A.J. Puk watched his cousin play against his adopted school Thursday afternoon.
Albany senior center John Puk, who measures at 6-foot-10, scored 10 points and brought down 5 rebounds in the Great Danes’ 67-55 loss to the Florida men’s basketball team in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
A.J. Puk has not had that kind of success.
In six appearances for the Gators (14-7, 2-1 Southeastern Conference), the freshman left-hander has a 5.14 ERA. Puk, who started in Florida’s series finale against Arkansas on Sunday, was not in UF’s announced rotation against Texas A&M (15-7, 1-2 SEC).
“We just need Puk to step up,” reliever Aaron Rhodes said. “He’ll eventually get there, I think.”
The 6-foot-7 freshman has shown explosive velocity when he pitches — he struck out seven UConn batters in only 4.1 innings pitched against the Huskies on March 8 — but lasted only two innings against the Razorbacks last weekend.
Puk’s 93-94 mph fastball was not enough to save him against SEC batters. He surrendered three earned runs while striking out only two hitters.
Rhodes said while he thinks Puk will succeed as a starter, he may have success coming out of the bullpen. The freshman has held opponents to two runs on five hits out of the pen compared to allowing four runs on 12 hits in 9.2 innings as a starter.
Puk has not been the only freshman starter who has struggled. Brett Morales has been inconsistent in his four appearances.
After giving up five runs in 3.1 innings during his debut against Maryland on Feb. 15, he seemed to improve, surrendering only one earned run in four innings against Miami in his second start.
But in his third appearance, Morales came out of the bullpen and gave up four runs in just one-third of an inning against Illinois on Feb. 28. He has only pitched once since then — a 4.1-inning start against Illinois State.
“Those guys are really good, their arms are really good,” catcher Taylor Gushue said. “They certainly have more than enough talent to be successful at this level. I think it’s just the learning curve.”
However, there has been one freshman who has picked up the slack.
Logan Shore, a Coon Rapids, Minn., native, leads the Gators in ERA (0.68) in his 26.1 innings pitched. A little more than a month into the season, the freshman has already emerged as Florida’s Friday-night starter.
“He’s hitting spots, he’s throwing everything for strikes,” Gushue said. “He’s been killing it so far.”
Shore will get the first start against the Aggies tonight at 7 p.m. in College Station, Texas, squaring up against Daniel Mengden, who tossed a complete game against the Gators in UF’s only game in the SEC Tournament last season.
“He carved us up last year,” Gushue said. “We’re going to have to have a bunch of good at-bats against him in order to win … He’s a really good starter.”
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Brett Morales pitches during Florida’s loss against Maryland on Feb. 15, 2014, at McKethan Stadium.
