Blake Reese is greeted by teammates following his grand slam in Florida's victory over Georgia on Saturday. (Photo: Rachel Roberts/UAA Communications)
Gators Have Made The Difficult Look Routine
Saturday, May 12, 2018 | Baseball
Florida clinched at least a share of the SEC regular-season title on Saturday and still has four games remaining.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Winning the Southeastern Conference championship isn't supposed to be a stroll through the park. The SEC is widely regarded as college baseball's premier conference.
In 2017, the Florida Gators had to beat conference rival LSU to win the program's first national championship. This season, as many as 11 SEC teams could make the NCAA Tournament, and four teams have strong cases to be top-eight national seeds. The league is loaded with soon-to-be early round MLB Draft selections. In Coach Kevin O'Sullivan's 11 seasons, the Gators have advanced to the College World Series more times (six) than they've won SEC championships (five).
"It's not easy to come out every weekend and win every series so far in the SEC," junior pitcher Jackson Kowar said. "There's a lot of good arms, and there's a lot of really talented offenses to face along the way."
Yet, the Gators made it look easy.
By defeating the Georgia Bulldogs (34-16, 15-11 SEC), 9-3, Saturday at McKethan Stadium, Florida (41-11, 20-6) clinched at least a share of its 15th SEC championship. One more Gators win or one loss by the Arkansas Razorbacks, and the Gators will own the title outright.
The Gators winning the SEC crown isn't a surprise. After all, Florida is the defending national champion and entered the year ranked first in every preseason poll. However, the Gators didn't just win the championship. They've dominated the league like no team has since Vanderbilt went 26-3 in 2013.
Most conference championships are won on the final weekend of the regular season, or even the last game. Florida clinched with four games remaining. UF has won 15 consecutive SEC series dating back to last season. Should the Gators win the series at Mississippi State next weekend, it would represent only the third season in program history the Gators haven't lost an SEC series and the first time since the league expanded to 30 conference games in 1996.
The Gators' dominance can be attributed to balanced performances. In SEC games only, Florida leads the league in runs scored (187), ERA (3.62) and opponents' batting average (.223).
"I think just having a really deep and consistent team all the way across the board as far as pitching, bullpen and the whole entire offense helping down [is responsible]," Kowar said. "That way, we're not depending on one or two guys, and if they're not going that weekend, we're not in big trouble. We have nine guys in the order who can do damage. We have a lot of arms that can come and pick up some slack."
Added junior second baseman Blake Reese: "We've got our offense, our pitching's coming around good and overall playing pretty well defensively. It's pretty impressive, just top to bottom."
Coming off a national championship, the stakes are always raised the following year. Fans don't just expect to win a national championship again this season. They want to win it in impressive fashion. Opponents circled the matchup with Florida on their calendars and gave the Gators their best game. Scouts and front office personnel salivate over prospects such as Kowar, junior pitcher Brady Singer and junior third baseman Jonathan India.
O'Sullivan said he is proud of the way his team has handled the spotlight.
"There's not a day that goes by that I don't appreciate what these guys have done because it's been remarkable," O'Sullivan said. "When you have personal expectations like some of our high drafts, and as a team you turn on the TV, and it's all they're talking about is our players and rightfully so and I'm happy for them, but, sometimes, teams let it get to themselves or players to themselves, but that hasn't happened this year."
Even though Florida won the SEC in 2017, the Gators weren't able to celebrate as much they wanted because of frustration and issues both on and off the field.
"We really didn't have a chance to really appreciate what the team had accomplished until the season was over," O'Sullivan said. "This year, it's certainly not that way. I've enjoyed every single day watching these guys compete. So impressed with how they've gone about it. Just a professional approach. They've been consistent. Their togetherness, their camaraderie has been really special. It's not easy to have a bull's-eye on your back the entire year. They've handled it with class."
However, the Gators know it's only going to get tougher. Postseason play begins in two weeks, and everyone is going to be gunning for them. It doesn't matter how you got there in the postseason. It's anyone's game. The 2012 and 2016 Gators, arguably O'Sullivan's most talented teams, went a combined 0-4 in Omaha, while the 2017 squad, one of his weaker teams, brought home the hardware.
"Hopefully, we can stay the course and stay focused," O'Sullivan said. "We're going to have to keep our edge. It's only going to get more difficult as you move forward."
Kowar isn't concerned the Gators will have any trouble remaining motivated and focused.
"I don't think that will be too much of a problem," Kowar said. "We don't have to go to school anymore. It's just us playing baseball out here, so it's not too hard to keep us motivated. We're just a bunch of kids playing baseball.
