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The Auburn Tigers evened up the weekend series with the Florida Gators on Friday night with a 5-3 victory at Condron Family Ballpark.
It was a hard-fought matchup between two SEC foes. Florida's Liam Peterson only allowed one earned run in five innings, but reverted to his inefficient ways with 96 pitches over that stretch; fortunately, Luke McNeillie was able to provide four frames of one-run ball, but the offense simply could not break through with a timely hit in the end.
Auburn earned the win behind some superb pitching as well as some slick defense, plus three home runs, which made the difference in the final score.
After the game, coach Kevin O'Sullivan spoke with the media about what transpired that evening on his home turf. Here is what he had to offer.
"You look at the box score — he gave up one earned run over five, and I thought he pitched good. I thought he pitched really good. And I thought Luke McNeillie did outstanding too. So you know, we only gave up two runs over nine innings.
"We faced two really good lefties today. We knew that they were going to go to Sanders there at some point. You know, both those guys, the starter, and Sanders, their numbers are outstanding, and they did a really nice job today."
"I think we've been playing pretty good defense as of late. It's just one mistake that cost us, you know, that fourth inning."
"I thought we started to have better bats against Sanders, honestly. I thought towards the end of the 7th, he was getting a little bit tired. I thought our bats, obviously in the 8th and 9th, were good. We just didn't get that one big hit.
"But the good thing about it is we got a chance to win the series tomorrow, and we need Russ to bounce back from his start from last week, and our bullpen's fresh. So we'll just have him ready to play."
"You know, it's good for him. It was good for our team. It was good for everybody involved. I thought he pitched with his secondary stuff really good."
"It has nothing to do with me. I feel good for the both of them. I feel really pleased with how Liam's been the last two weeks, and he should too, honestly. And obviously, Aiden's pitched really well, too.
"So I'm just happy for both of them. It has nothing to do with me. But, yeah, we pitch like this, we're going to be okay."
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's Kevin O'Sullivan discusses Gators' loss to Auburn
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It was a hard-fought matchup between two SEC foes. Florida's Liam Peterson only allowed one earned run in five innings, but reverted to his inefficient ways with 96 pitches over that stretch; fortunately, Luke McNeillie was able to provide four frames of one-run ball, but the offense simply could not break through with a timely hit in the end.
Auburn earned the win behind some superb pitching as well as some slick defense, plus three home runs, which made the difference in the final score.
After the game, coach Kevin O'Sullivan spoke with the media about what transpired that evening on his home turf. Here is what he had to offer.
What are your thoughts on the pitching tonight?
"You look at the box score — he gave up one earned run over five, and I thought he pitched good. I thought he pitched really good. And I thought Luke McNeillie did outstanding too. So you know, we only gave up two runs over nine innings.
"We faced two really good lefties today. We knew that they were going to go to Sanders there at some point. You know, both those guys, the starter, and Sanders, their numbers are outstanding, and they did a really nice job today."
How frustrating are some of the field issues this late in the season?
"I think we've been playing pretty good defense as of late. It's just one mistake that cost us, you know, that fourth inning."
How much do you credit Auburn's lineup and their pitchers?
"I thought we started to have better bats against Sanders, honestly. I thought towards the end of the 7th, he was getting a little bit tired. I thought our bats, obviously in the 8th and 9th, were good. We just didn't get that one big hit.
"But the good thing about it is we got a chance to win the series tomorrow, and we need Russ to bounce back from his start from last week, and our bullpen's fresh. So we'll just have him ready to play."
How important was it to get four innings out of McNeillie?
"You know, it's good for him. It was good for our team. It was good for everybody involved. I thought he pitched with his secondary stuff really good."
How does Liam's last two performances reassure your decision-making?
"It has nothing to do with me. I feel good for the both of them. I feel really pleased with how Liam's been the last two weeks, and he should too, honestly. And obviously, Aiden's pitched really well, too.
"So I'm just happy for both of them. It has nothing to do with me. But, yeah, we pitch like this, we're going to be okay."
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's Kevin O'Sullivan discusses Gators' loss to Auburn
Continue reading...
