Plagued by youth and inconsistency throughout the season, it was inconsistency that ended the Florida Gators’ baseball season Sunday night in the Gainesville Super Regional.
Grabbing a 6-1 lead against never-give-up Southern Mississippi in a game it needed to win to keep its season alive, Florida handed the ball to its junior closer Billy Bullock in the eighth inning with a 6-4 lead.
By the time the Golden Eagles were through, they scored three runs, two on a single by Joey Archer, and earned a 7-6 victory over the Gators to sweep the best-of-three series and earn their first trip ever to Omaha, Neb., and the College World Series.
“If you would have told me going into the day that we’d have a two-run lead with six outs to go and Bullock was rested and ready to go, I’d have felt pretty good about it,” Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said.
Instead, the Gators are packing their belongings for the summer after a 42-22 season, wondering what might have been if they could have turned a double play in the eighth inning and not ended the game by hitting into one in the ninth.
After Archer’s single with one out had tied the score at 6-6, Bullock got Tyler Koelling to hit a ground ball to shortstop Mike Mooney, who raced to second to get the second out but then jumped over Archer to throw wide of first. First baseman Preston Tucker valiantly tried to come up with the ball but couldn’t, allowing Koelling to reach first safely and allowing Adam Doleac to cross the plate with the winning run.
Tucker, whose first-inning home run had given Florida a 1-0 lead, tried to start something with one out in the ninth when he singled to left off Southern Miss closer Colin Cargill. But on a 3-2 pitch, Cargill got Josh Adams to hit a grounder to third baseman Taylor Walker, who started a 5-4-3 double play that began a Golden Eagle celebration.
This will be the first trip to the College World Series for Southern Mississippi (40-24) and coach Corky Palmer, who has announced this will be his final season in Hattiesburg. His Florida counterpart had nothing but good things to say about Palmer’s Golden Eagles.
“All year long we’ve been playing teams that made mistakes and kicked the ball around, but they played great defense,” O’Sullivan said.
The Gators owned a 6-1 lead after three innings but failed to score again.
After Tucker’s 15th home run of the season gave Florida a 1-0 lead against Southern Miss and Conference USA Pitcher of the Year Todd McInnis, the Golden Eagles’ leadoff batter Bo Davis crushed a pitch from Florida starter Nick Maronde to tie the game at 1-1. But in the top of second, third baseman Brandon McArthur blasted a one-out home run to left center to give the Gators a 2-1 lead.
Florida sent eight batters to the plate against McInnis in the third and scored four runs. Mike Mooney started the inning with a walk and went to third on Avery Barnes’ double to right center. After Jonathan Pigott struck out, Tucker was intentionally walked to load the bases.
Adams then reached out on a 0-2 pitch and singled to right, scoring Mooney. After Matt den Dekker flied out to right, scoring Barnes and advancing Tucker to third, Adams stole second and then McArthur singled to left center, scoring Tucker and Adams for a 6-1 Florida lead.
McInnis got out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth when he struck out Adams on a 3-2 pitch swinging and he left after striking out Tyler Thompson and Buddy Munroe to end the top of the fifth inning.
For the second straight day, the Golden Eagles’ bullpen came through. Scott Copeland replaced McInnis in the sixth and allowed one hit – a one-out single by Barnes in the sixth – and two walks. More important, his teammates came roaring back to earn Copeland (2-5) the victory. Cargill earned his 13th save for his work in the ninth.
“You’ve got to give credit to their bullpen,” O’Sullivan said. “They kept throwing sinkers that we kept beating into the ground. They got a lot of ground ball outs and they made the plays.”
Tucker reached base five times with his first-inning homer and ninth-inning single around three walks. Barnes went 3-for-5.
Florida got only three innings out of starting pitcher Nick Maronde, who allowed three runs. After Greg Larson threw one-third of an inning, left-handed reliever Tony Davis completed a career-high 3.2 innings in relief, allowing only a solo homer by James Ewing in the fifth.
The junior was understandably upset after the game but knows that this weekend’s series will benefit the team in the long run.
“I don’t think a lot of people realize what this coaching staff has done for all of us,” Davis said. “You have to truly be on the inside of it to see the changes that they’ve made in all of us as players and as people. They’ve been unbelievable to get us to this point. We’ve got to go get them next year.”
McArthur’s six-year, injury-plagued career with the Gators ended with his 2-for-4, 3-RBI performance.
“(Brandon has) meant everything to this program,” O’Sullivan said. “He exemplifies leadership, character, toughness, competitiveness. I’ve told him a thousand times that his story is going to be told from team-to-team. Whenever he’s back in town in the fall for football games and for weekends next spring, I want him talking to our team. I want the younger players to know about Brandon McArthur.”
Brandon McArthur won’t have a chance to get to Omaha this year, but hopefully his spirit and the Gators will in the very near future.
TAR HEELS, CAVALIERS, SUN DEVILS IN CWS
Arizona State, North Carolina and Virginia earned berths in the College World Series by winning their Super Regionals Sunday, bringing to seven the number of teams that have qualified for the trip to Omaha, Neb., and Rosenblatt Stadium, where the CWS begins next Saturday.
