When trouble brewed in 2013, Florida folded. That has not been the case this season.
Florida committed five errors in its series finale against South Carolina. It had a 4-2 deficit going into the eighth inning in front of a sold-out crowd of 8,242. But the Gators still pulled out a come-from-behind, 6-5 victory on Sunday to clinch the series.
The Gators finished 7-10 in one-run games last season. Through Sunday, they’re 8-1 against top-five teams, are 10-5 in one-run games and have nine comeback wins. Baseball America rewarded UF with a top-10 ranking on Monday.
Freshman A.J. Puk earned Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week honors with his win and RBI double on Saturday. It’s a year to the day Harrison Bader was the last Gators freshman with the honor.
No. 9 Florida (23-13, 9-6 SEC), fresh off a series-finale victory, visits Florida Gulf Coast (24-13, 9-3 Atlantic Sun) in Fort Myers tonight at 6:30. It has a one-game lead on South Carolina in the Eastern Division and trails Alabama by a game for the overall SEC lead.
“I can’t say enough about our team and the way we battled,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said in a release. “The bottom line is that it was a really gritty performance by the whole team this weekend.”
Florida split its two games against Florida Gulf Coast during the three-team, round-robin tournament in Gainesville from Feb. 27 to March 2. Right-hander Michael Murray held Florida scoreless over seven innings in a 2-1 win to open the tournament.
The Gators dropped their final game that weekend 5-1 to Illinois. The Illini outscored the Gators 11-1 in two wins. Freshman Peter Alonso called the ineffective at-bats frustrating. Florida skipped out on its postgame dugout meeting that Sunday for a closed-doors meeting in the locker room.
For as bleak as Florida’s future looked then, it has made a complete 180-degree turnaround. As it stands, Florida will likely host a regional and could potentially travel to Tallahassee for the Super Regionals. The Gators swept the season series against the Seminoles, capping it with an 8-0 victory on April 8.
O’Sullivan fielded questions before the year about how a 29-30 season affected veterans like Taylor Gushue and Ryan Harris. His answer makes more sense now than it did nearly four months ago.
“I certainly hope last year disappointed them,” he said on Jan. 30. “They made it to Omaha as freshmen and last year they went through what they had to go through. They can probably pull something from both experiences. Hopefully they can help the younger players with their experiences.”
Follow Adam Pincus on Twitter @adamDpincus
A.J. Puk pitches during Florida’s 9-7 loss against Maryland on Feb. 15 at McKethan Stadium.
