No. 1 Gators face tall task to play for long-awaited title
OMAHA,
Neb. (AP) —
Maybe not since
Southern California ruled college baseball in the
1970s or
LSU in the
1990s has a team come to the
College World Series as a heavier favorite than
Florida this year.
Seven Gators are among the top
108 draft picks,
Kevin O'Sullivan has assembled the best pitching staff in the country and there's been a feeling since last year that the program is due to win its first national championship and put the list of
CWS disappointments behind it.
Suddenly, after a 2-1 loss to
Coastal Carolina on Sunday, the Gators are in scramble mode in
Omaha again. They need to win against
Texas Tech on Tuesday night and then three more times to reach next week's championship finals. One loss sends them home.
"Compete our tail off and hope for the best,"
Jeremy Vasquez said, describing
Florida's strategy.
Florida (52-14) started the season at the top of the national polls and stayed there almost every week.
The NCAA Tournament selection committee made the Gators the No. 1 national seed, and they appeared to have what it takes to become the first since
Miami in
1999 to win the title.
They still might.
Oregon State in
2006 and
South Carolina in
2010 bounced back from opening losses to win championships.
History hasn't been kind to Florida in Omaha, though.
The Gators are 14-20 in 10 CWS appearances. They were swept in the two finals they made, by
Texas in
2005 and South Carolina in
2011.
In
2012, with national player of the year
Mike Zunino among nine draft picks, the Gators went two and out
with a loss to first-time CWS participant
Kent State eliminating them.
Last year, they won three games here by a combined 35-10 but lost a pair of one-run games to eventual national champion
Virginia, denying them a trip to the finals.
This year the Gators lost their
Southeastern Conference tournament opener and reached the finals. They also lost their first game in super regionals to
Florida State but won the next two 5-0 and 7-0 to make the CWS.
Florida this time will try to bounce back against Texas Tech with sophomore star
Alex Faedo (13-2) pitching.
"We've got Alex on the mound, and we'll do whatever we need to do Tuesday and hopefully win and move on," O'
Sullivan said. "Just take it one game at a time. That's all we can do at this
point."
UPSETS
MAKE IT
FUN
Division I Baseball Committee chairman
Joel Erdmann said he wasn't overly surprised by the eight teams that reached Omaha.
Ten teams from the
Atlantic Coast Conference and seven from the Southeastern Conference were in the original 64-team
NCAA Tournament field, and only one team from each league made it to the CWS.
"I think that's something that makes this game more magical every year, that what might be considered power and historical programs that have achieved great things are sometimes overcome by emerging programs that are starting to make their own thumbprint and their own footprint," Erdmann said.
"
Looking at the bracket might raise some eyebrows in how it panned out, but I think another way to look at it is it's great for the game."
SPORTS WRITER
TRIBUTE
The NCAA paid tribute to longtime
Omaha World-Herald sports writer
Steve Pivovar during the
Oklahoma State-Arizona game on Monday night. It would have been the 500th consecutive CWS game staffed by Pivovar, who is battling cancer and has been absent the first three days of the event.
"
PIV," as he's known, was etched behind home plate and along the left- and right-field lines. The grounds crew wore orange wristbands and the CWS statue in front of
TD Ameritrade Park was lit in orange, the color for kidney cancer awareness. There was an announcement about Pivovar after the third inning, and the video board displayed social media well wishes from around the country.
FOUL BALLS
NET $25K
Allstate Insurance's annual "
Good Hands in the Stands" program resulted in a $25,
000 donation to
Boys Town to support youth sports programs. The famed home for boys and girls is located in Omaha.
- published: 21 Jun 2016
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