Tag: Gainesville Regional

PHOTOS: Florida gymnastics’ Gainesville Regional Semifinals victory

Take a look at highlights from Florida’s big win in Gainesville on Friday night in the O’Dome. 

The Florida gymnastics team advanced to the 2024 Gainesville Regional Finals inside the O’Connell Center on Friday thanks to winning Session II with a team score of 197.925.

The Missouri Tigers were the runner-up after the Gators, which earned the two schools a shot at the regional title on Sunday. Both join the Utah Utes and Michigan State Spartans in Sunday’s regional championship.

A season-high five members of the Orange and Blue competed as all-arounders Friday. [autotag]Leanne Wong[/autotag] was third overall at 39.65 and [autotag]Victoria Nguyen[/autotag] was fourth (39.55), while Skylar Draser was sixth with a collegiate-best 39.50.

Four marks of 9.9 or better helped Florida amass the top total on the floor (49.475). Nguyen and Wong led the team with 9.925 with [autotag]Sloane Blakely[/autotag] and [autotag]Ellie Lazzari[/autotag] each earning 9.9s.

Take a look below at highlights from Florida’s big win in Gainesville on Friday.

Florida wins 2023 Gainesville Regional, 6-0, over Texas Tech

Florida baseball is headed to a super regional after knocking off Texas Tech in the Gainesville Regional final on Monday.

It didn’t come easy, but the Florida Gators are the last team standing in the Gainesville Regional after four brutal days of competition in the Swamp.

Florida defeated Texas Tech, 6-0, on Monday to advance to its first super regional since 2018. Both clubs were familiar with each other after playing on Saturday and Sunday, but Florida’s pitching depth proved to be the difference in this one.

Freshman Jacob Rogers was decent through three innings, giving up just one run on a Wyatt Langford homer – No. 18 on the year. But, the bullpen didn’t fare as well, surrendering five runs over the next two innings.

 

Josh Rivera, who went 3-for-4, scored twice on each of BT Riopelle’s homers. Coming into the fourth inning, Riopelle was on a 0-for-15 slump with eight strikeouts in the NCAA Tournament. Rivera also drove in a run with one of his singles.

Florida spread out 11 hits throughout the day and stranded seven baserunners. Although the hits didn’t always come with runners in scoring position, Florida finally looked comfortable at the plate after struggling for much of the weekend.

Redshirt sophomore Ryan Slater made his third start of the season for Florida and worked through five innings for the Gators without giving up a run. He gave up a pair of free bases and three hits but never wavered with runners on base. He might not have had his best stuff, but Slater got the job done.

Phillip Abner took over for him in the sixth and retired six Red Raiders in a row after giving up a leadoff walk. A leadoff walk and follow-up single in the eight knocked him out of the game, but Florida had the SEC saves leader, Brandon Neely, on tap to close it out.

Neely retired five in a row before walking pinch-hitter Ty Coleman on a full count. He got Drew Woodcox to strike out and end it.

Florida advances to the super regional round of the NCAA Tournament, but it won’t be easy to get past a South Carolina team that swept UF earlier this year.

The Gators gained a ton of momentum throughout the regional, but there’s a few days off before the next round starts. Staying locked in will be key.

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Job not finished: Florida one win away from advancing to super regional

Florida got revenge against Texas Tech on Sunday, but now a third and final game between the two clubs is set for Monday at noon to decide the winner of the Gainesville Regional.

After falling to the loser’s bracket of the Gainesville Regional, the big question for Florida was who would start a fourth game for the Gators, if necessary.

Following the afternoon win over Connecticut, Kevin O’Sullivan quickly named freshman left-hander Cade Fisher the starter. Fisher had made only one start all year but was a valuable piece of the bullpen all year long, serving as the team’s No. 2 left-handed reliever.

He probably won’t be in the bullpen next year, though. Fisher went seven innings strong, striking out six and allowing just one earned run on five hits and no walks. It’s the first time in his collegiate career that Fisher has gone more than four innings and it came at a crucial time for the Gators.

Brandon Neely secured his 12th save of the season through two innings of relief. Two runners got into scoring position against him in the ninth, but a strikeout against Will Burns ended the 7-1 contest.