"This is just one goal of many, so obviously everyone's excited, but we're ready to get back at it tomorrow."
What Florida accomplished Saturday wasn't easy. The Gators just made it look that way.
In 2017, the Florida Gators had to beat conference rival LSU to win the program's first national championship. This season, as many as 11 SEC teams could make the NCAA Tournament, and four teams have strong cases to be top-eight national seeds. The league is loaded with soon-to-be early round MLB Draft selections. In Coach Kevin O'Sullivan's 11 seasons, the Gators have advanced to the College World Series more times (six) than they've won SEC championships (five).
"It's not easy to come out every weekend and win every series so far in the SEC," junior pitcher Jackson Kowar said. "There's a lot of good arms, and there's a lot of really talented offenses to face along the way."
Yet, the Gators made it look easy.
By defeating the Georgia Bulldogs (34-16, 15-11 SEC), 9-3, Saturday at McKethan Stadium, Florida (41-11, 20-6) clinched at least a share of its 15th SEC championship. One more Gators win or one loss by the Arkansas Razorbacks, and the Gators will own the title outright.
The Gators winning the SEC crown isn't a surprise. After all, Florida is the defending national champion and entered the year ranked first in every preseason poll. However, the Gators didn't just win the championship. They've dominated the league like no team has since Vanderbilt went 26-3 in 2013.
Most conference championships are won on the final weekend of the regular season, or even the last game. Florida clinched with four games remaining. UF has won 15 consecutive SEC series dating back to last season. Should the Gators win the series at Mississippi State next weekend, it would represent only the third season in program history the Gators haven't lost an SEC series and the first time since the league expanded to 30 conference games in 1996.
The Gators' dominance can be attributed to balanced performances. In SEC games only, Florida leads the league in runs scored (187), ERA (3.62) and opponents' batting average (.223).
"I think just having a really deep and consistent team all the way across the board as far as pitching, bullpen and the whole entire offense helping down [is responsible]," Kowar said. "That way, we're not depending on one or two guys, and if they're not going that weekend, we're not in big trouble. We have nine guys in the order who can do damage. We have a lot of arms that can come and pick up some slack."
Added junior second baseman Blake Reese: "We've got our offense, our pitching's coming around good and overall playing pretty well defensively. It's pretty impressive, just top to bottom."
Coming off a national championship, the stakes are always raised the following year. Fans don't just expect to win a national championship again this season. They want to win it in impressive fashion. Opponents circled the matchup with Florida on their calendars and gave the Gators their best game. Scouts and front office personnel salivate over prospects such as Kowar, junior pitcher Brady Singer and junior third baseman Jonathan India.
O'Sullivan said he is proud of the way his team has handled the spotlight.
"There's not a day that goes by that I don't appreciate what these guys have done because it's been remarkable," O'Sullivan said. "When you have personal expectations like some of our high drafts, and as a team you turn on the TV, and it's all they're talking about is our players and rightfully so and I'm happy for them, but, sometimes, teams let it get to themselves or players to themselves, but that hasn't happened this year."
Even though Florida won the SEC in 2017, the Gators weren't able to celebrate as much they wanted because of frustration and issues both on and off the field.
"We really didn't have a chance to really appreciate what the team had accomplished until the season was over," O'Sullivan said. "This year, it's certainly not that way. I've enjoyed every single day watching these guys compete. So impressed with how they've gone about it. Just a professional approach. They've been consistent. Their togetherness, their camaraderie has been really special. It's not easy to have a bull's-eye on your back the entire year. They've handled it with class."
However, the Gators know it's only going to get tougher. Postseason play begins in two weeks, and everyone is going to be gunning for them. It doesn't matter how you got there in the postseason. It's anyone's game. The 2012 and 2016 Gators, arguably O'Sullivan's most talented teams, went a combined 0-4 in Omaha, while the 2017 squad, one of his weaker teams, brought home the hardware.
"Hopefully, we can stay the course and stay focused," O'Sullivan said. "We're going to have to keep our edge. It's only going to get more difficult as you move forward."
Kowar isn't concerned the Gators will have any trouble remaining motivated and focused.
"I don't think that will be too much of a problem," Kowar said. "We don't have to go to school anymore. It's just us playing baseball out here, so it's not too hard to keep us motivated. We're just a bunch of kids playing baseball.
"This is just one goal of many, so obviously everyone's excited, but we're ready to get back at it tomorrow."
What Florida accomplished Saturday wasn't easy. The Gators just made it look that way.
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