Baseball at Stetson, Tue 2/27, 6:30 pm

Painful…
Sometimes change is necessary here’s hoping Sully makes them for this weekend.
Loses aren’t always bad.

 

Atta boy Shelton!

 

Scored in only 1 inning and struck out 11 times (7 of them from 6-8 in the lineup).

 

That last out looked good off the bat.

 

First inning lost us this game. We will bounce back! Go Gators!

 

Got to pack it up and move on past this game—tomorrow is another day—got to be ready to play.

 

Giving up 5 in the first..dug ourselves in a hole so the whole game we were trying to catch up...frustrating

 

When will Cade be back? (I do not know what his injury is) Thank you.
GO GATORS!!!!

 

Have to see how a few of these pitchers handle adversity if they can comeback and get us thru some innings. Next week the midweek games are against FAU and UCF after the 3 day weekend in Miami. We need a solid night tomorrow against BCC and then get everyone ready for 5 tests in a row. We should learn a lot what this has got over the next 8 days. Kurland should be ready to go soon, hoping for this Friday. If Kurland sits tomorrow maybe will bring Thomas back to second and Shelnut back to third or try Albert at third.

 

He got hit in the hand during an AB. Kinda think Sully wasn't playing him mid-week as a precaution. If he's not in the lineup against Miami, the injury is probably more serious than it looked.

 

I was at this game. (I live in Deland). First inning is where this game really went sideways. Starting pitcher is a freshman. Who’s only pitched I think 2.2 innings so far this season. Definitely not one of our starters. We are playing five games in six days this week and I’m sure Sully is saving his best pitchers for the weekend series against Miami. Gave up five runs in the first inning and we’re playing from behind the whole time. Had a four run third inning for us with Cags hitting a homer and somebody else homer but ultimately we went stale after that.
Kind of crazy that we have to play two midweek games where we’re kind of forced to play our not yet tested pitchers to save our arms for the weekend.

 

It actually is very real. We have 36 losses to Stetson over the years, some by top quality Gator teams. They are a decent program that battles well most of the time, but the Gators generally handle them successfully. Tonight, the primary issue was a rookie who seems very promising, but couldn't get anyone out in the first inning. The secondary issue was that Stetson had a starter who pitched well for three innings, until he fell apart and got bombed and two relievers who won the game for them.

Five easy runs in two innings cost us one game, five easy runs in one inning cost us another. For the rest of the season, every game in which the Gator starter allows five or more easy runs in the first two innings will more often than not be a loss, but I have high hopes that won't happen often. When Gator opponents don't get a big free head start, the Gators will win most of the time.

Every year, it's necessary for Sully to figure out which pitchers he can rely on and that already is sorting itself out. McNeillie will get more tests to show he can pitch well, just as Fisher did. The next two weeks will clarify who is able to provide winning midweek starts and who can be productive out of the pen, but it will be another month before that begins to firmly settle. I see no need for a bunch of lineup changes, but Donay needs to be more productive at DH or be replaced, and when Kurland returns, Sully will have to decide whether Thomas- BA .190 in 21 AB- or Albert- BA .500 in 8 AB- starts at third. Both are experienced seniors and Albert may have an advantage on defense.

 

I had 2 of my career losses to Stetson.
But that ain’t saying much.

 

That's two losses with similar patterns. Fall behind in first two innings, rally in the early middle innings and then our bats go mostly dormant the final 4 innings. We Gator fans have grown used to the big comeback innings. It's early but some unproductive ABs in the bottom half of order. Some key situtions were a hit could have flipped the script but did not. Credit to a gritty Stetson team. Note: two more Ks for Donay. First test of the season comes up this weekend with trip to Coral Gables. We have to perform well in all phases to get the series.