Jac Caglianone is scheduled to start Monday's game against NC State. (Photo: John Paternoster/UAA Communications)
Gators Seek to Keep Improbable Postseason Run Alive on Monday
Sunday, June 16, 2024 | Baseball, Scott Carter
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By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
OMAHA, Neb. — They won two of three at Georgia on the final weekend of the regular season. They won three consecutive elimination games in the Stillwater (Okla.) Regional. They overcame two extra-inning gut punches to win Game 2 of the Clemson Super Regional and earn an unexpected trip to the College World Series.
The Gators, during their improbable postseason run, have been nothing if not resilient.
"It's been a tough month for us,'' Florida coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. "Every game was so meaningful."
O'Sullivan spoke those words early Sunday morning in an interview room at Charles Schwab Field, the sting of a 3-2 loss to Texas A&M still a fresh wound. The Gators played their first game in Omaha more than four hours later than scheduled because of a storm front that moved through the area.
They struck out 16 times against three Aggies pitchers. They left 10 men on base. They went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position. The Nos. 3-5 hitters went 1-for-12 with seven strikeouts.
"When you lose one-run games, it really just comes down to the fundamentals," O'Sullivan said. "And we just weren't good enough in certain areas."
Despite Florida's lack of execution at critical moments, the Gators were inches away from a season-high sixth consecutive victory when Cade Kurland rocketed a 1-1 pitch from Texas A&M closer Evan Aschenbeck to deep right field. The sound of the bat meeting ball told everyone that Kurland crushed the pitch.
"He thought he got it,'' said O'Sullivan, who watched as Kurland hopped from the box, ready for a four-base trot. "He never reacts like that when he hits one. He kind of just puts his head down and rounds the bases. I thought he got it."
In the opposite dugout, Aggies coach Jim Schlossnagle prepared to rally his team in the bottom of the ninth.
"I thought it was a homer,'' Schlossnagle said.
Gators second baseman Cade Kurland at the plate on Saturday night/Sunday morning against Texas A&M. (Photo: John Paternoster/UAA Communications)
Aggies right fielder Jace LaViolette, all 6-foot-6 of him, drifted toward the wall, positioned himself to try to catch the ball, and then timed his leap perfectly. LaViolette's catch robbed Kurland of what would have been a go-ahead, two-run homer with one out in the ninth. Instead, the Gators had two outs with Michael Robertson still at first. Jac Caglianone followed Kurland with a walk, but Ashton Wilson struck out to end the game and snap the Gators' five-game win streak in the NCAA Tournament.
"I told Jace I'm super happy that he's tall,'' Schlossnagle said.
The Gators exited the ballpark soon after the game to return to their hotel to rest and begin preparation for another elimination game, this one against NC State on Monday afternoon (2 p.m. ET, ESPN).
The Gators have already exceeded expectations after finishing 28-27 in the regular season and being the only team in the CWS that was not a top-16 national seed. Florida arrived in Omaha with a 34-28 record, matching the 1950 Bradley team (17-14) for the lowest winning percentage of any team to make the CWS. The only team to ever arrive in Omaha with more losses was 2008 national champion Fresno State, 42-29 before getting hot and winning the CWS.
For the Gators to duplicate Fresno State's magical ride, they must fight out of the losers' bracket, starting against the Wolfpack, which lost to Kentucky on Saturday on a walk-off homer.
"Our backs have been up against the wall for what feels like the majority of the year,'' Robertson said after sweeping Clemson. "We're battle-tested and ready to go."
Caglianone, the two-way star who went 2-for-3 with a double against Texas A&M, is scheduled to start Monday's game. It will be his first start in the CWS since Game 3 of last year's championship series against LSU.
Caglianone has carried the Gators much of the season and has watched the team improve as the stakes increase. He isn't ready for his college career to end. The Gators can continue to prove doubters wrong in his eyes.
"On paper, the talent is there. It's more than there," he said. "We realized that we really don't have much time left. A lot of these guys are moving on. Playing for each other and having these freshmen step up the way they did has been amazing. This team is special."
Does the ride end Monday, or will the Gators continue to rise to the occasion?
They walked out of the stadium early Sunday morning, dejected but determined.
"We have no choice at this point,'' O'Sullivan said.
