After Florida’s 5-3 win at Florida Gulf Coast on Tuesday, the Gators are winners of six in a row as they travel to Columbia, Mo., this weekend to take on Missouri — the 13th-ranked team in the Southeastern Conference. Josh Jurnovoy and Adam Pincus debate whether Florida’s recent run of success is sustainable or merely a hot streak.
Josh: Florida (20-18, 8-7 SEC) has every right to be happy about the past two weeks. After a 2-0 loss to Mississippi State on April 6, the Gators were four games under .500 with their next five games coming against ranked opponents and a game after that stretch against an FGCU team that swept them in Gainesville earlier in the season. Even though Florida won all of those games, that doesn’t mean it is primed for a deep postseason run. The Gators have gotten a lot of help from the opposition during the streak — they’ve scored nine unearned runs. They can’t count on getting that much assistance from better teams later in the season. To counteract that, Florida will have to show more consistency both pitching and hitting than it has to this point.
Adam: What better teams are you talking about? Only one of Florida’s five remaining SEC series — at No. 3 LSU on May 2-4 — comes against a ranked team. Excluding the Tigers and their 35-3 record, the other four teams have a winning percentage of .465 and are 17-43 in SEC play. That’s weaker than you in the gym, and that’s giving those teams — Missouri, Tennessee, Auburn and Georgia — more credit than they deserve. It hasn’t been pretty for Florida this season. Most of UF’s early-season mistakes were head-scratchers. Flying out in the infield on a 2-0 count with runners in scoring position. Hitting a batter to lead off an inning after grabbing a lead. It all happened, but it takes time for a young team to turn it around. While the Gators almost dug themselves in a hole they couldn’t get out of, it appears they’ve finally turned it around.
Josh: There’s no question the rest of the regular season sets up well for Florida, and it’ll probably look dominant and raise expectations to unreasonable heights for the postseason. But the fact remains the Gators probably won’t win a regional if their pitching doesn’t improve and they get consistent quality starts — which entails throwing at least six innings while giving up no more than three runs. During their winning streak, the Gators have one such a start. For the season, they’ve had three — all courtesy of Jonathon Crawford — and a combined four other outings from Danny Young, Bobby Poyner and Jay Carmichael that were more than five innings with just one run allowed. With games bunched closer together in the SEC and NCAA Tournaments, the bullpen won’t survive if the starters don’t start giving it more of a rest.
Adam: In a regional format, I’ll take Florida’s pitching any day. Granted it’s not the workhorse staff the Gators leaned on last season, but a combination of Crawford, Carmichael and maybe even Johnny Magliozzi could get the job done. Relievers Daniel Gibson and Ryan Harris have pitched the Gators into a regional from the bullpen. This Gators team isn’t the same squad playing its way out of the postseason. This is a dangerous team with burgeoning talent at the plate and on the mound.
Contact Josh Jurnovoy at jjurnovoy@alligator.org. Contact Adam Pincus at apincus@alligator.org.
Junior starting pitcher Jonathon Crawford warms up on the mound during Florida’s 3-2 victory against South Carolina on April 11 at McKethan Stadium. Crawford gave up four runs in four innings against Auburn on Friday.
