Tag: Timmy Manning

What’s next for Florida baseball: A post-mortem of the 2022 season

Buckle in, Gators Wire’s 2022 Baseball Season Recap is finally here. We dive into all 35 players one by one and go over where they stand after the season.

The Florida Gators’ 2022 baseball season ended Monday with a 5-4 loss in the regional finals of the NCAA Championship Tournament against Oklahoma. The year was filled with ups and downs, but being six outs away from a Super Regional berth isn’t too shabby for a team with 16 new players on the roster.

Pitching was a bit of a disappointment early on, but a few freshmen started to stand out from the bunch. That depth allowed the Gators to make a deeper run than most expected in the playoffs and finish the year 42-24.

Conference play was a bit of a struggle. UF finished the regular season .500 against the SEC, including series losses to Georgia (sweep), LSU, Tennessee (sweep) and Vanderbilt. A 9-3 finish against the weaker members of the conference (Kentucky, Mississippi State, Missouri and South Carolina) allowed Florida to finish with a respectable record, but things didn’t really turn around until Texas A&M beat them via the mercy rule.

After that 10-0 loss, Florida played like the team it needed to be all year. It even got legendary performances from the likes of Carsten Finnvold, a freshman who hadn’t seen game action since April when he got the start against Tennessee in theSEC Tournament.

Then there’s the offense. At times, the veteran group didn’t back up the young pitching staff as it was expected to. Jud Fabian was a disappointment down the stretch, hitting just .185 against the conference and going 1-for-30. To his credit, Fabian struck out 10 times less than he did a year ago in about 40 more plate appearances. Walks were also up considerably, so his eye definitely improved despite the low average.

On the other side of things, Wyatt Langford made a complete transformation over the offseason and became one of the best leadoff guys in baseball. He led the team in most major offensive categories and tied Matt LaPorta’s 2005 school record of 26 homers in a season.

There’s a lot to celebrate about with this team, and a lot to address moving forward. Many of them have played their final games in the Orange in Blue, and others are just starting to tell their story.

What will the team look like next year? There’s only one way to properly answer that question and it’s long-winded. Feel free to jump to the sections that interest you the most as we break down the team position by position.

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.

Finnvold hurls full 9 innings to force regional final rematch with Oklahoma

Florida baseball is one win away from a Super Regional berth after Carsten Finnvold led the Gators to victory over Oklahoma.

True freshman [autotag]Carsten Finnvold[/autotag] pitched the game of his life Sunday to give Florida another chance at extending their season on Monday. The lefty came in relief for the Gators during the very first inning, but he’d close out the game for the Orange and Blue, throwing 116 pitches along the way. UF came out on top, 7-2, and will play Oklahoma again on Monday to decide which club heads to the Super Regionals.

[autotag]Timmy Manning[/autotag] got the ball to start the game after proving himself against Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament, but [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag] pulled him before he recorded an out Sunday night. In Sully’s defense, Manning loaded the bases on 11 pitches (hit by pitch, two walks) and losing this game would mean an end to the Gators’ 2022 campaign.

“I knew this had the potential to be our last game,” Finnvold said. “So, I just really wanted to give my team a chance to win and try to keep the score close and strand the runners where they were.

It turned out to be a blessing in disguise as Finnvold came out and worked his way out of the bases-loaded jam by forcing three-straight balls in the air. Pop-ups and flyouts would become a theme in this one for Finnvold, who recorded just one strikeout through six innings of work. That didn’t matter much though as he stayed perfect through the next four innings.

Trouble came in the sixth, but Finnvold had a lead to work with after [autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag] hit a home run (No. 23) in the fourth and Jac Caglianone drove in [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] in the fifth. Oklahoma strung together four-straight hits (three singles, one double) against him but it was all weak contact that scored just two runs. That’s one of the benefits of topping out in the mid-80s, opposing batters have less velocity to turn around.

[autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] drove in Thompson to give Florida the lead right back in the top of the seventh, and, surprisingly, Finnvold returned for the final three innings of the ball game. He cruised through those nine outs and even managed to rack up three more strikeouts to bring his total to four on the evening.

“To (Oklahoma’s) credit, they’re a really great ball club,” Finnvold said. “A really great swinging team, a really great pitching team. I just needed to hit my spots and execute pitches in big situations.”

Fabian kicked off a four-run eighth that effectively put the game away with another home run (No. 24 for Jud). [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag], [autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] and [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] scored thanks to some sloppy defense by the Sooners.

