SEC Baseball

Top-ranked Gators have long hill to climb for first title

Florida's Deacon Liput (8) celebrates after scoring on a one-run single by Mark Kolozsvary during the fifth inning of an NCAA men's College World Series baseball game against Coastal Carolina in Omaha, Neb., Sunday, June 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Mike Theiler)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Maybe not since Southern California ruled college baseball in the 1970s or LSU in the 1990s has a team come to the College World Series as a heavier favorite than Florida this year.

Seven Gators are among the top 108 draft picks, Kevin O'Sullivan has assembled the best pitching staff in the country and there's been a feeling since last year that the program is due to win its first national championship and put the list of CWS disappointments behind it.

Suddenly, after a 2-1 loss to Coastal Carolina on Sunday, the Gators are in scramble mode in Omaha again. They need to win against Texas Tech on Tuesday night and then three more times to reach next week's championship finals. One loss sends them home.

"Compete our tail off and hope for the best," Jeremy Vasquez said, describing Florida's strategy.

Florida (52-14) started the season at the top of the national polls and stayed there almost every week. The NCAA Tournament selection committee made the Gators the No. 1 national seed, and they appeared to have what it takes to become the first since Miami in 1999 to win the title.

They still might. Oregon State in 2006 and South Carolina in 2010 bounced back from opening losses to win championships.

History hasn't been kind to Florida in Omaha, though. The Gators are 14-20 in 10 CWS appearances. They were swept in the two finals they made, by Texas in 2005 and South Carolina in 2011.

In 2012, with national player of the year Mike Zunino among nine draft picks, the Gators went two and out with a loss to first-time CWS participant Kent State eliminating them.

Last year, they won three games here by a combined 35-10 but lost a pair of one-run games to eventual national champion Virginia, denying them a trip to the finals.

This year the Gators lost their Southeastern Conference tournament opener and reached the finals. They also lost their first game in super regionals to Florida State but won the next two 5-0 and 7-0 to make the CWS.

Florida this time will try to bounce back against Texas Tech with sophomore star Alex Faedo (13-2) pitching.

"We've got Alex on the mound, and we'll do whatever we need to do Tuesday and hopefully win and move on," O'Sullivan said. "Just take it one game at a time. That's all we can do at this point."

UPSETS MAKE IT FUN

Division I Baseball Committee chairman Joel Erdmann said he wasn't overly surprised by the eight teams that reached Omaha.

Ten teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference and seven from the Southeastern Conference were in the original 64-team NCAA Tournament field, and only one team from each league made it to the CWS.

"I think that's something that makes this game more magical every year, that what might be considered power and historical programs that have achieved great things are sometimes overcome by emerging programs that are starting to make their own thumbprint and their own footprint," Erdmann said.

"Looking at the bracket might raise some eyebrows in how it panned out, but I think another way to look at it is it's great for the game."

FOUL BALLS NET $25K

Allstate Insurance's annual "Good Hands in the Stands" program resulted in a $25,000 donation to Boys Town to support youth sports programs. The famed home for boys and girls is located in Omaha.

Former major leaguer Kevin Millar was in the stands to present a trophy to each fan catching a foul ball during the opening weekend of the CWS. Each caught foul ball was good for a $500 donation to Boys Town.