After North Carolina and Virginia earlier on Sunday gave the Atlantic Coast Conference two berths in the eight-team College World Series field, joining Louisiana State and Arkansas of the Southeastern Conference, Cal State Fullerton of the Big West Conference and Southern Mississippi of Conference USA, Arizona State prevented a third ACC team, Clemson, from joining the fun in Omaha with an 8-2 victory to win the Tempe Super Regional Sunday night.
The Tar Heels earned their fourth straight CWS appearance by beating East Carolina, 9-3, to sweep the Chapel Hill Super Regional. Then Virginia, which almost saw its program discontinued in 2001 because of budget woes, earned its first trip to Omaha by downing Mississippi, 5-1, to win the Oxford Super Regional. Southern Mississippi earned its first CWS trip with a come-from-behind 7-6 victory over Florida to sweep the Gainesville Super Regional and then Arizona State became the seventh team to qualify with its victory over Clemson.
Only one spot remains and it will go to either top-seeded Texas of the Big 12 Conference or Texas Christian of the Mountain West Conference. TCU forced a third and deciding game in the Austin Super Regional with a 3-2 victory over the Longhorns. Their deciding game will be played Monday night at 7 ET and be shown on ESPN2.
North Carolina 9, East Carolina 3: Moments after North Carolina defeated East Carolina to clinch a fourth straight College World Series trip, 53-year-old head coach Mike Fox ran to his wife’s front-row seat, climbed up the protective net in front of the stands to give her a celebratory kiss.
“I want to be respectful of the other team and not act like a kid, but I felt like a kid today when it was over,” Fox said. “You can’t ever take this for granted.”
The pitching staff of the Tar Heels (47-16) dominated an East Carolina lineup in which every hitter was batting at least .300, while the offense piled up 30 hits over two games to provide more than enough run support.
Dustin Ackley hit a three-run homer to lead the offense, while senior Adam Warren took a shutout into the eighth inning against the Pirates (46-20). North Carolina, the No. 4 national seed, won Saturday’s opener 10-1 and has outscored opponents 50-12 in the NCAA regionals and super regionals.
A day after Alex White struck out 12 in 8.1 innings, Warren (9-2) allowed eight hits and three runs through 7.1 innings.
Virginia 5, Mississippi 1: Mississippi scored the first run of the game in the first inning but it was all Virginia after that as the Cavaliers (48-13-1) captured the Oxford Super Regional and the school’s first berth in the College World Series. Ole Miss concluded its season 44-20.
Reliever Tyler Wilson (9-3) picked up the win for the Cavaliers as he worked 3.1 innings of relief and held the Rebels scoreless while limiting Ole Miss to two hits with a walk and three strikeouts. Nathan Baker (4-3) took the loss for the Rebels as he allowed four runs – two earned – on five hits with a walk and six strikeouts.
It was 1-0 Mississippi until the fourth inning when Phil Gosselin scored on John Hicks’ sacrifice fly to tie the game at 1-1.
The Cavaliers added three runs in the fifth with three hits and the help of two Mississippi errors.
Steven Proscia singled, stole second and scored on Franco Valdes’ single for a 2-1 Virginia lead. Valdes then reached third on a fielding error that allowed John Barr to reach first. Valdes scored on a sacrifice fly by Tyler Cannon and then Gosselin’s single scored Barr for a 4-1 lead.
Proscia, who went 3-for-4, had an RBI double in the eighth to close out the scoring.
Texas Christian 3, Texas 2: The Horned Frogs (40-17) staved off elimination thanks to home runs from Matt Carpenter and Matt Vern at UFCU Disch Stadium-Falk Field, the site of the Austin Super Regional.
After Texas (45-14-1) used a record seven sacrifices on its way to an opening 10-4 victory Saturday, Texas Christian’s strategy was to keep the leadoff hitter off base. TCU starter Paul Gerrish (7-2), who retired 10 Longhorns in a row at one point, went into the eighth inning, allowing two earned runs on five hits with no walks and six strikeouts. Eric Marshall allowed one hit in two innings for his ninth save.
Losing pitcher Cole Green (5-3), who went 7.2 innings, surrendered six hits. Two of them came in the fourth inning when Taylor Featherston had a leadoff single and, one out later, Vern hit his 17th home run of the season out in right field for a 2-0 lead. Carpenter hit his 11th homer of the season with two outs in the bottom of the sixth for a 3-0 lead.
Gerrish surrendered his first run when Preston Clark singled home Kevin Keyes, who had a double to lead off the seventh. Gerrish hit pinch-hitter Russell Moldenhauer in the eighth, and Marshall came in, surrendering a two-out, run-scoring single to Brandon Belt that cut the lead to 3-2.
Arizona State 8, Clemson 2: Crafty Australian junior left-hander Josh Spence threw a four-hit complete game with 10 strikeouts and the Sun Devils scored five times in the fifth inning and three more in the ninth to earn their trip to the College World Series by sweeping the Tempe Super Regional.