Florida’s bats were much hotter than the box score might suggest. A couple of balls were rocketed to the warning track but knocked down by the wind. Texas Tech starter Zane Petty worked his way out of a few early jams, but Richie Schiekofer’s leadoff single in the sixth ended up being trouble.

Cade Kurland sent a ball to center field that the Red Raiders lost, resulting on men on the corners for Wyatt Langford. The future first-round draft pick hit a ground ball to shortstop, but Schiekofer got caught taking off for home. Langford tried to get in a pickle between first and second to score Kurland, but he was tagged at home as well. Disaster.

Fortunately, Jac Caglianone laced a ball to right field and scored Langford, who has shown off some plus speed during regionals. That’s when things fell apart completely for Texas Tech. Another run came in on a Josh Rivera single to third that ended up being thrown away. Following seven-straight balls and two walks, Tyler Shelnut broke things open with a single to left that scored two.

Florida didn’t do much else until the top of the ninth when a throwing error by the catcher scored Michael Robertson, who pinch-ran for Shelnut. Langford doubled in two more to make it 7-1 and secure the win.

The Red Raiders did score once in the bottom of the eighth but Fisher and Neely shut them down with runners on base, for the most part.

The win sets up a third and final game between Florid and Texas Tech at noon EDT. Both teams are running short on arms, but Florida has played a full nine innings more than Texas Tech over the weekend.

Kevin O’Sullivan said that everyone aside from Brandon Sproat, Hurston Waldrep and Fisher are available tomorrow, which could mean Caglianone getting another start. Tyler Nesbitt and true freshman Yoel Tejeda Jr. are also options.

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Florida’s bats back up Waldrep’s 12 Ks in elimination-game win

Hurston Waldrep was dominant and Jac Caglianone hit monster home runs on Sunday as the Florida Gators took down the Connecticut Huskies and stayed alive in the Gainesville Regional.

The Florida Gators baseball team will live to see another game after the bats finally came alive in an 8-2 win over the Connecticut Huskies Sunday afternoon.

Facing elimination, the Gators got Hurston Waldrep’s very best on the mound, and the offense finally sustained a big lead for multiple innings. Waldrep went seven innings strong, striking out 12 and allowing just one earned run on five hits and two walks.

As usual, Waldrep’s splitter devastated opposing batters, generating a ton of swing-and-miss throughout the day. He only got stronger as the game carried on and pitch 101 looked just as good as the first strike of the day.

Florida’s offense has disappointed throughout the first two games of this Gainesville Regional, but it looks like things are finally trending in the right direction at the plate for this club.

The turning point came in the fourth inning when Florida put up a four-spot. Huskies starter Garrett Coe had worked his way out of trouble a few times during the first three innings of the game, but a comebacker that caught him on the rear forced him to leave the game.

Right-hander Will Novak came in to deal with Wyatt Langford, who broke a 1-1 tie with a sacrifice fly, and lefty Zach Fogell came in for the same-side matchup with Jac Caglianone.

He’d already missed a grand slam earlier in the day thanks to the wind (the ball came off the bat at 100 mph+), but Cags wasn’t missing this one. He took Fogell deep to right-center, breaking things open to a 5-1 lead.

Caglianone didn’t stop there, though. He took sole possession of the national lead for home runs with a two-run shot in the ninth, providing a pair of big runs for the team. That puts him two away from Ivan Melendez’s BBCOR-era record of 33, set last season.

Speaking of insurance runs, Ty Evans added a crucial run for the Gators in the fifth. Evans hadn’t started a game since April, so this was a really big confidence booster for him, especially after striking out in his first at-bat of the day.

Kevin O’Sullivan decided to go with Evans in right field and give Michael Robertson’s struggling bat a break. Sully had Dale Thomas pinch-hit for Robertson in the ninth inning of the Texas Tech game on Saturday, so this wasn’t too surprising of a move.

Langford simply shifts over to center field, which is where a lot of MLB organizations are going to try him out anyway, and Tyler Shlenut moved over to left from right. There weren’t any glaring defensive mistakes in the win, but losing Robertson’s glove because of his bat is tough. At least the move paid off in this one.

Evans’ fourth-inning RBI made a big difference once the bullpen came in for Florida. Nick Ficarrotta struck out two in the eighth but gave up a run in the process. A nice play from Colby Halter to get the second out of the inning helped stopped the bleeding.

