OMAHA, Neb. — For the second time in four days a pair of conference titans will clash at the College World Series in a critical semifinals matchup.
Today at 2 p.m., two old friends and a pair of cordial SEC rivals will square off once again, as Florida looks to continue its dominance over Vanderbilt for a spot in the CWS championship series.
For the sixth time this season, the Gators’ Kevin O’Sullivan will oppose former colleague Tim Corbin — the Commodores head coach — in a meeting pitting ex-assistant coaches from Clemson.
“Me and Tim go back and awfully long way. I care about him deeply,” O’Sullivan said earlier in the week. “They're like family. Tim and I are very, very close. Our families know each other. It goes well beyond the baseball side of things.”
But with the stakes as high as they’ve ever been, the niceties are on hold.
The Gators, with no losses thus far in the CWS, can eliminate the Commodores with a win today. If Vandy wins, the teams meet again Saturday. The best-of-three championship series begins Monday.
The Gators dropped the Commodores 3-1 Tuesday in the weather-suspended contest that began Monday night. Wednesday, facing elimination, Vanderbilt easily displaced North Carolina (5-1) for a rematch with the Gators.
Although Florida holds the scorecard edge in the series matchup — the Gators have won four of the five meetings this season — Vanderbilt has more than a puncher’s chance to reach its first-ever CWS championship series.
For the third time in as many games in Omaha, a Major League Baseball first round draft pick will toe the rubber against Florida.
Sonny Gray, the 18th overall pick by the Oakland Athletics in the June MLB draft, will make his second start in Omaha and second appearance this year against Florida.
In Vandy's loss against the Gators May 13, Gray (12-3, 2.12 ERA) gave up one earned run and two hits in six innings in a rained-suspended game.
If Florida loses Friday, it will see another first-round ace in Grayson Garvin (13-2, 2.48).
"It seems to be all we've been facing since we've been out here," Gators senior second baseman Josh Adams said. "But we love it. The talent out here is really impressive."
Junior left-hander Alex Panteliodis (6-2, 3.95), who shut out Vandy for 6 2/3 innings in the SEC Tournament championship, will start for Florida Friday. Panteliodis has dominated Vanderbilt in four career appearances, allowing one run (0.68 ERA) in 13 1/3 innings with 13 strikeouts.
Although O'Sullivan was not made available for comment, the decision to start the southpaw over righty ace Hudson Randall (11-3, 2.24) could stem from Vanderbilt's struggles against left-handed pitching recently. In the loss Tuesday, Vandy's five left-handed hitters went a collective 1-for-18 with nine strikeouts.
Vanderbilt has labored scoring runs against Florida; the Commodores have scored only one run in their past 26 innings against the Gators, resulting in three losses by two runs or less.
"I think the biggest factor is being able to do something with their pitching. That's been the nemesis," said Corbin, who worked with O'Sullivan at Clemson from 1999-2002. "I feel good about our offense, and I feel good about the mindset where we'll be (Friday) ."
"We feel like we matched up against them really well," Vanderbilt catcher Curt Casail said. "It hasn't really fallen our way yet. But we're looking to change that.
"We're not thinking how the heck can we beat Florida. It's not really in the back of our minds at all.
"We feel we can compete with them. We're going to come in confident, I guarantee that."
Preston Tucker and the Gators have dropped Vanderbilt four times already this seaso, including a 3-1 victory just four days ago at the College World Series. The two teams square off Friday at 2 p.m. in a semifinals matchup.
