GAINESVILLE, Fla. –has searched for production on the mound all year. He's shuffled the weekend rotation several times, used a lot of bullpen arms and tinkered with roles.Nothing seems to be working. UF entered this weekend's crucial series with South Carolina in last place in the SEC in team earned run average (4.63), an almost unthinkable statistic given O'Sullivan's track record of pumping out elite pitchers during his tenure. A week ago, the Gators gave up 40 runs to Ole Miss, the most surrendered in a series in O'Sullivan's 12 seasons. Freshmanis the only one with a sub-4.00 ERA among pitchers with at least 20 innings of work.Florida's struggles on the mound continued Thursday night in a 9-5 defeat of the Gamecocks (20-14, 3-10). Starterand relieversandcombined for eight walks, two hit batters and four wild pitches. Leadoff batters reached base five times, with only one of them resulting from a hit."I don't know what to say, I'll be honest with you," O'Sullivan said. "Eleven years, we haven't walked this many. We've very rarely ever walked three per nine [innings pitched]. So, obviously we're way above that. I looked at our ERA over the last 11 years. On average, in the conference games alone, I think we have a combined like 3.85 team ERA. We're just not throwing the ball across the plate. It's kind of been the same thing all year long."UF (23-13, 5-8) jumped out to a 7-1 lead. USC entered the night last in the conference with a .243 batting average. Florida's pitchers had no reason to not be aggressive. All they had to do was throw strikes, let the Gamecocks get themselves out and go home feeling good about the win.O'Sullivan chatted with his team for a bit longer than usual in the dugout following the game. His message was simple: if this team is to turn its season around and live up to the lofty standards set by the teams before it, the pitchers are going to have to fill up the strike zone more."I don't want us to be fooled and think we're playing at our best, because we're not," he said.Mace (6-3) walked four, hit two batters and uncorked a pair of wild pitches. He wiggled his way out of a trio of jams and limited the damage to two runs and three hits in six innings."Just not having fastball command," he said. "Obviously, I'm not throwing as well as I should. I've got seven days to work on it. I should be able to throw a fastball where I want it to be."After Mace walked Brady Allen to start the seventh inning, he was replaced by Ruth. Ruth struck out Chris Cullen and got Jonah Beamon to ground into a fielder's choice. Then, he completely lost it, giving up a double, throwing back-to-back wild pitches to score runs and walking two batters.Crisp got Luke Berryhill to line out to second basemanto escape the inning and pitched a clean eighth inning. In the ninth, he walked the first two batters and gave up an RBI double to pinch hitter Ian Jenkins."Thank God our offense did so good, or we wouldn't have won that," Mace said.One positive of late is. He picked up the win over Florida State on Tuesday night with three scoreless innings. He finished off the win over South Carolina with another scoreless inning.A drop off was expected from the past few seasons' star-studded pitching staffs. You can't lose two first-round draft picks (and) and the best closer in school history () and expect things to move along smoothly.is the only starter with extensive experience, and he's struggled with command throughout his career. Of the main bullpen arms, all are freshmen except for sophomoreOne of O'Sullivan's main talking points with his pitchers is to throw two of the first three pitches of an at-bat for strikes. It's stunning to see the Gators struggle with the most basic element of pitching, throwing strikes, this deep into the season.O'Sullivan said the issue could be as much mental as physical. The pitchers hear him constantly stressing the importance of throwing strikes, and it could be weighing on their minds as they pitch. He wants them to throw strikes without having to think about it. He's trying to find the right balance for the group.As might be expected, the freshmen have been inconsistent. One week, one guy seems to have figured it out and emerged as a weapon. The next week, he can't throw a strike and someone else has emerged. It's hard for O'Sullivan to get a gauge on what he's going to get on a certain night.For example, after recording seven saves over the first few weeks of the season, Crisp has struggled mightily in his last two outings, surrendering seven earned runs in 3 1/3 innings with four walks. Ruth appeared to rise as the set-up man about a month ago. He's given up nine earned runs in his last three innings."I don't have the answer," O'Sullivan said. "I just know that we've got to keep running them out there because somebody needs to pitch."Specht and Scott are trending upward right now. Scott looks to build upon his solid first start against Ole Miss last Saturday. While his final line showed six earned runs in four innings, he left the game with his team up 8-3 and two runners on and a 3-1 count on the batter. After a weather delay, Crisp allowed all of his runners to score, inflating Scott's stats. Scott gets the ball to start Friday's second game of the series. UF looks to capture just its second league series win of the season.Things are starting to get urgent. If you have a panic button, it might be time to start considering pushing it. After the series with the Gamecocks, the SEC season will be half over. For the Gators to host a regional for the sixth year in a row, their pitchers need to make huge strides in a short amount of time."We're just going to keep coaching them up and keep doing what we've always done," O'Sullivan said. "But, at some point, we're going to have to change some things because it's going to come back to haunt us."