Forgotten Florida now 2 wins from a CWS title, NCAA history
Florida has not been No. 1 this season, but the Gators have a chance to finish there after vanquishing TCU 3-2 in the CWS semifinals on Wednesday afternoon.
The win was vintage Florida: a fast start, outstanding middle relief from the bullpen, and a closer who shut the door with assistance from great defense. Florida scored twice in the first inning, thanks to a Josh Rivera bomb, never trailed and held on late.
The final play, a full sprint, over the shoulder catch made by Michael Robertson, to rob TCU All-American Brayden Taylor of a huge hit epitomizes Florida’s depth.
Unbelievable catch by Michael Robertson pic.twitter.com/qYBfFsGvU0 — Nick de la Torre (@delatorre) June 21, 2023
Robertson, a defensive replacement, became the latest Florida player to make a huge play on another day where Florida’s biggest stars, Wyatt Langford and Jac Caglianone, were mostly quiet. Collectively, Langford and Caglianone were 1-for-8 at the plate with a strikeout. Langford has just 2 hits at the College World Series. And he couldn’t track down a ball on the warning track in the 8th that led to TCU’s tying run and prompted the defensive switch to Robertson in the 9th.
Caglianone did manage 4 1/3 innings as the starting pitcher, which could best be described as “effectively wild.” TCU scratched across only 1 run, but Caglianone walked 3, hit 3 batters, and pitched out of trouble all afternoon. But it wasn’t a quality start, either statistically or optically. His struggles at the plate continued, too. The Golden Spikes Award finalist is now just 1-for-12 in Omaha and he hasn’t driven a run in since the regionals.
Florida keeps winning anyway, thanks to role players relishing moments, like Robertson did Wednesday.
“He makes a heck of a play to end the ball game,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “It was just a fitting end for the way this tournament has gone for us.”
The way the tournament has gone has been just enough offense, dominant pitching, and big time moments from the supporting cast, featuring guys like Robertson.
“Any play like that in that situation is do-or-die, so if it’s in the air and it’s going to be close to the wall, I’m running through it,” Robertson said. “I’m going to make the play. I think it traveled further than I initially thought it was going to, but I was hopeful I was going to have a play on it the whole time. I’m happy to have been able to make that play. In the moment, I kind of almost blacked out. It looks alright on camera.”
Florida doesn’t get the love showered on LSU or Wake Forest, one of whom will burn their best pitcher (Paul Skenes and Rhett Lowder, respectively) trying to secure a date with the Gators in the best-of-3 College World Series Finals, which begin Saturday.
Only LSU and Wake Forest have been ranked No. 1 this season, and not a single prognosticator at Baseball America or ESPN picked anyone other than LSU or Wake Forest to lift the trophy in Omaha. Mr. College Baseball himself, Ryan McGee, went so far as to suggest that “Wake Forest and LSU have been the best teams since February” in his pre-World series predictions piece at ESPN.
These types of predictions disregarding the Gators ignore the reality that is Florida the SEC regular-season champion (which, by the way, includes LSU), have the longest winning streak in the NCAA Tournament (8), and the pitching staff with the lowest ERA, batting average against and runs allowed among NCAA Tournament semifinalists.
The Gators, in other words, are really, really good, even if they are forgotten among LSU and Wake Forest hysteria.
That few think Florida can win, even now, isn’t lost on Florida’s players.
BT Riopelle, playing the final baseball games of his life before embarking on a career in finance next month, had this to say when asked about the lack of attention the Gators have received for their sterling play in the Super Regionals and in Omaha.
“We don’t live in a bubble,” Riopelle said. “We aren’t going to tell you we don’t hear any of it or we just ignore it. That wouldn’t be true. What we do is worry about ourselves. We know who we are and we know how good we are. We grind games out and we find ways to win. It’s a reflection of the type of team we have that maybe we don’t get the attention or the fear factor of some of the other teams, but we find a way to beat you.”
Like Riopelle, Florida’s head coach lauded their depth and chemistry.
“It is hard to win here,” O’Sullivan said last night, before adding, “but we keep finding a way because of the depth of this group. They keep fighting for one another and finding ways to pick each other up. That’s what it takes to get where we are and have the chance to win two more.”
Two more.
That’s all that stands between the Gators and a second national championship. At an otherwise dark time for Florida’s revenue sports, Florida’s CWS Finals run, and the chance to become the first Division I school to win multiple national championships in football, men’s basketball and baseball, is a reminder of what Florida can be when the Gators are right.
The last 2 wins, of course, will be the hardest.
Wake Forest and LSU are sensational, and the Gators will be tested by either, even without Skenes available to start for LSU or Lowder for Wake Forest.
Florida also will likely need more offense, as the Gators have relied too heavily on home runs in their three wins in Omaha, manufacturing just 4 runs (out of 14) without the long ball in their 3 wins. For Florida’s offense to truly wake up, the Gators will need big bops from the likes of Langford (2-19 since Super Regional play) and Caglianone.
But how long can two players of that talent level stay in a slump? Depending on the answer, it is possible the most formidable version of the Gators hasn’t even played in Omaha yet.
That might not frighten LSU or Wake Forest, but it might be enough for Florida to win the national championship.
Source: Saturday Down South
