After dropping two of their opening games to Miami, the Gators look to bounce back in a two-game midweek stand against UNF.
The Gators will first take on the Ospreys Tuesday night in Jacksonville. After the weekend showing against Miami, a trip to their first away game may just be what the Gators need.
The biggest key for Florida heading into Tuesday and Wednesday’s matchups will be the success of the pitching staff. While they’ve been praised for their bullpen depth, the Gators’ series against Miami revealed a different narrative.
The Florida bullpen was less than stellar over the weekend and gave up four earned runs Friday and five Saturday. Sunday was the best relief day for the Gators, and the bullpen gave up no runs. However, starting pitcher Hunter Barco gave up six earned runs before head coach Kevin O’Sullivan called for relief.
Center fielder and preseason SEC Player of the Year Jud Fabian will need to get his groove back at the plate. Fabian only had one hit throughout the entire weekend. After the first series of the season, Fabian is batting a .077 average.
The good news for Florida is that the rest of the offense seems to function quite well. The team put up 22 runs against the Hurricanes during the weekend.
The Ospreys’ weekend mirrored the Gators’. UNF took game one of their weekend series against FSU but failed to take either game in the double-header on Sunday.
Pitching is also one of the Ospreys’ weaknesses. They held the Seminoles to just four runs Friday but gave up 14 runs in game one and eight runs in game two Sunday.
The Gators will see how they stack up against the unranked Osprey Tuesday at 6:05 p.m. before heading back to Gainesville for game two Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Contact Sara Kate Dyson at skatedyson@alligator.org or follow her on Twitter at @sarakatedyson
