JACKSONVILLE — Kevin O’Sullivan could do nothing but shake his head and shrug his shoulders as he looked around at an emptying Harmon Stadium.
Hitters who had been strong all year hadn’t hit, formerly solid pitchers had given up runs in six consecutive innings and the Gators had dropped their first midweek game of the year.
The opponent was North Florida — a team Florida is surprisingly now 5-5 all-time against.
“This was a bad night,” O’Sullivan said. “You have nights where you just play terrible, and we played terrible.”
In front of the second-largest crowd (2,144) in UNF history, No. 1 Florida (24-5) fell to North Florida (18-13) 10-5. The surroundings were harsh and homely in comparison to recent trips to pristine Southeastern Conference parks during an eight-game road trip, but the play on the field was even uglier.
The Gators needed eight pitchers to navigate through the game, struggling to throw strikes but also facing defensive woes when the ball was put in play. Austin Maddox committed two errors to add to an 0-for-4 night at the plate in his fourth start at first base of the season. Preston Tucker had a fielding error of his own tacked on to a 1-for-4 showing, his lone hit an RBI single in the fifth inning.
“We obviously needed some better performances from some of our guys,” senior center fielder Daniel Pigott said. “We came out and we just didn’t do what we needed to do.”
Florida’s bullpen became a black hole, dragging out the game by walking four and throwing 145 pitches in seven innings. Four pitchers (Bobby Poyner, Daniel Gibson, Corey Stump and Ryan Harris) failed to last an entire inning, with all except Harris being charged with an earned run. Poyner gave up four hits and three earned runs in the second without recording an out.
“We couldn’t throw fastballs for strikes,” O’Sullivan said. “We weren’t even trying to go to the corners. We nibbled and unfortunately North Florida made us pay for it.”
The Ospreys got a brief taste of what the Gators pitching staff can be when sophomore right-hander Karsten Whitson returned to the mound for the first time since Feb. 26. In what he called a “rehab start” after recovering from a groin injury and arm fatigue, Whitson told O’Sullivan he would need seven pitches to finish his planned one inning of work. He used eight.
“My command was good, my slider was good, so it was very promising to see,” Whitson said. “Hopefully this weekend I’ll start (against LSU).”
North Florida hitters had no answer for his slider, striking out twice after a leadoff grounder to shortstop.
“That was the bright moment of the night for us,” O’Sullivan said.
Unfortunately for the Gators, it was the lone bright spot. After going up 1-0 in the first with no outs, Florida stranded two runners on first and third. The frustrating trend carried throughout the game, as UF recorded 10 hits but left nine runners on base.
“As far as moving on, it has to happen right now,” O’Sullivan said. “It’s the worst game we’ve played all year, quite frankly, coupled with a well-played game by North Florida. Obviously the result indicated both of those things.”
Florida first baseman and relief pitcher Austin Maddox walks off the field during UF’s 10-5 loss to North Florida on Tuesday. Maddox and the Gators combined to commit three errors.
