Alex Panteliodis’ pitches died, and the stats lied.
Florida’s Friday-night starter hung throws high in the strike zone last week against Mississippi State, but good UF defense bailed him out, and only five hitters reached base.
“I’ve got to give it to my defense,” Panteliodis said after the game, a 7-2 win. “They helped me out a lot.”
Even if the sophomore struggles again tonight at 7:30 when No. 2 Florida (17-3, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) travels to No. 17 Mississippi (17-5, 2-1 SEC), the seven players behind him are disciplined enough to protect their pitcher.
Panteliodis’ line last week (7.1 innings, four hits, two runs) was on par with the numbers he posted in his first four wins this year. But his strikeout rate was cut by more than half, and most of the outs he recorded came on fly balls and line drives.
Left fielder Tyler Thompson saved two extra-base hits, including a home run, with leaping catches in the third and fifth innings — the type of catches UF outfielders hope for the chance to make.
“I enjoy when I’m out there getting fly balls,” center fielder Matt den Dekker said. “We tell the pitchers, ‘Get us work out there and we’ll run them down for you guys.’”
Through 20 games, the Gators’ position players have been more effective than in 2009. The team has committed 13 errors, almost half as many as at this point last year.
Florida also has 12 error-free games, including three-straight perfect fielding performances last weekend. But while the product on the field has improved, the coaching and practice drills have stayed the same.
“We’re not doing anything differently this year than the first two years,” said coach Kevin O’Sullivan, who took over the Gators in 2008.
O’Sullivan said UF’s drills are simple: field ball after ball after ball. Assistant coach Brad Weitzel hit between 200 and 300 ground balls every day to freshman shortstop Nolan Fontana before the season began.
Most of UF’s recruits come in preoccupied with the long ball, O’Sullivan said. He does not know why players are undisciplined before college, but their fielding improves when they come to Gainesville. For the first time in many players’ lives, they spend as much time in the field as the batting cage.
“This generation, as a whole, everybody wants to hit,” O’Sullivan said. “You go to the field, and they hit. You ask a young player what he wants to work on, and they want to hit.”
Fontana is the rare exception. Hitting .343, his offense is a pleasant surprise for the Gators because he was recruited for his defense.
In 56 chances, Fontana has yet to commit an error. Mike Mooney, last year’s shortstop, made an error about once in every nine chances.
Fontana said most high school players focus on hitting balls as far as they can. But at 5-foot-11, he never had that option because he wasn’t strong enough to drive balls out of the park.
“A lot of the bigger guys get caught up in the hype of hitting the long ball, trying to impress scouts with their power,” he said. “That’s not really me. I’m kind of the hard-nosed player.”
