leads the team with five homers in the SEC, and Surowiec has four. The rest of the team has 10 in conference play.
Granted, the Gators have one of the hardest schedules in the country, but there has to be more power generated outside of those three guys.
The Gators will face Jacksonville (21-18) at home Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+. Radio coverage on WRUF 98.1-FM/850-AM WRUF begins at 6:25 p.m. UF looks for redemption against JU, which defeated the Gators 4-3 on March 31 at Condron Family Ballpark.
Category: College Baseball, Feature Sports News, Gator Sports, Gators Baseball
