Quick, UF baseball fans, call your mothers. Wake the children. Light the freakin’ beacons.
It finally happened.
After two months of wondering where the team’s offense was, after placing worst in the SEC in several offensive categories and after showing flashes of potential that evaporated as quickly as they appeared, the team’s bats exploded on Saturday.
And not just a moderate, 10- or 11-run explosion like three other times this season. Not just little geysers of rock and dirt that gave fans hope. No, this was a bona fide volcanic eruption, complete with the fire the Gators have been lacking.
The blast came in the form of a 20-run performance against Vanderbilt on Saturday that clinched the series over the Commodores with a 20-8 win.
“Did I see 20 runs?” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said in a release. “Of course not. Hopefully this is a step.”
A “step” on offense is something the Gators have been looking for pretty much since the season began. Entering the series with Vandy, Florida ranked last in the conference in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, runs and RBIs.
That’s no longer true for any of the categories, with the Gators making especially large jumps in RBIs and runs, from 14th to 10th.
“We keep making progress,” O’Sullivan said after the game.
That’s something he’s been saying for several weeks. That his team is getting better with the bats and it’s only a matter of time before it all comes together. But time is running out.
The Gators sit at 24-12 with an 8-7 conference record. Last season, the Gators lost a total — including postseason play — of 16 games. They’re four losses away from matching last year’s total with 19 regular-season games left.
After Saturday’s 20-run performance, though, O’Sullivan is feeling a renewed sense of optimism. The key now is consistency.
The Gators have largely lacked consistency, and the Vandy series is the perfect example. One day before blowing up for 20 runs on 20 hits, Florida lost in a three-hit shutout.
But entering a midweek game against North Florida before facing No. 17 South Carolina this weekend, No. 16 UF is hoping that its largest offensive outburst since 2009 finally leads to stability at the plate.
“Hopefully this is the game that gets us over the hump offensively,” O’Sullivan said, “but Tuesday’s another game.”
Contact Ethan Bauer at ebauer@alligator.org or follow him on Twitter @ebaueri.
Coach Kevin O'Sullivan and the Gators dropped their first home game since March 23 in an 8-4 loss against Jacksonville Tuesday night. “We’ve gotta clean up some mistakes,” O'Sullivan said.
