It was a great season, but such a disappointing way for it to end. Sent from my iPad
> On Jun 22, 2016, at 8:15 AM, Shane Ford <[email protected]> wrote: > > Red Raiders oust Gators from CWS > > > Florida's Jonathan India kneels on the second base bag after being called out > as Texas Tech players celebrate around him. > > The Associated Press > By Kevin Brockway > Gainesville SUN Staff writer > Published: Tuesday, June 21, 2016 at 6:45 p.m. > Last Modified: Tuesday, June 21, 2016 at 9:28 p.m. > OMAHA, Neb. — There will be no national championship for the Florida baseball > team this year. No celebration at McKethan Stadium. No rings to hand out. > > A season that began with that kind of promise because of Florida's depth in > pitching ended because the Gators simply couldn't hit enough. > > Top-seed Florida left the College World Series stunned and choked up > following a 3-2 loss to No. 5 Texas Tech that ended its season Tuesday at > 52-16. > > Florida's second straight trip to Omaha and 10th in school history yielded > hope that the Gators would bring home their first baseball national title. > Instead, Florida unceremoniously went two-and-out, scoring just three runs in > 18 innings. > > “Obviously, we're all disappointed right now, but the fact of the matter is > we had a helluva year,” Florida coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. “And I'm sad to > see some of these guys move on. But we've got a good core coming back. We've > got to get better in a couple of areas and I fully intend to make that > happen.” > > Florida made it interesting in the ninth inning, cutting Texas Tech's lead to > 3-2 when junior first baseman Peter Alonso launched a two-run homer deep into > the left field stands. But it only set up more heartbreak. With two outs, > freshman Jonathan India laced a line drive down the left field line toward > the corner. India tried to stretch the single into a double, but Texas Tech > left fielder Tyler Neslony cut the ball off and made a perfect throw to > second to get India for the final out of UF's season. > > “We just fell short,” Alonso said. “I know a lot of us put our heart and soul > into every pitch. And it was the goal to win a national championship. And it > feels terrible because I mean, that was the goal, and not just me but the > entire team has worked incredibly hard.” > > It will likely be the final game for a number of Gator juniors taken in the > Major League Baseball draft, including Alonso (second round, New York Mets), > starting pitcher A.J. Puk (first round, Oakland Athletics), starting pitcher > Logan Shore (second round, Oakland Athletics), relief pitcher Dane Dunning > (first round, Washington Nationals), reliever Shaun Anderson (third round, > Boston Red Sox) and center fielder Buddy Reed (second round, San Diego > Padres). > > “We've had some really, really good juniors, guys that are going to play for > a long time,” O'Sullivan said. > > With the season on the line before 16,865 at TD Ameritrade Park, Florida sent > sophomore righty Alex Faedo to the mound. Faedo (13-3) was solid, allowing > just two runs in 7.2 innings while setting a UF CWS record by striking out > nine batters. > > But Faedo made one mistake, allowing an 0-1 fastball to Texas Tech first > baseman Eric Gutierrez to sail to much over the heart of the plate. Gutierrez > launched the pitch deep into the stands in left field for a two-run homer, > giving Texas Tech a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning. > > “Just one mistake, unfortunately in a one-run game, that tends to get > magnified,” O'Sullivan said. “But he pitched great. That's probably as good > as he's pitched all year long.” > > For Florida, it was an afternoon of continued offensive frustration. In the > first inning, with Alonso on first base, JJ Schwarz launched a fly deep to > left-center field. But Texas Tech center fielder Tanner Gardner raced the > drive down and made a terrific running catch, robbing Schwarz of an RBI > double. > > After grounding into two double plays in a 2-1 loss on Sunday to Coastal > Carolina, the Gators grounded into three double plays against Texas Tech. The > most costly came in the sixth inning. Texas Tech coach Tim Tadlock had his > starter, Davis Martin, walk Alonso to load the bases with one out to face > Schwarz. Ahead 3-0 in the count, Schwarz took a strike and launched a long > drive to left foul. On the 3-2 pitch, Schwarz grounded a comebacker to > Martin, who started a 1-2-3 double play. The throw from catcher Tyler Floyd > to first carromed off Schwarz' back and into right field, but Schwarz was > ruled out by home plate umpire John Haggerty for running out of the baseline. > > “He was inside the line,” O'Sullivan said. “Got inside the line, veered out > again. He made the right call. If he didn't, I would have come out and > questioned it. But I didn't have any problems with the call.” > > Texas Tech tacked on an important run in the top of the ninth when Nelsony > scored from first base on a pair of Florida errors. India fielded a Gutierrez > grounder at third, but his low throw skipped by Alonso at first base. Alonso, > then trying to get Nelsony at third base, skipped a throw past India, > allowing Nelsony to race home. > > As a result of the run scoring error, Florida has now suffered its last five > losses in CWS play by one run. > > “To look at the games we've lost 2-1 and 3-2 and look at those guys in the > locker room and think, boy this season's been a failure, if getting to Omaha > is a failure, then, I don't look at it that way,” O'Sullivan said. > > “Of course, we're disappointed. Of course we wanted to stay here longer. But > there's eight teams out of over 300 to get here. We've been here five out of > the last seven and we'll be here again soon. And as far as being a failure, > people not seeing the real Florida team, like I said, we played almost 70 > games.” > > Texas Tech (47-19) will play Thursday against the loser of the Tuesday night > game between TCU and Coastal Carolina. > > Contact Kevin Brockway at 352-374-5054 or [email protected]. Also > check out Brockway's blog at Gatorsports.com. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Sent From Shane's iPhone > Go Gators! & Skål Vikes! > ALPCA #8756 > Europlate #1045 > -- > -- > GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! > 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 > National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 > National Football Champions | > Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), > Tim Tebow (2007) > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "GatorNews" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "GatorTalk" group. 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