If you like baseball in the morning, today is your lucky day
Tuesday, June 21, 2011 | Baseball, Scott Carter
OMAHA, Neb. – If you gave up last night and went to bed expecting to wake up this morning to find out who won Florida's game against Vanderbilt on Monday night in the College World Series, you can relax.
You didn't miss a thing other than a long weather delay that finally forced officials to suspend the game around approximately 11:30 p.m. ET. Well, that and the TD Ameritrade Park grounds crew dancing to YMCA and entertaining the fans who hung around to the end with an imaginary baseball game on the tarp that covered the infield as it rained.
The score remains the same as when you fell asleep. The Gators lead 3-1 with Vanderbilt at-bat in the bottom of the sixth with two outs.
The good news is you can watch the rest of the game starting at 11:06 a.m. on ESPN.
I just woke up and took a peek outside my hotel window and the rain has stopped. The morning sky above TD Ameritrade Park is overcast but no rain and better yet – no sirens blasting around Omaha like Monday night when a high-wind advisory forced officials to evacuate the stands and the press box.
If you were here, it was scary. If you watched on TV, it probably looked scary. You know it made for good TV since The Weather Channel's Jim Cantore came to town for the storm that rolled through Omaha at approximately 9:02 p.m. ET, two hours after the game started.
Florida's Steven Rodriguez was on the mound when the game was delayed, retiring Mike Yastrzemski on a fly out to left for the second out. That's when umpires called the players off the field.
So what does this all mean in the big picture?
Well, that the Gators need 10 more outs to win their second game of the College World Series and remain in the driver's seat as they attemp to win the first CWS title in school history.
After the game was called Monday night, the Gators hopped aboard the team bus still in uniform for the short drive to the hotel. Back at the hotel, coach Kevin O'Sullivan headed up to his room as equipment managers collected uniforms and stacked them in a pile in the hallway to wash later. The players grabbed chicken tenders to snack on before getting some rest for the night.
Florida left-hander Steven Rodriguez, who replaced starter Karsten Whitson in the bottom of the fifth and pitched out of a jam, is expected to remain on the mound when the game resumes later this morning.
Meanwhile, the Gators will certainly face a different Vanderbilt pitcher when they come to bat in the top of the seventh. Commodores starter Grayson Garvin completed six innings and was likely finished even if the inclement weather had not arrived.
Garvin surrendered a three-run homer to Preston Tucker in the fourth – only the second home run in six CWS games at the new TD Ameritrade Park – to account for all of Florida's runs.
Today's winner will not play again until Friday at 2 p.m. The loser must play North Carolina on Wednesday in an elimination game.
You can click here to follow Omaha.com for the latest weather updates as the game approaches. I will also be tweeting real-time updates from @GatorZoneScott.
