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Florida Gators Baseball Preview: Bullpen needs to show up vs Jacksonville

By Benjamin Henderson

May 26, 2022; Hoover, AL, USA; Florida pitcher Brandon Neely fields a bunt and throws to first to force out a Texas A&M batter in the SEC Tournament at the Hoover Met in Hoover, Ala., Thursday. Texas A&M defeated Florida 10-0. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr.-The Tuscaloosa NewsSports Sec Baseball Tournament Texas A M Vs Florida
May 26, 2022; Hoover, AL, USA; Florida pitcher Brandon Neely fields a bunt and throws to first to force out a Texas A&M batter in the SEC Tournament at the Hoover Met in Hoover, Ala., Thursday. Texas A&M defeated Florida 10-0. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr.-The Tuscaloosa NewsSports Sec Baseball Tournament Texas A M Vs Florida /
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They say that all is well that ends well, and seven times out of eight this year things have ended well for Florida Gators baseball. They are hitting at will and are in the top five nationally in multiple offensive categories.

And while the starting pitching has also done relatively well for Florida, there is one possible weakness that has popped up for the Gators to begin the season.

Florida Gators Baseball: Just throw strikes

Florida’s first four games, all wins, saw the Gators allow no more than three runs, and none of those runs were charged to the bullpen.

That all changed last week against USF when Blake Purnell, Fisher Jameson, and Anthony Ursitti teamed up to have an epic meltdown and surrender seven runs in the ninth inning to give Florida Gators baseball its only loss of the season.

It’s never good in baseball to dwell on one game when Florida will have over 50 this season, but lost in the sweep of Cincinnati was the fact that none of Florida’s relievers had a good outing:

  • Ryan Slater – 2.2 innings, three runs on two hits, four walks, and one hit batter
  • Tyler Nesbit – 0.2 innings, no runs allowed but walked two batters and had a wild pitch
  • Blake Purnell – Had a good outing in the Friday game, 0.2 innings, no runs, no hits, and a strikeout. He followed that on Sunday by facing two batters where he walked one and hit the other.
  • Nick Ficarrotta – 2 innings, one run on two hits, and one hit batter
  • Cade Fisher – 1.2 innings, two runs on five hits and one walk
  • Brandon Neely – 2.2 innings, two runs on two hits and a walk

This brings us to the two-game, home-and-home set Florida has against the Jacksonville Dolphins. Historically, Jacksonville can be a tough team to beat. Last year they had a win over FSU and Florida only beat them 1-0.

Currently they are 5-3, coming off a four-game sweep of Siena. Jacksonville also lost to FSU 11-2 last week.

Jacksonville can scratch across runs as they have at least six runs in six of their eight games, even though they only have one guy currently hitting over .300 (Chandler Howard is right at .300) and their team batting average is .229 (239th in the country)

The Dolphins are scoring runs because with 47 walks drawn this season, Jacksonville is top 25 in the country in walks drawn.

This is where the bullpen has to step up these next two games. As always, these midweek games require bullpen depth to be successful. Whoever gets tabbed just needs to pound the strike zone as Jacksonville isn’t a power threat to leave the yard.

The Dolphins have seven home runs all season.

Florida Gators baseball hit eight in a single game.

Florida will be favored to pull of the two-game sweep. But as they learned against USF, the game isn’t over until you acquire 27 outs.

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