Since taking over the Florida baseball program, coach Kevin O’Sullivan has not seen a player on his roster end the season with a batting average above .400.
Matt LaPorta was the last UF player to accomplish that feat, posting a .402 clip in 2007 — the year before O’Sullivan’s reign in Gainesville began.
But 22 games into the season, Harrison Bader has the potential to be the first to break the barrier under O’Sullivan.
Bader currently holds a team-best .419 batting average, which is good for seventh in the Southeastern Conference and 44th nationally.
The junior outfielder, who is riding an 11-game hit streak and a 13-game on-base streak, also leads the Gators in slugging percentage (.903), on-base percentage (.548), RBIs (27), walks (17) and home runs (seven).
Bader has his next chance to continue his early-season success tonight at 7:30 when No. 2 Florida (19-3, 2-1 SEC) travels to Oxford, Mississippi, to start a three-game series against Ole Miss (11-9, 1-2 SEC).
The Gators are coming off a 14-8 victory against Florida State on Tuesday to give UF its 14th win in 16 games.
UF hit .410 as a team against FSU and didn’t commit an error in the nearly four-hour game that went back-and-forth until the seventh inning when freshman JJ Schwarz belted a three-run home run to the left-field bleachers to give the Gators a 14-7 lead.
"It was a long game," Bader said. "There were a lot of positives."
But while Florida saw strides from those two aspects of the game, O’Sullivan wants to see improvement from his pitchers as the season progresses.
The Gators used seven pitchers against the Seminoles, with none of them lasting longer than 2.2 innings.
UF’s first two pitchers — starter Eric Hanhold and freshman Alex Faedo — were the biggest victims on the mound Tuesday, giving up seven runs (five earned) and eight hits in 4.1 innings of work.
"We’ve got to find the right roles for our pitchers," O’Sullivan said. "We’ve got to do a better job pitching ahead in the count. It was a little surprising, to be honest with you, how poorly we pitched (Tuesday)."
Series Notes: Florida leads the overall series against Ole Miss 48-45, including an 8-7 mark under O’Sullivan. … Logan Shore (3-1, 1.78 ERA) will start on Friday for Florida.
Follow Jordan McPherson on Twitter @J_McPherson1126
Harrison Bader (8) celebrates with Dalton Guthrie (5) and Richie Martin (12) after hitting a home run during Florida's 22-3 win against Rhode Island on Saturday at McKethan Stadium.
