After experiencing some growing pains through the first two-thirds of the season, the Gators’ young pitching staff is unquestionably playing its best baseball of the year with the postseason only a few days away.
Through the first 40 games of the season, the Gators had a team ERA of 4.60, and that was with the lighter nonconference portion of the schedule included and with ace Hunter Barco giving them a good start pretty much every week. In the 14 games since then, they’ve posted a team ERA of 2.81, and that’s with 12 of those games being league affairs and with Barco watching from the dugout.