Kevin O’Sullivan uses the phrase “battle-tested” often.
Florida’s ninth-year coach mentioned it briefly after the Gators swiped its final game against LSU to end the regular season and secure the No. 4 seed in the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
And after using the term a few times Monday in advance of UF’s opening game in the SEC Tournament on Wednesday night, it seems O’Sullivan has adopted it as his team’s slogan.
“I don’t know if it gives us an advantage over anybody else,” O’Sullivan said of Florida’s high expectations in the postseason. “I just know that our team is battled-tested.”
As the No. 4 Gators prepare for their showdown in Hoover, Alabama, on Wednesday at 9 p.m. against the winner of tonight's LSU-Tennessee matchup, it’s easy to see how they’ve been tested.
Florida notched a program-record 44 regular-season wins while playing with the nation's second-highest RPI ranking, which considers a team’s wins and losses according to strength of schedule. UF also finished 19-10 in the SEC, which features six of the top-10 teams in the country.
Because of the rigorous schedule, O’Sullivan said his players are prepared for the postseason.
“There was a tremendous amount of pressure on our players to perform,” O’Sullivan said. “We’ve played one of the top three or four most difficult schedules in the country. I don’t think there’s a different mindset.”
Florida has also had to overcome a few injuries.
Starting pitcher A.J. Puk, whom O’Sullivan said will start Wednesday, experienced back spasms in early April that held him from a start.
Freshman pitcher and usual midweek starter Jackson Kowar suffered a non-baseball related medical condition, which D1Baseball.com’s Kendall Rogers reported was a collapsed lung, during the Tennessee trip in early May.
And finally, leading hitter and starting first baseman Peter Alonso missed UF’s last five games after he was hit by a pitch and fractured a bone in his left hand on May 13.
Although Kowar and Alonso won’t be playing this week, O’Sullivan said they’ll both join the team in Hoover. Kowar still needs to gain some more strength and weight, which could take another week or two.
Meanwhile, O’Sullivan said the swelling in Alonso’s hand has lessened considerably.
“I would anticipate, unless there’s any hang-ups, that he’d be OK for the regional,” he said. “But we’ll have to take it one day at a time.”
Without Alonso, Florida’s offense will need contributions from everyone, especially middle-of-the-order hitters like JJ Schwarz and Buddy Reed, who’ve had down years at the plate.
But as O’Sullivan told his team Monday morning, nothing prior to Wednesday — not the 44 wins or the personal accolades — matters anymore.
“All those things are great, but whether you’ve had a great year or a year you wish you had back, it really doesn’t matter,” he said. “All the stats are out the window and it’s about team baseball moving forward.”
Contact Patrick Pinak at ppinak@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @Pinakk12.
UF coach Kevin O'Sullivan runs out of the dugout during team introductions prior to Florida's 4-2 season-opening win on Feb. 19, 2016, at McKethan Stadium.