Finnvold closed it out, and thank god he did because [autotag]Kris Armstrong[/autotag] was warming up in the bullpen, according to Nick de la Torre. He hasn’t pitched since his freshman year in 2019 and Florida already blew one five-run lead earlier in the day.

Florida faces one more elimination game on Monday at 1 p.m. with a Super Regional berth on the line.

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Game Preview: Gators looking for revenge vs Vols in SEC Tournament championship

After outscoring Alabama and Texas A&M 20-6 on Saturday, the Gators will play for the SEC Tournament championship against Tennessee at 3 p.m. EDT on Sunday.

Florida baseball was mercy-ruled by Texas A&M on Thursday and there were few at that point who would have predicted a Gators run to the championship game of the Southeastern Conference Tournament, but that’s precisely where [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag] and Co. find themselves on Sunday staring down No. 1 Tennessee in Hoover, Alabama.

The Gators were swept by the Volunteers at home in late April and the Tennessee players celebrated with some of the football team’s gear. That rubbed Gator Nation the wrong way and had many questioning whether the baseball team wrote a check the football team couldn’t cash come the fall. Before [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag]’s group gets a chance at revenge, the baseball team will get another shot at the Vols and it comes while UF is playing its best ball of the season.

In a split-double header against Alabama and No. 5 Texas A&M on Saturday, Florida outscored its opponents 20-6, including a 9-0 revenge shutout of the Aggies. There’s no guarantee that things carry over from day to day, but the entire lineup is hitting well and, perhaps even more shockingly, the pitching has held up like a College World Series caliber staff would.

The problem is Florida has run deep into its well of pitchers and we’re approaching short-rest territory with plenty of relievers and maybe even a starter. Regionals begin on June 3, so running [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] out there on four-days rest is a bit iffy considering he’ll have to go again so soon. That said, who is left? [autotag]Garrett Milchin[/autotag]? [autotag]Tyler Nesbitt[/autotag]? Against Tennessee, you want [autotag]Hunter Barco[/autotag] or Sproat, and the former is shut down for the year.

Whoever it is, they’ll need some run support against the best offense in the country. [autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag] seems to be back to his normal hitting self and [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] continues to make the SEC coaches pay for not naming him to the conference’s First Team. The bottom of the order is also hitting well. [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] is the hottest No. 6 hitter in the country right now, and even [autotag]Mac Guscette[/autotag] is out there blasting home runs in multi-hit games.

Everything is rolling for the Gators right now. They just need to finish it off.

“We’re here,” [autotag]Timmy Manning[/autotag] said. “We might as well win.”

Florida completes unlikely run to SEC Tournament finals with win over Texas A&M

Two wins in one day have Florida baseball in the SEC Tournament championship, and everything seems to be working for the Orange and Blue.

Florida’s unlikely run to the Southeastern Conference Tournament final has had its share of ups and downs, but the Gators are playing their best baseball of the season when it matters most. A 9-0 win over the Texas A&M Aggies in the tournament semifinals has UF competing for its first conference championship since 2016.

[autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag] got things going early with home run No. 22 on the year in the first inning. [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] added another in the third with a sacrifice fly to score Wyatt Langford, and that was really all that starter [autotag]Timmy Manning[/autotag] needed through the first few innings of the game.

“(Manning’s) getting a lot of swings and misses on his breaking ball, so I don’t know if (the Aggies) are having a tough time seeing the spin or what,” O’Sullivan said. “But that was a really nice fastball to finish off that last inning (3rd).”

Fabian walked to start the fourth, and [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] — who has been red-hot since joining the lineup — reached on an error hit to second base. [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] bunted both runners into scoring position, and the small ball paid off with a [autotag]Mac Guscette[/autotag] single that scored two. [autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] moved Guscette over to second and Jim Schlossnagle decided to go to the bullpen.

Robert Hogan replaced Ryan Prager and got out of the inning on a line drive smoked by [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] right to the third baseman, but the Gators were already well in command of the game. Florida tacked on another run in the fifth on a double-play ball from [autotag]Ty Evans[/autotag]. Two more runs came in the sixth from who else but  Langford and Florida went up 7-0.

Manning’s night came to an end after 90 pitches and giving up a leadoff single in the sixth. Kevin O’Sullivan turned to [autotag]Fisher Jameson[/autotag] in hopes of preserving some arms for the championship game. Jameson answered the call and got out of the inning without giving up the shutout.

Caglianone drove in run No. 8 on a sac fly, and the Gators began to threaten a mercy rule against the team that ended their night earlier just two days ago. Men were stranded on second and third to end the seventh, and Florida tacked on one more in the ninth to close out the win. Jameson finished the night with four innings of one-hit, scoreless work and four strikeouts. Evans saved him right field with a trio of incredible defensive plays.

