GAINESVILLE, Fla. – During a lackluster March in which the Gators went 11-8 and hit a paltry .235 as a team, the low point is as easy to identify as Sasquatch sunbathing on the beach.
Three games at Auburn to open Southeastern Conference play, three straight losses.
Two months later, the fifth-ranked Gators have swept three consecutive SEC series (two on the road) and can win the SEC regular-season title outright by sweeping No. 7-ranked Kentucky at home starting Thursday night.
Of course, the Gators don't have to sweep to win their first SEC regular-season crown in three years – the last time they swept the Wildcats was 12 years ago when future big leaguer Matt LaPorta had three homers and 10 RBIs in the series – it would just limit the drama. They can clinch a share of the East title and overall league championship in various ways, starting as early as Thursday.
If Florida (38-14, 19-8) beats the Wildcats (37-16, 18-9) Thursday night and Mississippi State (34-19, 17-10) beats SEC West leader LSU (36-17, 18-9), the Gators would own a two-game lead with two games to play, thus clinching no worse than a share of the league and division titles.
But first things first. There's high-stakes baseball to be played at McKethan Stadium this weekend.
"It's not just going to be given to us,'' said
Alex Faedo, scheduled to start Thursday's game. "We've got to go out there and win some games."
In what has become customary during his tenure, Gators coach
Kevin O'Sullivan has the Gators within striking distance of a regular-season SEC title for the eighth time in the last nine seasons. Florida claimed titles in 2010, '11 and '14.
What makes this year unique is how well the Gators are playing entering their most important series of the season. Florida has won 10 consecutive SEC games and is hitting .314 (95-for-314) in May.
"I never lost faith that we weren't going to hit,'' O'Sullivan said. "It's been challenging, starting in the league 0-3. It's been an enjoyable season for me, it really has. We've had some really, really great stories within our team."
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While the starting rotation of Faedo,
Brady Singer and
Jackson Kowar has served as the team's backbone, other parts took longer to develop.
Michael Byrne emerged as the closer.
Christian Hicks has been invaluable as a versatile infielder and filled in nicely at third when starter
Jonathan India missed time with an elbow injury. Outfielder
Ryan Larson resurrected his career as a senior.
Mark Kolozsvary produced at catcher in the absence of starter Michael Rivera, expected to return to the lineup as the designated hitter this weekend. Rivera has missed more than a month after surgery to repair a broken bone in his left hand.
Oh, and junior
JJ Schwarz finally started to hit like Schwarz can. His game-winning grand slam against South Carolina on April 22 launched UF's current 10-game SEC win streak. Schwarz is hitting .417 (20-for-48) with five homers and 19 RBIs in the last 14 games.
"We've always felt like we had the team to do it,'' junior shortstop
Dalton Guthrie said. "We just weren't playing well early. Now we're doing what we should be doing."
Meanwhile, Faedo has done nothing to spoil his prospects as a first-round draft pick in the June MLB amateur draft. He enters Thursday's start with a 7-1 record, 2.33 ERA and an average of 10.69 strikeouts per nine innings.
"He's been our rock all year," Larson said. "Not just him, Brady on Saturday and Jackson on Sunday. It doesn't get much easier for the other teams. I'm glad we don't have to face them."
Instead, that task falls to a Kentucky lineup that is one of the best in the SEC. The Wildcats have thrived under first-year head coach Nick Mingione, the former Mississippi State assistant.
Junior infielder Riley Mahan is the reigning SEC Player of the Week after batting .667 (10-for-15) with three doubles, a triple, three home runs and eight RBIs in a victory over Indiana and three-game sweep of Tennessee.
The Wildcats closed their non-conference schedule with a win over Northern Kentucky on Tuesday night, finishing undefeated at home against non-conference opponents (16-0) for the first time since 1979.
"We haven't had a whole lot of success against Kentucky,'' O'Sullivan said. "Obviously, the ultimate goal is to win a national championship, but this is one of the goals that we set out every year to do. I don't think it's going to be easy. I've got a great deal of respect for Kentucky."
The Gators have not won a series over the Wildcats since 2012. On the flip side, Kentucky is a much better team at home (26-5) compared to the road (10-10).
Larson and fellow senior
Frank Rubio are the only players left on Florida's roster who earned a championship ring in 2014 when the Gators last claimed the SEC regular-season title. What once seemed unlikely is very real.
Multiple players said the plan is simple for this weekend's series: keep doing what they have been doing. Winning will take of the rest.
"That would be a great way to cap off my career,'' Rubio said. "Playing in our house, we've got to take care of the series, first and foremost."
If they do, the Gators will add a high point to the regular season just as easy to identify as the low mark.
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