GAINESVILLE REGIONAL: Gators 6, Texas Tech 0 — UF Completes Comeback, Movin’ on to Super Regional
The Gators rallied for three consecutive do-or-die wins to claim the Gainesville Regional championship with a victory Monday over Texas Tech.
WHAT HAPPENED: The Gators completed their long road out of the losers’ bracket in the Gainesville Regional with a third consecutive do-or-die victory, beating Texas Tech 6-0 on Monday afternoon at Condron Ballpark. Florida overcame a loss in one of its first two games of a regional to win the regional title for the first time since 1998. To do so, Florida beat Connecticut and Texas Tech on Sunday, and then defeated the Red Raiders again on Monday. The Gators advanced to a Super Regional for the first time since 2018.
PLAY OF THE GAME: It would be easy to say the scorched home run hit by Wyatt Langford<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/wyatt-langford/15497> in the top of the second that accounted for the Gators’ first run of the game. That was one more than Texas Tech scored. But Langford’s most memorable contribution Monday was when he stole two bases on one play in the fifth. After reaching on an error by Texas Tech shortstop Will Burns, the Red Raiders shifted hard right for left-handed hitting Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/15489>. Langford took off and stole second, and with third baseman Kevin Bazzell taking the throw from catcher Dylan Maxcey, Langford beat Bazzell in a foot race to third for an additional stolen base. He scored on Josh Rivera<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/josh-rivera/15504>’s single to put UF ahead 4-0.
STAGGERING STAT: Gators catcher BT Riopelle<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/bt-riopelle/15503> was 0-for-15 with eight strikeouts in the Gainesville Regional until he announced his presence in Monday’s championship game with two two-run homers.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: The Gators were nursing a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth when Rivera led off with a single against new Texas Tech pitcher Josh Sanders. Riopelle blasted the first pitch he saw from Sanders out of the ballpark for a two-run homer and 3-0 Gators lead. Riopelle delivered again in the fifth, smacking another two-run homer that gave the Gators a 6-0 lead and sent the announced crowd of 5,881 at Condron Ballpark into a frenzy.
KEY MOMENT: How about when Gators coach Kevin O’Sullivan<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/kevin-o-sullivan/1551> decided to start reliever Ryan Slater<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ryan-slater/15506> on Monday. Slater was excellent, tossing five shutout innings for his team-high 10th win. Slater took the mound Monday with only two starts among his 23 appearances. Still, he pitched as if a member of the starting rotation all season. He limited the Red Raiders to three hits and two walks. He struck out one and hit a batter in a 56-pitch effort before relievers Philip Abner<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/philip-abner/15488> and Brandon Neely<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/brandon-neely/15499> closed the victory.
BY THE NUMBERS: 25 — Years since Florida won three consecutive do-or-die games to win a regional championship. The Gators overcame a loss to Baylor in the second game to beat Richmond, Wake Forest and Illinois in 1998; 6 — Home runs hit in four games for the Gators in the regional, including three on Monday.
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
Opening statement…
“First, I want to congratulate Texas Tech for a great season. They have a really good club. I’ve known Tim (Tadlock) for years, he and his staff do a really good job. I think it’s seven-straight regionals for them and we’ve played them out in Omaha. A lot of respect for them and I know they don’t want their season to end. They got a really good team. They’re young and have a bright future ahead. I think they have four freshmen in the lineup, they threw a freshman yesterday and today and have a lot of positives to look forward to. It started yesterday with Hurston (Waldrep), he gave us seven. Cade (Fisher) gave us seven last night and Ryan (Slater) was a bit fatigued and didn’t try to strike anybody out, I think he struck out one. He made them put the ball in play, and we played great defense really all weekend, but it started with starting pitching and obviously BT (Riopelle) had a really good day at the plate, Josh (Rivera) did too and Wyatt (Langford) is seeing the ball as good as he’s been seeing it all year long. Proud of our team, we played 27 innings in 27 hours, basically. I can’t speak for them, but it’s a little bit exhausting to be honest with you. Look forward to having tonight and tomorrow off and then get back at it and see if we’re going to play on Friday or Saturday.”
On the culture of the team…
“Number one, it’s not easy to get through the SEC schedule. It’s not easy to win a regional. It’s not. There’s been a stretch here, 2010-11, 14-18, that we’ve been fortunate to go to the World Series, but I have a different perspective now than I did back then. It’s hard. You have to stay healthy and you have to have a good team and play well at the right time. I think last year kind of set the tone for this year. We were 6-12 last year in league and three weeks later hosting a regional. That’s not easy to do and we’ve kind of turned the corner with a young team and we’ve added a few pieces from the portal, BT for a couple years and Hurston and a couple other guys, obviously. To get to that point and to get to that final game, I think it meant a lot to our team and to our program. But to get to this point again, it’s a bit refreshing. Like I said, I have a different perspective then I may have had 10 years ago. I do realize how difficult it is and am awfully proud of our club.”