It’s the complete opposite of what happened against Texas A&M on Friday, but Sully couldn’t ask for his team to figure it out at a better time. Either Tennessee or Kentucky looms in the championship, but this run is already a success given the way things looked 48 hours ago.

“They’re having fun,” O’Sullivan said. “I mean, it’s better than the alternative right? It beats being on a bus back to Gainesville.”

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Game Preview: Gators looking to sweep season series against Stetson

Stetson has played spoiler before to the Gators, but Florida needs this midweek win to get the mind right before hosting No. 1 Tennessee over the weekend.

Florida baseball managed to narrowly avoid a sweep at the hands of the Vanderbilt Commodores with a 10-inning win on Sunday, and the Gators have one more game against Stetson on Tuesday to prepare for No. 1 Tennessee over the coming weekend.

Last time out against the Hatters, Florida cruised to an 8-1 victory. That game came after an opening series loss to Liberty and led to an early seven-game winning streak for UF. The Gators could use another momentum boost after getting off to a rocky start against SEC opponents.

[autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] led the offense with three RBIs on three hits, including a solo home run, and redshirt freshman [autotag]Tucker Talbot[/autotag]t had a four-hit night in one of his few appearances of the year. [autotag]Timmy Manning[/autotag] got a short one-inning start to regain some confidence after a weekend loss. Tuesday’s starter,[autotag] Karl Hartman[/autotag], was the first arm out of the bullpen followed by [autotag]Nick Ficarrotta[/autotag], who ended up taking home the win after 60 pitches and 4 2/3 innings. [autotag]Blake Purnell[/autotag] and [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] finished things off.

Kevin O’Sullivan probably won’t be playing his backups too much in this one as the Gators find themselves in need of a pick me up during the toughest part of their schedule. Each weekend seems to end in heartbreak only to have some hope restored by a solid midweek win. There’s no game between the Tennessee and Kentucky series, so this is Florida’s last dress rehearsal for that stretch.

A win here is expected, but it’s a crucial game for the Gators.

Florida baseball completes season sweep over FAMU with blowout win

That’s twice this season that Florida has put a beating on FAMU. Now let’s see it translate into conference play this weekend.

It wasn’t the 17-0 shutout Florida managed against Florida A&M earlier in the season, but the Gators took care of the Rattlers easily on Tuesday, 13-3.

The bulk of the damage came in the third and fourth frames as the Gators plated 10 runs in those two innings alone. Both Fabian brothers went deep in the bottom of the fourth marking the first occurrence of the brothers going yard in the same inning, and Derek finished the night with a team-high three RBIs while going 2-for-3 at the plate. Jud, [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] and [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] all finished with three hits against FAMU.

On the mound, [autotag]Nick Pogue[/autotag] got the start and lasted three innings. It hasn’t been the easiest return from Tommy John for him, but holding the Rattlers hitless and scoreless should earn him some more playing time. [autotag]Nick Ficarrotta[/autotag] pitched two innings of one-hit ball as the first man out of the pen for UF.

[autotag]Tyler Nesbitt[/autotag] and [autotag]Phillip Abner[/autotag] worked the sixth and seventh innings, respectively. FAMU finally broke through in the eighth with [autotag]Timmy Manning[/autotag] on the bump. Three runs crossed but only one was earned. [autotag]Blake Purnell[/autotag] was the last pitcher out for the Gators and needed just 13 pitches to get through the ninth.

Winning this game isn’t going to do a ton for Florida’s confidence offensively but the pitching staff needed a relatively quiet night after the LSU and Georgia series. Up next is No. 2 Arkansas in Gainesville for an important Thursday-Friday-Saturday series and then the Gators hit the road to face Florida State and Vanderbilt the following week.

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Florida baseball loses rubber match against LSU

The Gators couldn’t get much of anything going on Sunday as LSU took the series with a one-sided victory.

Florida baseball dropped its rubber match against the LSU Tigers on Sunday, 11-2, and losing a series against a ranked conference rival should be enough to knock UF out of the top 10 in most college baseball rankings.

UF entered the weekend ranked No. 7 in the USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll and LSU came in at No. 21. Those rankings appeared accurate after a solid performance from the Gators on Friday with [autotag]Hunter Barco[/autotag] on the mound. As the series continued on and Florida worked deeper into its pitching staff, LSU began to take control and proved to be the better ball club.

Right-hander Ryan Slater got the start for the Gators after going five innings in relief in each of his last two appearances. He lasted just four innings this time around, allowing four earned runs on four hits and four hit batters. Prior to this game, Slater had plunked just one batter on the season. Things did get chippy as this series went on, but Slater’s shaky command is to blame for most of the hit batters today.

