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Florida baseball won a high-scoring affair against the FIU Panthers, 17-11, on Tuesday night. After the victory, head coach Kevin O'Sullivan and left fielder Blake Cyr spoke with the media, touching on a powerful offensive performance and some up-and-down pitching.
Luke McNeillie started the game. O'Sullivan was pleased with his stuff, despite allowing a pair of early runs. He praised Ricky Reeth and Eli Blair, the latter making his season debut. Jackson Hoyt and Caden McDonald ran into some trouble, with the former failing to record an out, but Sully said that the performance was not indicative of how the team views the left-handed freshman. Sully was pleased with the pitching staff only walking two guys all night.
Offensively, things started out slow, but the Gators ended up scoring 14 runs with two outs, something both men praised. It's a much different offense than last year, and Cyr noted that the team has "different ways to score."
Being a Miami transfer, Cyr talked about the upcoming weekend series in Coral Gables, calling it just "another series" but admitting that the team will play with some extra fire against an in-state rival.
Here's everything they said after Tuesday's win.
"I think he's feeling fine. I think he's probably just a little rusty still. He probably just needs to get a couple more outings. Hopefully, he'll get sharp when we head down to Miami this weekend, but his stuff looked fine. We want to keep him around 40. That's exactly where he was at."
"No, it was just about the hit-by-pitch."
"Yeah, I thought he and Ricky (Reeth) both did (settle things down) after the guys they followed. I thought both of them threw the ball good."
"It was really good. I don't know how many runs we scored with two outs. Maybe somebody could tell me at some point, but it has to be close to double digits, because I know when we went to the bench and brought in Strip(ling), and he got that single, and we scored all those runs after that. And I think we scored maybe three the next inning. It was back-to-back seven-run innings."
"Yeah, it's really important. We'll see a couple more tomorrow. That was just a little disappointing with Jackson (Hoyt) because he's been throwing the ball good in the preseason, and he's got a good arm. But tonight was not indicative of what we think of him. So, he's going to have to move on and move beyond this outing."
"I don't know. At some point, you've got to take care of your own business. You can't control the weather. Both teams got to play in it, and Ricky Reeth figured out a way to get through his and Eli Blair figured out a way to get through his. Positive is we only walked two. It's a little bit of a different lineup because they run six left-handed hitters up there."
"I thought he had good at-bats like he always does. I thought Blake Cyr continued to swing the bat really good. Ethan had another good night at the plate. Cash Strayer got a knock. Lawson had a big double. Kyle Jones had a double with three RBIs. I think our offense was good tonight. The first couple of innings were a little slow to go, but after that we were pretty good."
"I would say I'm just going out there and having fun every day. Having Skip back is awesome. He's been great for the team. Even Slate, man, he's awesome. Just going out there and having fun every day."
"For sure. I'm a senior this year, and you never know when it's your last chance to be able to play baseball. I'm just going out there enjoying every single day. God gave me the opportunity to be out here every single day, so I got to take advantage of it."
"I'm just having fun. I just want to keep playing ball every single day."
"Yeah, I think we mash, that's for sure. Our offense is unbelievable. Probably one of the best I've been a part of. To your point of last year, I think the difference between this year and last year is this year we have so many different ways to score runs. It's not just home runs. Look at tonight. I don't know how many runs we scored with two outs, but it was an absurd amount. Fourteen runs with two outs. Come on. That's a special offense to be on, to score 14 runs with two outs."
"It was more of a mental thing for me last year, especially with it being my first full season back before my dad passed away. So it was a tough and long season for me, and I think it was an unbelievable, great journey that I needed to happen. I knew everything was going to be all right. I'm just playing the game that I love every single day. Nothing has changed. He's up there watching me. I think having last year, going through that, and then mentally being, it's okay. Just go be a kid out there and go have fun like you always do."
"I think it's been everything, especially Sully and the coaching staff. They do an unbelievable job inside the walls of the support. I wish everyone got to know how much they really do mean to the team and how much they help, other than baseball. This coaching staff and their support system, it means the world."
"I'm just excited. I made a lot of connections there in my two years in the city of Miami. So I'm excited to get back down to Miami. With the weekend, I just think it's another series. It's another team across those lines. We just want to go out there and win and compete every single inning, every single pitch. So that's really all it is when it comes to the game."
"Of course. Cuvet and I are really close. A lot of guys have left and gotten drafted, but Cuvet comes to mind."
"We're going to have some fire in us because it's an in-state team and they're good. We're going to be good. So I think just knowing that we're playing another really good team is all I'm really focused on. This is going to be a real competition.
"As long as we continue to do what we're doing and stay on all cylinders, I think we're going to be fine. I don't want to make it more than it really is. It really is just another weekend against a good ball club, and we're going to go down there and take care of business."
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 quotes after Game 1 win over FIU Panthers
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Luke McNeillie started the game. O'Sullivan was pleased with his stuff, despite allowing a pair of early runs. He praised Ricky Reeth and Eli Blair, the latter making his season debut. Jackson Hoyt and Caden McDonald ran into some trouble, with the former failing to record an out, but Sully said that the performance was not indicative of how the team views the left-handed freshman. Sully was pleased with the pitching staff only walking two guys all night.
