OMAHA, Neb. — In a College World Series that pits the Southeastern Conference against the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Gators step into that battle on Monday afternoon against NC State.
Four SEC teams (Florida, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Kentucky) advanced to Omaha, as did four ACC teams (NC State, Florida State, North Carolina, Virginia). In the first six games of the CWS, the SEC has won all three of the SEC/ACC head-to-head matchups. Tennessee defeated Florida State and North Carolina, and Kentucky walked off NC State.
The Gators step onto the field Monday afternoon seeking to keep the SEC's dominance intact. If so, they will play another day. Otherwise, they will be the second team eliminated in Omaha. Virginia went two-and-out after losing to FSU on Sunday.
For a closer look at the Gators-Wolfpackelimination game, here is our CWS Primer:
*****
FLORIDA
Record:34-29
Regular Season:28-27 (13-17 SEC)
Record vs. CWS Field:4-9 (2-2vs. Texas A&M, 1-2 vs. Kentucky, 1-2 vs. Tennessee, 0-3 vs. Florida State)
Coach:Kevin O'Sullivan, 17th year (715-348, .673)
All-Time CWS Record:25-27
CWS Appearances:14(1988, '91, '96, '98, 2005, '10, '11, '12, '15, '16, '17, '18, '23, '24)
CWS Titles:1 (2017)
Road to Omaha:Stillwater (Okla.) Regional—W vs. Nebraska 5-2; L vs. Oklahoma State 7-1; W vs. Nebraska 17-11; W vs. Oklahoma State 5-2; W vs. Oklahoma State 4-2.Clemson (S.C.) Super Regional— W vs. Clemson 10-7; W vs. Clemson 11-10 (13).
THE BUZZ:The Gators seek to rebound from their loss to Texas A&M and keep their season alive on Monday afternoon against the Wolfpack. Florida is 5-2 all-time against NC State and has won five consecutive NCAA Tournament matchups, the last meeting coming in 2012 ... Junior left-hander Jac Caglianone will start for the Gators. Caglianone is 5-2 with a 4.71 ERA. He went 2-for-3 against the Aggies with a double, single and walk. Caglianone has a team-high33 home runs and 68 RBI ...Relievers Brandon Neelyand Fisher Jamesoncombined for 5 2/3 scoreless innings against Texas A&M, continuing their strong postseasons ... Florida is 7-6 all time in its second game at the CWS ... Gators leadoff hitter Cade Kurland, who nearly put the Gators ahead with a ninth-inning home run Saturday, could use some good fortune. Kurland is 5-for-35 in eight NCAA Tounament games, with two of those hits coming in Florida's NCAA Tournament opener against Nebraska on May 31 ... Third baseman Dale Thomas has a four-game hitting streak and is 10-for-31 in the NCAA Tournament. Thomas' ground-rule RBI double in the seventh inning scoredFlorida's first run in the seventh inning on Saturday ... Florida is 17-14 all time at Charles Schwab Field, which opened in 2011 as host of the CWS. The Gatorshave the second-most CWS wins over that span, trailing only Vanderbilt (20) ... The Gators did not hit a home run in their CWS opener, only the fifth time all season they have not homered in a game. Florida's131 home runs rank fifth in the country.
QUOTE OF NOTE:"I thought we did a good job. But we had some opportunities, and when you have those opportunities to score, you know, you've got to cash in. And one inning we had second and third with nobody out. We needed to at least get one and unfortunately we weren't able to do that." — Gators coach Kevin O'Sullivan on the Game 1 loss
*****
NC STATE
Record:38-22
Regular Season:33-20(18-11 in ACC)
Record vs. CWS Field:5-4 (2-1 vs. North Carolina, 1-1 vs. Florida State, 2-1 vs. Virginia, 0-1 vs. Kentucky)
Coach:Elliott Avent, 28thyear (1,036-614, .628)
All-Time CWS Record:5-6
CWS Appearances:4(1968, 2013, '21, '24)
CWS Titles:0
Road to Omaha: Raleigh(N.C.) Regional—W vs. Bryant 9-2; W vs. South Carolina 6-4; W vs. James Madison 5-3. Athens (Ga.)Super Regional— W vs. Georgia 18-1; L vs. Georgia 11-2; W vs. Georgia 8-5.
THE BUZZ: NC State is coming off a walk-off 5-4 loss to Kentucky in its opening game of the CWS. The Wolfpack led in the bottom of the ninth before Kentucky's Ryan Nicholson hit a game-tying homer to force extra innings, and then in the bottom of the 10th, NC State closer Derrick Smith hung a slider to Mitchell Daly, whose solo homer dropped the Wolfpack into the losers' bracket ... NC State earned the No. 10 national seed and beat Georgia on the road to advance to the CWS. The Wolfpack and Gators are the only teams in Omaha to advance to the CWS by winning super regionals away from home ... NC State has not lost back-to-back games since late April and have won 16 of 21 overall ... The Wolfpack are back in Omaha for the first time since 2021 when, after winning two of their first three games, they could not finish the tournament due to COVID-19 protocols ... Wolfpack coach Elliott Avent told reporters Sunday that left-handed pitcher Dominic Fritton (3-6, 7.35 ERA) or right-hander Logan Whitaker (3-1, 6.06 ERA) will start against the Gators. Fritton allowed seven runs in three innings of a loss to Georgia in his last start. Meanwhile, Whitaker pitched in the clinching game of the Athens Super Regional, earning the victory by allowing two runs in 4 1/3 innings ... Alec Makarewicz, a transfer from East Carolina,hit his team-leading 23rd home run in Saturday's loss to Kentucky. Makarewicz, Garrett Pennington (18 HRs) and Jacob Cozart (19) provide pop in the Wolfpack lineup ... A junior catcher, Cozart is ranked the No. 42 overall prospect in the 2024 draft class according to MLB Pipeline and was the Wolfpack's lone representative on the All-ACC first-team ... Despite serving up the game-winning homer to Daly on Saturday, Smith has been effective as the closer. He entered the CWS with a 3-1 record and eight saves, striking out 41 in 28 innings ... Florida and NC State last met in the NCAA Tournament in 2012 when the Gators swept a Wolfpack team with future big-league starter Carlos Rodon in the Gainesville Super Regional ... NC State is just the third school to make the men's and women's basketball Final Four and the CWS in the same season, joining 2003 Texas and 2013 Louisville.
QUOTE OF NOTE:"It's not easy to win this thing [even] if we won yesterday's game. Is it harder? You bet. But somebody's gotta beat you. Until we get beat, we're still in this thing. As long as we're in this thing, we can win this thing." — NC State coach Elliott Avent to reporters after his team's practice Sunday
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