Hot florida gator baseball shirt

Buy it here: florida gator baseball shirt

Final Review: Gators Fall Short of Omaha, But 2020 Offers Intrigue

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – There was still hope Sunday afternoon when freshman Jacob Young stepped to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and the tying run 90 feet away.

The Gators still had a chance. A chance to win. A chance to keep their season alive. A chance to return to Omaha. Of course, none were meant to be.

“The beginning just got us,” head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “Gave up seven runs with two outs and couldn’t quite stop the bleeding. That’s been our MO the entire year. The way the game went, kind of a fitting ending to the way the season went.”

For the first time since 2014, Florida’s final out of the season was recorded somewhere other than TD Ameritrade Park, home of the College World Series.

The Gators made their final game an unlikely nail-biter, falling behind in the Lubbock Regional by seven runs when Dallas Baptist erupted for a nine-run fourth inning. They clawed back to within a run in the ninth with Young up and fellow freshman Kendrick Calilao on third in a one-run game, before losing 9-8.

This was a UF team that showed signs of trouble from the start, primarily the inability of junior right-hander Tyler Dyson to secure his spot as the Friday night starter the way former teammates Brady Singer (2018) and Alex Faedo (2017) had the previous two years.

Dyson has arguably the best arm of the trio – he hit 100 mph on the radar gun during his college career – and made what is expected to be his final college appearance with a scoreless inning Sunday. Dyson’s inconsistency prompted O’Sullivan to move him to the bullpen in April, and prior to his outing against DBU, Dyson had not pitched since April 20 at LSU.

Much like Dyson, the Gators flashed potential at times in 2019 but were done in by inconsistency as they now turn their focus to 2020 and the final season at McKethan Stadium.

“We need to grow up on the mound in a hurry,” O’Sullivan said. “There’s a lot of pieces, but I think the biggest takeaway, when you’re really young in the bullpen with freshmen, it just makes it a little bit difficult.”

See more at: florida gator baseball shirt