O'Sullivan Looking for Answers on the Mound: 'What We're Doing Right Now is Not Working'

Florida hasn't found a consistent answer with starters Liam Peterson and Pierce Coppola battling injuries.

Florida Gators head coach Kevin O'Sullivan is still looking for answers on the mound as the team heads into its third SEC series of the season. / Kyle Lander / Gators Illustrated

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Florida Gators head baseball coach Kevin O'Sullivan has one main rule for his starting pitchers: Go six innings while allowing no more than three runs.

In last weekend's series against rival Georgia, Florida's starters failed to meet that goal.

Short-handed after losing Friday starter Liam Peterson and Saturday starter Pierce Coppola to injuries, the Gators were simply demolished in its weekend series against Georgia, giving up 40 total runs, 38 hits and 13 home runs as the team fell to 0-6 in SEC play for the first time since 2001.

Florida's weekend starters in Aidan King, Billy Barlow and Jake Clemente combined for 15 earned runs across only nine combined innings pitched. In Friday's start, King for 4.0 innings before being pulled, the most by any pitcher over the weekend.

"We got to figure out starting pitching," O'Sullivan said after Sunday's 15-4 loss in seven innings. "We just can't go two innings, three innings and some change. I mean, we have to figure out three guys who can go five or six innings. I know we're a little banged up on the mound a little bit and that type of thing, but at the same time, some other guys need to step up. Bottom line. So, yeah, disappointing."

Across King's, Barlow's and Clemente's appearances, Georgia recorded a hit in seven of the nine combined innings with both hitless innings coming from King on Friday. The Bulldogs recorded extra base hits in eight innings in which the starters were on the mound and hit four home runs, three of which were given up by Barlow on Saturday.

It isn't just Florida's starters, though. The Gators' relievers have failed to perform up to O'Sullivan's expectations as the team looks for a consistent answer after Frank Menendez went down with a season-ending elbow injury.

Over the weekend, the Gators used 10 relievers, none of whom went longer than three innings (Luke McNeillie on Friday) and nine of whom gave up at least two earned runs (also McNeillie). One could argue the worst of it came on Friday, the only game the Gators' offense put consistent runs on the board but quickly lost momentum after poor execution on the mound.

In Friday's 8-7 loss, during which the lead changed eight times, the Bulldogs scored three runs across the final three innings, which included the game-winning two-run home run in the ninth. Still, O'Sullivan has noted part of the reliever struggles come from having to turn to the bullpen too early while also emphasizing the rebound runs killing any momentum.

"It's been a theme, the rebound runs," he said. "We walked too many guys. I think we walked six and hit a guy every time we scored... Bottom line, pitch counts are too high. Had to go to Luke McNeillie a little earlier than we needed to."

The Gators won't have time to recover, either, after last weekend's onslaught.

Florida will face No. 4 Florida State on Tuesday in Jacksonville before a three-game road trip against No. 15 Ole Miss beginning on Thursday. Due to the number of arms used over the weekend and the fact that Peterson and Coppola still aren't cleared to return (Peterson was still day-to-day as of Monday, according to O'Sullivan), O'Sullivan was not ready to announce starters for this week.

"We've got no choice but to move on. But certainly, our pitching was taxed a little bit this weekend," he said. "So, we'll figure out who's going to start on Tuesday. And we got a short week because we got Ole Miss on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, next week. I don't know who's going to start yet on Tuesday, but it's got to be a collective group.

"And like I said, we'll have to figure out the pitching. Obviously what we're doing right now is not working, so we'll make some changes."

First pitch against the Seminoles is at 6 p.m. with streaming coverage on ACC Network X.

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