For the first half of the season, Mike Zunino was stellar behind the plate and nearly nonexistent next to it.
Zunino was the weak link in the Gators lineup and even flirted with the Mendoza line. But coach Kevin O’Sullivan stuck with the catcher. Zunino’s defense was too good, O’Sullivan said.
Then something unexpected happened: the freshman started to rake. In the last 10 games, Zunino has been UF’s most productive hitter, leading the team with a 1.24 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) during that stretch.
“I feel a little bit more comfortable,” Zunino said. “I’m seeing the ball better, and I’m just trying to find pitches I can hit and put good swings on them.”
The catcher will try to continue his hot streak tonight at 7:35 as the No. 4 Gators (31-11, 15-6 Southeastern Conference) begin a weekend series in Tuscaloosa, Ala. against the Crimson Tide (28-17, 9-12 SEC).
While watching film earlier this year, Zunino noticed he was getting ahead of pitches. He couldn’t make solid contact, so the coaches taught him a new stance that would encourage him to wait longer before swinging.
“It was nothing earth shattering,” O’Sullivan said of the retooled stance. “It was just something to simplify his swing and really go back to what he had done in the past to make him a successful hitter.”
Regardless of how small the change was, Zunino looks like a new hitter. In the past 10 games, he raised his batting average by about 50 points and tripled his home-run total.
And the Gators need his bat to keep making noise. Despite its success, Florida has had a relatively bad offense this season. UF has scored 292 runs, the second lowest total in the conference.
The only team worse is Georgia, which is also in last place in the standings.
But during Zunino’s hot streak, the Gators offense has averaged eight runs per game, and the team scored a season-high 28 runs in its three-game sweep of No. 24 LSU last weekend.
Zunino said Florida’s offense is improving because players are calmer in the batter’s box now than earlier in the year.
“When you’re a little bit more relaxed, you see better pitches and it seems like everything has slowed down some,” he said. “I think everyone has a lot of confidence because everyone is swinging well right now. Once one person gets hot, everyone does.”
And the team hopes to stay hot. Zunino said if he can keep hitting, Florida will reach its potential, which could involve plane tickets to Omaha, Neb. for the College World Series.
“When you can hit like we have been the past two weekends, one through nine, it’s tough to get people out,” he said, “and it’s tough to hold us down.”
