UF baseball began its full team practice today on a perfect afternoon after the morning's rain clouds had all disappeared.
The air filled with the sound of pinging aluminum and baseballs hitting leather gloves around 2 p.m., signaling the arrival of the spring sport.
At the start of practice, the catchers spent the better part of half an hour catching balls without gloves. The outfielders worked on running after balls thrown over theirs heads and playing bounces off the center field wall. The pitchers mostly warmed up in left field, and the infielders spent some time in the batting cages.
Players and coaches met with the media before practice for interviews.
First-year UF coach Kevin O'Sullivan has been stressing discipline and conditioning with his players.
"There's a certain expectation not just on the field, but off the field as well," O'Sullivan said. "I want to teach these kids it's a privilege to put this uniform on and come to the University of Florida. Anything they do both on and off the field is going to represent not only our program but the school itself."
After former first baseman Matt LaPorta graduated, UF will look to a different strategy to obtain its offense. O'Sullivan plans on using the team's speed and running abilities to steal bases instead of telling them to smack the ball over the fence like LaPorta was known for.
"You have to tailor your offense around personnel that you have," O'Sullivan said. "We don't have Matt LaPorta."
LaPorta is UF's all-time home run leader with 74.
"We've got other ways we can score," O'Sullivan said. " We've got three guys in the outfield that run pretty good. … It'll be hit-and-run, putting guys in motion, stealing, stuff like that. You can do it other ways."
O'Sullivan even said the catchers could run. Sophomore catcher Hampton Tignor ran the fastest mile on the team at 4:58.
"We call him Secretariat," he said. "He's got a heart like a horse. … He don't get tired, I don't know what his deal is."
O'Sullivan also praised freshman pitcher Tommy Toledo.
"He's a great kid," O'Sullivan said. "You would never know that Tommy Toledo's a third-round pick the way he carries himself. He's very modest, he's a competitor. … He's going to be a good one."
Fifth-year senior Brandon McArthur also had positive things to say about the new coaching staff.
"They're awesome," he said. "They really to try to let us know that we're here to play baseball.
"They're just very energetic. They've been around this game a lot longer than most us have been alive. They bring a lot of knowledge…it's really making this a team."
