Florida Baseball Has Peaked At Right Time, O’Sullivan Says

Coach Kevin O’Sullivan and the Florida Gators baseball team are in Omaha for the College World Series. O’Sullivan joined Steve Russell on Sportscene on Thursday before the unseeded Gators (34-28) play No. 3 seed Texas A&M (49-13) on Saturday night.

See y’all in Omaha#GoGators pic.twitter.com/Un27cCYKGg

— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) June 10, 2024

Road to Omaha

The Gators struggled to make their presence known during the regular season. Florida lost several midweek games, making many believe it would not make the NCAA Tournament. O’Sullivan credits how his freshman pitchers have grown over the course of the season to help the Gators get to this point.

The back half of his batting order has contributed in this postseason. In Game 2 of the Clemson Super Regional, nine-hole hitter Michael Robertson was able to clinch the Gators’ spot in the CWS by walking-off the 13-inning classic with a two-run double:

In his ninth College World Series with Florida, O’Sullivan said he is still as excited as he was as in his first one in 2010.

https://twitter.com/NCAABaseball/status/1799961567590580233

Caglianone’s Impact

Ahead of the July MLB draft, Florida’s Jac Caglianone has another shot in Omaha. His coach says he is a hard-working player and an amazing teammate while he gets so much media attention at this time in his career:

Caglianone was recently named the 2024 Perfect Game College Baseball Two-Way Player of the Year.

https://twitter.com/PerfectGameUSA/status/1800893820424614037

Versus Texas A&M

Following two exciting Super Regionals, the Gators and the Aggies are set to face each other in Omaha in an all-SEC matchup.

The Gators opened their SEC season at home against the Aggies and took the series, winning two of the three games. Each ball club has a good feeling for how this matchup could go:

Despite his rough go in Clemson, freshman starting pitcher Liam Peterson will get the start in Game 1 of the Gators’ tenure in Omaha. The right-handed pitcher gave up three earned runs, three hits and four walks in one inning of work against the Tigers. Caglianone will pitch Game 2:

Going into the CWS, many Gators remain on the injured list. Coming off an oblique injury, righty Ryan Slater should be available to pitch at some point for Florida, O’Sullivan said.

Florida takes on the Aggies on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET with live coverage on ESPN, 98.1-FM/850-AM WRUF.