Off The Bat: Florida Climbs Into First As It Finds Its stride

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In Off The Bat, Teddy Cahill wraps up the weekend in college baseball and looks ahead.

Coming into the weekend, Mississippi and Florida ranked first and second in the Southeastern Conference in ERA. The Rebels’ talent on the mound had helped propel them to back-to-back series wins, including last weekend at Arkansas.

But the Gators’ offense, which had been maligned early in the season for its slow start, came through in the clutch all weekend. Florida swept Mississippi, finishing the weekend with a 6-4 victory Sunday. The Gators scored 24 runs in the three games, 13 of which came with two outs.

No. 7 Florida has found its stride at the right time. The Gators (35-13, 16-8) have won nine straight games, tied for the second-longest winning streak in the nation. As a result, the preseason SEC favorites are in first place in the conference with two weekends to play. Florida holds a one-game lead on No. 9 Kentucky in the SEC East and is tied with No. 6 Mississippi State, the SEC West leader, for the overall lead.

With just six games left in the SEC’s regular season, every game takes on a greater importance. And while coach Kevin O’Sullivan said the Gators haven’t talked about the standings, he knows the players are aware of them.

“We know where we’re at,” he said. “It’s a pennant race.”

During its winning streak, Florida is averaging 6.78 runs per game. With that kind of offensive production to go with its typically strong pitching and defense, the Gators look like the team that was ranked No. 3 in the preseason.

Florida is also as healthy as it has been in a long time. Catcher Mike Rivera remains sidelined by a broken hamate bone in his right hand, but third baseman Jonathan India returned to the lineup this weekend. Shortstop Daulton Guthrie and outfielder Austin Langworthy have also gotten healthier in the last few weeks, enabling Florida to put something close to its best lineup on the field every day.

The Gators have also benefitted from J.J. Schwarz getting into a groove at the plate. During the winning streak, the junior is 13-for-30 (.433) with eight walks. He is hitting .273/.356/.424 with a team-high six home runs this spring.

O’Sullivan said Schwarz has gotten locked in at the plate and is now swinging the bat as well as he has at any time during his Florida career.

“No matter where I hit him, they pitch him differently,” O’Sullivan said. “Other teams respect him and they don’t give into him. But he’s taking what given him and he’s pretty well locked in.”

Florida’s improved offensive production has taken the stress off its rotation of righthanders Alex Faedo (7-1, 2.42), Brady Singer (5-3, 2.23) and Jackson Kowar (8-0, 3.79). That trio was stout again this weekend, combining for a 2.29 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 19.2 innings.

The emergence of Michael Byrne as a shutdown closer has also helped the starters. Byrne (1-4, 1.90) saved both Saturday and Sunday’s wins, giving the sophomore 13 saves this season. That matches the program’s single-season saves record, set last year by Shaun Anderson.

Byrne opened the season as the midweek starter, but moved to the back of the bullpen after some of Florida’s electric freshmen pitchers proved to be unready for the closer’s role. Byrne doesn’t have the elite stuff that many of O’Sullivan’s closers have had. Instead his fastball sits in the low 90s and he mixes in a changeup and slider. Byrne has made his arsenal work, however.

“I had no intention of closing him, it just evolved into that,” O’Sullivan said. “The young arms weren’t ready and we had to switch gears to go with a guy with more maturity.”

After hosting No. 23 South Florida on Tuesday, Florida finishes its SEC schedule with a series at Alabama and a home series against Kentucky. It has positioned itself well as it comes down the home stretch in the regular season.

O’Sullivan said the Gators just need to keep playing the way they have been as they approach the final two weekends of the regular season.

“The same old thing, get timely hits, be tough outs at the plate, make key pitches in key situations and play good defense,” O’Sullivan said. “There’s no secret recipe. We just need to play well in all phases.”

Long Beach Solidifies Big West Hold

Long Beach State hosted Cal Poly at Blair Field this weekend for a series rife with postseason implications between the top two teams in the Big West Conference standings.

