Gators Can’t Keep Sooners in Park, Season on Line Sunday in Gainesville Regional
The UF baseball team’s season is on the line Sunday after a 9-4 loss to Oklahoma on Saturday night in the Gainesville Regional.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Gators took the long road to hosting the Gainesville Regional, overcoming ample growing pains early in the season before their late-season surge. They now must take the long road to stay alive in the NCAA Tournament.
No. 1-seed Florida lost to second-seed Oklahoma 9-4 on Saturday night in the winner’s bracket. As a result, the Gators (40-23) will face Central Michigan for the second time in three days in an elimination game Sunday afternoon (1 p.m.) at Condron Ballpark. The Chippewas (43-18) defeated Liberty, 3-2, in 12 innings on Saturday to stave off elimination.
On a night the ball was flying over the fence, the Gators and Sooners combined for seven home runs. The early fireworks belonged to the Gators, who took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on solo homers from Ty Evans<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__floridagators.com_roster.aspx-3Frp-5Fid-3D15111&d=DwIF-g&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=2GLaHURrWs9ewx6GRiDE2Xv-eIP1XhZ9ugR5EqXQ1hoEIRZD9UZxMCBaf8XUqSwF&s=sPOnZ6RtJYhU_79OZCUOmub5MOJ5sL8Poy3NTkjX6LI&e= > and Jac Caglianone<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__floridagators.com_roster.aspx-3Frp-5Fid-3D15113&d=DwIF-g&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=2GLaHURrWs9ewx6GRiDE2Xv-eIP1XhZ9ugR5EqXQ1hoEIRZD9UZxMCBaf8XUqSwF&s=UnrGFs1nryArNnS2awnZbMA_ImUI_gj_ZPy30F-nXbE&e= > off Oklahoma starter David Sandlin.
Oklahoma didn’t wait long to swing back against UF starter Brandon Neely<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__floridagators.com_roster.aspx-3Frp-5Fid-3D15118&d=DwIF-g&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=2GLaHURrWs9ewx6GRiDE2Xv-eIP1XhZ9ugR5EqXQ1hoEIRZD9UZxMCBaf8XUqSwF&s=RLHjuV4da9gowNDC3L0g2OeL_57wGw9AHVE7RNY4WUI&e= >.
Kendall Pettis led off the top of the third with a walk, and after Neely struck out John Spikerman, Sooners shortstop Peyton Graham drilled a two-run homer to tie the game. As Graham rounded first, he and Florida first baseman BT Riopelle<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__floridagators.com_roster.aspx-3Frp-5Fid-3D15114&d=DwIF-g&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=2GLaHURrWs9ewx6GRiDE2Xv-eIP1XhZ9ugR5EqXQ1hoEIRZD9UZxMCBaf8XUqSwF&s=I5BR1ts4G_tHUj9TKVtZuQeytzfNaHJvtEBt5qx-rU4&e= > exchanged words. Riopelle had applied a hard tag on Pettis at first as he dove back to the base on a pickoff throw. Meanwhile, Graham stared down the UF dugout as he began to round the bases.
From there, the inning only got stranger. Oklahoma first baseman Blake Robertson stepped into the batter’s box after Graham and cranked a mammoth go-ahead home run for a 3-2 Oklahoma lead. Neely then walked Tanner Tredaway, prompting UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__floridagators.com_coaches.aspx-3Frc-3D1445&d=DwIF-g&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=2GLaHURrWs9ewx6GRiDE2Xv-eIP1XhZ9ugR5EqXQ1hoEIRZD9UZxMCBaf8XUqSwF&s=ZinF0p1zBhillh3yrkKDsEwjIr9w4N6DEtyobiweTAI&e= > to make a pitching change. Fisher Jameson<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__floridagators.com_roster.aspx-3Frp-5Fid-3D15120&d=DwIF-g&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=2GLaHURrWs9ewx6GRiDE2Xv-eIP1XhZ9ugR5EqXQ1hoEIRZD9UZxMCBaf8XUqSwF&s=SiCcTnqLRptyg6BDGyyQBjqkjBA9lTbvMBz50eOMrb4&e= > gave up a double to Jimmy Crooks, and then on a pitch in the dirt, Tredaway scored to give Oklahoma a 4-2 lead.
As UF catcher Mac Guscette<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__floridagators.com_roster.aspx-3Frp-5Fid-3D15095&d=DwIF-g&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=2GLaHURrWs9ewx6GRiDE2Xv-eIP1XhZ9ugR5EqXQ1hoEIRZD9UZxMCBaf8XUqSwF&s=Wumv2opllV02_JXYB8sCL-Qa_3TM87HEps03frxNWYA&e= > scrambled to retrieve Jameson’s wild pitch, Sooners second baseman Jackson Nicklaus, who was at the plate, blocked his path to the ball. O’Sullivan came out to question the call, but the umpires let it stand, igniting hearty boos for the rest of the game from the announced crowd of 5,000.
Crooks went 3-for-4 with two massive home runs over the right-field berm as the Sooners added to their lead. Neely was charged with four earned runs and three hits in 2 1/3 innings, facing only 13 batters.
The Gators scored their final run on Guscette’s solo homer in the bottom of the seventh.
Florida must defeat Central Michigan for the second time in the regional to keep its season alive. The Gators beat the Chippewas 7-3 on Friday night. The winner faces Oklahoma on Sunday night with a chance to advance to a winner-take-all game on Monday.
NOTABLES
* Two freshmen starters – Evans and Caglianone – both went yard in the second inning to open a 2-0 lead for Florida.
* Guscette connected for his fifth home run of the season in the seventh inning
* The home runs raised Florida’s season total, which is the second-highest in program history, to 115 homers.
* Thompson collected three hits on Saturday night, marking his 19th multi-hit game of the year and seventh three-hit performance.
* Saturday marked the first-ever meeting in baseball between Florida and Oklahoma.
* Florida is 117-81 in NCAA Tournament games.
* The Gators are playing in their 14th consecutive Regional under O’Sullivan.
* 2022 represents Florida’s 37th NCAA appearance and 18th time hosting.
* Florida has won 15 of its last 20 games and 17 of its last 23.
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On the loss…
“It was unfortunate. We had scored two runs in the second. We had the momentum and then walked the nine hitter on four straight. It kind of spiraled out of control at that point. It seemed like anytime we had the momentum… we turned and gave it up the next inning. From that standpoint it was difficult and disappointing.”
On the Zoom call with former Gators…
“We had a zoom call yesterday with Mike Zunino, Paco Rodriguez, Tommy Toledo, Hudson Randall, and Vickash Ramjit. I knew that at some point our young freshman were going to have to fill in some important moments this weekend. Those guys were all freshman in 2010… the biggest message to our team was being in the moment. Not letting the game speed up on you. Unfortunately, it just kind of sped up on us a little tonight.”
On what the message is for tomorrow…
“The biggest message was, we were put in a similar situation last week in Hoover. We were able to rattle off quite a few wins to get to Sunday. As disappointing as this loss is, it’s our job as a coaching staff to not let this leak into tomorrow. We’ve got to take it one game at a time… you have to flush it and get ready to play Central Michigan tomorrow. I told them, Nick [Pogue] is going to give us a great effort. We can’t look ahead, but we’ve done it before…they’ve got to be ready to play tomorrow. It’s really that simple.”
UP NEXT
Florida will play Central Michigan tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET in a do-or-die matchup at the Gainesville Regional. The game will stream on ESPN+, with the winner advancing to the championship against Oklahoma at 7 p.m.
