Baseball vs. FAU, Wed 3/8, 6:00 pm

I was really surprised Sully used both Tejeda and Slater tonight but I suppose the rain had something to do with that and Tejeda struggled thru 3. So what does Sully have in the tank for Wednesday? Sully did say he will use Abner again if needed. He didn't use Fisher so I guess he comes in to close. I have no idea who the starter will be. The good news is we won the first game so hang on tight this one will probably get crazy. I think the main focus of innings should come from Ursitti, Nesbitt, Abner, Hartzog and Fisher and give Ursitti the start. I don't expect any of them to go more than 2 innings though. If this doesn't work it goes to Arroyo, Purnell and Jameson. Hopefully now you get the drift what's coming Wednesday.
....On the other hand wouldn't it be amazing if we got surprised to see Coppola come in for 2-3 innings. One can only hope.

 

Other than the weekend starters, the pitching is a mess. Not sure Neely is closer material. Please, please, keep Purnell in warm-up mode but don't bring him in. Same with Jameson. Have no idea about Wednesday, but we only lost 3 midweek games last year and we've already lost 2 this season. This offense is the best I can ever remember, but if the pitching doesn't get figured out, it won't matter.

 

Let's take away a positive from last night.....Abner came in and struck out their best hitter on three very nice sliders.

 

Start Fisher ! He may be a top 2 pitcher on this staff . He’s strong and tough - throws strike and gets after hitters ! Love this kid ! Pitches with confidence. He will give us 90 pitches

 

Sully in his post game made it clear that he is being extremely careful with Cade Fisher and not overtaxing him early in the season wanting him to be strong at the end of the season - even if it means losing a few games. Think he said Fisher may throw an inning tonight. Really like the way he competes on the mound - would be in the weekend rotation at most other schools.

 

We were very lucky that we run ruled Miami on Sunday, not having to use Fisher in the 9th. It wouldn't surprise me if he starts him tonight and let's him go once through the lineup.

In the event that one of our weekend starters is sidelined, Fisher looks like he would move into that slot and getting him prepared to start is a good thing.

 

What is the word on Coppola? Has anyone seen him throwing ?

 

The most we see of Coppola is the pregame National Anthem where the team all lines up on the field. Coppola is almost always the second from the right and wearing a blue top over his uniform. That's all I know. Hope that helps.

 

I even felt Sully shut that question down about Fisher starting. He jumped in with the feeling no not even going to entertain a question like that, don't even think about it, not going to happen.

 

Saw him throwing on the turf field with Kopp and the trainer before Sunday's game. Throwing on flat ground from maybe 45-60 feet - everything seemed fluid to my untrained eye.

 

Sully has said he is throwing and getting his work in but that sounds better that he is actually throwing warmups so others would see his progress.

 

Just a point of reference--in 2017 we had lost 4 midweek and 1 Saturday game before the SEC portion of the season started. That season turned out ok as I recall LOL

 

Agree - And last year with only 2 midweek losses, we lost 24 games total, middle of the pack in the SEC and didn't even get out of our own Regional. Still nice to win those midweek games because most of them are against in-state competition.

 

Since we won last night I don't think this is any kind of must win in Sully's eyes when it comes to pitching choices. He made it clear last night when he brought in Slater after starting Tejeda. That said it would be nice if we won this game some how so we have a chance to go on a little 7 game winning streak before 13-0 Alabama gets here next week. Alabama doesn't play anyone worth even discussing before SEC play starts so they could be undefeated when they get here and would be nice to set them back a few losses when they do.

 

Thanks , 87 and Observer

 

Somebody better go let @shane4three know that Nesbitt is starting tonight. I hope he is in route so he can soak in every pitch.

 

Now before anyone starts trying to judge Nesbitt on his performance tonight, please keep this into context. Most of his opportunities in fall and spring scrimmages has only been for two innings at a time that I have seen. And many of them were 1 good inning and 1 shall we say not so good inning. I will be extremely pleased if Nesbitt gets thru 3 innings tonight and only gives up 3 runs or less. Anything more is gravy and I would hope Sully gets him out early on a good note. Yes this is Gator pitching and yes I'm setting the bar pretty low here.

 

Nesbitt had 20 appearances and 2 starts last year. He was one of the guys I thought would take a nice step forward this year. Maybe it starts tonight.

 

1st in saying “thank you” to Gatorgal today. Gal, I very much appreciate the work you do. I don’t contribute to these baseball game threads, but I’m always lurking/following the posts. Please know that your efforts are very much appreciated. Go Gators!