Caglianone’s second homer made the decision to bring Fic back out for the ninth. He struck out the side and now Florida gets a shot at revenge against Texas Tech.

The Gators and Red Raiders will clash at 6 p.m. EDT later tonight (Sunday). The SEC’s leading closer, Brandon Neely, is an option to start for Florida, as are Tyler Nesbitt and Yoel Tejeda Jr.

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Let’s do it the hard way: Florida facing elimination after falling to Texas Tech

Florida’s offense hasn’t been as strong as most expected and the Gators are now facing elimination from the Gainesville Regional following a 5-4 loss to Texas Tech Saturday night.

Florida couldn’t get the big hit when it needed to Saturday night and fell to Texas Tech, 5-4, sending the Gators to an elimination game on Sunday with hopes of playing two and forcing a Monday game.

UF had plenty of opportunities to bust the game wide open. The fifth inning stands out in particular when a trio of consecutive singles from the bottom third of the order was wasted. Time and time again, the Gators failed to come through, which isn’t typically the team’s modus operandi.

Scoring hasn’t come easy in the Gainesville Regional, at least not for the Gators. Now, the team must do things the hard way if it wants to advance to the Super Regionals. Florida needs not one but two wins on Sunday over the UConn then Texas Tech to force a third and final game with the Red Raiders.

The biggest villain in Gainesville right now might be Texas Tech’s Gavin Kash, who blasted a pair of home runs Saturday night to beat the hometown club playing as the road team on the scoreboard. The solo shot came on a mistake pitch from Brandon Sproat, who had a relatively strong outing, in the fifth, and the two-run dagger came off Ryan Slater at a crucial point in the bottom of the eighth.

Austin Green’s two-run shot in the fourth inning accounts for the rest of Texas Tech’s scoring. Sproat struck out seven over six innings of three-run baseball. He came out pumping 100-101 mph but Texas Tech figured things out as the night went on and the adrenaline waned.

Phillip Aber pitched the eighth in relief of Sproat. He loaded the bases with two outs but ended up striking out the side to keep the game knotted at three runs apiece. Ryan Slater gave up the second home run to Kash in the eighth after needing just 15 pitches to get through a pair of innings on Friday.

Wyatt Langford and Jac Caglianone were the only two major bats for Florida today. Langford went 2-for-4 and scored a pair, including on the home run Cags hit in the sixth — his 29th of the season.

Dale Thomas came up with a big pinch-hit triple in the ninth and scored on a Cade Kurland ground out. Florida had a chance at the end after Langford legged out a near-impossible infield single, but Caglianone popped up behind third base for the final out of the game.

Florida faces UConn at noon on Sunday and would play again at 6 p.m. EDT against Texas Tech with a win.

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No offense, no problem: Jac Caglianone, bullpen carry Florida to regional win

A win is a win. Florida’s offense wasn’t firing on all cylinders Friday night, but three runs was enough for Jac Caglianone and the bullpen to secure a win in the first round of the Gainesville Regional.

Florida’s offense no-showed on Friday night, but the Gators still came away with a 3-0 win over the Florida A&M Rattlers in the opening round of the 2023 Gainesville Regional.

The last time UF hosted FAMU, the Gators got things done in seven innings, outscoring the Rattlers, 17-7. Things seemed to be headed down the same path early when Josh Rivera blasted a two-run, no-doubt home run in the bottom of the first off Caleb Granger, but the Andrew College transfer held Florida in check for the rest of the night.

Granger allowed just two more hits through the next five innings, pitching successfully to contact. His one strikeout pales compared to Jac Caglianone’s seven, but the difference between the two was just the one pitch Rivera got ahold of.

Speaking of Caglianone, Kevin O’Sullivan got the good version of his dynamic two-way star tonight. Caglianone has looked really good for about a month or so, but that last start against a blazing-hot Vanderbilt team had some worried that the four-inning starts were back for good.

Have no fear. Caglianone went six scoreless, giving up just four hits and three walks. The plan early was simple: attack Florida A&M with the fastball. In fact, Caglianone threw 10 straight to start the game, and it worked!

The flamethrowing lefty cruised through the order the first time through, rarely mixing in any breaking balls or offspeed stuff. Caglianone began mixing in the slider the second time through, which threw off his fastball command a bit.

