The Florida baseball program rarely loses a series. When it does, it is almost always competitive.
Two weeks ago in Nashville, Tennessee, that wasn’t the case.
The Gators were soundly swept by Vanderbilt in their first SEC road series of the season. UF was outscored by the Commodores 34-6 and hit just .174 for the weekend.
Now, No. 21 Florida is in a similar situation, facing a ranked conference opponent on the road in No. 18 Ole Miss.
The Rebels (20-10, 5-4 SEC) will see a completely different UF team from what the Commodores saw. Since getting swept, the Gators (21-10, 4-5 SEC) have rattled off a season-high five straight wins, including a sweep of Alabama and a win over rival Florida State.
“Honestly, we just got our tails handed to us at Vanderbilt and kind of found out that some things needed to change,” left fielder Austin Langworthy said. ”Especially us older guys needed to start hitting, and that includes myself, so we just kinda turned it around.”
Juniors Wil Dalton and Langworthy struggled to begin the season in particular and were even benched for a game against Vanderbilt. But both have found their way at the plate since then.
Langworthy went 5 for 12 against Alabama and followed that up with a three-hit performance against Florida A&M on Tuesday. Dalton hit 4 for 12 against the Crimson Tide, and he and Langworthy both had a home run in the series.
During its current win streak, Florida is outscoring its opponents 37-10.
But not everything is perfect in Gainesville. RHP Jack Leftwich (4-2) was pulled from his start early on Sunday due to a blister on his throwing hand, and his status for the Ole Miss series remains in question.
“These young pitchers are going to have to help us on the road on the weekend,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said, mentioning SEC Freshman of the Week Christian Scott, Nolan Crisp, Hunter Ruth and David Luethje, all underclassmen.
Freshman center fielder Jud Fabian is also dealing with a hand injury. After taking a pitch to the hand on Friday, he sat out two of the past three games. But O’Sullivan said he will be available against the Rebels and could have played against FAMU on Tuesday.
Ole Miss may have lost four of its last eight games, but the two teams are statistically very similar. Both have 56 doubles and 35 home runs, while UF holds a slight edge in batting average (.288 to .285), and Ole Miss has a small advantage in ERA (4.04 to 4.14).
Florida will have to monitor the Rebels on the basepaths. They are fourth in the SEC in stolen bases with 56 and five different players have at least five steals. Junior Dillard Thomas provides the speed and the power for Ole Miss. He leads the team in steals (12) and home runs (9).
Junior Will Ethridge (4-2) leads the Rebels' rotation with a 1.78 ERA, the eighth-best in the conference.
Ole Miss recently won 2-of-3 games in a series at No. 14 Arkansas but dropped a game on Tuesday at home to first-year Division-I program North Alabama.
Florida has struggled on the road this season (1-4) while, the Rebels have performed well at home (14-4).
“We obviously didn’t play very well up in Nashville, and Oxford traditionally has not been an easy place to play, so we’ll see how we respond,” O’Sullivan said. “I think the biggest thing right now is trying to find some consistency.”
Follow Kyle Wood on Twitter @Kkylewood and contact him at kwood@alligator.org.
UF left fielder Austin Langworthy went 5 for 12 against Alabama, then had three hits against Florida A&M on Tuesday at Alfred A. McKethan Stadium.
