Gators coach Kevin O'Sullivan looks during his team's loss to Texas Tech on Sunday night in the College World Series. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
Gators Endure Long Wait, Then Lose CWS Opener
Monday, June 18, 2018 | Baseball, Scott Carter
And then on Sunday night, with the defending national champion Gators set to open the College World Series against Texas Tech, they had to wait nearly three more hours before starter Brady Singer delivered the first pitch of the game. Instead of the scheduled 7 p.m. ET start, Singer didn't deliver his first pitch until 9:56 ET, the start pushed back due to a 2-hour, 49-minute weather delay in the earlier game between Arkansas and Texas.
Once the game started, No. 1 overall seed Florida (47-20) failed to produce any of the magic it did in last year's run to the program's first national title, losing 6-3 to the Red Raiders to drop into the losers bracket. As a result, the Gators (47-19) face Texas, which lost 11-5 to Arkansas, in an elimination game Tuesday afternoon to keep their bid alive for a second consecutive national championship.
"There's no rewind button here,'' Coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. "We lost. So we've got to move forward. It's not impossible [to come back and win it]. It's certainly doable. Ultimately, we'll have to have some guys step up because we've got to win some more games here."
The Gators took an early 1-0 lead in the third inning in front of an announced crowd of 19,100 when Deacon Liput scored on a balk by Texas Tech reliever Ryan Shetter, who took over for starter Dylan Dusek after Dusek walked Liput to lead off the inning. The Red Raiders quickly tied it in the fourth when Singer was called for a balk, which allowed Josh Jung, who singled with one out, to advance to second. Jung then raced to third on a passed ball by catcher Jonah Girand and scored on Grant Little's sacrifice fly.
In the fifth, Singer ran into his first real trouble when Cody Farhat singled with two outs and Braxton Fulford reached on a two-base throwing error by Liput. With runners at second and third, Red Raiders leadoff hitter Gabe Holt chopped a bouncer to first baseman JJ Schwarz that bounced past his glove and into shallow right field for a two-run single.
The two-out rally was set up when Texas Tech first baseman Cameron Warren battled Singer in a 14-pitch at-bat, fouling off nine pitches before finally popping out to second.
"He had a heck of an at-bat," said Singer, who suffered only his second loss of the season in a 6 1/3-inning outing. "Obviously we were battling pretty hard against each other. But he was doing what a hitter should do. And it was a good at-bat for him."
The Red Raiders (45-18) added two more runs in the sixth to build a 5-1 lead. Meanwhile, Shetter tossed 4 1/3 innings of relief to quiet UF's bats in the middle innings, striking out seven.
"He was able to attack the strike zone,'' Florida designated hitter Nelson Maldonado said. "He kept the ball down. He worked ahead. He sunk the ball ... and he got outs."
The Gators cut the lead to 5-3 in the seventh on a two-run homer by Maldonado off reliever Ty Harpenau. It was a case of too little too late as the Gators finished 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight runners on base, including three in scoring position in the first two innings.
"You gotta credit Texas Tech. They played some nice defense early on,'' O'Sullivan said. "They just played really well. I think they had a really good approach against Brady. They battled. And give credit to them. I thought they played really, really well."
The victory was Texas Tech's second all-time in the CWS and both have come against the Gators. The Red Raiders eliminated Florida two years ago in Omaha.
Texas Tech coach Tim Tadlock, who has used Dusek and Shetter in similar roles this season, credited the way both pitchers kept Florida's offense in check to allow his team to build a lead off Singer, who gave up nine hits and five runs (two earned) while striking out five and walking none.
He expected his lineup, which led the Big 12 Conference in hitting this season and entered Sunday's game batting .311 collectively, to eventually provide some support.
"I'll tell you, we got an aggressive group. You don't ever have to worry too much about them moving on the ball in the middle of the plate,'' Tadlock said. "We probably stayed with that throughout, for the most part. Guys had really good at-bats. I think really what kicked it off to me was Cameron Warren. He runs [Singer's] pitch count up. That was just an at-bat that really set the inning up as far as that goes."
The return of Schwarz to the lineup after missing 11 games due to a fractured right hand did not have the impact the Gators would have liked. The senior captain started at first base and hit cleanup. However, he finished 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts. Defensively, he appeared rusty at times.
Still, O'Sullivan said the Gators are a better team when Schwarz, playing in his school-record 14th career CWS game, is in the lineup.
"He hasn't played in a while. The first at-bat was pretty good. He hit the ball to the warning track the other way,'' O'Sullivan said. "He had a good approach. He's one of the main reasons why we're here. And he felt like he could play tonight and I wasn't going to juggle the whole lineup. Just put him right in there and see what happens.
"We did that a couple of years ago with Pete Alonso [hand injury] and he had a really good tournament. So I'm just happy that JJ went out there for his team and gave a great effort."
The Gators will need a greater effort from Schwarz and everyone else on the field Tuesday against the Longhorns. If not, their stay in Omaha will be much shorter than a year ago.
They had to wait a long time to play Sunday. They won't mind nearly as much if they have to wait a while to return home.
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