Baseball is a game of failure. Austin Langworthy says it all the time, and he knows it all too well.
It’s a phrase apt to come out of the mouth of a player who has fallen short of expectations on a team that has done the same in 2019.
Langworthy, a junior left fielder on the Florida baseball team, came into the season with the highest returning batting average of any starter (.290). He also had extensive experience, having played in two College World Series in as many years, and was an integral part of the Gators’ first national championship in 2017.
However, his early season failures at the plate caused him to steadily drop in the batting order until he was temporarily removed from the lineup on March 22 against Vanderbilt.
He began the season in the leadoff spot but quickly played himself out. Langworthy went 0 for 5 in Florida’s season opener against Long Beach State and finished the weekend 1 for 11 with four strikeouts.
Sophomore shortstop Brady McConnell replaced Langworthy in the leadoff spot seven games into the season. At the time, McConnell was hitting better than double Langworthy’s then- .130 batting average.
That began Langworthy’s descent down the order. He hit second for a few weeks and eventually hit as low as eighth.
He was benched for the second game of the Vanderbilt series following an 0 for 3 performance in the first game.
“I think it was because I was struggling offensively, and at that point I was feeling so bad it wasn’t the worst thing to do, you know, give me a day off and a chance to clear my head,” Langworthy said.
Being left out of the order sparked a second-half turnaround at the plate.
He returned to the batting order for the series finale — which capped off an embarrassing road sweep for the Gators — but when he saw he could be replaced both in the batting order and on the field, he quickly turned it around.
“Once you get taken out of the lineup, that’s kind of like, ‘Okay, my spot in the lineup is not so safe, I’ve got to really figure this out and turn it around,’” Langworthy said.
He responded with a five-game hitting streak, going 9 for 20 in that stretch and bringing his average up .047 points.
Since the Vanderbilt series, he has 26 hits and eight strikeouts, as opposed to his 17 hits and 18 strikeouts before.
He also reclaimed his spot in the two hole, just behind McConnell. He even led off against Florida Atlantic on Tuesday with McConnell out of the lineup.
Following a 6-for-12 weekend against LSU in which he hit his fifth home run of the season, he brought his average up to a season-high .265.
A three-hit outing against FAU brought it up even further to .277. He hit his first career grand slam and had a career-high six RBIs.
“Coming into the season, I expected to hit well over .300,” Langworthy said.
A dismal start to the season has prevented him from reaching that mark so far. However, in his past 16 games, he is hitting an astounding .406, as opposed to his sub-.200 early season averages which he called “atrocious.”
“Nothing’s really changed for me. The work ethic hasn’t changed. I haven’t done anything to my swing or anything,” Langworthy said. “A lot of it early on was a lot of bad luck, you know, when I did hit the ball well it was right at somebody.”
Those early bouts with failure ultimately led to success later on.
“As of late, everything has just been kind of clicking for me.”
Follow Kyle Wood on Twitter @Kkylewood and contact him at kwood@alligator.org.
UF left fielder Austin Langworthy is hitting .406 with three home runs in his last 16 games after beginning the season with a sub- .200 average.
