The Gators took off for Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday morning for their first Southeastern Conference road matchup this season.
When Florida (10-12, 1-2 SEC) opens its series against Vanderbilt (19-3, 3-0 SEC) Friday night at 7:30, it will find a Commodores squad that owns the No. 2 spot in the Baseball America Top 25.
Awaiting UF is an offense that ranks first in the SEC with 49 stolen bases.
Florida is tasked with keeping Vanderbilt runners from taking advantage of a young battery. Sophomore catcher Taylor Gushue has thrown out 25 percent of attempted base stealers this year, and Florida ranks fourth in the SEC in stolen bases allowed.
Three Commodores have 10 stolen bases this season.
“I’m totally excited. I can’t wait,” Gushue said.
“The pitching staff and me have to work on that one. It’s not just me. It’s also the pitchers as well. We have to be on the same page all the time.”
A .304 team average and a .413 on-base percentage offer Vanderbilt ample opportunity for action on the bases.
But that’s not the case for Florida. Given their lack of consistent hitting, the Gators cannot afford to give away outs on the base paths.
UF recorded back-to-back hits in only three of 26 innings against UK.
Florida’s 9-4 victory against North Florida on Tuesday marked the first game the Gators led from start to finish.
Justin Shafer and Zack Powers executed a double steal of second and third in the seventh.
It’s been a struggle making moves on the bases. With Kentucky up four runs, left-hander Cory Littrell picked off Connor Mitchell in the third inning of the series finale. Florida didn’t plate a run despite having three hits in the inning.
“The problem with our offense, quite frankly, the last couple weeks has been we’ve fallen behind,” O’Sullivan said.
“When you fall behind three or four runs, it’s hard to open up your offense, because you can’t make any mistakes on the base paths.”
UF facing top rotation: Freshman right-hander Jay Carmichael (2-1, 1.90) makes the second Friday start of his college career. He will face junior left-hander Kevin Ziomek (5-0, 0.92), who has 51 strikeouts in 39.1 innings.
O’Sullivan promoted Carmichael to pitch series openers prior to facing Kentucky. Carmichael responded by matching a career-high 5.2 innings on Friday.
Junior right-hander Jonathon Crawford (0-3, 4.94) takes on former Toronto Blue Jays draft pick Tyler Beede (5-0, 0.84) Saturday night at 7.
O’Sullivan has not announced a starter for Game 3 on Sunday.
Freshman right-handers Eric Hanhold (0-2, 7.71) and Tucker Simpson (1-1, 4.91) are two likely candidates to face sophomore left-hander Philip Pfeifer (2-0, 2.01) on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Simpson earned the first victory for a Florida starting pitcher with his career-high 5.2 innings on Tuesday.
The freshman approached Whitson and junior right-hander Keenan Kish, who is out for the year with a hip injury, about how to prepare for his first conference road series.
“Just expect for the unexpected,” Simpson said of the advice he received from Whitson and Kish.
“You never know what is going to happen from minute to minute.”
Contact Adam Pincus at apincus@alligator.org.
Catcher Taylor Gushue (17) swings during Florida’s 11-5 loss to Kentucky on March 16 at McKethan Stadium. Gushue finished the game 1 for 4 at the plate.
