By Andrew Olson – OGGOA Contributor

With the season is winding down, Florida Gators baseball (28-25, 13-14 SEC) is limping to the finish line rather than charging towards it the way head coach Kevin O’Sullivan had envisioned. UF dropped two of three games to the Auburn Tigers (31-20, 11-16 SEC) in its last home series of the regular season and once again fell below .500 in conference play. Florida has now come up short in six of its last seven Southeastern Conference contests, dropping back-to-back series to LSU and AU.

The Gators struggled to hit consistently all weekend, falling behind early in all three games. In Friday’s series opener, the Tigers jumped out to a 6-0 lead, notching three runs apiece in the fourth and fifth innings. A four-run seventh helped UF get back in the game but ultimately did not change the outcome as AU held on for a 7-4 victory.

Junior right-handed pitcher Jonathon Crawford (4.0 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K) did not have his best stuff in the series opener and Auburn took advantage. O’Sullivan yanked Crawford early, hoping his bullpen could tame the Tigers, but the move did not work.

AU busted the game open, scoring three more runs to extend its lead to 6-0. Florida fought back, but the deficit proved to be too much. Sophomore catcher Taylor Gushue (2/5, RBI) and freshmen outfielders Harrison Bader (1/4, RBI, R) and Richie Martin (1/4, RBI, BB) knocked runners home in UF’s four-run seventh, but the Tigers kept the Gators off the board in the other eight innings.

Continue Reading » Florida baseball falters, drops series to Auburn

Tags: Auburn Tigers, baseball, Casey Turgeon, Danny Young, Eric Hanhold, Harrison Bader, Jay Carmichael, Johnny Magliozzi, Jonathon Crawford, Josh Tobias, Kevin O'Sullivan, Richie Martin, SEC, Taylor Gushue, Vickash Ramjit, Zack Powers

By Andrew Olson – OGGOA Contributor

It has been a season of ups and downs for Florida Gators baseball (19-18, 8-7 SEC), but the home team was able to end the week on a major high note by completing a three-game sweep of the No. 8 South Carolina Gamecocks (27-10, 8-7 SEC) on Saturday at McKethan Stadium in Gainesville, FL.

The series sweep was Florida’s first of the season. Saturday’s victory pushed the Gators above .500 for the first time since Feb. 20 while simultaneously extending their winning streak to five games including four-in-a-row over top-10 ranked opponents.

Following a big come-from-behind 4-3 victory over No. 7 Florida State on Tuesday in Tallahassee, FL, Florida started its series against South Carolina on Thursday with its ace – junior right-handed pitcher Jonathon Crawford – on the mound.

Crawford (2-5) carried his team with a solid 6.2-inning outing in which he allowed only two runs to help UF pick up the 3-2 victory.

It was Crawford’s second longest outing of the season and an indication that he may finally be ready to return to his role as staff ace. Crawford was bumped from the No. 1 spot in the rotation after he struggled in non-conference play, but he has won his last two home SEC starts and looks to be the Gators’ top starter going forward.

Continue Reading » Florida baseball sweeps No. 8 South Carolina; Gators above .500 for first time since Feb. 20

Tags: baseball, Casey Turgeon, Danny Young, Harrison Bader, Jay Carmichael, Johnny Magliozzi, Jonathon Crawford, Josh Tobias, Justin Shafer, McKethan Stadium, Richie Martin, SEC, South Carolina Gamecocks, Vickash Ramjit

A five-year member of the Florida Gators baseball team playing under head coaches Pat McMahon and Kevin O’Sullivan, former catcher Teddy Foster is now attending law school after serving as an associate scout for the New York Mets last season. He joined OGGOA in 2012 as a baseball columnist who will continue to provide his unique perspective on the team throughout the 2013 season.

Just a few weeks into the 2013 college baseball season, most fans probably decided to stop following Florida because, let’s face it, the team was playing poorly. While the Gators are still under .500, Florida captured their its SEC series of the year last weekend against a very talented Ole Miss club that was ranked No. 11 going into the series. These past few games have shown signs of improvement from a young and inexperienced team. Though those improvements may not foreshadow a deep postseason run, they do at least shows signs of a bright future.

