Gators Baseball Makes Expected Switch in Weekend Pitching Rotation

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- After teasing a switch last week to Florida Gators on SI, Florida baseball head coach Kevin O'Sullivan has reportedly made a change to the Gators' weekend pitching rotation.

Usual Saturday starter Aidan King, fresh off a dominant effort last weekend against Ole Miss, will now be Florida's Friday starter, while usual Friday starter Liam Peterson will pitch on Saturday. After King pitched seven innings with eight strikeouts against just four hits, and combined with Peterson's recent struggles, O'Sullivan said switching Peterson and King was a discussion he was beginning to have with the staff and with Peterson.

"If we're going to get to the World Series, Liam is a big part of this thing," O'Sullivan said. "I mean, the guy's a first-round pick. He knows that he's got to get extended during games, and at some point, if he doesn't, then obviously we have some tough decisions to make.

"But it's a really touchy – it's a tough decision to make. If we ever have to do that, we will. It's certainly something we've discussed."

Aidan King will now be Florida's Friday starter. | Kyle Lander / Florida Gators on SI

In 39 innings across eight starts, King is 4-2 with an impressive 1.62 ERA and 41 strikeouts against seven earned runs. Meanwhile, Peterson, in 38 innings of work, is 1-2 with a 4.03 ERA and a team-high 62 strikeouts against 17 earned runs. His recent performances sparked the discussion.

In his last three outings – at Alabama, at Arkansas and Ole Miss – Peterson has allowed 16 hits, nine earned runs and 11 walks while striking out 14 batters. He earned the loss in two of those outings.

"I believe in him. I mean, he's one of the best pitchers in the country, and going into the preseason, he was unbelievable," O'Sullivan said. "And in the fall... he was great. He's just got to get it going, you know? And I truly believe he will, and that's all I could do is give him a vote of confidence."

Flipping Peterson and King now means that Florida's weekend rotation is completely different than the regular season after the Gators already elevated Russell Sandefer to the Sunday role and moved Cooper Walls to a midweek starter/weekend reliever role. O'Sullivan previously told Florida Gators on SI that making "knee-jerk reactions and decisions" to his weekend rotation, especially after already making a change for Sundays, is difficult.

"To us, it doesn't matter. I mean, it's a one-two punch," King told Florida Gators on SI last week. "He deserves a Friday spot as much as he does. He goes out there and throws the ball low, and everyone knows he's a top guy in the draft this year, and he can throw the ball well. So, there's no doubt in my mind that he stays a Friday guy."

Still, the timing of the move made sense.

After playing a Thursday-Saturday series last week, switching Peterson and King for this weekend's traditional Friday-Sunday series at Georgia allows King to get a full week's rest in between starts. Florida is expected to officially announce its weekend rotation on Thursday.

First pitch for Friday's series-opener in Athens against the fourth-ranked Bulldogs is at 6 p.m., with Saturday's game set to start at noon.