The Florida Gators burrowed into their locker room in despair while the Arkansas Razorbacks celebrated a regular-season SEC crown in the outfield.
Gloom hung over the heads of the Gators roster, but head coach Kevin O’Sullivan had his sights aimed forward.
“Bottom line is as difficult as this weekend was, we have to move on,” he said.
It’s hard to move on that easily when the best team in the nation busted out its broomsticks and swept away any momentum Florida built up before the SEC Championship tournament. The first round of the postseason starts Tuesday, and if there was ever a time to work out the kinks in the system, it’s now.
To use O’Sullivan’s words, the Gators were outpitched, outhit and outplayed over the weekend. If Florida copies and pastes its performance from the Arkansas series, the team may not survive the first round.
The Razorback pitching crew struck out the Gators 44 times in 98 at-bats and outscored Florida 19-7 across the entire weekend.
The small and sour sample size isn’t an accurate outline of how the Gators, who won 15 of their previous 20 games, performed all season. Instead, it can serve as a lesson before the playoffs. The team amassed a steady 17-13 record against conference opponents and swept teams like Texas A&M and Missouri throughout 2021.
Other teams, like future opponent Kentucky, have a golden opportunity to kick the Gators while they’re down and expose any additional flaws in the system.
The Gators will attempt to shake off their woes and start anew against a familiar Wildcat team, who they already overcame twice this season. Southpaw Hunter Barco had the most success that weekend, corralling the Wildcats to zero runs in 6.2 innings tossed and 10 strikeouts.
Sluggers like left fielder Jacob Young and catcher Nathan Hickey are usually key contributors in UF victories, but both have recently taken a trip to the freezer to go a combined 6-of-48 in their last at-bats. Center fielder Jud Fabian will also try to land on his feet after going hitless twice in the Arkansas series and once against the Georgia Bulldogs.
Newly assigned first baseman Kendrick Calilao set his bat ablaze after being inserted into the starting lineup. The sophomore rides a six-game hitting streak into the postseason with four home runs and 10 RBIs since he reentered the lineup on May 7.
Florida players aflame and frostbitten alike must convene in Alabama for the conference tournament. The roster has to answer whether its Arkansas struggles were a blip on the radar or a premonition of playoff struggles.
Florida will compete in the first round of the SEC tournament against the Wildcats at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Contact Jesse Richardson at jrichardson@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @JesseRich352