Offensively, things started out slow, but the Gators ended up scoring 14 runs with two outs, something both men praised. It's a much different offense than last year, and Cyr noted that the team has "different ways to score."
Being a Miami transfer, Cyr talked about the upcoming weekend series in Coral Gables, calling it just "another series" but admitting that the team will play with some extra fire against an in-state rival.
Here's everything they said after Tuesday's win.
Sully on Luke McNeillie
"I think he's feeling fine. I think he's probably just a little rusty still. He probably just needs to get a couple more outings. Hopefully, he'll get sharp when we head down to Miami this weekend, but his stuff looked fine. We want to keep him around 40. That's exactly where he was at."
Sully on Tom Slater being tossed
"No, it was just about the hit-by-pitch."
Sully on Eli Blair's debut
"Yeah, I thought he and Ricky (Reeth) both did (settle things down) after the guys they followed. I thought both of them threw the ball good."
Sully on offense, season-high 17 runs
"It was really good. I don't know how many runs we scored with two outs. Maybe somebody could tell me at some point, but it has to be close to double digits, because I know when we went to the bench and brought in Strip(ling), and he got that single, and we scored all those runs after that. And I think we scored maybe three the next inning. It was back-to-back seven-run innings."
Sully on importance of finding a second lefty
"Yeah, it's really important. We'll see a couple more tomorrow. That was just a little disappointing with Jackson (Hoyt) because he's been throwing the ball good in the preseason, and he's got a good arm. But tonight was not indicative of what we think of him. So, he's going to have to move on and move beyond this outing."
Did the weather play a factor for Hoyt?
"I don't know. At some point, you've got to take care of your own business. You can't control the weather. Both teams got to play in it, and Ricky Reeth figured out a way to get through his and Eli Blair figured out a way to get through his. Positive is we only walked two. It's a little bit of a different lineup because they run six left-handed hitters up there."
Sully on Landon Stripling getting more at-bats, other bats
"I thought he had good at-bats like he always does. I thought Blake Cyr continued to swing the bat really good. Ethan had another good night at the plate. Cash Strayer got a knock. Lawson had a big double. Kyle Jones had a double with three RBIs. I think our offense was good tonight. The first couple of innings were a little slow to go, but after that we were pretty good."
Blake Cyr on playing with more confidence this year
"I would say I'm just going out there and having fun every day. Having Skip back is awesome. He's been great for the team. Even Slate, man, he's awesome. Just going out there and having fun every day."
On playing more loose
"For sure. I'm a senior this year, and you never know when it's your last chance to be able to play baseball. I'm just going out there enjoying every single day. God gave me the opportunity to be out here every single day, so I got to take advantage of it."
How would you assess your play so far?
"I'm just having fun. I just want to keep playing ball every single day."
Blake Cyr on this year's offense
"Yeah, I think we mash, that's for sure. Our offense is unbelievable. Probably one of the best I've been a part of. To your point of last year, I think the difference between this year and last year is this year we have so many different ways to score runs. It's not just home runs. Look at tonight. I don't know how many runs we scored with two outs, but it was an absurd amount. Fourteen runs with two outs. Come on. That's a special offense to be on, to score 14 runs with two outs."
Blake Cyr on lessons learned last year
"It was more of a mental thing for me last year, especially with it being my first full season back before my dad passed away. So it was a tough and long season for me, and I think it was an unbelievable, great journey that I needed to happen. I knew everything was going to be all right. I'm just playing the game that I love every single day. Nothing has changed. He's up there watching me. I think having last year, going through that, and then mentally being, it's okay. Just go be a kid out there and go have fun like you always do."
Blake Cyr on teammates' support
"I think it's been everything, especially Sully and the coaching staff. They do an unbelievable job inside the walls of the support. I wish everyone got to know how much they really do mean to the team and how much they help, other than baseball. This coaching staff and their support system, it means the world."
Blake Cyr on return to Miami
"I'm just excited. I made a lot of connections there in my two years in the city of Miami. So I'm excited to get back down to Miami. With the weekend, I just think it's another series. It's another team across those lines. We just want to go out there and win and compete every single inning, every single pitch. So that's really all it is when it comes to the game."
Anyone on Miami you're still close with?
"Of course. Cuvet and I are really close. A lot of guys have left and gotten drafted, but Cuvet comes to mind."
Blake Cyr on keeping an emotional balance in a rivalry
"We're going to have some fire in us because it's an in-state team and they're good. We're going to be good. So I think just knowing that we're playing another really good team is all I'm really focused on. This is going to be a real competition.
"As long as we continue to do what we're doing and stay on all cylinders, I think we're going to be fine. I don't want to make it more than it really is. It really is just another weekend against a good ball club, and we're going to go down there and take care of business."
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 quotes after Game 1 win over FIU Panthers
Continue reading...
