OMAHA, Neb. – Pitching and defense were the recipe that got the youthful Florida Gators to the College World Series. The lack of it Saturday night against UCLA now has the third-seeded Gators one game away from thinking about next season.
Florida pitchers hit four batters and threw four wild pitches while the defense added a costly error and a passed ball as sixth-seeded UCLA cruised to a 11-3 victory over the Gators in front of 23,271 at Rosenblatt Stadium.
“We just could not get into the flow of the game,” said Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan, making his fourth trip to Omaha but first as a head coach of Florida, which is making its first appearance since 2005. “It seemed like a slow-paced game, almost agonizing at times to watch.”
Florida starting pitcher Alex Panteliodis was coming off the best start of his career, but the sophomore left-hander struggled against the Bruins. After throwing a complete game last weekend against Miami, Panteliodis lasted only 3.1 innings, allowing up five hits, five runs (four earned) and one walk.
Panteliodis, who normally has great control, served warning that it might be a long night when he hit UCLA’s first two batters, freshmen Niko Gallego and Beau Amaral, with pitches to start the game.
Still, Rodriguez got out of the first allowing just one run and he was staked to a 2-1 lead when freshman Brian Johnson had a two-out single to drive home Nolan Fontana and Matt den Dekker.
But then the game unraveled in the top of the third inning for Florida (47-16) Back-to-back singles by Gallego (he went 4-for-5) and Amaral (3-for-4) started the inning and they moved up when UCLA successfully pulled off a double steal.
Florida third baseman Austin Maddox then allowed a ground ball by Blair Dunlap to go through his legs for an error, scoring Gallego on a play that should have secured at least one out. Amaral scored when Rodriguez uncorked a wild pitch. Cody Regis followed two hitters later with a run-scoring single, giving UCLA (49-14) a 4-2 lead the Bruins would not surrender.
They tacked on another run in the fourth inning when catcher Steve Rodriguez walked and went to third on Gallego’s one-out double that chased Panteliodis (11-3) and bringing in freshman left-handed reliever Steven Rodriguez, who uncorked a wild pitch that brought home Rodriguez for a 5-2 lead.
“We just struggled, playing behind in every inning it seemed like,” O’Sullivan said. “Every time we closed the gap a little bit, there would be a runner on first and second with nobody out (for UCLA).”
Rodriguez added a two-run single in the fifth inning to push the lead to 7-3. The Bruins would score one run in each of the final four innings of the game, never allowing the Gators to regain any momentum.
The only inning where Florida managed to hold the Bruins scoreless came in the second, when Rodriguez missed a home run foul by a few feet.
UCLA, which came to Omaha after losing second baseman and No. 3 hitter Tyler Rahmatulla with a broken wrist from last weekend’s dogpile celebration, finished the game with 18 hits, with third baseman Dean Espy going 3-for-6 with a pair of RBI, Rodriguez 2-for-4 with 2 RBI and Justin Uribe 2-for-4.
“We had an approach to hit the fastball away,” said Gallego, whose father Mike also played for UCLA before playing professionally and is now coaching third base for the Oakland Athletics. “We saw the ball well. We just battled him tonight.”
Once the Bruins took the lead, starting pitcher Trevor Bauer got better. The flaky sophomore right-hander, who wears a faded, two-year-old hat, looked shaky in the first inning, giving up Johnson’s two-run single which brought Florida’s total of two-out RBI in the last six games to 23.
After the Johnson single, Bauer gave up four hits in his final six innings. Only one was for extra bases, coming in the fourth inning when Josh Adams drilled a 3-1 fastball deep into the left-field bleachers for a solo home run.
“He threw every pitch for a strike tonight,” Adams said of Bauer, who threw 126 pitches, 82 for strikes. “His breaking ball was sharp and the changeup was pretty good. He had a great night.”
Bauer lasted seven innings, giving up three runs on six hits. He also struck out 11 hitters. The sophomore right-hander now has 152 strikeouts on the season, which broke the school record for strikeouts in a season, previously set in 1992 by Pete Janicki, who had 150.
