Stephen Locke does not know what the future holds for him just yet, but he does know his immediate future now involves starting the first game of regional action.
While UF coach Kevin O'Sullivan originally named junior Patrick Keating (8-1, 3.47 ERA) as his game one starter and tabbed Locke (5-2, 3.07 ERA) as his starter for the second game, the rotation has been flip-flopped after additional musing.
"Coach O'Sullivan called me after we'd all gotten home (Monday) and told me that he decided to switch it up," Locke said. "He just looked at the matchups. Tulane is a big base-stealing team a lot like us. He figured with me being left-handed it would slow the running game down a little bit."
With Conference USA Pitcher of the Year Shooter Hunt on the mound opposite Locke, Friday's matchup in Tallahassee figures to be a low-scoring affair, so one stolen base, one bunt, one run could be the difference between taking game one and sitting in the loser's bracket.
But O'Sullivan was more concerned with leaving his lefty on the shelf for too long.
"The biggest thing is it was kind of sitting in our minds that we went up to Birmingham and Stephen never touched the mound, and he's arguably our hottest pitcher as of late."
Just two years removed from Tommy John surgery, the redshirt junior has certainly improved dramatically as the season has progressed. In his last four starts, Locke has thrown 29 innings, including two complete games, and notched three wins while only allowing eight earned runs over that span.
He has not allowed more than three earned runs as a starter this season.
The lone lefthander in UF's starting rotation could very well be playing in his last college postseason. While Locke has one more year of eligibility because of his redshirt season, he has already graduated with a bachelor's degree in sport management.
"I kind of want to see what's out there for me," Locke said. "If nothing really works out, then I still have the option of coming back and going to grad school and getting my master's and playing another year."
Senior first baseman Brandon McArthur has been there throughout Locke's career, and he has seen the process and the progress.
"Sully made a point to all of the pitching staff to let them know at the beginning of the year that (Locke) wasn't supposed to be one of the weekend starters," McArthur said. "But he never quit working, and eventually he worked his way back into the rotation. He's pitched some huge games for us this year."
Two of those games include a complete-game effort against Georgia and seven strong innings against Vanderbilt to aid in two huge series sweeps.
O'Sullivan hopes to get another big game out of Locke, who is the only UF pitcher with NCAA postseason experience. As a true freshman, he started the first game of the championship series of the College World Series against Texas in 2005.
Though that start resulted in a loss, Locke is looking forward to getting another shot at postseason glory.
"With this possibly being my last year, I'm going to take it all in a little more and try to enjoy it," he said.
