SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT

May 20, 2025

Kevin O'Sullivan

Bobby Boser

Hoover Metropolitan Stadium

Florida Gators

Postgame Press Conference

Florida 11, South Carolina 3

KEVIN O'SULLIVAN: I thought we played a pretty complete game. We got out of a bases loaded jam there in the first and only gave up one, so that was key to us getting off to a good start. We swung the bats extremely well. Had some guys playing out of position, and I don't think we made any errors today. We're just excited about the opportunity to play Ole Miss tomorrow.

Q. Bobby, what's it like being the catalyst of your offense and just hitting that three-run home run in the second, what was the pitch that you sequenced there in that at-bat?

BOBBY BOSER: I was just looking for a heater over the plate, something good up in the zone. I take a lot pride in being able to lead this offense, leading off the game, and I think I do a pretty good job of getting the guys going and just opening up a few of these guys from there.

Q. For both of you guys, what do you think has contributed to this turnaround that you guys have experienced after the first half of SEC play to what you're doing now?

TY EVANS: Probably just the love that we got for each other, man. I feel like in order to make kind of a comeback like this, you've got a core group of guys that love each other, willing to fight for each other, and I think that's definitely what we have.

BOBBY BOSER: Day in and day out, just continuing to fight with these guys. Just creating that gel, creating the flow. I think we've done a pretty good job coming back and continuing to fight, so just hoping to continue that.

Q. Ty and Bobby, what's it like to see guys like Barlow, Roland and Rodriguez just go out there and shove today?

BOBBY BOSER: It's great. We needed them to step up this game. Pretty down on starting pitching right now just for short rest. Needed a few guys to step up, and they did their job.

TY EVANS: Absolutely. Being in the tournament the last couple years, you definitely need depth, and you need guys that don't throw near as much to kind of go deeper at times, so we were able to do that today and save a little arms for tomorrow for sure.

Q. Same question I asked the players. From your view, what's contributed to the turnaround for you guys and how have you gotten to this point?

KEVIN O'SULLIVAN: Well, I think it all goes back to last summer. A couple weeks before the draft, I had a really long talk with Ty, and he had an opportunity to sign professionally and came back. Colby did the same thing, decided to come back. Luke Cayman, who was sophomore eligible, decided to come. Pierce Coppola decided to come back.

So I think it really started back then. When we got all four of those guys back, we felt like not only were we going to get really good players back, but our leadership was going to be special.

Obviously, we didn't draw it up the way we wanted to, but they believed in themselves, and the turnaround that we've gone through is -- it could have gone one of two ways. It could have ended up being a historically bad season for us or it could have ended up being a terrific story.

We just started to play a little bit better in spite of the injuries, and we've continued to do that.

But it really started last July, a couple weeks before the draft when those guys all decided to come back.

Q. Coach, what did you think about Blaine Rowland? He seems to be another freshman pitcher, never seems to be fazed or doesn't let the moment get too big for him. He goes out there and goes, I think it was three and two-thirds today, and gives you guys a lot more options going forward this week.

KEVIN O'SULLIVAN: Yeah, I mean, it's another great example, as long as you throw strikes and able to change speeds and it's a big ballpark. Obviously, he was playing a little bit smaller today because of the wind, but he just continues to throw strikes and doesn't hurt himself. He fields his position really well. It was really important for us to have a game like this today because now we haven't used Jake since last Thursday when he threw 29 pitches. We got our No. 1 going tomorrow in Liam. We can extend Jacob if need be.

We're in as good a shape as can be pitching-wise going into tomorrow's game.

Q. Coach, Brody helping the pitching staff out today, how do you feel about what he's done defensively, and also today, offensively, just having that home run in the fifth, that just blew up you guys moving 11 spots today. How do you feel about Brody has been a big help since the fall?

KEVIN O'SULLIVAN: Yeah, Brody, he's played in a lot of big games for us over the last couple years. Going back to super regional last year against Clemson, he had a huge pick off, at first base, a bunt situation, that sometimes gets overlooked because that was one of the -- probably one of the most exciting games that people have seen. It was a back-and-forth game, but that play sometimes gets overlooked.

But he's caught in some big games for us. Obviously, everybody is disappointed about what happened with Luke because of the season he was having. But it's the same old saying, next man up. He did a really nice job tonight behind the plate, and obviously, he can swing the bat as well as anybody in our lineup.

Q. How important was it for your offense to respond after South Carolina cut it to four in the eighth, maybe made it a little bit of a ballgame, but to come out and put four on the board to really put it out of reach?

KEVIN O'SULLIVAN: Yeah, anytime you can score after your opponent scores, the momentum goes into South Carolina's dugout and now all of a sudden, it comes back into our dugout. So it's really important. And really, we talk to our hitters all the time, and our pitchers. If we can get to a point where we can -- instead of a four run lead, get to a five run lead, so the opposing team cannot tie the game with one swing of the bat. That inning was obviously really important for us.

Q. How have you seen the bullpen in particular step up over the last couple weeks?

KEVIN O'SULLIVAN: Yeah. I mean, Luke McNeillie is a huge part of that. Obviously today, Blaine was a huge part of that. C-Rod kept throwing strikes there at the end, didn't make it interesting. We've got a lot of guys that stepped up. But that's what you need in postseason play. You're not going to get to Omaha unless starting pitching is in place, you have a guy at the end, you've got some guys that can bridge the gap to your closer. You've got to play good defense, and you have to have timely hitting, and you've got to hit with runners on base. Fortunately enough for us, we for the most part have been playing sound baseball over the last six weeks or so.

Q. Coach, obviously this team has had to face a lot of hardships from the beginning to the end with injuries. How have you seen these injured players continue to support their team off the field?

KEVIN O'SULLIVAN: That's a good question. They're a tight-knit group. Last Thursday I believe it was when Luke got hit in the wrist, you could almost feel the dugout get a little deflated. Then the next inning, Justin takes a ground ball off his finger, and it was like musical chairs moving things around.

Then we've got to go to Blake Brookins, who we were hoping to red shirt, but we had nobody left on the bench. When we played Texas, the Saturday game, we literally -- when Justin went down with an illness before the game, we literally had nobody on the bench other than three players that we were hoping to red shirt.

Then Blake gets a double and it's a great story. It's just one of those things that everybody has to deal with injuries, but when you lose your catcher and then your shortstop in Colby who we hope to get back for the regionals, and Cade Kurland who's one of our leaders for the entire year, you lose Kyle Jones for the entire year who played maybe three or four games, you're losing the whole middle of your defense, four of your top five hitters arguably, but then guys keep stepping up just like Hayden Yost steps up today and everybody else steps up, and it's been that type of year for us.

We never want to use it as an excuse. There's a standard at Florida and we just had to persevere through it. We still have a long ways to go, but certainly we put ourselves in position not even just to get in the tournament, but we're in discussion to host. We'll see what we need to do. It's been a lot of fun. It really has.

But they've got bigger goals ahead of them, so hopefully we can stay healthy just enough to put out a lineup.

Q. You guys have Ole Miss tomorrow. You already played them in the series earlier this year. Anything you can take from that series or is it clean slate tomorrow?

KEVIN O'SULLIVAN: They're a different -- we played them early in the year, so it's a totally different Ole Miss team and we're a totally different Florida team. I don't know how much we can take away from that series. They're talented. They're older. I'm assuming they're going to throw their No. 1. We've got Liam going for us. They're well rested. They've had a great year. So we'll just go out and play tomorrow and see how it goes.