Why Florida Baseball is peaking at the perfect time

On the mound, McDonald began the season as a solid bullpen piece. However, since his emergence as a hitter, his game on the mound has also elevated.

In McDonald’s last three outings, he has allowed only two runs from six hits and registered 11 strikeouts in 10.2 innings.

“He had Tommy John, and it was last year; he wanted to concentrate on his pitching,” said Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan when asked what McDonald is doing differently as a hitter. “He was good in the fall, but there were some other guys who maybe swung the bat a little bit better.

“Maybe some people may question, 'why didn't you hit him earlier?' But in all fairness, some other guys had played well… I think it's easy to second-guess since he's having so much success, but better late than never.”

Since joining the lineup 10 games ago, he is 16-for-40 with 14 RBIs, four doubles and five home runs.

Roster becoming healthy

The Gators have had one of the most chaotic seasons in college baseball.

Florida’s series win against Kentucky was UF’s first home series win since the start of conference play.

It seemed UF was in decline after going 2-7 in a pivotal nine-game stretch, but the Gators have rebounded at the right time, winning back-to-back series against Oklahoma and Kentucky.

Besides the Gators’ schedule easing slightly, another reason for the latest turnaround is that UF has gotten healthy.

Freshman outfielder Cash Strayer finally returned to the lineup after breaking his hand against Arkansas. Over the weekend against UK, he went 3-for-6 at the plate.

Florida’s top reliever, Jackson Barberi, who did not pitch against UK, is also healthy once again, as he was available for the final game against the Wildcats.

However, a day after Kyle Jones walked off Kentucky in the series opener, he missed the rest of the weekend due to turf toe.

“Once we get Kyle back from the turf toe this weekend and get Barbs back, who is healthy. It might be the first time all year that we have been 100% healthy, which is exciting for me,” O’Sullivan said. “Cade Kurland started the season with an oblique. It would be nice to have a healthy weekend.”

Reach Florida Gators writer Andrew Abadie at AAbadie@usatodayco.com or on X (formerly Twitter) at @AndrewAbadie. You can also find him on Facebook at Andrew Abadie Sports Reporter or on Instagram @andrewabadie_sports.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: How Florida baseball found its groove when it needed it most