“Early, I didn’t have a feel for anything but my curve ball,” Bauer said. “I made a little mechanical adjustment (after the second inning) and after that I commanded my fastball well.”
Bauer has now struck out 10 or more hitters in seven of his 17 starts this season. The two-time All-Pac-10 team member has also pitched seven innings or more in 14 of his last 17 starts.
Johnson’s hit and Adams’ home run were the only bright spots for the Florida offense. Johnson moved to 14-for-28 (.500) with 9 RBI in 10 postseason games.
Defensively, the highlight of the game was Matt den Dekker’s back-to-the-infield, knee-buckling catch on the warning track that robbed Brett Krill of an extra-base hit in the top of the fourth inning.
“That was one of the best catches I have ever seen,” O’Sullivan said.
The Gators are now 11-12 when they don’t score first. The victory for UCLA was its first in three appearances in the College World Series.
Florida will now face Florida State Monday afternoon at 4:30 ET in an elimination game. The Gators are expected to start freshman right-hander Hudson Randall (8-3, 2.95 ERA), while the Seminoles are expected to pitch sophomore left-hander Brian Busch (5-2, 3.97 ERA). Florida State won three of four games against Florida during the regular season. Monday’s loser will be leaving Rosenblatt Stadium, which is being replaced by a downtown edifice, for the last time.
COLLEGE WORLD SERIES / Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium / Omaha, Neb. / Saturday, June 19, 2010 / Game 2
UCLA 11, FLORIDA 3
UCLA BRUINS 11 (49-14)
ab r h rbi
1. Niko Gallego, ss 5 2 4 0
Dennis Holt, pr 0 1 0 0
Adrian Williams, ss 0 0 0 0
2. Beau Amaral, cf 4 1 3 1
3. Blair Dunlap, dh 3 1 0 1
Marc Navarro, ph 1 0 1 0
4. Dean Espy, 3b 6 1 3 2
5. Cody Regis, 2b 6 0 1 1
6. Chris Giovinazzo, lf/rf 6 1 1 0
7. Justin Uribe, 1b 4 2 2 0
8. Brett Krill, rf 4 0 1 1
Jeff Gelalich, lf 0 0 0 0
9. Steve Rodriguez, c 4 2 2 2
Trevor Bauer, p 0 0 0 0
Erik Goeddel, p 0 0 0 0
TOTALS 43 11 18 8
FLORIDA GATORS 3 (47-16)
ab r h rbi
1. Nolan Fontana, ss 2 1 1 0
2. Matt den Dekker, cf 5 1 1 0
3. Preston Tucker, 1b 4 0 0 0
4. Austin Maddox, 3b 4 0 1 0
Cody Dent, 3b 0 0 0 0
5. Brian Johnson, dh 4 0 1 2
6. Mike Zunino, c 3 0 0 0
Ben McMahon, ph 1 0 0 0
Hampton Tignor, c 0 0 0 0
7. Tyler Thompson, lf 4 0 1 0
8. Josh Adams, 2b 3 1 1 1
Jericho Weitzel, ph 0 0 0 0
9. Jonathan Pigott, rf 3 0 0 0
Daniel Pigott, ph 1 0 0 0
Alex Panteliodis, p 0 0 0 0
Steven Rodriguez, p 0 0 0 0
Jeff Barfield, p 0 0 0 0
Matt Campbell, p 0 0 0 0
Tommy Toledo, p 0 0 0 0
TOTALS 34 3 6 3
Score by innings
UCLA 103 121 111 — 11 18 2
Florida 200 100 000 — 3 6 1
E—Gallego (16), Rodriguez (3), Maddox (12). DP—Florida 1. LOB—UCLA 13, Florida 8. 2B—Gallego (14), Uribe (6), Rodriguez (8). HR—Adams (9). HBP—Gallego, Amaral, Dunlap, Uribe. SH—Dunlap (6), Krill (6). SB—Gallego (27), Amaral (9), Espy (8), Fontana (11), Adams (6).
