Florida & Miami To Meet In CWS Elimination Game On Wednesday Night
Tuesday, June 16, 2015 | Baseball
Florida's College World Series Notes vs. Miami
OMAHA, Neb. – Sunshine State rivals No. 4 Florida (50-17) and No. 5 Miami (50-16) will battle for a fifth and final time this season at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha on Wednesday night. On Monday, the Gators fell to Virginia in a winner's bracket matchup, 1-0, while the Hurricanes used a walk-off single to oust Arkansas, 4-3.
Freshman right-hander Alex Faedo (5-1, 3.36) will draw the start for the Gators and will face Miami junior right-hander Enrique Sosa (7-4, 4.07).
The game can be heard through GatorZone.com and on the Gator IMG Sports Network with Jeff Cardozo and Mick Hubert, it will be carried on ESPN with Kyle Peterson, Jon Sciambi and Kaylee Hartung and can be viewed through the WatchESPN app. Live stats for each game will be available on GatorZone.com and fans can also follow updates of each game on @GatorZoneBB, the official Twitter account of the Gator baseball team.
QUICK HITS ABOUT THE GATORS
- Florida saw its season-high 10-game winning streak come to an end with a 1-0 setback to Virginia on Monday night.
- The Gators will need to defeat Miami on Wednesday night and then down the Cavaliers twice to advance to the CWS Championship Finals.
- In the opening round on Saturday night, UF notched a 15-3 win over the Hurricanes, its 20th victory over Miami in the last 25 meetings.
- Head coach Kevin O'Sullivan is 7-0 versus UM in NCAA Tournament play.
- After falling into the loser's bracket at the SEC Tournament, the Gators won four consecutive elimination games to take home the title.
- Freshman right-hander Alex Faedo (5-1, 3.36) will make his first career start in Omaha and will take the mound for the first time since the Gators' third game of the NCAA Gainesville Regional against Florida Atlantic on May 31 (6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K). He pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless relief in the series opener with the Hurricanes on Feb. 20.
- Freshman catcher/designated hitter JJ Schwarz (.331, 73 RBI) is a sizzling 24-for-46 (.522) in 12 postseason games, with 19 RBI, 17 runs, five doubles and four homers. His career-high 12-game hitting streak ended against UVa, when he was 0-for-3 with a walk.
- Senior third baseman Josh Tobias (.365, 44 RBI) has reached base in a team-high 29 consecutive games and has committed one error all year. He drove in three runs in the CWS-opening triumph over the Hurricanes and leads the Gators with 25 multiple-hit efforts.
- Sophomore center fielder Buddy Reed (.311, 44 RBI) is the Gators' top hitter against Miami this season, going 7-for-16 (.438) in four games.
- Junior righty Taylor Lewis (6-1, 1.20) earned SEC All-Tourney honors after eight shutout innings in Hoover, highlighted by a 4.1-inning stint versus top-ranked LSU in which he picked up the victory. Lewis has not allowed any runs in his last 12 appearances dating back to mid-April.
- Freshman second baseman Dalton Guthrie (.292, 25 RBI) is 3-for-5 (.600) at the CWS and has reached base in 18 straight outings.
- Freshman right fielder Jeremy Vasquez (.346, 18 RBI) is a scorching .563 (9-for-16) in six NCAA Tourney contests.
- Florida's bullpen is 22-3 with a 2.81 ERA and 14 saves, and has registered 233 strikeouts in 282 innings, with a .236 batting average against.
- UF is hitting .297 as team, has compiled a team earned run average of 3.17 and leads the nation with a .984 fielding percentage.
- Florida has played error-free baseball in 38 of its 66 games and is 31-7 (.816) in those games. The single-season school record for fielding percentage is .978, set in 2010.
- The Gators are 44-2 (.957) when out-hitting their opponent, 35-4 (.897) when scoring first, 31-5 (.861) when hitting a homer and 22-1 (.957) when scoring in the first inning.
- After 26 home runs in 63 outings last year, Florida has gone yard 60 times in 2015, led by Schwarz (18) and junior Harrison Bader (15).
SERIES NUGGETS
Miami holds a 127-114-1 (.527) advantage in the all-time series and the Gators lead the Hurricanes by a 71-47-1 (.601) margin in Gainesville. Head coach Kevin O'Sullivan has a 21-10 (.677) record against Miami, 13-5 (.722) in Gainesville, 7-5 (.583) in Coral Gables and 1-0 (1.000) at neutral sites. The Gators have taken 20 of the past 25 meetings and their 11-game winning streak in the series from March 7, 2010-March 1, 2013, is a school record.
POSTSEASON MEETINGS VS. MIAMI
Although Miami has taken 12 of its 22 encounters with Florida in NCAA Tournament action, head coach Kevin O'Sullivan is 7-0 against the Hurricanes.
UM has ended the Gators' season on eight different occasions: 1981 South Regional, 1985 Atlantic Regional, 1989 East Regional, 1994 Atlantic I Regional, 1997 Atlantic Regional, 2002 Gainesville Regional, 2003 Coral Gables Regional and the 2004 Coral Gables Super Regional. Under O'Sullivan, Florida ousted the Hurricanes in the 2009 Gainesville Regional, the 2010 NCAA Gainesville Super Regional and the 2011 NCAA Gainesville Regional.
