The Gators have had too few hits this season such as freshman Kendrick Calilao's RBI triple on Friday night against Miami. (Photo: Piper Hansen/UAA Communications)
Lack of Offense Continues to Torment Young Gators
Saturday, February 23, 2019 | Baseball
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The good news from the Gators' series opener with Miami on Friday night at McKethan Stadium: they matched their offensive production from the previous two games combined.
The bad news: they only scored two runs on five hits as their dreadful start at the plate to open the 2019 season continued in a loss to the Hurricanes. Shortstop Brady McConnell and first baseman Kendrick Calilao (1 RBI) contributed four of the hits.
"In the first inning alone, we showed drag [bunt], we showed push [bunt]," UF coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. "We did a hit-and-run with Brady [McConnell], we fouled the ball straight back, which looked like a pretty good pitch to hit, and then we stole. So, we tried to do every possible thing to get our offense going, but we need more baserunners to get on so we can get some things going."
No. 3 Florida has struck out 35 times this week in three consecutive losses to South Florida, North Florida and Miami. For the season, the Gators are batting a measly .195 as a team with just one home run. McConnell (.357) and Calilao (.368) are the only regulars hitting above the Mendoza line.
"This week has been tough," junior pitcher Tyler Dyson said. "To be honest, it's been brutal, but we'll figure it out."
While UF (3-3) is a young team, the young players aren't the only ones to blame. Calilao is a freshman and McConnell is a sophomore, and they've had no trouble acclimating themselves to the lineup. What's most disturbing is that usually dependable veterans such as junior leadoff man Austin Langworthy (.154), junior cleanup hitter Wil Dalton (.120) and senior designated hitter Nelson Maldonado (.167) have failed to jumpstart the offense.
"If this is a marathon, after playing just [six] games, it equates to like a little over two miles. We've got 24 left to go," O'Sullivan said. "I don't know why the pressing would start this early. It's the start of the season. It should be fun. You should be relaxed and go out there and play hard. I don't see why that would be so hard to do at this point of the season."
The Gators had two opportunities against the Hurricanes (5-0) to post big innings, but they had to settle for a single run both times in their 5-2 loss.
McConnell doubled to right field to open the fourth inning. Calilao tripled him home with two outs, bringing up freshman Cory Acton with a chance to tie the game and build some more momentum. Instead, he struck out swinging.
Langworthy singled and McConnell doubled to open the sixth. An RBI groundout by Maldonado scored Langworthy and tied the game at 2. Dalton and Calilao grounded out to end the threat.
Miami starter Evan McKendry (7 IP, 1 BB, 9 SOs) kept the Gators off balance with his mix of fastballs, changeups and sliders. Daniel Federman picked up the save by throwing two scoreless frames.
Instead of anticipating the fastball and reacting to off-speed pitches, the Gators seemed indecisive, swinging and missing at off-speed pitches out of the zone and taking fastballs right through the heart of the zone. When they did make contact with fastballs, they were usually late.
"We took a lot of fastball for called strikes tonight," O'Sullivan said. "A lot. And we talked about that. You just can't be caught in between. The bottom line is timing is everything in hitting. If you're not on time for a fastball, then obviously you're going to be caught in between."
This has become a recurring trend for UF, and O'Sullivan wants to see his players pick a pitch and stay on it like they did throughout fall and spring practices.
On the other side, the Hurricanes put on an exemplary offensive display, cranking out five runs and 13 hits, including two long balls. They appeared to know exactly what they were looking for at the plate, and they seemingly never missed mistakes by Florida's pitchers. It was the kind of performance O'Sullivan wants his team to emulate.
"We have to get back to the basics, and we need to have some more competitive at-bats in the early innings so we can get some offense going," O'Sullivan said. "I think it was the fifth inning, this is multiple times through the order, and we went strikeout, strikeout, strikeout. Those types of things just can't happen."
On the mound, Dyson showed more control this week than he did in the season opener against Long Beach State, when he walked four batters in 3 1/3 innings. He walked just one batter and struck out three Hurricanes but lasted just four innings due to an elevated pitch count.
"Last year [against Miami], I had more strikeouts," Dyson said. "But this year, they were kind of just fouling them off. I thought I threw a lot of strikes tonight, and they were fouling them off and running the pitch count up. They put a good approach on."
The loss snapped Florida's steak of dominance against Miami, at least temporarily. The second game of the series is Saturday night. The Gators had won 12 of the last 15 games and 28 of the last 35. While the season's only six games old, O'Sullivan and Dyson both expressed frustration after the game.
"It's frustrating to lose, especially to these guys on our home field," Dyson said. "We've had success against them in the past."
They have two more chances this weekend to defend their home turf. The bats must wake up soon, or the Hurricanes will win their first series against UF since 2014 and their first in Gainesville since 2009.