He regrouped by turning to the changeup, which has been his best pitch over the last month. He locates it well (low and outside), and it sets up a 97-99 mph heater for a punchout much better than the slider. If Caglianone is going to stay a starter longterm (think MLB), it’s that changeup that’s going to get him there. It’s been a work in progress all season, but the results are finally starting to show.

Unfortunately, Florida’s anemic offense meant that the team had to turn to some of its top bullpen arms on Day 1 of the Regional. Ryan Slater needed just 15 pitches to get through the seventh and eighth perfectly, and Brandon Neely earned his league-leading 11th save of the season.

Neely ran into a little trouble, giving up three hits to the Rattlers, but Richie Schiekofer and Rivera bailed him out each making a play at home. Perhaps there’s something to be said about the decision to send both runners, but FAMU needed to score and hadn’t had many chances all night.

Luke Heyman added a crucial insurance run for the Gators in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI single to right field that scored Wyatt Langford.

Florida advances to play Texas Tech in the winner’s bracket on Saturday at 6 p.m. EDT. The Red Raiders will be the home team. Connecticut and Florida A&M will play the first elimination game of the Regional at noon.

Florida will go with either Brandon Sproat or Hurston Waldrep on the mound. Kyle Robinson is the starter for Texas Tech.

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Everything you need to know about the 2023 Gainesville Regional

It’s going to be a busy weekend of baseball in Gainesville as regional play kicks off and Florida’s march to the College World Series begins. Here’s a breakdown of all four teams participating this weekend.

The 2023 college baseball season is coming to a close, but there is still a national tournament to be played before wrapping things up. Florida is the No. 2 national seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournaments and the host of the Gainesville Regional.

Florida A&M, Texas Tech and UConn are the three teams looking to upset Florida, but it will be tough to beat a Gators club that went 30-6 at home and 44-14 overall. Regional play is double elimination and the winner goes on to a best-of-three Super Regional against the winner of the Columbia (South Carolina) Regional.

Florida is, of course, the favorite to advance from the Gainesville Regional, but the Gators must weary of another early exit. UF hasn’t advanced past regional play since 2018. Last year’s club lost to Oklahoma as the No. 13 seed. The Sooners finished as the College World Series runner-ups, but none of the teams look as strong this year.

Here’s a look at each of the four teams participating in the Gainesville Regional. Each club will be broken up into three groups: offense, starting pitching and bullpen.

Florida Baseball hosting NCAA Tournament regional as No. 2 seed

The NCAA Tournament field has been set and Florida will host the Gainesville Regional as the No. 2 national seed.

The 2023 NCAA Baseball Championship Tournament begins on June 2, and the Florida Gators will host the Gainesville Regional as the nation’s No. 2 seed. UConn, Texas Tech and Florida A&M will compete in the double-elimination Gainesville Regional.

The Gators will face the Rattlers in the first round of the regional. Florida beat Florida A&M, 17-7, in seven innings on April 18, so the expectation is another dominant win. That would put UF in line to face the winner of Texas Tech-UConn, both of which are relative unknowns to the program.

Only one team can come out on top of the region, but playing at home should benefit the Gators greatly, especially if they have to play a win-or-go-home game.

The winner of the Gainesville Regional will go on to play the winner of the Columbia Regional. South Carolina is the No. 15 national seed but has to get past Central Connecticut, Campbell and NC State first.

This will be Florida’s third-straight season hosting an NCAA Regional and 13th overall during Kevin O’Sullivan’s 16 years as Gators head coach (no NCAA Tournament in 2020). It’s the fifth time UF has entered the tournament as a No. 2 seed or higher, but the last time was in 2018.

Florida has hosted a regional 19 times in program history.

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Florida baseball falls in regional finals to Oklahoma following 5.5-hour delay

Wyatt Langford tied the school record for home runs in a season, but Florida couldn’t pull off the ninth-inning comeback after blowing the lead late in the game.

It wouldn’t be a Gainesville Regional without a rain delay, and Mother Nature made her presence felt in a big way during the final game of the tournament on Monday. Florida and Oklahoma waited out a five-and-a-half-hour weather delay only for the Gators to blow a 2-1 ballgame and fall, 5-4.