The Dirtbags led the Mustangs by 3 1/2 games in the standings and were looking to pad their resume for hosting an NCAA Tournament regional. Cal Poly, which needs to win the conference and capture the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, had its best opportunity to cut into Long Beach’s lead.

After splitting the first two games of the series, Long Beach jumped out to an early lead it wouldn’t relinquish in Sunday’s rubber game. The eighth-ranked Dirtbags went on to win, 5-2, to capture the series. Long Beach (30-15-1, 15-3) maintained its 3.5 game lead on No. 14 Cal State Fullerton, with Cal Poly 4 1/2 back. Both Fullerton and Cal Poly have nine conference games left, while Long Beach has six, including a season-ending series at Fullerton.

Coach Troy Buckley said while winning the conference is one of the Dirtbags’ goals, they aren’t ready to think about that yet.

“We’re not getting ahead of ourselves,” he said. “We’ve got to get healthy and take care of getting better.”

The Dirtbags have won seven straight series, including all six in Big West play. They have followed the typical Long Beach formula of pitching and defense, posting a 3.09 team ERA and a fielding percentage of .979. But they have also provided plenty of run support for their pitchers, averaging 5.43 runs per game, their highest total since 2010.

Catcher David Banuelos has been at the heart of the Dirtbags’ offense. The junior had largely been known for his defense early in his career, but is hitting .317/.382/.531 with seven home runs this season and playing his way up draft boards.
Buckley said Banuelos’ emergence has made Long Beach’s lineup deeper.

“He’s very strong and his pitch recognition on breaking balls and secondary pitches has improved every year he’s been here,” Buckley said. “He’s arguably taken some of our best at bats over the course of the year.”

Meanwhile, Long Beach’s pitching staff has continued to produce. Darren McCaughan (6-2, 2.97), the reigning Big West pitcher of the year, threw a shutout Friday night to pick up the 20th win of his career. He is the 10th Dirtbag to reach the milestone and the first since Cesar Ramos did so in 2005.

Buckley said McCaughan’s performance got more impressive as the weekend went along and he was able to watch the Cal Poly offense more.

“What was really impressive about it, I think Cal Poly hits mistakes really, really well,” Buckley said. “It certainly was really good Friday, but when you look at Saturday and Sunday, and look back at what he did Friday, not only did he compete, he executed.”

Long Beach will now step out of Big West action to travel to Minnesota this weekend. It will be the Dirtbags’ fourth nonconference road series, all against Power Five conference opponents. Long Beach finishes the season with a pair of Big West series—at home against Hawaii and at archrival Fullerton. It will be an important stretch as the Dirtbags try to lock down a spot as a host for regionals.

Eight for Omaha

Florida, Long Beach State, Louisville, Mississippi State, North Carolina, Oregon State, Texas Christian, Texas Tech

A week after moving into the field, Auburn moves back out. Getting swept at home by last place Alabama makes its path to hosting a regional much more difficult and the Tigers will have to bounce back quickly from the blow of getting swept by their archrival. In their place enters Mississippi State, which is tied with Florida for first place in the Southeastern Conference. The Bulldogs have scant depth left, especially on the pitching staff, after a rash of injuries in the last year. But while many teams would have long since been undercut by all the injuries, Mississippi State continues to win series in the SEC. The Bulldogs still have the most dangerous hitter in the country in their lineup in Brent Rooker and plenty of talent surrounding him, including center fielder Jake Mangum and lefthander Konnor Pilkington. Most importantly, they have the mentality necessary to win tight games in the postseason. Mississippi State’s margin for error is minimal, but it’s been that way for weeks now and the Bulldogs have persisted. So why not a run to the College World Series?

Eye-Catchers

Six players or programs who stood out this weekend.

Micah Coffey, 3b, Minnesota: Led by Coffey, Minnesota broke out the bats in a sweep at Penn State, scoring 35 runs during the weekend. Coffey hit for the cycle in Saturday’s victory and went 9-for-14 and scored seven runs on the weekend. He is hitting .351/.406/.490 this spring.

