Gators freshman Tyler Dyson started Game 2 against LSU and earned the win to help the Gators claim their first national championship. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
Flashback File: Gators Baseball Really Did It
Thursday, July 20, 2017 | Baseball, Scott Carter
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Three weeks later, Florida's first national title in baseball is still sinking in after a decade of being so close to winning it all in Omaha.
By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Memo to Florida fans: the first Gators sporting event of the 2017-18 school year is just three weeks away.
The UF women's soccer team hosts Mississippi State in an exhibition match on Aug. 9. Nine days later in Boca Raton, the Gators open the regular season at Florida Atlantic.
No, that is not a typo. Rather proof of how deep we already are into summer.
If it seems like yesterday Gators second baseman Deacon Liput fielded a ground ball and threw to first baseman JJ Schwarz for the final out of the College World Series, you are not alone.
Geez, I don't think I've even finished doing all my laundry from that trip. Meanwhile, six members of UF's first national championship team have already signed professional contracts and others are playing in summer leagues across the country to prepare for next season. Head coach Kevin O'Sullivan has probably texted recruits at least 17,000 times.
By the end of their sweep over LSU in the championship series, the Gators were thrilled and exhausted. To win in Omaha means to stay and stay and stay in Omaha.
The Gators returned to campus the afternoon of June 28 and were welcomed home by an enthusiastic crowd of more than 2,500 at McKethan Stadium. I took a breath for a few days and then started previewing Florida's trip to the SEC Football Media Days last week in Hoover, Ala.
But before focus shifts completely Jim McElwain's third season, let's take a final look at that memorable trip to the CWS. I was sure the 2012 team was going to win it all. Thought the same about the 2015 team.
As for the 2017 Gators, I packed for two weeks but didn't really believe they would be there that long. I'm glad they were. It was my highlight of the 2016-17 UF athletics calendar.
Here are reasons why and some updates since Omaha:
*****
FANTASTIC FAEDO
One of the pleasures of watching athletes compete on the biggest stage of their career is when they reach another level. One you always imagined was there but needed the moment to back up your instincts.
Alex Faedo pitched his way into CWS immortality. Faedo was brilliant throughout the postseason, but by pitching 14 1/3 shutout innings in Omaha and surrendering only five hits and six walks against 22 strikeouts, Faedo's dominance resonated beyond Florida fans accustomed to his proficiency.
Faedo didn't pitch in the championship series against LSU, but no way the Gators are there without Faedo's two wins against Texas Christian. Faedo was named the CWS Most Outstanding Player and finished his career with a 28-6 record, his .824 winning percentage the best in school history among pitchers with at least 20 decisions. A few days after Omaha, Faedo signed with the Tigers, who used their first-round pick in June's draft on the 6-foot-5, 220-pound Faedo.
Detroit shut him down for the rest of the season. Faedo will begin his professional career next spring. A well-known member of the Tigers liked the selection after seeing Faedo pitch in Omaha.
"Yeah, watching him pitch, he seems like a bulldog out there," Justin Verlander told The Detroit News. "This is a good day. I am excited and happy for the organization. Looks like they got a good one."
*****
NATIONAL (SEC) CHAMPS
Some reporters at last week's Southeastern Conference Football Media Days were working hard to create a distinct narrative: LSU is now on even terms with Florida State and Georgia among Florida's greatest rivalries.
Yeah, whatever.
To be clear, the LSU-Florida rivalry is a great one that stands on its own merit, but if not for last fall's drama and ensuing Twitter battle among fans, no one would be foaming at the mouth that Florida is facing the Tigers on homecoming at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
My sister is a DIE HARD Gator fan. Sunday morning she and her friend (an LSU fan) decided to go to Omaha for the 2nd CWS game. She's happy. pic.twitter.com/1EpBY5MM6n
However, the rivalry on the diamond is definitely on the upswing. The Gators and Tigers tied for the SEC regular-season title and the Gators erased any doubts by sweeping LSU in the CWS finals. The Gators won four of five against LSU in 2017 and handed the Tigers their first loss in seven trips to the CWS championship series.
The LSU fan-advantage in Omaha was tremendous, so it was extra sweet for those Gator fans who joined the team on the field afterward in an impromptu celebration. The Tigers still own the all-time series (61-49-1), but the Gators are 11-10 against LSU in their last 21 meetings.
"It's funny, they chant 'Let's Go Tigers' and it sounds like 'Let's Go Tyler,'" Game 2 starter Tyler Dyson said after the clinching win. "I thought for a second they were cheering for me. That was just another hurdle we had to overcome."
*****
PITCH IT FORWARD
There was much made of Faedo's postseason dominance, and rightfully so. But if I'm O'Sullivan, I'm not losing much sleep over the projected 2018 starting rotation of Brady Singer, Jackson Kowar and Dyson.
The trio combined to pitch 58 1/3 innings in the NCAA Tournament, striking out 74. Singer was nearly as good as Faedo in Omaha and is expected to be among the most coveted players in the 2018 draft. Meanwhile, Dyson won his first career postseason start in the clincher and Kowar earned his first career save by closing out Game 2 with 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
Singer and Kowar will be juniors next season and Dyson a sophomore. Kowar finished his sophomore season at the bottom of Florida's dog pile after tossing his glove into the air after the final out.
