Someone call Gainesville Regional Utilities. McKethan Stadium has been suffering a power outage since June 2012.
After the loss of home-run hitters Mike Zunino and Preston Tucker to professional baseball, the Gators suffered for the lack of the long ball in 2013.
Taylor Gushue, Justin Shafer and Casey Turgeon all tied for the team lead with five blasts — good for sixth on the 2012 squad.
But when Florida opens its season against Maryland tonight at 7, the Gators hope a mix of new sluggers and bulked-up returnees will force pedestrians on Stadium Road to be wary of flying baseballs.
“Power is one part of it,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “I think the power part, we’re better (at).”
Gushue was a microcosm of UF’s power struggle last season. As a freshman in 2012, he made a quick splash, belting a home run in his first collegiate at-bat — a time when the then-18-year-old who left high school early should have been preparing for prom.
He finished his freshman season with five home runs after struggling during conference play. When he took a more central role last year, he matched that total despite starting 20 more games.
Gushue was not alone. The entire team struggled to muster any type of power. After leading the country with 75 homers in 2012 on the backs of Zunino and Tucker, the Gators struggled to launch 28 last year.
“I guess it’s all about mentality that you have at the plate,” Gushue said. “Not putting too much pressure on yourself in pressure situations … I think this year it’ll be less because we have more bats in the lineup. We have guys who can get it done from top to bottom.”
Said first baseman Zack Powers, who contributed three home runs last season: “I think we’ve improved on power from the last year.”
However, don’t expect Florida to get back to the level of the 2012 team.
Like last season, the Gators want to focus more on the brand of small ball O’Sullivan instituted.
“We practice the little stuff all the time,” second baseman Casey Turgeon said. “Every guy on the team, whatever time they come up to the box, they’re ready to do those little things.”
But to a team that had only one player record an on-base percentage greater than .350 in 2013, driving in runs is crucial.
For that, the Gators hope some more players can step up and drive the ball.
One of those players is third baseman Josh Tobias, who has bulked up since hitting .260 with only eight extra-base hits last season.
The junior said he weighed as much as 210 pounds during fall practice — 10 pounds more than he weighed last season — and is back down to 205 now.
“He’s always been really strong,” Gushue said. “But when we get in the weight room, he becomes a different animal.”
With nearly all of the Gators’ run producers returning and an incoming group of freshmen the returnees have raved about, Florida hopes this season will end in celebration rather than the disappointment of last year’s early postseason exit.
“We don’t have all the answers to the test,” Gushue said. “But we sure got a lot of them.”
Follow Adam Lichtenstein on Twitter @alichtenstein24
Taylor Gushue swings during Florida’s 4-1 loss against Florida State on Mar. 12, 2013, at McKethan Stadium. Gushue tied for the team lead with five home runs last year. Florida opens its season at home against Maryland tonight at 7.