UCLA ip h r er bb so era
Trevor Bauer 7.0 6 3 3 2 11 3.06
Erik Goeddel 2.0 0 0 0 2 2 3.12
Florida ip h r er bb so era
Alex Panteliodis 3.1 5 5 4 1 2 3.51
Steven Rodriguez 0.2 1 2 2 1 2 2.57
Jeff Barfield 2.0 4 1 1 0 1 3.38
Matt Campbell 2.0 5 2 2 0 2 9.53
Tommy Toledo 1.0 3 1 1 0 1 4.39
Win—Bauer (11-3). Loss—Panteliodis (11-3). Save—None. WP—Panteliodis (6), Barfield 3 (4). Rodriguez faced 2 batters in the 5th.
HBP—by Panteliodis (Gallego), by Panteliodis (Amaral), by Rodriguez (Dunlap), by Rodriguez (Uribe). Balk—Bauer 2 (3), Toledo (1). PB—Zunino (9). Inherited runners/scored: Rodriguez 2/1, Barfield 2/2. Pitches/strikes: UCLA, Bauer 126/82, Goeddel 30/18. Florida, Panteliodis 61/39, Rodriguez 21/11, Barfield 32/22, Campbell 35/27, Toledo 29/20.
Umpires: HP, Mark Ditsworth; 1B, Kelly Gonzales; 2B, Gus Rodriguez; 3B, David Savage. Time—3:45. Attendance—23,271. Weather—84 degrees, partly cloudy, win NW at 10 mph.
NCAA DIVISION I BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
COLLEGE WORLD SERIES / Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium / Omaha, Neb. / June 19-30
BRACKET 1
Saturday, June 19
Game 1: Texas Christian 8, Florida State 1
Game 2: UCLA 11, Florida 3
Monday, June 21
Game 5: Florida State (47-19) vs. Florida (47-16), 4:30 p.m. (ESPN2HD). Elimination game
Game 6: Texas Christian (52-12) vs. UCLA (49-14), 9 p.m. (ESPN2HD)
Wednesday, June 23
Game 9: Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, 7 p.m. (ESPN2HD). Elimination game
Friday, June 25
Game 11: Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 9, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN2HD). Possible elimination game. If Winner Game 6 wins Game 11, it moves into Championship Series and Loser Game 11 is eliminated; if Winner Game 6 loses, teams play Saturday, June 26 at 2 p.m.
Saturday, June 26
Game 13: Winner Game 11 vs. Loser Game 11, 2 p.m. (ESPN2HD). Winner to Championship Series, loser eliminated.
BRACKET 2
Sunday, June 20
Game 3: Oklahoma (48-16) vs. South Carolina (48-15), 2 p.m. (ESPNHD)
Game 4: (1) Arizona State (52-8) vs. Clemson (43-23), 7 p.m. (ESPNHD)
Tuesday, June 22
Game 7: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN2HD). Elimination game
Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 9 p.m. (ESPN2HD)
Thursday, June 24
Game 10: Winner Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, 7 p.m. (ESPN2HD). Elimination game
Friday, June 25
Game 12: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 10, 9 p.m. (ESPN2HD). Possible elimination game. If Winner Game 8 wins Game 12, it moves into Championship Series and Loser Game 12 is eliminated; if Winner Game 8 loses, teams play Saturday, June 26 at 2 or 7 p.m.
Saturday, June 26
Game 13/14: Winner Game 12 vs. Loser Game 12, 2 or 7 p.m. (ESPN2HD). Winner to Championship Series, loser eliminated.
CHAMPIONSHIP / Best-of-3 series
Monday, June 28
Game 1: Bracket I winner vs. Bracket II winner, 7:30 p.m. ET
Tuesday, June 29
Game 2: Bracket I winner vs. Bracket II winner, 7:30 p.m. ET
Wednesday, June 30
Game 3: Bracket I winner vs. Bracket II winner, if necessary, 7:30 p.m. ET
TCU BEATS FLORIDA STATE IN CWS OPENER / click below
https://www.gatorcountry.com/baseball/article/tcu_freshman_purke_still_unbeaten_fsu_not/9360