Kevin O'Sullivan talks focus, intensity after Game 1 win vs Texas A&M

"Caden McDonald, what a great story that is. He continued to work hard. You’ve watched all of our games. We’ve struggled in the bottom half of the order. So we tried to do some different things today, and it worked out.

"But the underlying message is that as you continue to work hard, you’re a good teammate, and when you get your opportunity, things like this tend to happen. So I’m pleased with him. He'll be in the lineup again tomorrow."

On bullpen usage and late offense

"Huge, the way things set up, that’s one of the things that’s been hurting us. We’ve been having to go to the pen so early, and one thing affects the other.

"Karson moves the ball. He doesn’t strike out. Then Cade does the same thing in the eighth and adds another run and a couple of other runs. To score four there in the eighth was huge. We didn’t have to use McNeillie. We didn’t have to use Josh.

"The thought process was that if we had a four-run lead, it was probably going to go to Josh and not mess around. But scoring those four runs in the eighth was huge for us. Then we didn’t have to throw a couple of those guys. Some of those guys who threw on Tuesday are getting an extra day's rest."

On momentum and team mindset

"We won the first game last weekend, too. We’re facing a really good pitcher tomorrow. It was good to get the first one out of the way. It can be a bit head-scratching when we play the way we did on Tuesday and then beat Texas A&M, one of the best teams in the country. Hopefully, we can continue on this trend.

"We talked about it yesterday at practice. We had a really good team meeting. It’s a 12-game season moving forward. I know we have a game against North Florida, but it's one pitch at a time, one inning at a time, one game at a time. Don’t look too far ahead. Don’t look behind.

"We just could not let Tuesday’s game or last weekend against Auburn leak into this weekend. We just cannot let that happen. Every game is a game in itself. They came out with the right attitude tonight. They were focused."

On dugout behavior and focus

"There were some things going on in the dugout that kind of take away from concentration and focus, with the overhead clapping and stuff like that, doing stuff at second base after doubles. There are some things we've gotten away from our identity a little bit.

"Not to take away from the fun. I want them to enjoy the game. But sometimes when you’re not playing well, those things need to be addressed. I thought the focus tonight was as good as it’s been in a while."

On sending King back out for the eighth

"He gets upset with me every time I take him out. He did last week, too. If you look at Kellner's numbers, the nine-hole hitter, he’s got more walks than strikeouts. At that point, I was trying to avoid a two-inning save by Josh. It was a roll of the dice. If somebody would have gotten on, I would have gone to Josh in the eighth because it was only a two-run game.

"It was just a gut feel. That's what makes this game so interesting. You can make decisions, and they turn out right, and you want to be right most of the time. You can make decisions, and you’re not right. I had a gut feel with the way Kellner can control the strike zone, and the way Aidan was pitching, that getting the leadoff hitter in the eighth was vital."

On King’s emotion

"We’ve got to get that under control a little bit. I don't know the whole story. There’s nothing wrong with having emotion, but it’s got to be handled in a different way. I didn’t talk about it tonight. I’ll talk about it tomorrow because I want him to enjoy the game.

"The last thing you want to do is get the other team excited. If we go into the ninth inning with a two-run game, why would we want to do that? I understand the emotion. It just needs to be done in a different way, maybe toward our team."

On King’s velocity and stamina

"I was watching in the seventh. Usually, you can tell when he starts getting tired, he starts falling behind in the count. He didn’t fall behind in the seventh. He didn’t have any drop in velocity. That did play into it a lot."

On urgency and consistency

"Tomorrow’s a new game. We’re facing a really good pitcher. I’m pleased about tonight, but I don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves. You look at the standings, they're all bunched up. I don't remember there ever being this much parity in our league. We’ve got to show professionalism and be ready to go."

On managing King late and pitch counts

"I had David (Kopp) talk to him. I knew what the answer was going to be. I was thinking about some other things, offensively, if we had to pinch-hit here, or who we would put in the outfield if it came to a key spot. He was going to want to go back out.

"Last week, when I took him out, he said he could go more. Liam said the same thing. We’re getting to that part of the season where managing pitch counts gives you the opportunity to extend a guy in a game like this. You can’t do this in Week 4, 5 or 6 and ask a starter to go 100-plus pitches all the time. I don’t know if he’s gone 100 pitches this year. If he has, he’s just touched it. We’ve been careful about pitch counts. Just one of those nights."

On Billy Barlow’s outing

"Fell behind a couple of hitters, got right back on the saddle and didn’t walk anybody. Duer’s a good hitter, stayed on the ball, hit it in the six hole. The play Cade Kurland made up the middle was a really nice play, too."

On team preparation and identity

"They responded really well to our conversation. I said we kind of lost our identity a little bit. We usually have guys that are baseball players; they bear down.

"We went through the lineup yesterday. You ask who their center fielder is, where he’s hitting, and who leads off, and you get blank stares. You’ve got to know your opponent inside and out. Know the names, positions, who the threats are, who can run. School’s out now, so they’re going to have time to prepare.

"I brought up the quote from Derek Jeter about preparation: 'Preparation allows you to perform under control. When you’re not prepared, it brings anxiety and you’re not ready for your opponent.' We’ll continue to prepare them the best we can."

On SEC parity and clean execution

"This league this year, there’s so much parity. Every mistake gets magnified — mental mistakes, physical mistakes, walks in key moments. Tonight was one of those clean games. We made one error, but that was a tough play. We didn’t walk anybody.

"That’s the biggest fear with A&M. You walk a guy, then someone hits a gap, and then the big bats come up, and they can score in bunches."

On player growth and clubhouse impact

"Every player in that locker room goes through something personally. (Cyr) went through a difficult time last year, but you can feel his energy. He’s having fun, and it’s rubbing off on the other players. A game like tonight, where Caden gets three hits, that’s a morale booster for everybody. It couldn’t happen to a better teammate.

"We’ll see. It’s one game at a time. Happy about tonight, but tomorrow won’t be a cakewalk."

Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida baseball HC Kevin O'Sullivan quotes after Texas A&M Game 1