All roads lead to Omaha and the College World Series.
Since Kevin O’Sullivan has been the head coach at the University of Florida, one of those roads normally goes right through Gainesville and this season is no different.
The No. 3 Florida Gators will play host to the No. 13 Wake Forest Demon Deacons this weekend in the Gainesville Super Regional. It’s a best of three format with the winner getting a crack at winning the final game of the season and the loser watching the World Series from home.
To be one of the last 16 teams playing baseball in June is an accomplishment in itself but the way the Gators and Demon Deacons got to this point are starkly different.
The Gators relied on a talented stable of weekend arms. Alex Faedo, Brady Singer and Jackson Kowar combined to throw more than 290 innings posting a 3.30 ERA and an impressive 26-6 record. At the end of the game the Gators have had an improbable standout in closer Michael Byrne, who was a weekday starter for the first several weeks before settling into a late inning role. Byrne has saved a school-record 16 games.
Wake Forest, on the other hand, powered its way through the season with a potent offense. The Demon Deacons are the first and only team to hit 100 home runs in a season since the NCAA moved to the BBCOR bats in 2011. They’re team batting average of .311 is 15th best in the country and they have six starters hitting better than .300 and five players that have double digit home runs.
It will be strength vs. strength this weekend with the ultimate ticket on the line.
This season has already been historic for Wake Forest. They hosted a Regional for just the third time in school history and first since 2002. It was the first time in school history that they swept a Regional and this will be the Demon Deacons first Super Regional appearance since 1999. Wake Forest hasn’t been to the College World Series in 62 years.
The Gators have the arms to go toe-to-toe with Wake’s potent offense and McKethan Stadium isn’t nearly as friendly to hitters as David F. Couch Ballpark in Winston-Salem. Florida will have to hit and score runs to win this weekend. The Gators are hitting just .264 as a team (197th nationally) and have just two everyday starters hitting over .300. Florida went 12 innings without scoring a run against Bethune-Cookman in the final two games of the Gainesville Regional and have shown that they can go into extended slumps offensively.
It’s an accomplishment to be playing baseball this weekend. More than 300 teams play division I baseball and only 16 will take the field this weekend. Florida knows that, and yet, they’ve had their sights set on so much more than just a Super Regional berth since they started practicing in the fall. ‘
They’re just two wins away from Omaha.