The Philadelphia Phillies sport R2C2. The Miami Heat roll with Three 6 Mafia. The No. 6 Gators baseball team has Lou Pearlman and his throng of boy bands.
Florida’s Kevin O’Sullivan manages a bullpen full of commanding dudes who flat-out bring it. But as the Gators waltz toward the postseason with a pivotal conference-deciding series versus Kentucky starting tonight, they need to hope their band of hotshots even has a chance to rock the house.
On a nightly basis, it’s been UF’s pen — not the heralded starting pitching — that’s propelled Florida to an opportunity to capture the Southeastern Conference regular season title for the second straight year.
While Pearlman’s Backstreet Boys, ‘N Sync and even O-Town made girls buckle at the knees, Steven “Paco” Rodriguez, Nick Maronde, Austin Maddox and Greg Larson steadily hurl Chet Steadman’s stinky-cheese.
When Sully makes “The Call,” chances are, the game is over.
“Our bullpen is our strength,” O’Sullivan said. “Those guys have really pitched well here the last month.”
Florida’s imposing group of relievers includes a pair of Jekyll and Hydes, but it’s spearheaded by two filthy lefties and two hosses from the right.
No one in the law firm Rodriguez, Larson, Maronde and Maddox has an ERA over 1.80.
Southpaws Rodriguez and Maronde have been effectively wild this season, and the duo has been dominant since conference play began.
“Paco” struggled before SECs, but the sophomore left-hander has allowed just a single earned run in 10 conference appearances. Maronde hasn’t conceded a run since April 8, and the junior has been a punch-out machine, striking out 13 in his last 10.1 innings.
In just his first collegiate season towing the rubber, Maddox has assumed the role of unendorsed closer. The burly right-hander sports a minuscule 0.89 ERA, allowing just two earned runs all year.
Larson is the most ho-hum dude in the group, as the 6-foot-8 righty quietly just gets people out. On Sunday, UF’s band of brothers tossed 5.2 scoreless innings in UF’s series-clinching victory over Vanderbilt.
But like Charlie Sheen, the quartet is only valuable if the team is close to winning. Recently, the Gators have been faced with an untimely issue as they move toward the postseason: Can Florida get enough out of its starters to even get to the meat of the pen?
Although Hudson Randall has been a stable arm for the Gators, lately, UF doesn’t know what’s its going to get from its other “Two and a Half Men.”
Junior Alex “Panda” Panteliodis and sophomore Brian Johnson have been inconsistent over the past month, while freshman Karsten Whitson has possibly plateaued this year.
For the two southpaws, O-Town’s “All or Nothing” could be the theme song for the past four weeks.
Florida’s Panda bear tossed two solid starts against in-state rivals, but those appearances were sandwiched between three outings where the left-hander was absolutely rocked.
Johnson was ballin’ during non-conference play, but in nine SEC starts, the lefty has pitched fewer than six innings six times. After making Ole Miss look silly on April 30 (6.2 innings, zero runs and nine strikeouts), Johnson has pitched twice and been knocked around for 11 earned runs.
Whitson’s situation is a little different. The freshman has pitched well the entire year, progressively transforming from a thrower to a pitcher. But the flame throwing righty has failed to work into the sixth inning in his last two starts after finally hurdling that barrier three weeks ago.
For the trio, the two steps forward, three steps back routine has handcuffed O’Sullivan with how he has to manage his bullpen.
The Gators have an outstanding ball club infused with great pitching and balanced hitting. But if they’re going to accomplish their goal of winning the SEC and going back to Omaha, their starting pitching needs to find their old form, so the back-end boys can even be used.
If not, it’ll be their opponents — instead of Maddox & Co. — waving “Bye Bye Bye” as the season ends.
