Entering last weekend, Florida needed to address two glaring issues before returning home for the season’s final three games: inconsistencies among its pitching staff and struggles on the road.
After facing Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tennessee, Florida appeared to solve them. The Gators won two out of three games against the defending NCAA champions in their most impressive road performance of the season.
Most importantly, UF’s Nos. 1 and 2 pitchers played well — Logan Shore allowed one run in seven innings and A.J. Puk struck out a career-high 12 batters in his best start of the season.
The week before, Puk struck out 11 batters in a 3-2 win over Georgia. Prior to that, the sophomore had pitched only sparingly in the last month — the result of an arrest for trespassing in April combined with poor performances in his last several appearances.
Against South Carolina on April 11, he allowed two runs in three innings in relief of Dane Dunning, and in an April 21 midweek against Bethune-Cookman, Puk was pulled in a relief role after failing to record an out.
However, if Puk continues to play the way he has the last two weekends, and Shore and the rest of UF’s relievers continue their string of success, the No. 6 ranked Gators will have a pitching staff that can match up with any team in the country.
Road woes fixed
Florida began the season with problems on the road, and understandably so — UF usually plays anywhere from three to five freshmen, and its inexperience was apparent early on.
But as the season progressed, so did the Gators.
Florida earned its first series sweep on the road in an April matchup with Mississippi State. The following two weeks, UF took two out of three games against Georgia and Vanderbilt, and will end the season with a 12-9 road record.
But while Florida’s regular season road results don’t necessarily predict postseason outcomes — UF went 14-8 on the road in both 2012 and 2014, but made it to the College World Series in 2012 and lost in Regionals in 2014 — UF will still be looking at this year’s road matches as a barometer of how they can expect to play come tournament time.
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A.J. Puk pitches during Florida's 7-2 loss to Miami on Feb. 21 at McKethan Stadium.
