Florida’s offense struggles when A.J. Puk is on the mound.
Even UF's hitters can't deny it.
“We just haven’t been able to score for him,” shortstop Dalton Guthrie said after Florida’s 5-0 loss to Vanderbilt on Saturday. “I don’t know what it is.”
Puk, who owns a 2-3 record, has pitched well this season. He owns a 2.88 ERA and is limiting hitters to a .189 batting average, which is good for second best in the Southeastern Conference.
But there hasn’t been much to show for the potential first-round pick’s efforts.
One glaring reason: He has received very little run support.
The Gators have scored 25 runs in Puk’s 56.1 innings on the hill, an average of about four runs per nine innings.
In comparison, UF’s two other starting pitchers, Logan Shore and Alex Faedo, have received more than 7.5 runs per nine innings while on the mound.
Even Puk gets frustrated with it at times.
“It can be. I just try to go out there and keep us into it,” he said. “I know once our bats get going, we don’t have any problems scoring runs.”
The No. 1 Gators (43-9, 18-8 SEC) will try to solve Alex Lange and No. 8 LSU in their final regular-season series, a three-game set in Baton Rouge starting tonight at 7:30.
The Tigers (37-16, 17-10 SEC) carry a scorching nine-game winning streak into the series, highlighted by sweeps of Arkansas and Tennessee.
Florida’s offense will have its hands full Thursday against Lange, LSU’s ace.
The sophomore right-hander holds a 7-3 record along with a 3.76 ERA and 95 strikeouts in 88.2 innings this year. But these numbers are measly when looking at the statistics he put up in his All-American freshman year: Lang went 12-0, had a 1.97 ERA and 131 strikeouts in 114 innings.
Plus, Lange has seen the Gators before.
In their lone matchup last year, he held UF scoreless through seven innings in the SEC Tournament. Florida won 2-1.
At the plate, the Tigers are scrappy.
LSU’s .298 team average trumps Florida’s .285 mark by a significant margin, and the Tigers make consistent contact, having struck out just 242 times — the lowest number in the SEC.
But LSU hasn’t faced a pitching arsenal quite like UF’s.
Florida struck out more batters than any other team in the nation. Even more impressive is UF leads the country in strikeout-to-walk ratio, which means batters are forced to hit their way on base.
Not to mention Shore and Faedo share the conference's lead in wins with 10.
In addition, UF catchers Mike Rivera and JJ Schwarz will likely be busy behind the plate — LSU paces the SEC in stolen bases with 85.
Jake Fraley (24) and Cole Freeman (23) lead the way in that category.
Friday's and Saturday's games can be watched on ESPNU, while Friday’s game will air on the SEC Network.
Contact Patrick Pinak at ppinak@alligator.org or follow him on Twitter @Pinakk12.
A.J. Puk pitches during a Florida preseason scrimmage on Feb. 3, 2016, at McKethan Stadium.