Drew Maggi, Jason Kipnis, Riccio Torrez, Matt Newman and Johnny Ruettiger each had two hits for the Sun Devils, Kipnis, Newman and Kole Calhoun each drove in two runs as Arizona State beat up Clemson starter Chris Dwyer, who lasted just 4.1 innings after allowing four hits, three earned runs and three walks despite striking out seven.
Spence, however, allowed a solo home run by Jeff Schaus in the bottom of the fourth inning that gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead. But the lead didn’t last long as Kipnis had a two-run single and Calhoun had a two-run double in the five-run fifth inning.
NCAA DIVISION I BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
SUPER REGIONALS
Best-of-three series
AUSTIN/TEXAS
UFCU Disch-Falk Field
Saturday
Texas 10, Texas Christian 4. Texas leads series, 1-0.
Sunday
Texas Christian 3, Texas 2. Series tied, 1-1.
Monday
Texas Christian (40-17) vs. Texas (45-14-1), 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
GAINESVILLE/FLORIDA
McKethan Stadium
Saturday
Southern Mississippi 9, Florida 7. Southern Mississippi leads series, 1-0.
Sunday
Southern Mississippi 7, Florida 6. Southern Mississippi (40-24) wins series, 2-0; Florida (42-22) eliminated.
TEMPE/ARIZONA STATE
Packard Stadium
Saturday
Arizona State 7, Clemson 4. Arizona State leads series, 1-0.
Sunday
Arizona State 8, Clemson 2. Arizona State (49-12) wins series, 2-0; Clemson (44-22) eliminated).
CHAPEL HILL/NORTH CAROLINA
Boshamer Stadium
Saturday
North Carolina 10, East Carolina 1. North Carolina leads series, 1-0.
Sunday
North Carolina 9, East Carolina 3. North Carolina (47-16) wins series, 2-0, East Carolina (46-21) eliminated.
FULLERTON/CAL STATE FULLERTON
Goodwin Field
Friday
Cal State Fullerton 12, Louisville 0. Cal State Fullerton leads series, 1-0.
Saturday
Cal State Fullerton 11, Louisville 2. Cal State Fullerton (47-14) wins series, 2-0; Louisville (47-18) eliminated.
TALLAHASSEE/FLORIDA STATE
Dick Howser Stadium
Friday
Arkansas 7, Florida State 2. Arkansas leads series, 1-0.
Saturday
Arkansas 9, Florida State 8. Arkansas (39-22) wins series, 2-0; Florida State (45-18) eliminated.
OXFORD/MISSISSIPPI
Swayze Field
Friday
Mississippi 4, Virginia 3 (12). Mississippi leads series, 1-0.
Saturday
Virginia 4, Mississippi 3. Series tied, 1-1.
Sunday
Virginia 5, Mississippi 1. Virginia (48-13-1) wins series, 2-1; Mississippi (44-20) eliminated.
BATON ROUGE/LOUISIANA STATE
Alex Box Stadium
Friday
Louisiana State 12, Rice 9. Louisiana State leads series, 1-0.
Saturday
Louisiana State 5, Rice 3. Louisiana State (51-16) wins series, 2-0; Rice (43-18) eliminated.
COLLEGE WORLD SERIES
Rosenblatt Stadium, Omaha, Neb.
Qualified (7): Arkansas (39-22), Louisiana State (51-16), Cal State Fullerton (47-14), North Carolina (47-16), Virginia (48-13-1), Southern Mississippi (40-24), Arizona State (49-12).
First-round pairings
Bracket assignments and game times will be announced following Texas-Texas Christian game at approximately 10 p.m. ET)
Southern Mississippi (40-24) vs. Texas (45-14-1) or Texas Christian (40-17)
Arizona State (49-12) vs. North Carolina (47-16)
Cal State Fullerton (47-14) vs. Arkansas (39-22)
Virginia (48-13-1) vs. Louisiana State (51-16)
BRACKET ONE
Saturday, June 13
Game 1: 2 p.m. (ESPN)
Game 2: 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Monday, June 15
Game 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 2 p.m. (ESPN2)
Game 6: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
Wednesday, June 17
Game 9: Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
Friday, June 19
Game 11: Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 9, 2 p.m. (ESPN2)
Saturday, June 20
Game 13: Winner Game 11 vs. Loser Game 11, 2 or 7 p.m., if necessary (ESPN)
BRACKET TWO
Sunday, June 14
Game 3: 2 p.m. (ESPN)
Game 4: 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
Tuesday, June 16
Game 7: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 2 p.m. (ESPN2)
Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
Thursday, June 18
Game 10: Winner Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
Friday, June 19
Game 12: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 10, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
Saturday, June 20
Game 14: Winner Game 12 vs. Loser Game 12, 2 or 7 p.m., if necessary (ESPN)
CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND
Best-of-three series
Monday, June 22
Bracket One winner vs. Bracket Two winner, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Sunday, June 23
Bracket Two winner vs. Bracket One winner, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Monday, June 24
Bracket One winner vs. Bracket Two winner, 7 p.m. (ESPN)