Florida lost to Auburn Tigers 8-5 on Saturday, suffering from defensive errors that led to unearned runs. Blake Cyr hit two home runs, driving in all five of Florida's runs, prompting discussions about his lineup position.
Florida dropped the series against the Auburn Tigers on Saturday with an 8-5 loss, largely because of defensive miscues that spiraled into unearned runs stacking up.
Head coach Kevin O'Sullivan said he was disappointed with the team's defensive performance this weekend, especially knowing they can play better and had practiced the exact situations that went awry. One bright spot for Florida in this series was Blake Cyr's four home runs, including two on Saturday, to drive in all five runs. O'Sullivan said he'd consider moving Cyr into the clean-up spot in the lineup after this recent power surge.
Cyr said that he isn't changing his approach much and that his success stems from sticking to the plan laid out by the coaching staff. He admitted that this year has been a lot of fun for him, which is something he's focused on after off-the-field issues affected him last year.
Here's everything O'Sullivan and Cyr said after the loss on Saturday.
"Yeah. I mean, it started with Russ. We didn't get much length out of him again. He went four and two-thirds, which then leads you to have to go to Josh in the seventh. I just wanted to get through the seventh and use him in the eighth and ninth. But we weren't able to get through that fifth inning. It was disappointing. Win game one, and we scored three in the first.
"Their starting pitcher did a really, really nice job. Kind of kept us off balance. Kept telling our hitters, you've got to pick up one or the other — the fastball or the changeup — and he caught us in between and did a nice job there. Then, obviously, the four errors. I think we had more errors and hits going into the ninth, and that's not going to help you win many games.
"We gave up seven earned runs the entire weekend, and we lost the series. Quite honestly, I think, they out-competed us, so credit to Auburn."
"We gave up two earned runs yesterday and two earned runs today. If you have a crooked number in the error column with four, you're not going to win many games. So, it's unfortunate."
Florida lost to Auburn Tigers with a score of 8-5.
O'Sullivan expressed disappointment in the team's defensive performance, noting they could have played better.
Blake Cyr hit two home runs during the game against Auburn, contributing all five runs for Florida.
O'Sullivan mentioned he might consider moving Cyr into the clean-up spot in the lineup due to his recent power surge.
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"Extremely, extremely frustrating."
"I don't know. I have no idea. I mean, we take ground balls every day and stress the fundamentals. Stressed on chest-high throws. On Wednesday alone, we probably worked on bunt defenses for a good 20 or 30 minutes, and we had a bunt situation and threw the ball down the right field line. All you can do is just practice it until you get it right.
"We knew that these were going to be low-scoring games. Today turned out not to be that because a lot of the a lot of things that happened were self-inflicted. It's not like they weren't prepared. We knew with their starting pitching and our pitching, it would be low-scoring games. Like I said, we lose 8-5, and only two of the eight runs are earned.
"So to answer your question, it's extremely disappointing. But we're going to have to move on, and we have to just continue to try to get better. It's really that simple."
"Yeah. We'll talk about it. Karson's been a good out, but certainly Blake had a great weekend, a really good weekend."
"Basically, he said kind of the same thing that I'll probably answer most of your guys questions. They just out-gutted us. They just wanted it more. I mean, that's what today came down to: who really wants it more. And I mean, it hurts that that especially at home, they out-gutted us, man.
"That's really all he said. Super calm and straight to the point. They just wanted it more today."
"Yeah, man. It sucks. Like I hate to lose at home. We hate to lose at home. I mean, everyone that's a Florida fan, a part of this program, it's not fun to lose at home. You don't want to lose in front of your fans, and it's tough."
"I think the same thing comes down to we just get out-gritted on the days that we lose. I mean, man, like we're a really good ballclub. I don't think there's anyone that can say that we are not a good ball club and that we're super, super talented. Man, it's just some days we just get out-gritted, and I think that's all it comes down to."
"Honestly, I'm just sticking to my approach that we worked on pregame, and I mean these guys, you look at their all three of those guys ERAs and all the seasons that they're having. I mean, we had a game plan, and all I tried to do was execute our game plan, and it worked out for me.
"That's one thing, win or lose, I'm having a blast just to be here. My mentality this year has changed through the roof. I'm just so blessed to be able to come out here, play for the Florida Gators, or even just play the game of baseball every single day.
"I mean, the amount of people in this world who would love to be able to just come play baseball or even play for the Florida Gators. It means the world to me."
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Kevin O'Sullivan, Blake Cyr talk Florida baseball's loss to Auburn