Florida Gators shake up lineup before elimination game

OMAHA, Neb — In an attempt to wake up the bats Florida Gators manager Kevin O’Sullivan decided to shake up the starting lineup for Florida’s elimination game against TCU on Saturday night.

Ryan Larson will bat ninth tonight vs. TCU. He’s been the Gators’ leadoff hitter for the entire NCAA Tournament. Deacon Liput will now fill that leadoff role for Florida. He had been batting sixth in the lineup previously. Austin Langworthy and

O’Sullivan alluded to a change in the lineup after Florida’s 9-2 loss to TCU on Friday night.

“Probably need to look at the lineup a little tomorrow,” he said at his pregame press conference. “I hate to make a change this late in the season. But there’s some guys that are obviously not feeling great about themselves right now, and maybe I can take pressure off them by moving them down a little bit.”

The biggest change was dropping senior outfielder Ryan Larson down in the lineup. Larson has put together his best season as a Gator but is mired in an 0-20 slump since his walk off hit against Wake Forest in the first Super Regional game.

The Gators have struggled at the plate in Omaha, hitting just .200 (19-95) with 25 strikeouts.

Nick de la Torre
A South Florida native, Nick developed a passion for all things sports at a very young age. His love for baseball was solidified when he saw Al Leiter’s no-hitter for the Marlins live in May of 1996. He was able to play baseball in college but quickly realized there isn’t much of a market for short, slow outfielders that hit around the Mendoza line. Wanting to continue with sports in some capacity he studied journalism at the University of Central Florida. Nick got his first start in the business as an intern for a website covering all things related to the NFL draft before spending two seasons covering the Florida football team at Bleacher Report. That job led him to GatorCountry. When he isn’t covering Gator sports, Nick enjoys hitting way too many shots on the golf course, attempting to keep up with his favorite t.v. shows and watching the Heat, Dolphins and Marlins. Follow him on twitter @NickdelatorreGC