TALLAHASSEE - It wasn't long ago that UF appeared to be an upstart worthy of challenging a perennial power like Florida State.
In fact, it was nearly a month ago on March 18 when the Gators earned a 6-1 victory over those very Seminoles that they seemed on the cusp of national legitimacy. That victory - along with a 15-3 record at the time - helped UF earn its first top-25 ranking in the Baseball America poll.
What a difference a month makes.
The Gators, fresh out of the Top 25 following their weekend series against Arkansas, recorded their 10th loss in 19 games on a crisp, cool night in Tallahassee.
A record crowd of 6,737 filled Dick Howser stadium as the Gators (24-13, 9-6 Southeastern Conference) fell to the Seminoles 4-2 on Tuesday night.
UF looked on its way to a big road win early as it took a 2-0 lead through two innings and Kyle Mullaney (0-3, 6.91 ERA) put together his second consecutive solid outing, allowing three runs in five innings. Shortstop Cole Figueroa hit a solo homer in the top of the first to give the Gators a 1-0 lead.
Bryson Barber tacked on another run in the second on a groundout by Clayton Pisani. The Gators appeared poised to break the game open in the third until a strange base-running error derailed their momentum. Avery Barnes doubled to left field with one out, and center fielder Matt den Dekker grounded to the pitcher with Barnes already rounding third, giving Florida State pitcher Ryan Strauss an easy tag out. Den Dekker was already on his way to second when Strauss threw to shortstop Tony Delmonico at second to cut him off, and Delmonico threw den Dekker out at first.
"It's one of the few times a guy can get an unassisted putout and an assist," FSU coach Mike Martin said. "It's a great show of his athleticism, and certainly, we had the ball in the man's hand we wanted it in."
UF coach Kevin O'Sullivan could only lament the mental errors that have plagued the Gators recently.
"We made the base-running mistake to end the inning and then the momentum changes," he said. "That's kind of where we're at. We make that mistake and next thing you know they have two on the board. We're just not playing really sound, and when you play really good teams, you can't afford to make mistakes."
No matter the venue, the day or the hour, the only consistency UF has established lately is its inconsistency, and O'Sullivan has noticed. The Gators have rarely played a well-rounded game, which has led to several ugly losses.
"We've got to play better in all three phases of the game," O'Sullivan said. "We've got to hit better, we've got to pitch better, we've got to field better. We've got to do it all at the same time as well. We can't pitch well one game and then point the finger at the offense and then on Friday night we can score seven runs and give up eight."
With the losses mounting, O'Sullivan admits that the Gators' frustration is building, and he's doing his best to ensure that it doesn't lead to finger-pointing.
"We've got 19 games left, and we've got to band together," he said. "Nineteen tough games, and we're not going to start blaming people or each other. We've got to band together as a team and play well on the road this weekend at Kentucky."
