Florida baseball disappointed but proud after SEC Tournament loss
· Yahoo Sports
Despite letting a 6-0 lead slip away against Georgia on Saturday, Florida baseball head coach Kevin O'Sullivan and his players left the SEC Tournament with a sense of pride.
Gators left fielder Blake Cyr and designated hitter Caden McDonald joined their coach in the post-game press conference after the game, and all three men reiterated the same thing: this is a good team that can beat anyone.
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Things may have fallen apart in Saturday's 8-7 loss, but a pair of dominant wins over Alabama and Vanderbilt preceded that quarterfinal matchup. While the goal is to win every game, the SEC Tournament is a sort of dry run before the NCAA Tournament. O'Sullivan noted that his team never takes the conference tournament lightly, but there's still plenty of season left for a team that has sights on a trip to Omaha.
Cyr noted the difference in talent between the ACC and SEC, both of which he's played in. McDonald said he believed that Florida had done enough to earn a top-eight seed. The Gators find out Monday at noon if that's true. O'Sullivan praised his team for the second-half turnaround and elevated play over the last week. None of them left with the look of despair and hopelessness some other teams do leave that press room with.
Here's what they had to say after the game:
Opening Statement from Kevin O'Sullivan
"Well, first of all, congrats to Georgia. They obviously played really, really well today, and that's what they do. They just kind of chipped away. I thought our pitching was good today. It was unfortunate that Russ got hit with that line drive, but fortunately enough for us, it's not broken. So that's probably the best his stuff has looked all year long.
"Although it's disappointing, I'm really proud of the way our team played this week. I think we maybe opened up some eyes to other people around the country that may not have seen him play, and we've come such a long way. I think this weekend kind of puts us in a position for our team to be ready for the postseason."
Cyr on momentum shift
"Georgia is a good team, right? So they're going to go out there, and they're going to put good at-bats together, and they're going to score runs. We just got to do, I think, a better job of not letting it affect us as much and keep our foot on the pedal. Because we put up in the third, maybe it was five or four, and even if they score a couple, we can't let it affect us and keep going."
McDonald on facing Georgia bullpen
"They mixed really well. Guys threw a bunch of strikes. I don't think they had very many walks. Getting ahead in counts, just mixing up the pitches and just throwing strikes. I think we put some good swings on the ball. Just some of them didn't fall, and then they just made big pitches when they needed to."
Cyr on personal success
"Being a senior, I've had a lot of developing to do, especially being from two different schools and being in the ACC and the SEC. But like the SEC development has been unbelievable. I really do think, man, this is like this is like Double-A, Triple-A, man. You see guys come out of the SEC and in a couple of months they're big leaguers, some arms and even some bats. I think the development and the SEC is number one in the country. If you want to go play professional baseball, you come to the SEC to play."
McDonald on Florida doing enough to get a top-8 seed
"I think we definitely did. We had convincing wins here, and the last month or so stretch that we've been on we've been playing some really good baseball. Look at all the comparisons. I think the numbers are there, and I think we definitely pass the eye test."
Players on adjustments from past Georgia series and future
Cyr: "We just got to keep doing what we're doing. We went to Athens and were really the only SEC team that took a series out of there from them. We know how to play good baseball, and we really showed that when we came up here to play. So I think just like O'Sullivan said, I mean, man, like I'm proud of our team for sure. There's nothing to look down upon coming out of this week for sure. What we did up here is so beneficial rolling into regionals."
McDonald: "Like Blake said, we definitely have shown that we can play some good baseball, and that was a great weekend. We definitely did everything that we had to do to win that series. It really showed us how good we can be. So I think that having that under our belt can just help us know what we're capable of."
Cyr on difference between ACC and SEC
"That's actually a pretty easy question for me. I think the hitting is kind of overall — like everyone's kind of going to hit everywhere. But, in this league, the pitching is unbelievable. Look at the guys that we roll out there. We had Russell who's 97-98.
"In the ACC, you'll get a good starter as well, but then you're not bringing a guy that's next who's 97 to 100 — and then another guy that's 95-97. It's not just that they got a plus fastball. These guys got two or three plus pitches, and it's not just our team. That's the whole SEC. That's the main difference: the pitching. As a hitter, that's why I wanted to come. I wanted to play against the best.
"And with Sully being an unbelievable human being, an unbelievable coach, I wanted to play for him, and I wanted to come play against the best competition, and that's what it is here."
Cyr on facing Dylan Vigue again
"It obviously helped that we already saw him, right? So, that was nice that we already got a whole game under our belt against him. Then, I think today, it was just he's an east-west guy, and today what we did is like, hey, get your pitch and just don't miss it. You know he's going to be around the plate. They throw strikes, and that's what we did today. He gave us pitches over the plate, and we did damage with them."
O'Sullivan on importance of SEC Tournament
"It goes back to like the ninth and 10th weeks of the year. Everybody's playing for something, whether to be a top eight national seed, be one of the top 16 seeds, to host. Some teams are playing just to get into the tournament.
"We've never taken this tournament lightly. We've always stayed with our rotation. The only time I think we may have done that is if we had to play on a Tuesday and we couldn't bring back our number one. But no, we try to come here to win it, and every game is important.
"Like I said, it was unfortunate today with Russ because that's about as good as he's had all year long. I'm looking up at the board, and he's throwing 96-97, and he's throwing his fastball to both sides of the plate. That was the best he's looked. Lucky enough for us, immediately, they got him an X-ray. They came in and I said 'You already got one? That's awesome.' And they came back negative, so he'll be ready to go next week.
"We got three good starters. Our bullpens healthy for the very first time. We've got our lineup pretty much set now, and we'll see what happens with the draw. I know a lot of people ask if we should be a top eight national seed. My answer every year is the same thing. It's out of my hands. It's in the committee's hands. I do think that we are one of the top eight teams in the country, but it's not my decision to make."
O'Sullivan on Georgia's lineup depth
"It's almost like no matter how many runs you score, you almost feel like it's not enough. I thought that after the rain delay, there were a couple tough hops there at third and they got and they got things rolling there.
"I didn't think Josh pitched poorly at all. I think he just left some balls out over the plate, and we didn't give it to him. It's not it's not like we we walked a few guys and gave up a three-run homer or stuff. They, they just put some really good at-bats against one of the best arms in the country.
"I'm really pleased with how we played this weekend, or just this week for that matter, and I think it definitely prepares us for next weekend."
O'Sullivan on pitching to Daniel Jackson in eighth
"No. You can pick your poison. You know what I mean? For me, and the thought did cross my mind, but those are the opportunities — like Josh needs to face Jackson in that spot. If he comes out successful, boy, does he feel really good about himself. Those are the type of battles within the game that you go, 'You know what? Let's go mano y mano. Let's go head to head and see what happens, and I think that's important for players to go through that and pitchers for that matter."
O'Sullivan on uniqueness of this team
"Our resiliency. We got swept at Alabama, and we turn around. I'm really proud of the way we've improved offensively, how we improved pitching-wise and defensively we've come a long way. They've worked awfully hard. It's a tight-knit group.
"Yeah, they're disappointed that they lost. I flat-out told them in the dugout, 'I'm proud of the way you guys played this week, and we don't need to hang our heads.' We'll go back home, give them a day off tomorrow. Practice early on Monday, get ready to watch the selection show, give them the rest of Monday off, and then get ready for the regional."
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida baseball SEC Tournament quotes after loss to Georgia Bulldogs