Kevin O'Sullivan discusses Florida baseball's Game 1 win over Auburn

"Yeah, I was watching — he just didn't have his normal command. I mean, he's really good. It's just one of those nights, you know? We all have them. And I just so happened to be tonight. But we knew going in. There's a reason why he started on Fridays, and you guys will see another outstanding starter tomorrow, and then you'll see another outstanding starter on Saturday. They still haven't used Saunders or Sanders out of the pen yet.

"So you'll see this is going to be a very challenging weekend, especially for our hitters, because we're going to face as good a rotation as we're going to see all year long. I'm sure people say that about us when we're going good. I said that about Ole Miss, and there are plenty of others in our league that have really good starters. But certainly, Auburn is one of them."

What was the conversation with Aidan when he was in trouble?

"I said, 'Just limit the damages, make some pitches, trust your defense behind you.' That was really it. You know, when I go out to the mound, I don't usually stay out there very long — usually short to the point. Sometimes I go out there and it looks like he might be running out of gas a little bit.

"I thought that he'd gotten to that point. It was a short week. Maybe just give him a little bit of a breather and take a couple deep breaths and just battle through it. And he did. He was outstanding."

How much does a play like Jones' hit energize you guys for the rest of the game?

"I felt like we were at one hit away or two from opening it up, and I knew they were going to make a run at some point — and they did in the seventh. But Ernie came in and did a really good job. If you look at it, I think he ran a couple 2-0 counts to some hitters, and maybe a couple weeks ago, it would have been a four-pitch walk.

"So that's two outstanding outings for Ernie in a row. So really good to see that."

What makes Aidan such a good pitcher out there for you guys?

"I was talking to the guys who were doing a game on TV tonight, and I think I was talking to Gregg Olsen about it, and he's like a throwback. He just pitches, you know? You know, everybody wants to see people throw 97, 98, and they get all enamored by that, but 91 to 94 with command, that's the reason why he was a freshman All-American.

"He throws any pitch at any time, and he throws the fastball on both sides. His misses are small. You know, he's a pitcher. It's the best way I could describe it. He pitches, and he never gets rattled. He's got great poise.

"And the interaction that he and Liam (Peterson) have is really cool. You know, they support each other. Like, I know Aiden will be talking to Liam before his start tomorrow, and he'll tell him what he thought and what he saw.

"And I thought, once again, I thought (Karson) Bowen did an outstanding job behind the plate. Because sometimes when we get really good pitching, the catcher doesn't really get much credit, but he certainly did a great job tonight, too."

Do you think Aiden has changed his approach since becoming the Game 1 starter?

"I think he's been good the whole time, but I don't want to put too much on it because he's only done it twice, right? And every game is important. Your Thursday starter for this weekend is important. Your Friday starter is important. Your Saturday starter is important.

"If you can get some length from your starter in Game 1, then you don't blow your bullpen, right? So now, Liam's coming off arguably the best outing of his career last weekend, going to seven innings and only striking out four. But he pitched, so I'm looking forward to hopefully watching him do his thing tomorrow night."

Is there anything you noticed in Liam's last start that you to see him replicate?

"I think he threw 71% strikes? I think that pretty much sums it up. I don't think he'd walk anybody. With his stuff, he's got four pitches that are all plus. There's a reason why he's going to be a first-round pick. And instead of reaching back and trying to maybe overexert himself at times, he stayed within his delivery.

"Like I said, anybody — I don't care how hard you throw or how, whatever — if you have command and you throw 71% strikes, you're going to have success. And he certainly did."

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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida baseball's Kevin O'Sullivan discusses Game 1 win over Auburn