The bullpen didn’t fare much better. Phillip Abner and Brandon Neely hit four more batters and gave up six of the seven runs surrendered in relief. Nick Ficarrotta, Tyler Nesbitt and Blake Purnell all had strong outings, though. Tigers designated hitter Brayden Jobert led the way with two long balls that drove in five.

Despite the pitching issues on Sunday, Florida’s bats might have been worse. The Gators only had one hit through the first five innings of the game and only managed to score two runs in the sixth. LSU needed only the duo of Samuel Dutton and Grant Taylor on the mound.

Strikeouts are typically the glaring number for UF in a loss like this, but the Gators only K’d five times in the series finale. LSU pitching held the Gators to a sub-.200 batting average over the weekend, and this is a club that came into the weekend batting .309 as a team.

It’s not the first time the Gators struggle at the plate this year, but the feeling is that a veteran offense should be able to correct most of the issues that pop up over the course of a season. The long-term concern is the lack of depth on the mound, as Florida doesn’t seem to have found a reliable starter after Barco.

Brandon Sproat and [autotag]Timmy Manning[/autotag] have both had their ups and downs, which leads the team to turn to its best bullpen guys. Slater deserves another shot as does Nesbitt, but Florida needs to figure out the weekend rotation quickly as the season nears its halfway point.

LSU gave Florida a wake-up call this weekend. The Gators responded after dropping the first series of the season to Liberty, and now they’ll have to do it again. There’s no midweek tune-up game before traveling to No. 14 Georgia. UF will face No. 10 Florida State on Tuesday before kicking off the series with the Bulldogs on Thursday.

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LSU overwhelms Florida baseball to even weekend series

LSU’s offense trounced Florida’s pitchers for six runs in the third inning on the way to a 16-4 victory.

The LSU Tigers overwhelmed Florida’s pitchers after its staff held them to two runs on Saturday. The Tigers put up crooked numbers in the third and ninth innings in a 16-4 victory over the Gators Saturday night at Florida Ballpark.

The Tigers struck first when [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] walked the lead-off batter and fell behind 3-1 to first baseman Tre’ Morgan, who then made him pay as he launched a pitch to right-center to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.

Sproat bounced back the following inning by not allowing a base runner, but he unraveled in the third inning. The sophomore right-hander walked the lead-off hitter again, then Morgan doubled to put two runners in scoring position with no outs. LSU then scored a run on a sac fly and on an error by first baseman [autotag]Kendrick Calilao[/autotag] to increase its lead to 4-0.

Coach [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag] pulled Sproat for [autotag]Timmy Manning[/autotag] after he allowed another walk. Sproat finished his outing, only going 2 1/3 innings while surrendering six runs, five earned runs, four hits and two walks.

But Manning didn’t fare much better, either. He entered and gave up a three-run homer and a solo shot to the first two LSU batters he faced in designated hitter Brayden Jobert and left fielder Gavin Dugas. The Tigers added another run in the fifth.

Florida finally broke the shutout in the sixth via a solo home run from third baseman [autotag]Deric Fabian[/autotag]. Then Gators’ right fielder [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] blasted a two-run homer to right and Calilao doubled in a run to trim LSU’s lead to 9-4.

Florida failed to cut into the Tigers’ lead any further in the final three innings. LSU tacked on seven runs in the top of the ninth to increase its lead to 16-4.

The Gators only managed five hits in Saturday’s contest, and Thompson — who recorded two of them — was the lone bright spot. LSU held star center fielder Jud Fabian hitless. He went zero for four with a strikeout. Florida’s defense also committed two errors.

Florida and LSU return for the rubber match Sunday at noon EDT and can be streamed on SEC Network+.

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Here is Florida baseball’s complete 2021 summer league roundup

Here’s how all nine Florida baseball players participating in the college summer leagues fared in wooden bat competition.

As August quickly consumes the calendar, the collegiate baseball summer leagues are winding down leaving a short season’s worth of stats to pore over for baseball enthusiasts. For fans of the Florida Gators, there were nine current members of the Orange and Blue in action over the past few months, including a pair of pitchers representing the Gator Nation with the USA Collegiate National Team.

UF players also saw action in the various leagues across the country, namely, the prestigious Cape Cod League, Valley League, Coastal Plains League, and close to home in the Florida Collegiate Summer League. Among them, three Gators earned all-league or all-star honors as a result of their standout performances. Here is a look at how all nine Gators fared this summer in wooden bat competition.