Before the break, [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] was on pace to get through seven innings of work without a ton of trouble. Aside from a Kendall Pettis home run in the fifth, the Sooners struggled to figure him out despite knocking Neely out of Saturday’s game in 2 1/3 innings. He allowed just one run through 6 2/3 innings on four hits and no walks while striking out five. At 97 pitches on the night, and nearing 150 pitches on the weekend, Neely’s night was likely done after that batter regardless of the rain.

Designated hitter [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] got Neely the early lead in the second inning with a solo shot — home run No. 7 on the year for the freshman. Things stayed relatively quiet after that until Pettis’ bomb in the fifth prompted the Gators to get the lead right back in the bottom of the frame. [autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] reached on an error to start the inning off, and [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] drove him in three batters later.

Then, the rain came and changed everything.

Pettis struck out on the first at-bat back from the delay, but there would be plenty of scoring to come. Halter walked on four pitched to lead off the bottom of the seventh and was eventually driven home on a [autotag]Ty Evans[/autotag] sacrifice fly. Gators lead, 3-1.

That’s when the Sooners put up a four-spot to take total control of the game with only six outs to go. [autotag]Ryan Slater[/autotag], who came in for Neely in relief, gave up four straight hits, including a two-run, game-tying homer from Peyton Graham. Josh Rivera was forced to trade the go-ahead run for out No. 2 of the inning, and Jackson Nicklaus came through with an RBI single to the right side.

[autotag]Fisher Jameson[/autotag] came in to get the final out of the eighth, but Florida’s lead and morale was long gone. [autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag], in what will likely be his final out as a Gator, flew out to right, Rivera grounded out to second and Guscette line out to deep right-center on a ball that had a chance.

Jameson got the Sooners down quickly in the ninth and Florida came up to the plate with three outs left in the season. Halter struck out looking, but Wyatt Langford sent home run No. 26 out of the ballpark to put things within one run and to tie Matt LaPorta’s single-season home run record at UF. Sterlin Thompson grounded out to first for an unassisted out on a 3-2 count, and up came Riopelle with everything on the line.

The transfer from Coastal Carolina did a lot for Florida in 2022, but he couldn’t extend the season once more and struck out swinging to end the Gators’ season.

Oklahoma advances to its first super regional since 2013, and Florida once again falls short of a trip to Omaha.

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Game Preview: Florida faces off in regional rubber match against Oklahoma

These Gators sure have a flair for the dramatic, huh? Florida baseball faces off with Oklahoma for the third time in three days to determine which club heads to the Super Regionals.

Florida took care of both Central Michigan and Oklahoma on Sunday to force a third and final game with the Sooners on Monday to decide which team continues their season in the Super Regional round of the NCAA Baseball Championship Tournament.

The Gators won’t have [autotag]Carsten Finnvold[/autotag] on the mound Monday to go nine innings against OU, but the freshman’s clutch outing has the momentum firmly on UF’s side. At a certain point on Sunday, the Sooners looked perplexed as they continued to pop up Finnvold’s high 70s to low 80s stuff without changing their swings. That kind of funk carries over in a tournament like this, especially as pitching depth gets stretched further and further.

After using both [autotag]Timmy Manning[/autotag] and Finnvold on Sunday, Florida is essentially out of starters with decent experience. [autotag]Anthony Ursitti[/autotag] gave up six earned runs the last time he was on the mound against Alabama, and [autotag]Garrett Milchin[/autotag] hasn’t made a start since [autotag]Nick Pogue[/autotag] took over the No. 3 spot. It might fall on one of them Monday, but the bullpen is sure to work most of the ballgame barring another miraculous pitching performance.

The good news is Florida’s best hitters are hitting. [autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag] went yard twice in the late game Sunday, and [autotag]Wyatt Langford [/autotag]hit a pair of long balls in the early matchup. That puts Fabian at 24 homers for the year and Langford at 25, which is good enough for the Nos. 2 and 3 spots in the school’s single-season record book.

[autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] has been on another planet since regionals started, hitting 8-for-14 so far through the four games. It also comes right after a 4-for-25 slump in the conference tournament, so [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag] is really enjoying having his bat back.

First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. EDT at Condron Family Ballpark on Monday.