The Gators’ approach at the plate didn’t work out on Sunday against Tennessee.
But that doesn’t mean it’s going to change.
Coach Kevin O’Sullivan encourages his batters to attack early and often in counts.
The free-swinging mentality will still be there as No. 21 Florida (25-20, 12-9 Southeastern Conference) opens up its series Thursday night against No. 3 LSU (40-6, 16-5 SEC) in Baton Rouge, La.
“We’re always going to be aggressive,” freshman center fielder and shortstop Richie Martin said. “We’re going to try to hunt the fastball and stay away from off-speed. We have to make better pitch choices.”
In a 4-2 loss to Tennessee on Sunday, the Gators scored two runs in the first innings. But Florida was shut out for the next eight frames as Volunteers’ starter Zack Godley threw a complete game and allowed just seven hits and struck out six.
In the both the loss and in Saturday’s 3-2 win, Florida had a combined 13 three-pitch strike out or at-bats that ended in outs where the hitter only saw one or two pitches.
O’Sullivan attributed the struggles on Sunday to both his lineup and Godley.
“He mixed early in the count,” O’Sullivan said. “Not necessarily first pitch but was able to throw all three of his pitches for strikes and located. That’s the bottom line. It’s not going to be any different this week facing LSU’s pitchers.”
The Tigers will throw arguably the best weekend rotation in the conference at Florida. Right-handers Aaron Nola and Ryan Eades have ERAs of 2.14 and 2.30, respectively. Lefty Cody Glenn’s ERA is 3.13, and he has an opponent batting average of .232 on the season. Each of the three starters has walked fewer than 20 batters, and O’Sullivan said all of them control their pitches too well to wait too long to swing.
“You can’t sit up there and take,” O’Sullivan said. “These guys, they’ll throw the ball across the plate. I mean, I’m not going to ask our guys to sit there till they get to two strikes to bear down. We’ll be in trouble.”
Sophomore Taylor Gushue, who leads the team with 30 RBI, said that sometimes the only good pitches you see are the first couple thrown.
“You can't go up there and wait around for the perfect pitch,” Gushue said. “Because sometimes you won't get it. I think against LSU pitchers especially that has to be our approach.
Contact Josh Jurnovoy at jjurnovoy@alligator.org.
Sophomore catcher Taylor Gushue swings Florida’s 14-5 win against South Carolina on April 12 at McKethan Stadium. Gushue leads the Gators with 30 RBI.