On Langford’s baseball instincts …
“When you see as many shifts as we have throughout the year, that’s obviously talked about. But it’s one thing to talk about it, it’s another thing to instinctually do it. We’ve had some really good players here, I’m not going to tab him as the best we’ve ever had, but he’s really good. He can do all kind of things on the field to beat you. He can hit, he can hit for power, plays great defense. WE have no reservations to play him in center (field). He’s seeing the ball as good as he has all year. He’s a really special player and we are really fortunate to have him here, and we’re going to enjoy him as long as we can.”
On Riopelle’s importance to the team…
“He’s a tremendous leader. He and Josh are probably are two most vocal leaders on the field. He’s probably tired of course, but you accept that with that position. The thing about BT at the plate is he might have an 0-4, but he is clutch. He comes up at the right times at the right moment, and rises to the occasion. He certainly did that today.”
“You can’t have a good pitching staff without a leader at the plate. It’s just not going to work. You can have the best pitching staff in the world, but if you don’t have a leader behind the plate who takes charge and can manage the game, it’s not going to work.”
2023 NCAA GAINESVILLE REGIONAL ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Catcher: Ty Hanchey, Florida A&M
First base: Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/15489>, Florida
Second base: Austin Green, Texas Tech
Third base: Kevin Bazzell, Texas Tech
Shortstop: Josh Rivera<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/josh-rivera/15504>, Florida
Outfield: Wyatt Langford<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/wyatt-langford/15497>, Florida
Outfield: Tyler Shelnut<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/tyler-shelnut/15515>, Florida
Outfield: Korey Morton, UConn
Designated Hitter: Zac Vooletich, Texas Tech
Starting Pitcher: Mason Molina, Texas Tech
Starting Pitcher: Hurston Waldrep<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/hurston-waldrep/15517>, Florida
Relief Pitcher: Brandon Neely<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/brandon-neely/15499>, Florida
Regional MVP: Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/15489>, Florida
NOTABLES
* Florida won its 15th NCAA Regional title including the program’s ninth under Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/kevin-o-sullivan/1551>.
* The Gators advance to Super Regionals for the first time since 2018.
* Florida will be hosting its ninth Super Regional since 2008, which leads the nation.
* This is the first time since 1998 that Florida has won three-straight do-or-die games to win a Regional.
* The Gators won their first NCAA Regional out of the loser’s bracket out of seven attempts in the O’Sullivan era.
* The Gators played in their second-straight NCAA Regional final against a Big-12 opponent.
* The Gators have played in 10 Regional finals under O’Sullivan.
* Florida is now 123-83 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
* The Gators are 86-51 in NCAA Regional play.
* UF is hosting its 19th NCAA Regional while making the 38th Regional appearance in program history.
* Florida has hosted 12 out of a possible 15 Regionals in the O’Sullivan era.
* Langford hit his 18th home run of the season with a solo shot in the third inning, marking his seventh-career postseason home run.
* Langford has homered in all four postseason series that he has played in.
* Riopelle broke out of an 0-for-15 NCAA Tournament slump with a two-run home run to move the score to 3-0 in the fourth inning.
* Riopelle hit another two-run shot in the fifth, marking his third multi-homer game of the season and the fourth of his career.
* The second home run marked Riopelle’s 15th of the season including his fifth of the 2023 postseason (three at SEC Tournament).
* Slater fired five shutout innings in his third start of the season, allowing just three hits and two walks.
* The outings was Slater’s second of at least five innings of the season following his six-inning start against Florida State on April 11.
* Florida has hit 126 home runs this season, which ranks second in a single season in program history behind the 1998 team (132).
* Florida has struck out 644 batters in 541 innings – translating to 10.7 per nine innings, which would mark a new program record.
* The Gators have 611 hits through 63 games (9.7 hits/game).
* The Gators have scored in 44.1% of batted innings (226 of 513).
* Florida is now 3-3 all-time vs. Texas Tech, all of which have taken place in the postseason in the O’Sullivan era.
UP NEXT: The Gators will host Southeastern Conference rival South Carolina in a best-of-three NCAA Super Regional starting later this week. Times and dates TBA. This is the ninth NCAA Super Regional for the Gators in O’Sullivan’s 16 seasons.
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