Florida baseball’s ugly weekend series against Alabama is all but a distant memory now.
It was 63 days ago when UF was no-hit by the Crimson Tide’s ace pitcher as part of the only weekend the Gators were swept this season.
However, Florida got sweet revenge against Tyler Fay and the rest of the Crimson Tide with a 13-3 run-rule to advance to the SEC tournament semifinals on Thursday, May 21.
Back in March, the Gators (39-18) mustered only 13 hits across three games against Alabama (37-19). Fast forward to the upset victory in the conference tournament, UF totaled 16 hits, which consisted of six doubles, a triple and two home runs.
“Obviously, we are swinging the bats as well as we have all year long,” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “We knew going into the game that Tyler was going to be difficult to deal with; obviously, he no-hit us a few months ago. We tried to be more aggressive early in the count, but the last time we played him, it was 0-1 the entire night. We just could never get anything going.
“The dugout got kind of excited in the second (inning) when we got that first hit.”
There’s no shortage of reasons as to why Florida is playing better. Perhaps the biggest difference between now and the weekend in Tuscaloosa was Ethan Surowiec and Brendan Lawson, as they combined for six hits.
During the series, Lawson went 0-for-4 and then missed the next two games, while Surowiec was a combined 0-for-9. This time, the duo was responsible for three doubles and both long balls.
Fittingly enough, it was Surowiec who logged the first hit against Fay.
“I had a long AB with him with a couple of foul balls and had some good takes in there,” said Surowiec, who was 4-for-5 at the plate. “I think it certainly got the team going. Showing that it is possible that we can get a hit off this guy.”
Lawson homered off Faye in the fourth inning, and one at-bat later, Surowiec did the same while facing a 3-0 count.
“A big part of my game plan is being on time and putting good swings on balls,” Surowiec said. “The home run was a 3-0 count, and I was a little surprised that I got the green light. I saw the ball in the middle of the plate, and it was something I could handle.”
As beneficial as it has been for Florida’s offense to have its two top hitters in sync, even more critical is that the duo has drastically improved on the left side of the field defensively. The duo committed a combined 21 errors, but neither has made one in the last five games.
“One thing that gets lost in the shuffle is that we made no errors today again,” O’Sullivan said. “So I think our defense is heading in the right direction.
“We’ve had our struggles defensively, but I think we have cleaned up a lot of that.”
The Gators now draw a rematch with Georgia, whom they won a road series against this season, but as Florida’s dominant response against Alabama showed, past results mean little once postseason play begins.
“What they have been able to accomplish and with the way they are playing with energy and they’re pitching as good as they have all year long – it’s certainly going to be a difficult task for us,” O’Sullivan said. “What happened during the regular season is going to have no bearing on Saturday.”
Reach Florida Gators writer Andrew Abadie at AAbadie@usatodayco.com or on X (formerly Twitter) at @AndrewAbadie. You can also find him on Facebook at Andrew Abadie Sports Reporter or on Instagram @andrewabadie_sports.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: From no-hit to no doubt: How Florida baseball blasted Alabama in SEC Tournament
Reporting by Andrew Abadie, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
