After losing to Florida State last week, coach Kevin O’Sullivan said his players were too obsessed with power.
So much for that.
No. 6 Florida consistently hit for contact Tuesday, helping the team win 8-2 over Illinois State (4-6). Ten of the Gators’ 11 hits were singles, and the team manufactured runs by being aggressive on the base paths.
UF was 9 for 9 on stolen base attempts against Illinois State catchers Gabe DeMarco and Matt Mirabal. In the team’s previous nine games, the Gators stole a total of 12 bases.
Freshman right fielder Kamm Washington led the Gators with three stolen bases – his first, second and third steals of the season.
“I need to get a little more aggressive,” Washington said.
O’Sullivan said stealing bases would force opposing pitchers to throw more fastballs, giving UF’s power hitters better pitches.
The Gators only extra-base hit came when senior Matt den Dekker pretended to steal home. Redbirds third baseman Ryan Court was not holding him on the base, so den Dekker sprinted halfway down the line as pitcher Cam Verbeke was in his windup.
Whether the faux steal attempt affected Verbeke is uncertain, but he hung a curveball to freshman Austin Maddox. Maddox belted the pitch the other way for a three-run homer over the right-field fence.
Maddox’s raw power has been absent since hitting two home runs in as many games on opening weekend. All three of his long-balls have been to the opposite field, and he said opposing pitchers are actually now throwing to him inside to keep him off balance.
“Earlier in the year, they were staying way, way away,” Maddox said, “but I’ve been hitting the ball well the other way, so the scouting report’s getting out.”
Freshman Hudson Randall continued to shine for the Gators, earning his second win in as many starts. In five innings, Randall allowed one earned run on four hits.
Randall dominated the Redbirds the first time through the order, allowing no hits in three innings. But the way he retired the Illinois State hitters was more impressive than the actual result.
Of the initial nine outs, four came from strike outs and four more via ground outs. Instead of mixing his pitches, Randall said he only threw fastballs because the Redbirds did not prove they could hit them.
“With the defense behind me, nothing really bad happens if I throw strikes and get ground balls,” Randall said.
Randall’s fastball did not work as well the second time through the order, as Illinois State center fielder Chad Hinshaw led off the fourth inning with a triple and eventually scored to tie the game 1-1.
The Redbirds were able to hit him harder, trading ground balls for line drives. But the Gators defense limited the damage to just one run.
Sophomore Nick Maronde relieved Randall in the fifth inning and was just as hot Tuesday as he was against Miami last week, when he allowed no hits and struck out seven Hurricanes.
In two innings against the Redbirds, Maronde struck out four and again allowed no hits.
Coming off big games against Miami and FSU, O’Sullivan warned his team of a let down by telling them about some upsets that happened Tuesday night, like No. 14 Arkansas’ loss to South Dakota State.
“These are the games you have to win if you want to host regionals and super-regionals,” O’Sullivan said. “We lost three games a couple weekends ago (when La Salle cancelled because weather was too bad to travel), so all these games are important. I continue to preach to these guys, ‘These mid-week games are important. You cannot let one of these slip away.’”