OPPO TACO!! JJ Matijevic does it again!! This man is on fire🔥🔥🔥#MatijevicMash https://t.co/lqWblytMn3

— Arizona Baseball (@ArizonaBaseball) May 7, 2017

J.J. Matijevic, 1b, Arizona: Matijevic helped Arizona finish off its sweep of Washington with a 12-11 victory Sunday, going 3-for-3 with two home runs and a double in the victory. He went 6-for-10 on the weekend and is now hitting .406/.450/.674 with a team-high nine home runs this season.

Brendan McKay, lhp/1b, Louisville: In Sunday’s series finale at Notre Dame, McKay went 4-for-4 with a home run and two doubles. In the series opener, he held the Fighting Irish to one hit and four walks in eighth scoreless innings, striking out eight. The Preseason All-American is 7-3, 1.92 with 103 strikeouts in 75 innings on the mound and is hitting .373/.495/.712 with 14 home runs this season.

Rice: With a sweep of Charlotte, Rice extended its winning streak to six games and has won three straight Conference USA series. The Owls (22-26, 12-12) are still under .500 overall, but have climbed into eighth place in the standings, which would qualify them for the CUSA Tournament. They have won nine of their last 10 games, and seem to be heating up just in time to make a push for the postseason.

UNC Wilmington and William & Mary: The Seahawks (24-22, 12-6) and Tribe (28-21, 12-6) met in last year’s Colonial Athletic Association Tournament championship game, with the Tribe pulling the upset. Now, they have identical four-game winning streaks and are tied atop the CAA standings after sweeps this weekend against Northeastern and College of Charleston, the third- and fourth-place teams.

Looking Ahead

Three weekend series we’re most excited for

(2) Louisville at (11) Clemson: Louisville holds a four-game lead on Clemson in the Atlantic Coast Conference Atlantic Division with six games to play. This is a must-win series for the Tigers if they are to chase down the Cardinals for the division title, and will be significant for their hopes of landing a national seed. Louisville, meanwhile, will be looking to clinch its third straight division title since joining the ACC.

(13) Auburn at (15) Louisiana State: Things can change in a hurry in the tightly packed SEC West. Auburn was leading the division a week ago, but has fallen two games behind Mississippi State after getting swept by Alabama. LSU is one game off the pace and controls its own destiny, as it will travel to Starkville next weekend. Auburn will try to revive its hosting hopes this weekend, while LSU is looking to solidify its own resume.

(5) Texas Christian at (24) Oklahoma: TCU can clinch the Big 12 Conference title this weekend with a series win. It is the Horned Frogs’ final conference series and they hold a two-game lead on second-place Texas Tech, which is also down to three Big 12 games left. Oklahoma is in third place, 3.5 games back, and has six games to play. The Sooners need a series win to keep their title hopes alive.

Two weekend series you shouldn’t overlook

Loyola Marymount at Gonzaga: The second and third place teams in the West Coast Conference are set for a showdown this weekend. Both are coming off a weekend off for finals, are chasing first-place Brigham Young (LMU trails by one game, Gonzaga by two) and need to bolster their NCAA Tournament resumes (LMU is No. 70 in RPI, Gonzaga is No. 80).

Pennsylvania at Yale: The first NCAA Tournament bid of the year will be determined in the Ivy League championship series. Penn beat Columbia in a one-game playoff Sunday to win its first division title since 2007, and is looking for its first league title since 1995. Yale is making its second straight appearance in the best-of-three games championship series, and will be hoping for a better result than last year, when it lost on a walk-off in Game Three at Princeton.

One midweek game to keep an eye on

(23) South Florida at (7) Florida, Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.: South Florida will travel to Gainesville for a matchup of first-place teams from the American Athletic Conference and the SEC. The Bulls have won five straight games, while the Gators are on a nine-game winning streak. Both will be eager to continue their hot streaks in an in-state showdown.