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SEC baseball: Early 2019 winners, losers and questions left unanswered

By Justin Strawn

GAINESVILLE, FL - FEB 22: Brady McConnell (13) of the Gators makes the throw over to first base during the college baseball game between the Miami Hurricanes and the Florida Gators on February 22, 2019 at Alfred A. McKethan Stadium in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
GAINESVILLE, FL - FEB 22: Brady McConnell (13) of the Gators makes the throw over to first base during the college baseball game between the Miami Hurricanes and the Florida Gators on February 22, 2019 at Alfred A. McKethan Stadium in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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GAINESVILLE, FL – FEB 22: Brady McConnell (13) of the Gators makes the throw over to first base during the college baseball game between the Miami Hurricanes and the Florida Gators on February 22, 2019 at Alfred A. McKethan Stadium in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
GAINESVILLE, FL – FEB 22: Brady McConnell (13) of the Gators makes the throw over to first base during the college baseball game between the Miami Hurricanes and the Florida Gators on February 22, 2019 at Alfred A. McKethan Stadium in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Most puzzling team: Florida Gators

The Florida Gators have been one of the best SEC baseball teams for a number of years. The Gators won their first National Championship in 2017, and then followed it up in 2018 with an appearance in the College World Series Semifinals.

So when the Gators came out of the gate in 2019 with a sweep of Long Beach State, it wasn’t a surprise. But then they went out and lost midweek games to South Florida and North Florida, all the while scoring just two runs in both of those games. It was a head-scratcher, to say the least.

Things didn’t look any better for the Gators as they traveled to Miami to take on the Miami Hurricanes. The Gators scored just two runs in the Friday night game and lost 5-2.

But then the bats woke up again and the Gators rallied to win both the Saturday and Sunday games by a combined score of 13-4. Which Gators team is the real Gators team is anybody’s guess at this point.

The Gators have struggled at the plate hitting just .228 in their first 8 games of the season and scored only 33 runs. It’s a far departure for the usually potent Gators lineup.

The saving grace in the early part of the season has been the pitching. The Florida staff’s ERA is sitting at 3.17 and holding the opposition to a .244 batting average.

The Gators will likely be fine during the 2019 SEC baseball season, but the early offensive woes are concerning. how they fare this week in the midweek against UCF might tell us a lot about how the Gators season will unfold.

Next. College baseball rankings: LSU stays perfect. dark