Florida Baseball: Gators get to rest as they await Wednesday’s opponent

The College World Series is a winding and twisting road, and Florida baseball has experienced that firsthand through their first two games, both one-run wins over Virginia and Oral Roberts, respectively.

But the format in Omaha is such that as long as you keep winning, you get to stay out of the meat grinder that is the elimination games, and today the Gators get to rest while they await their opponent for Wednesday.

Florida Baseball: And on the seventh day…

Today Oral Roberts will play TCU at 2 PM. The winner will move on to face Florida on Wednesday at 2 PM, while the loser will have their season end. The two teams faced off Friday, with Oral Roberts coming from behind to collect the victory.

The main benefit for Florida today is that they don’t have to utilize their pitching staff and should have everyone available to come out of the bullpen as needed.

Hopefully, Kevin O’Sullivan keeps track of his mound visits this time around.

If you are looking for parallels to the 2017 championship team, Florida faced off against TCU during the semifinal round of the CWS. The Gators had started 2-0 in Omaha, then lost to TCU, but came back to win the rematch and advance to the championship series.

Whichever team survives to face Florida on Wednesday, the Gators will only have to win once in two attempts to advance to the championship series.

It would be in the Gators’ best interest, however, to close out their bracket on Wednesday, as they are scheduled to pitch Jac Caglianone. With a win, Florida would be able to save Brandon Sproat to open up the championship series. A loss on Wednesday would force O’Sullivan to use Sproat on Thursday, limiting his availability in the championship series should to Gators make it there.