Pitch counts helping ease Florida pitchers into season – The Independent Florida Alligator: Baseball

Coach Kevin O’Sullivan invests a lot of time developing his pitchers.

And early in the year, his goal is to ease his staff back into the intensity.

That’s why UF’s trio of starters— Logan Shore, Dane Dunning and A.J. Puk — were limited to no more than 76 pitches in Florida’s three-game sweep of Rhode Island.

And it’s also why O’Sullivan decided to take out Brett Morales after six perfect innings in UF’s 13-3 victory against USF on Wednesday.

Morales retired 18 consecutive batters to start the game against the Bulls, striking out a career-high seven.

But while the thought of a perfect game or a no-hitter circled around, O’Sullivan had the bigger picture in mind.

“A lot of these guys are prospects,” O’Sullivan said. “To have the glory for one night is not worth jeopardizing getting hurt. Could he have done it? Maybe. But the good doesn’t outweigh the bad in that situation for me.”