Kevin O'Sullivan, UF's baseball coach, didn't know what word to use
when addressing his team Thursday. His weekend ace did.
"They wanted me to use the word swag," O'Sullivan said. "I don't
know what it is, but I just felt like we've been playing on our
heels a little bit the last couple of weeks."
Hudson Randall's arousing idiom inspired No. 5 Florida to a 7-0
victory over Alabama on Friday night in McKethan Stadium.
The Gators (29-10, 12-4 Southeastern Conference) recorded their
eight shutout on the year-most since 1991-and played with a renewed
swagger absent of late.
"We've just been missing something," O'Sullivan said. "We just had
to play with an edge, play with some confidence."
The Gators returned from an eight-game road trip to face one of the
SEC's toughest pitchers, but Florida swung the bats well and
trashed Nathan Kilcrease (5-3, 2.94 ERA) for 10 hits and four
runs.
"We came out with a little bit of swag tonight," senior second
baseman Josh Adams said. "Everything was more relaxed...It was nice
to finally be home."
The Gators got on the board in the third with an RBI ground out by
Preston Tucker, who continued his recent surge by smashing a
two-run shot over the scoreboard in right center in the fifth. In
the last three games, the junior has drilled four homers and
knocked in 13 RBIs.
All nine Gators starters recorded at least one hit, but Tucker,
Adams and Nolan Fontana led the way.
In the sixth, Fontana (3 for 5) laced an RBI single, and in the
seventh, Josh Adams drilled a three-run bomb into the parking lot
in left center.
Despite not having his usual sharpness, Randall (7-1, 1.53 ERA) was
in control most of the evening.
After back-to-back starts struggling in the opening frame, the
sophomore cruised in the first, throwing just seven pitches.
The redheaded right-hander tossed 6.1 innings, scattering four hits
and two walks.
He said used his change-up more than he had in his previous two
starts and was comfortable being back on his home mound.
Randall's two free passes were highly unusual for the
pinpoint-throwing sophomore as they doubled his season total, but
O'Sullivan said that's what was so encouraging about his
start.
"That's the mark of a good pitcher," O'Sullivan said. "Someone who
goes out there and puts some zeroes on the board even when he
doesn't have his best stuff. I was proud with the way he competed
tonight, and I was proud of how he gutted through it. That's why we
pitch him on Friday nights."
