Florida baseball’s success in the Stillwater Regional was far from expected, but alas, the Gators overcame the Oklahoma State Cowboys to punch their ticket to the super regional round.
Next up for the Orange and Blue are the Clemson Tigers, who finally broke through in their regionals after a long run of early exits. The Athletic’s Mitch Light picked the matchup as one of the most intriguing in the upcoming round of the NCAA Tournament.
“If you saw the video of Erik Bakich celebrating Clemson’s Regional-clinching win over Coastal Carolina, you know how much this means to the program and its second-year coach,” Light begins.
“The Tigers had dealt with more than a decade of postseason frustration, losing five times as a Regional host dating back to the 2011 season. Now, Clemson is back in a Super Regional for the first time since 2010, which was the last time it reached the College World Series.”
As for Florida, they are not too shabby themselves despite an underwhelming regular season.
“The Tigers will take on a very talented Florida team that snuck into the NCAA Tournament as a No. 3 seed after an inconsistent regular season,” Light continues.
“The Gators played their way out of the losers’ bracket of the Stillwater Regional and beat host Oklahoma State on Sunday night and Monday afternoon to advance to the Supers for the 10th time in 16 full seasons under [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag].”
The dichotomy of the two teams truly makes it an intriguing matchup.
“Clemson should be considered the favorite — especially playing at raucous Doug Kingsmore Stadium — but there aren’t too many teams nationally with more talent than Florida,” Light concludes.
The Clemson Super Regional starts on Saturday, June 8, at 2 p.m. ET and can be watched on ESPN.
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