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OMAHA, NEB. – The Florida baseball team will take the field at TD Ameritrade Park Sunday night in Omaha for their first game of the 2016 College World Series. The Gators will face off with a team that has never played a game in Omaha before, the Chanticleers of Coastal Carolina.
Coastal Carolina powered through both the NC State Regional and the LSU Super Regional to earn themselves a spot in the CWS for the first time in program history. Having a team make it to Omaha was something Coach Gary Gillmore has been dreaming about for 21 seasons.
Gillmore is a familiar face for Gator Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan, they had many run ins while he was coaching at Clemson. But Omaha is a different stage and the Gators are a different team. The Gators enter the CWS sporting a 52-14 record this season, just one away from the school record set by the 2011 CWS runner ups with a 53 win season.The Chanticleers are 49-16 this season and are coming off a two-game sweep of Gators SEC foe LSU.
Florida has the most impressive pitching staff in the field of eight teams but Coastal Carolina has a talented offense. The Chanticleers lead the country with 94 home runs with Zach Remillard leading the team with 19. In contrast, Florida’s pitchers have only allowed 30 home runs this season and are coming off a pitching performance in Super Regionals that left FSU scoreless for 22 consecutive innings.
Gators ace, junior right hander Logan Shore, will take to the mound for the Gators Sunday Night. Shore is only the second pitcher in school history to win SEC Pitcher of the Year and his 30 career wins are just one shy of the school record. He has a 12-0 record this season and hasn’t lost a game since May 14, 2015.
The Gators are back in Omaha for the second year in a row and are looking to bring home their first National Championship trophy. Experience playing on the big stage is what’s hanging over Coastal Carolina’s heads, since the Gators have been to Omaha five times in the last seven season.
First pitch from TD Ameritrade Park is set for 7 p.m. and you can catch all the action on 103.7 The Gator.