The Gators have improved in almost every area of the game, but this team is still making too many mental errors, even for a young squad. Against Florida State, the Seminoles loaded the bases with nobody out and Florida was able to respond with two quick outs while keeping the FSU off the scoreboard. Before they could get the third out though, UF walked a run in. While the result is acceptable (one run scored after having the bases loaded with no outs), coaches and scouts notice things like this. Mental toughness is a huge aspect of what they look at when evaluating pitchers for the draft. The good news is that many of these pitchers are young and have another year or two to mature and grow both physically and mentally.

Read the rest of this edition of Teddy’s Catch…after the break!
Continue Reading » Teddy’s Catch: Glimmer of hope for UF baseball

Tags: baseball, Casey Turgeon, Cody Dent, Danny Young, Jay Carmichael, Johnny Magliozzi, Jonathon Crawford, Josh Tobias, Kevin O'Sullivan, Richie Martin, SEC, Taylor Gushue

By Andrew Olson – OGGOA Contributor

The month of March started the way it ended for Florida Gators baseball, with a series victory. Unfortunately for Florida, in between its victories in the Miami and Ole Miss series, the team went 6-8, dropping three-consecutive weekend rubber matches and two midweek contests to in-state rival Florida State.

For the Gators, February ended on a five-game losing streak, including a surprising three-game sweep by Florida Gulf Coast in Gainesville, FL.

Florida opened March with a series against then-No. 21 Miami. UM claimed the series opener 3-2, extending UF’s losing skid to six games. Determined to right the ship, the Gators did just enough on the mound and at the plate to capture the next two games 6-4 and 6-3. The deciding factor of the series was the Hurricanes’ poor defense (seven errors), a problem that frequently plagues Miami in Gainesville.

The positive momentum from the UM series continued when Florida took back-to-back games from Jacksonville. Again, the Gators benefited from an opponent’s fielding issues. This time, UF cashed in on JU’s eight errors over the two games.

Continue Reading » Florida baseball at 13-16 after tough March

Tags: baseball, Danny Young, Jay Carmichael, Jonathon Crawford, Justin Shafer, Mike Fahrman, Richie Martin, Taylor Gushue, Tucker Simpson, Vickash Ramjit

By Andrew Olson – OGGOA Contributor

Florida Gators head coach Kevin O’Sullivan has his work cut out for him in his sixth season in Gainesville, FL. Ranked No. 13, No. 17 and No. 24 in the various preseason top 25 polls, the Gators are looking up at anywhere from four to six Southeastern Conference foes listed ahead of them.

Right now, the core of the team that achieved three consecutive College World Series appearances is focused on MLB spring training instead of its spring semester at Florida. There are a few returning faces spread out across the diamond, but the Gators will have to find at least multiple new starting pitchers, a new closer and a new way to produce runs without relying so much on the long ball.

O’Sullivan has proven he knows how to identify some of the best young talent in the country. On a Florida team loaded with freshmen and sophomores, he has to develop that talent fast to fill the void left by the nine Gators selected in the 2012 MLB Draft.

Florida opens its 2013 campaign on Friday when it starts a three-game home series against Duke at McKethan Stadium.

Continue Reading » 2013 Florida Gators baseball primer: Rebuilding

Tags: Austin Maddox, baseball, Brian Johnson, Casey Turgeon, Daniel Pigott, Draft, Greg Larson, Harrison Bader, Hudson Randall, Jonathon Crawford, Josh Tobias, Justin Shafer, Karsten Whitson, Kevin O'Sullivan, McKethan Stadium, Mike Zunino, MLB, Nolan Fontana, Preston Tucker, Richie Martin, SEC, Steven Rodriguez, Taylor Gushue, Tucker Simpson, Tyler Thompson, Vickash Ramjit