O'Sullivan, players talk Florida's series-opening loss to Ole Miss
· Yahoo Sports
Florida baseball head coach Kevin O'Sullivan, second baseman Cade Kurland and first baseman Ethan Surowiec spoke to the media after the Gators' series-opening loss to Ole Miss on Thursday night.
O'Sullivan was brief with his comments. He wasn't happy with his pitching staff giving up so many free bases and said that Florida needs longer. more efficient outings from its Friday night starter, Liam Peterson. Despite using five relief pitchers, O'Sullivan felt comfortable with where his bullpen is at moving forward through the weekend.
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Kurland and Surowiec were two of three players with three hits on the day — Kyle Jones being the other. Florida only had one hit outside of those three batters. The Gators got the leadoff man on five times. All three men expressed disappointment with Florida's inability to score multiple runs in those innings.
The message moving forward is to go back out there and fight for a series win.
Here's everything they said.
O’Sullivan on pitching struggles and free passes
"You know, obviously, we preach we’ve got to get at least five out of our starter, and he didn’t have great command tonight. Not many of the guys who threw tonight did, to be honest. We had 10 free passes — eight walks and two hit-by-pitches.
"In the third inning, we had hitters down 0-2 and 1-2 and ended up walking them. They just grinded out at-bats. And then obviously the home run hurt us — too many pitches left on left. Ernie’s got too good of stuff. You get into those counts, and you’ve got to throw fastballs after fastballs. He ran into one, but he only had three doubles and a home run all year long. It shouldn’t take that many pitches.
"But it was that third inning — back-to-back walks."
O’Sullivan on missed opportunities and key mistakes
"I thought we battled at the plate. Didn’t want to bring Jackson in — he only threw seven pitches — but we were trying to keep it a two-run game. If we get somebody on, and maybe somebody runs into one with the wind blowing out.
"But the pickoff there is just inexcusable. We’ve got the tying run at the plate. We go to the bench, bring Sam in, maybe he runs into one. But those mistakes at that point in the game — it hurts."
O’Sullivan on bullpen usage
"It’s fine. It was hard to manage the game from behind; that’s why we used so many guys. But nobody threw too many pitches where they’re not available again. Jackson threw seven. I just felt like if we could get a runner on, like we did the inning before, maybe somebody runs into a ball. But we’ve got to get a better start. It’s hard to play from behind. We threw 26 pitches in the first, 47 through two, and finished with 87 over three and two-thirds. That just makes it difficult."
O’Sullivan on Liam’s outing and expectations
"He’s our Friday night starter. Those are questions you’ll probably have to ask him."
O’Sullivan on offensive production
"Credit their starter — he had a good arm. They mixed and matched well. Once again, they won the free pass game. They only walked three guys. We’ve just got to do a better job commanding the baseball. Simple as that."
O’Sullivan on individual performances
"(Bowen) played great. Had a really good at-bat, a lot of extended at-bats. Ethan had a great night at the plate. Kyle Jones had three hits. Cade had three hits. But we face an All-American tomorrow, so it's going to be very similar to what the guy we saw at the end of the game. We're going to have to make some adjustments."
O’Sullivan on failing to capitalize
"We just couldn’t sustain good at-bat after good at-bat. We got some leadoff guys on, like you said. We just didn’t do much with it."
O’Sullivan on facing Hunter Elliott
"He’s an All-American. He’s been in tough spots, pitched in high-leverage situations. I told our team we’re going to face a good pitching staff, especially the starters. They’re really good. We’ll have our hands full. But this is SEC baseball — we’ve got to be ready to go."
Ethan Surowiec on facing former team
"Yeah, it’s definitely something, but you can’t let that take over. We just want to go out there and get a win. There are only three of these — they all count the same."
Ethan Surowiec on bouncing back after loss
"We’re a lot better team than we showed tonight. We’ll come back and win the series. It doesn't really fuel me anymore (than usual). We lost, at the end of the day."
Ethan Surowiec on facing Hunter Elliott
"Yeah, a super competitive guy. He's going to attack us, so we'd better be ready. We're just going to bear down and win a ball game.
Ethan Surowiec on missed opportunities
"We could’ve had some big hits later in innings, but it didn’t come. Luckily, it’s only one of three. We've got two more to go win."
Ethan Surowiec on his home run
"I think he started me with his bigger breaking ball. I took it. It was on the inner part of the plate and down. Then he missed with a fastball, left it over the middle, and that’s what our approach was. I put a good swing on it."
Ethan Surowiec on approach vs. shifts
"To be honest, I’m just up there hitting. I don’t worry about the external or change my swing. I like to let the ball get deep, and I can go the opposite way. If I think do that more, I get blown up on fastballs. Even if it's the opposite way, I'm out front on offspeed stuff.
"I'm not a director of the baseball. I'm a producer of hard contact."
Cade Kurland on good night at the plate
"Yeah, (I felt) good. I've been struggling at the plate. I could chalk it up to a number of things, but that's baseball, right? So you keep trucking along and compete every day."
Cade Kurland on coming back from injury
"Coming back from injury is kind of hard for anybody. You don't have the same time in the bank."
Cade Kurland on offensive struggles
"We have a great group of guys. We can hit. We have a great squad. I think I led off for four innings, and Kyle did the same. We just didn’t string together hits at the right time."
Cade Kurland on team message moving forward
"Forget about it, but bring that fire tomorrow. Like I said, we’ve got a great squad. We could have done things better offensively and defensively tonight — or on the mound. We’ll come out tomorrow and compete."
Cade Kruland on Karson Bowen throwing runners out
"He's a stud. That's what you want out of your catcher."
Cade Kurland on facing top pitching
"Just get in there and work the counts. He’s an established pitcher, but you treat him as any other guy."
Cade Kurland on his home run and momentum
"It was two strikes, so I was just battling. I kind of blacked out in the moment, honestly, but it felt good. We started to get it going. Credit to their lefty. He has a good pickoff move. It is what it is."
It’s everything. Missing time makes you appreciate playing. You’ve got to play every game like it’s your last."
Cade Kurland on returning from injury
"It’s everything. Missing time — granted, I missed most of last year, too — it really makes you appreciate playing. You play every game like it’s your last."
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida baseball post-game quotes: Series opening loss to Ole Miss