Florida baseball last swept an NCAA Regional in 2016, and after allowing an onslaught of runs in a 16-11 loss to Troy on Sunday the trend has continued. But there might be a method to the Gators’ madness when they return to battle Troy on Monday in the NCAA Gainesville Regional finale.
Florida thrives on pressure, finding itself in its sixth winner-take-all situation since sweeping the 2016 Gainesville Regional. In the team’s five previous Monday appearances, they’ve advanced to the Super Regional four times.
The Gators started their 2017 College World Series title run with a chance to sweep their regional, but they fell 6-2 to Bethune-Cookman on June 4, 2017 before returning with vengeance on Monday in a decisive 6-1 victory to extend their season.
“We did this in 2017 and had to come back on Monday and play,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “We got a chance to win a regional, bottom line.”
Loading ...If Florida wants to continue its Monday dominance, the pitching staff needs improvement after allowing 33 runs through its first three games in the regional.
Starters Aidan King and Liam Peterson forced coach O’Sullivan to turn to his bullpen quicker than anticipated. King made it through three innings during Florida’s 22-10 win over Miami on Saturday, allowing eight hits and six runs before Luke McNeille took over.
Liam Peterson didn’t find momentum on the mound either, allowing 10 hits and nine runs when Troy took down Florida 16-11 Sunday.
“We haven’t pitched well this regional,” O’Sullivan said. “We’re going to have to pitch better if we want to move on.”
The Gators bullpen hasn’t shined either. After Friday’s starter Russell Sandefer pitched 5 and 2/3 shutout innings against Rider, three bullpen-arms allowed six runs in the 8th inning, evaporating Florida’s 4-0 lead.
The Gators still have plenty of arms to turn to. Cooper Walls hasn’t seen the mound this postseason, but isn’t strong when handed the ball mid-game. In Wall’s seven bullpen appearances, the pitcher posted a 22.24 ERA despite holding a 6.87 season ERA.
“We’re going to have to be very strategic in how we use our arms because we’re probably going to have to use quite a few,” O’Sullivan said.
Two-way player Caden McDonald is also available with his regional pitch count sitting at 26. McDonald maintains a 3.77 season ERA through 43 innings pitched.
“We’ve seen that Troy can hit ,” McDonald said. “We’ve just got to be confident in our stuff and really execute with two strikes.”
Closer Joshua Whritenour’s arm can help Florida on Monday after the righty faced seven batters against Rider, allowing three runs while striking out two.
Florida’s offense got the pitching staff out of a jam on Friday and Saturday with a combined 30 runs, but its 11 runs on Sunday, including a grand slam by Cade Kurland, didn’t suffice.
As Florida’s offense continues stepping up at plate, notching 44 hits and setting an NCAA tournament program record with seven homers against Miami, the pitching staff needs to follow suit.
“You win, you move on,” O’Sullivan said. “[If] you don’t [win], your season’s over.”
