Gainesville Regional Preview
Baseball America will break down all 16 regionals, including Gainesville, hosted by No. 1 national seed Florida. Teddy Cahill has the details.
| STAT PACK (National rank in parentheses) |
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| Avg. | Scoring (R/G) | HR | SB | ERA | K/9 | WHIP | Fielding %age | |
| 1. Florida | .279 (121) | 6.1 (81) | 45 (64) | 73 (57) | 3.08 (10) | 9.9 (1) | 0.78 (4) | .983 (1) |
| 2. Georgia Tech | .307 (22) | 6.8 (37) | 62 (18) | 45 (185) | 4.65 (147) | 7.2 (138) | 1.53 (167) | .969 (126) |
| 3. Connecticut | .277 (131) | 6.2 (79) | 46 (55) | 61 (106) | 3.47 (35) | 9.2 (10) | 1.27 (31) | .972 (79) |
| 4. Bethune-Cookman | .284 (90) | 5.7 (120) | 45 (64) | 51 (160) | 4.93 (175) | 7.2 (131) | 1.55 (183) | .967 (161) |
1. Florida (47-13, 19-10 in SEC)
32nd appearance (ninth straight), at-large, second place in SEC East
Top 300 Prospects: LHP A.J. Puk (1), OF Buddy Reed (33), RHP Logan Shore (34), RHP Dane Dunning (75), 1B Peter Alonso (136), RHP Shaun Anderson (145).
Season in a sentence: The Gators entered the season as the most talented team and top-ranked team in the country, a position they continue to hold, as they will enter the tournament as the No. 1 national seed.
Player to Watch: J.J. Schwarz, c/dh: During the Southeastern Conference Tournament, coach Kevin O’Sullivan experimented with the Gators lineup, trying to find the right combination with first baseman Peter Alonso sidelined by a broken hand. One change he made was to put Schwarz at first base for the first time in his career. While Alonso may return to the lineup this weekend, Florida will still need Schwarz to be at his best as Alonso gets back up to speed. And Schwarz may continue to be called upon in the field if Alonso isn’t ready to both hit and play defense.
Best Weekend: vs. Texas A&M, April 1-3. Florida was coming off its first series loss of the season when Texas A&M, who had just taken over the No. 1 spot in the ranking, arrived in Gainesville for a weekend series at the start of April. The Gators swept the Aggies, scoring 24 runs against one of the best pitching staffs in the country and to retake the top spot in the poll and showing just how good they can be at their best.
Outlook: The Gators have been one of the best teams in the country all season, never falling below No. 4 in the Top 25. Thanks to the No. 1 national seed, the target on their back grows even larger. But Florida is more than up to the challenge and will be expected to advance to super regionals.
2. Georgia Tech (36-23, 13-16 in ACC)
31st appearances (last in 2014), at-large, fourth place in ACC Coastal
Top 300 Prospects: OF Kel Johnson (110), SS Connor Justus (127)
Season In A Sentence: After missing the NCAA Tournament last year for the first time since 2007, the Yellow Jackets brought in the fourth-ranked recruiting class and bounced back this season, starting 12-0 and getting back to regionals.
Player To Watch: Matthew Gorst, rhp: Thanks in large part to Gorst, the Yellow Jackets have been nearly unbeatable late in games. They are 30-1 in games they lead after the seventh inning and had been unbeaten until North Carolina State scored two unearned runs off Gorst in the ninth last Friday. The junior has only allowed four runs (two earned) all season, and is 1-1, 0.41 with 12 saves. If Georgia Tech can get him the ball with a lead, it can feel good about its chances.
Best Weekend: at Clemson, April 22-24. Georgia Tech is the last team to beat Clemson, the No. 6 national seed, in a weekend series, taking two games on the road at the end of April. After going 0-2-1 in their three previous series, the Yellow Jackets won the final two games against the Tigers to get a much-needed road series victory. It was Georgia Tech’s first series win at Clemson since 2005.
Outlook: The Yellow Jackets’ offense can score some runs, but they rank 12th in the ACC with a 4.65 team ERA, and will need to find some answers on the mound this weekend to hang with the Gators on the road.
3. Connecticut (37-23, 14-9 in American)
19th appearance (last in 2013), automatic, third place in American, American tournament champion
Top 300 Prospects: LHP Anthony Kay (35)
Season In A Sentence: Up and down much of the season, Connecticut finished strong, winning 13 of its final 14 games and win the American Athletic Conference Tournament title and a spot in regionals.
Player To Watch: Anthony Kay, lhp: A veteran of USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team, Kay excelled this spring and was named AAC pitcher of the year after going 9-2, 2.46 with 108 strikeouts in 113 1/3 innings. He became the school’s all-time strikeout king, passing Red Sox righthander Matt Barnes. After throwing Sunday on short rest in the AAC Tournament championship game, UConn will hold Kay for later in the regional. That sets up Kay to face Florida in a potential winners’ bracket game, a matchup that scouts would be excited to see.
Best Weekend: vs. Houston, April 13-15. After sputtering in its first two conference weekends (splitting against Tulane and losing twice at Cincinnati), Connecticut got back on track with a sweep of Houston. It capped off a 5-0 week that included midweek wins against Fairfield and Bryant – two NCAA Tournament teams. The Huskies held the Cougars to five runs over the course of the weekend, thanks to strong starts from Kay, Tim Cate and William Montgomerie. The weekend also foreshadowed the AAC Tournament championship game, wen Connecticut completed the season sweep of Houston with a 7-2 victory.
Outlook: Connecticut comes in hot and has a true ace in Kay, but it’s going to take more than that to take down Florida. The Huskies will need their talented underclassmen such as Cate, Montgomerie and third baseman Willie Yahn to step up in a hostile environment.
4. Bethune-Cookman (29-25, 17-7 in MEAC)
15th appearances (last in 2014), automatic, second plays in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Southern Division, MEAC tournament champion
Top 300 Prospects: None
Season In a Sentence: Bethune-Cookman won its final five weekend series and fought through the poor weather during the MEAC Tournament to sweep through the field and get back to the NCAA Tournament.
Player To Watch: Michael Cruz, c: A native of Puerto Rico, Cruz led the MEAC with 16 home runs during the regular season, earning him a spot on the all-conference team. He hit .332/.468/.622 and is the lone Wildcat to play (and start) all 54 games this season. His power is critical to the Bethune-Cookman lineup, as he accounts for more than a third of the team’s home runs.
Best Weekend: vs. Florida A&M, April 16-17. The Rattlers swept the Wildcats in Tallahassee, Fla., a month earlier, but Bethune-Cookman was ready when the teams met again in Daytona Beach, Fla. They split the doubleheader Saturday, and Bethune-Cookman came back and won the rubber game Sunday. With the victory, the Wildcats became the first MEAC team to win a weekend series against the Rattlers.
Outlook: Bethune-Cookman has never beaten Florida in 30 tries, the latest meeting resulting in a 7-1 loss in Gainesville last month. Snapping that losing streak would require a monumental upset, and avoiding going two-and-out would be significant. The Wildcats are just 2-28 in regionals, though one of their wins came in their last NCAA Tournament appearance.
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