When Florida Baseball was sent to the loser’s bracket following their loss against Texas A&M, their road back to make it to the championship series was straightforward. Teams who lose game one need to win four games in a row to keep their season alive in Omaha, and no team since Oregon State in 2018 has pulled off the feat.
But now thanks the weather the second step of the quest for the Gators has been made easier, while making the quest as a whole more difficult.
For the second time during the College World Series, the Gators are having a game delayed due to weather. Unlike their opener against Texas A&M, which didn’t start until 11 PM, rain is going to persist through the night in Omaha, and Florida’s elimination game against Kentucky has been moved to 11 AM.
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The steps for Florida are still the same. The Gators need to beat Kentucky once and Texas A&M twice in order to advance to the championship series
And the weather delay does make the first step, beating Kentucky, a bit more manageable. Jake Clemente threw 10 pitches and Brandon Neely threw 45 pitches against NC State, so an extra day off should ensure both are available against Kentucky. As we noted in our preview earlier today, Florida will need all hands on deck with Pierce Coppola getting the start, who has yet to go beyond 4.1 innings this season in a single start.
Just like NC State, Florida can’t win three in a row before it wins one in a row., so planning out a hypothetical nightcap against Texas A&M is just that, hypothetical and far from guaranteed. But if the Gators do get past the Wildcats, their quest to beat the Aggies twice just became far more difficult.
It’s a similar situation Florida faced during the Regional round when they had to beat Nebraska in the Sunday afternoon game before turning right around to play Oklahoma State in the Sunday night game. But in that game against Oklahoma State, Neely and Cade Fisher teamed up to eat up all nine innings. It’s unlikely Florida will get past Kentucky without some big innings from Neely, and Fisher threw 75 pitches against NC State, so the odds of either being available are slim. Florida, in theory, would have to lean on Luke McNeillie, Fisher Jameson, and Frank Menendez to get by the Aggies tomorrow night if they get there.
It’s one game at a time in Omaha, just three very difficult games in a row in order for Florida to make it back to the championship series.
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Publish date : 2024-06-18 18:30:00
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