"I think that we just got to keep on hitting," Calilao said. "It's part of the game. You're obviously going to get through your struggles, but it's coming to that time where we've got to step it up, and we've got to start hitting as a team."
The bad news: they only scored two runs on five hits as their dreadful start at the plate to open the 2019 season continued in a loss to the Hurricanes. Shortstop Brady McConnell and first baseman Kendrick Calilao (1 RBI) contributed four of the hits.
"In the first inning alone, we showed drag [bunt], we showed push [bunt]," UF coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. "We did a hit-and-run with Brady [McConnell], we fouled the ball straight back, which looked like a pretty good pitch to hit, and then we stole. So, we tried to do every possible thing to get our offense going, but we need more baserunners to get on so we can get some things going."
No. 3 Florida has struck out 35 times this week in three consecutive losses to South Florida, North Florida and Miami. For the season, the Gators are batting a measly .195 as a team with just one home run. McConnell (.357) and Calilao (.368) are the only regulars hitting above the Mendoza line.
"This week has been tough," junior pitcher Tyler Dyson said. "To be honest, it's been brutal, but we'll figure it out."
While UF (3-3) is a young team, the young players aren't the only ones to blame. Calilao is a freshman and McConnell is a sophomore, and they've had no trouble acclimating themselves to the lineup. What's most disturbing is that usually dependable veterans such as junior leadoff man Austin Langworthy (.154), junior cleanup hitter Wil Dalton (.120) and senior designated hitter Nelson Maldonado (.167) have failed to jumpstart the offense.
"If this is a marathon, after playing just [six] games, it equates to like a little over two miles. We've got 24 left to go," O'Sullivan said. "I don't know why the pressing would start this early. It's the start of the season. It should be fun. You should be relaxed and go out there and play hard. I don't see why that would be so hard to do at this point of the season."
The Gators had two opportunities against the Hurricanes (5-0) to post big innings, but they had to settle for a single run both times in their 5-2 loss.
Tough start to the series, but we'll play again tomorrow.
— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) February 23, 2019
RECAP: https://t.co/IrivHtnW4Z pic.twitter.com/dMu5N4mXGB
McConnell doubled to right field to open the fourth inning. Calilao tripled him home with two outs, bringing up freshman Cory Acton with a chance to tie the game and build some more momentum. Instead, he struck out swinging.
Langworthy singled and McConnell doubled to open the sixth. An RBI groundout by Maldonado scored Langworthy and tied the game at 2. Dalton and Calilao grounded out to end the threat.
Miami starter Evan McKendry (7 IP, 1 BB, 9 SOs) kept the Gators off balance with his mix of fastballs, changeups and sliders. Daniel Federman picked up the save by throwing two scoreless frames.
Instead of anticipating the fastball and reacting to off-speed pitches, the Gators seemed indecisive, swinging and missing at off-speed pitches out of the zone and taking fastballs right through the heart of the zone. When they did make contact with fastballs, they were usually late.
"We took a lot of fastball for called strikes tonight," O'Sullivan said. "A lot. And we talked about that. You just can't be caught in between. The bottom line is timing is everything in hitting. If you're not on time for a fastball, then obviously you're going to be caught in between."
This has become a recurring trend for UF, and O'Sullivan wants to see his players pick a pitch and stay on it like they did throughout fall and spring practices.
On the other side, the Hurricanes put on an exemplary offensive display, cranking out five runs and 13 hits, including two long balls. They appeared to know exactly what they were looking for at the plate, and they seemingly never missed mistakes by Florida's pitchers. It was the kind of performance O'Sullivan wants his team to emulate.
"We have to get back to the basics, and we need to have some more competitive at-bats in the early innings so we can get some offense going," O'Sullivan said. "I think it was the fifth inning, this is multiple times through the order, and we went strikeout, strikeout, strikeout. Those types of things just can't happen."
On the mound, Dyson showed more control this week than he did in the season opener against Long Beach State, when he walked four batters in 3 1/3 innings. He walked just one batter and struck out three Hurricanes but lasted just four innings due to an elevated pitch count.
"Last year [against Miami], I had more strikeouts," Dyson said. "But this year, they were kind of just fouling them off. I thought I threw a lot of strikes tonight, and they were fouling them off and running the pitch count up. They put a good approach on."
The loss snapped Florida's steak of dominance against Miami, at least temporarily. The second game of the series is Saturday night. The Gators had won 12 of the last 15 games and 28 of the last 35. While the season's only six games old, O'Sullivan and Dyson both expressed frustration after the game.
"It's frustrating to lose, especially to these guys on our home field," Dyson said. "We've had success against them in the past."
They have two more chances this weekend to defend their home turf. The bats must wake up soon, or the Hurricanes will win their first series against UF since 2014 and their first in Gainesville since 2009.
"I think that we just got to keep on hitting," Calilao said. "It's part of the game. You're obviously going to get through your struggles, but it's coming to that time where we've got to step it up, and we've got to start hitting as a team."
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