Florida coach Kevin O'Sullivan tries to rally his team early in Sunday night's 2-1 loss to Coastal Carolina in the College World Series. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA)
Gators Lose CWS Opener to Coastal Carolina
Sunday, June 19, 2016 | Baseball, Scott Carter
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Chanticleers starter Andrew Beckwith went the distance in 2-1 win
OMAHA, Neb. -- The Gators are back in a familiar position. Real familiar.
Eight days after losing Game 1 of the Gainesville Super Regional due to an outstanding pitching performance, Florida opened the College World Series on Sunday night with a 2-1 loss to Coastal Carolina.
This time, it was Chanticleers starter Andrew Beckwith in total control against the Gators, who managed seven hits but only one run. Beckwith used a variety of arm angles and release points to keep Florida's lineup off-balance and uncomfortable, much the same way Florida State's Drew Carlton dominated in his two-hit shutout in the super regional.
The Gators rebounded from that loss to win the next two against FSU and advance to Omaha. They'll need to win four in a row to make the CWS championship series.
"Their starting pitcher was really good,'' Gators coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. "He didn't misfire. He pretty much hit every spot. He mixed from angle to angle. He was good. He deserved to win." Gators starter Logan Shore suffered his first loss of the season on Sunday night. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA)
The Gators dropped into the loser's bracket and face Texas Tech on Tuesday afternoon (5 p.m. ET) in an elimination game.
While Beckwith (9 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 7 SO) faced little trouble in his complete-game victory, Gators junior right-hander Logan Shore left TD Ameritrade Park with a rare loss, the first defeat for Shore in 23 starts. Shore entered Sunday's game with a 17-0 record and 2.28 ERA in his last 22 starts dating to last season. The last time the Gators had lost a game started by Shore was May 14, 2015, at Auburn.
"I thought they put good swings on the ball, when the ball's in the zone,'' said Shore, who allowed five hits (all for extra bases) and two runs in five innings. "I thought my approach going into the game was good. Really, just came down to executing a couple of pitches. And I didn't execute them. They made me pay."
Shore fell behind 1-0 in the third inning when Coastal Carolina leadoff hitter Anthony Marks doubled and later scored on a controversial RBI double by Chanticleers slugger Zach Remillard. With runners at first and third and one out, Remillard lifted a fly ball deep down the right-field line as Gators outfielder Nelson Maldonado gave chase.
The ball bounced on the outer edge of the foul line, kicking up dust. First-base umpire Jeff Doy initially ruled the ball foul, but after Coastal Carolina protested, the umpires huddled and performed the first official review in CWS history. After a five-minute delay, the replay official ruled the ball fair, which scored Marks and moved Connor Owings to third.
Since the ball never left the field of play, Coastal Carolina coach Gary Gilmore didn't understand why Owings was not allowed to score from first. However, considering the replay rules in effect in the postseason, he was pleased with the early lead.
"Thank goodness at least we have it,'' he said. "Regular season, we don't have that at all. So it's a foul ball and we don't score."
Shore retired the next hitter to end the inning and escape further damage. Florida tied the game in the fifth on a two-out RBI single by pinch-hitter Jeremy Vasquez, whose hit up the middle scored Deacon Liput from second. Liput stroked a one-out double to right to move into scoring position.
That was it for the Gators against Beckwith, a sinker-ball pitcher who pitched sidearm to UF's right-handed hitters and overhead against lefties. Beckwith added an extra pitch on Sunday.
"I actually pulled a pitch out of my back pocket in the pen in warm-ups, the curveball,'' Beckwith said. "I've been throwing a cutter all year. I've been playing around with a curveball in the bullpen just because it helps me stay on top of my cutter. So I had a 12-to-six [curveball] working tonight, I don't know where it came from."
Beckwith's extra pitch came at a bad time for the Gators, who had trouble lifting the ball in the air. Beckwith retired the final 10 batters he faced.
"There's a lot of people disappointed. I'm disappointed, to be honest with you,'' O'Sullivan said. "I think that's a really good team. We just ran across a guy that was just really good tonight. But we'll bounce back. We've got no choice."
Coastal Carolina scored the go-ahead run in the sixth on a Remillard's triple to chase Shore. The Gators will start sophomore Alex Faedo on Tuesday against Texas Tech to keep their season alive.
"We've just got to learn from this ... compete our tail off from here on out and hope for the best,'' Vasquez said.
