SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT

May 26, 2021

Kevin O'Sullivan

Hoover Metropolitan Stadium

Florida Gators

Postgame Press Conference

Florida 13, Mississippi State 1

THE MODERATOR: We're now joined by Coach O'Sullivan. Coach, before we take questions, could you give us your general thoughts on the game today.

KEVIN O'SULLIVAN: I think it was probably our most complete game that we played in a while, obviously. Offensively every starter got a hit. Chris Armstrong had a really big at bat in the second. Jud, I thought, was seeing the ball really well today. Sterlin Thompson had really good at bats. Josh Rivera had four hits. We got production from everybody up and down the lineup. I thought we played pretty good defense for the most part. Hunter Barco was outstanding against a really good lineup.

Q. I'm going to keep asking you about these short rests, guys, but it seems to be working. Hunter said he didn't feel like he had his best stuff, but he was able to get weak contact today. Was there anything in the scouting report that he knew to be aggressive or these guys were going to be aggressive early in the count?

KEVIN O'SULLIVAN: Yeah, they were aggressive. We knew that going in. Obviously, we hadn't had a chance to play Mississippi State this year, but those two guys at the top of the order kind of make them go. I thought Hunter made some really good pitches in the first, and I thought the slider that was hit into right center gap by Allen, was a really good pitch. He made an in game adjustment and started throwing some fast balls on the inner half of those lefties. Left-handed hitters, I thought he did a really nice job.

Q. What does that do just for you guys? I know we talked about the bullpen being a little short, getting seven innings from Hunter and not having to use anyone out of the bullpen has to be great for you guys moving forward.

KEVIN O'SULLIVAN: Yeah, it certainly saves our pen. Getting those last couple runs in the seventh was big. It's one of those situations, you don't want to talk about it, but the guys kind of figured out there was a run rule there after seven, and we did a nice job offensively. Hunter made some pitches there at the end to kind of close it out.

Q. I've got to ask. I asked you about it whenever you did your in-game dugout interview. What's going on with your rental car?

KEVIN O'SULLIVAN: It was early in the morning, and we forgot where we parked it. It took us a while to find it. We had two different sets of keys, and it took us about 15, 20 minutes. We finally found it, but it just took a while.

Q. I imagine your slow walk to the mound was like your slow walk to the rental car.

KEVIN O'SULLIVAN: There was really no slow walk. We couldn't find it. We were walking aimlessly through the parking lot, and it was about 110 degrees. We finally found it. It's all good.

Q. Chris mentioned an aggressive approach at the plate. Is there anything else you saw from your hitters in your lineup this afternoon?

KEVIN O'SULLIVAN: No, I think it was just -- you know, baseball's a game of momentum. We kind of got on a roll early, and some guys were feeling really good about their swings. I'm just really pleased with how we played the last two days because obviously it could have went one of two directions, obviously, after the weekend at Arkansas.

We faced some really good arms today from Mississippi State, and our guys were just having really quality competitive at bats, and hopefully we can continue this momentum into tomorrow.

Q. And looking forward to tomorrow, is Franco the guy?

KEVIN O'SULLIVAN: Yes, he'll start tomorrow.

Q. You talked about the guys figured it out about the run rule. I guess you kept it quiet on purpose. Hunter was totally surprised when he threw the last pitch. He had no idea.

KEVIN O'SULLIVAN: Yeah, that's baseball 101. You don't talk about things like that. Certainly, the game could get flipped in a hurry too. We certainly didn't want to bring that up in the dugout. That's not the players' concern. Their only responsibility is to go out there and play as hard as they can and do the best job they possibly can. Other than that, all the other stuff is not what they need to focus on for sure.

Q. The lineup moves today, how much was that just in response to the starting pitcher from Mississippi State?

KEVIN O'SULLIVAN: The whole thing was to try to get Chris Armstrong's bat in the lineup. Not having him in the lineup yesterday, it just felt like there was a huge hole there in the middle. I talked to Chuck and the other coaches this morning, with the idea of putting Hickey at third. We probably would have made that move a while ago, but we couldn't do that because Mac hadn't been able to catch. With Mac coming back, it gives us more options and certainly gives us a chance to get Chris' bat in the lineup.

Q. That's where Nathan played in high school, right?

KEVIN O'SULLIVAN: Yeah, he played some infield. He could pretty much move around. He's caught, played first, played some third. I don't think he'd have an issue going out to left or right either. He's a good baseball player. This morning I didn't hesitate at all to see what it would look like, and it wasn't that hard of a decision, to be honest with you. It had as much to do with trusting Nathan at third as much as it did trying to get Chris' bat in the lineup.

Q. How many gloves has Eggy given him this year?

KEVIN O'SULLIVAN: Quite a few.