The No. 1 Florida baseball team may have just one loss 15 games into the season, but its last few wins haven’t been as convincing as coach Kevin O’Sullivan would like.
Boiled down, Florida isn’t scoring enough runs.
UF barely hung on to a 5-4 lead over North Florida on Wednesday, as the Ospreys were a hit away from tying the game in the ninth inning.
On Tuesday night, the two teams were tied at 2-2 until the Gators manufactured four runs in the eighth inning.
"I think what’s happening is we’re hitting too many fly balls," O’Sullivan said after Wednesday’s win. "Our swings are getting too big on those 2-1, 3-1 counts."
While O’Sullivan was happy that his players aren’t striking out much, he said they need to hit the ball on a line and up the middle of the field more often.
More specifically, he was addressing the less powerful hitters.
"JJ and Pete, those types of guys, they have that type of power," he said. "But a lot of our other guys need to stay in the middle of the field and simplify it a little bit."
The plate approach adjustments are one thing to look out for as Florida begins a three-game weekend series with Harvard (2-2) tonight at 7 in McKethan Stadium, its final weekend set before Southeastern Conference play begins.
The last time the Crimson and Gators met was in 2006. Florida swept that series by a combined score of 39-14.
The series will also mark back-to-back weekends UF has played an Ivy League school, after the Gators swept Dartmouth last weekend.
Because Florida has kept its games close as of late, including the UNF wins and its two final wins over Dartmouth, O’Sullivan hasn’t been able to substitute players who don’t see as much time as starters.
"When it’s a two-run game or one-run game, you kind of handcuff what you can do with your bench," he said. "So we need to do a better job at separating ourselves and having better at-bats."
A series with a weaker team like Harvard should provide O’Sullivan with the opportunity to get more guys playing time and experience, which is key with Southeastern Conference play starting next weekend.
Although four games is a relatively small sample size, Harvard is off to a slow start offensively, which should bode well for UF pitchers. As a team, the Crimson have mustered a .252 average and .294 on-base percentage. In comparison, Florida is hitting .292 and has reached base at a .391 clip.
Led by juniors Logan Shore and A.J. Puk and sophomore Alex Faedo, the Gators’ staff will look to stifle Harvard’s hitters with the strikeout. Florida leads the NCAA with 156 strikeouts and ranks ninth in the country with 10.2 whiffs per nine innings.
UF’s three aforementioned starters have totaled a 6-1 record to accompany a 1.63 earned run average. In their 49.2 innings, they’ve notched 60 strikeouts and 11 free passes, while allowing an opponent batting average of .175.
Shore (3-0) is scheduled to start tonight, while Puk is slated for Saturday’s matchup and Faedo for Sunday’s contest.
Contact Patrick Pinak at ppinak@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @Pinakk12.
UF coach Kevin O'Sullivan runs out of the dugout during team introductions prior to Florida's 4-2 season-opening win on Feb. 19, 2016, at McKethan Stadium.