"You can't really describe it,'' he said. "At first, I didn't really know what I was doing. I was just throwing stuff everywhere. It's just an awesome feeling."
The Singer-Kowar-Dyson trio is one that should be as good as any in the country next season.
*****
A NEW (LIFE) SEASON
In a span of a month, they had their names called during the MLB Amateur Draft, won the CWS and signed their first professional contracts. While Faedo was the headliner, shortstop Dalton Guthrie, catchers Mike Rivera and Mark Kolozsvary, and pitcher David Lee embarked on their professional careers shortly after the Gators returned to Gainesville. Kolozsvary
Faedo received the royal treatment as Detroit's first-round pick. A sixth-round pick, Guthrie signed with the Phillies July 6 and spent a weekend in the City of Brotherly Love before getting sent to Clearwater in the Florida State League. Rivera signed with the Indians and was assigned to the Mahoning Valley Scrappers of the Class A short season New York-Penn League. As of Wednesday, Guthrie and Rivera had not made their professional debuts.
Meanwhile, Lee made his debut on Wednesday in Bradenton for the Pirates' Gulf Coast League team. Lee pitched in only two games at Florida after transferring from Santa Fe College but Pittsburgh saw enough to draft him in the 27th round. The first among the group to play in the minors was Kolozsvary, who made his debut July 12 for the Billings (Mont.) Mustangs of the rookie Pioneer League. Kolozsvary had three hits in his first 10 at-bats.
Finally, Rubio was drafted in the 29th round by the Giants. According to a search of the Giants' minor-league system on the team's official website Wednesday, Rubio is not currently on a roster. However, it's not uncommon for some organizations to release draft signings/assignments in bulk rather than individually and the Giants have not announced any draft signings since June 21.
*****
HALL OF FAMERS
One day O'Sullivan will get the call after leading Florida to its first national championship. But as takes a break and prepares for his 11th season at UF, a pair of former Gators head coaches are entering the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
The ABCA announced this week that Andy Lopez and Pat McMahon are among the 11 members to be inducted into the ABCA Hall of Fame in January. Lopez led the Gators to a pair of CWS in 1996 and 1998 and McMahon, who preceded O'Sullivan, guided the Gators to the CWS in 2005.
Congrats to Lopez and McMahon.
*****
NUMBERS TO NOTE
52-19 – Florida's final record, marking the third consecutive season the Gators have finished with 52 wins, one shy of program record set in 2011
7 – CWS-leading RBIs by Liput, whose two-run single in the bottom of the eighth of Game 2 against LSU made it seem like Florida's first national championship was imminent
0.33 – Faedo's ERA in 27 1/3 innings in NCAA Tournament (four starts, one relief appearance)
68– Strikeouts by UF pitchers in the CWS, third-most all-time behind Arizona State's 77 in 1967 and Arizona's 75 in 2016
5 – Consecutive years that CWS was won by a first-time champion (UCLA, 2013; Vanderbilt, 2014; Virginia, 2015; Coastal Carolina, 2016; Florida, 2017)
1 – SEC Schools to win national championships in football, men's basketball and baseball after the Gators swept LSU
16-0 – Score of Florida's loss to Arkansas in SEC Tournament, its final game before NCAA Tournament run to national title
57-39 – Cumulative score of Florida's 13 games (10-3 record) in NCAA Tournament
.222 – Gators' batting average in six games in Omaha
2.33 – Gators' ERA during their 5-1 record in Omaha
*****
QUOTE OF NOTE I
"JJ made a heck of a play. That's not an easy play to make in a 2-1 game in the national championship game, to throw home and make it a strike." – Kowar on first baseman JJ Schwarz's throw home to nail LSU's Kramer Robertson to cut down the potential tying run in the eighth
***** QUOTE OF NOTE II
"I don't know if there was a defining moment. But I did sense there was a togetherness in the locker room and knowing we'll never give up." – O'Sullivan on defining trait of '17 Gators
***** QUOTE OF NOTE III
"Sometimes you make these decisions and they don't work out and you look like a fool. And sometimes you make them and the players make you look like you're smart." – O'Sullivan on gamble to bring Kowar into Game 2 in relief and avoid a potential Game 3, which Kowar was scheduled to start
*****
SENIOR MOMENT(S)
Florida's first national championship team featured only two seniors, outfielder Ryan Larson and Rubio.
Larson struggled during the CWS (1-for-19) and Rubio only made one appearance, but when it was over, they were in the middle of the celebration as a pair of key veterans who made significant contributions at different points in the season.
"I've been on some of the best teams I think college baseball has ever seen and this team was different,'' Rubio said. "They ignored everything, all the failure we experienced, and they got better. We got hot down the stretch and we knew we had to do that. And we had luck on our side this year. We needed luck to win it and we got it."
Rubio captured Florida's celebration by wearing a Go Pro camera (video above) as he raced onto the field and joined the dogpile between the mound and first base. Larson raced in from the outfield.
"It's an amazing feeling. It's the best way to go out,'' he said. "I have never experienced anything like this."
