Kevin O’Sullivan can’t explain his team’s recent offensive outburst.
When asked why No. 4 Florida has been scoring more runs lately, the Gators coach simply said, “it’s baseball.” Sometimes teams are locked in; other times they can’t even make contact.
Right now, the Gators (32-11, 16-6 Southeastern Conference) are on a hot streak, and they hope to ride it as long as possible.
Following a weekend when it scored a season-high 28 runs in three games, Florida continued to feast on pitching with 16 hits in a 9-3 series-opening win against Alabama (28-18, 9-13 SEC). The win helped UF stay within one game of SEC leader South Carolina, which beat Kentucky 13-9 Friday.
“When you have balance up and down your lineup, you have a chance to score every inning, and that’s what we’ve done as of late,” O’Sullivan said.
Florida had scored the second-least amount of runs in the SEC entering the game. But the team has also allowed the second-least amount of runs and has the best fielding percentage in the conference.
If the pitching and defense remains steady and the bats keep making noise, the Gators could be poised for a deep postseason run.
For the second-straight game, all nine UF starters reached on hits Friday. The Gators were effective early, scoring three runs in the first two frames and chasing Crimson Tide starter Adam Morgan after just 4.1 innings.
“We played an outstanding game from top to bottom,” O’Sullivan said.
Freshman leadoff hitter Nolan Fontana led the offense, going 3 for 5 with two doubles. Catcher Mike Zunino also drove in three runs and third baseman Austin Maddox hit his team-leading 14th home run of the season.
UF also benefitted from clutch hitting, scoring six runs with two outs, and aggressive base running, stealing five bases.
On the mound, O’Sullivan decided to ride a hot hand and promoted Hudson Randall to the Friday-night role. In his two previous starts, both on Saturdays, Randall allowed one earned run in 13.2 innings.
He continued to pitch affectively Friday. Using his slider and changeup to fool the Crimson Tide, Randall threw seven scoreless innings and improved to 6-3 this season. His ability to get movement on his pitches allowed Randall to escape jams by inducing three double plays.
“He’s really competitive, and he’s got the ability to switch from pitch to pitch and at-bat to at-bat,” O’Sullivan said of his budding ace. “He can pitch a guy one way one inning, then a different way another inning.”
Florida will try to clinch the series in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Saturday at 4:05 p.m.
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
