UF head coach Kevin O’Sullivan has emphasized his team’s resiliency and how the Gators have basically been playing playoff baseball for a couple months now. They’ll need to carry much of the same theme into Tuesday’s matchup with a brutal weather forecast slated for Tuesday night in Omaha.
“We’ve been playing for our lives the last month of the season,” O’Sullivan said. “Going back to South Florida in a midweek game. We [were] fighting the SEC record, and we [were] fighting the overall to get over .500 so I think that put us in a pretty tough position and that probably helped our team get mentally tougher.”
The Gators no-quit mentality resulted in an improbable run to being one of the last six teams left at the Men’s College World Series after being one of the last four squads selected in the field of 64.
The fate of Florida’s season will come down to another elimination game against a familiar foe in Kentucky who took two of three games over the Gators in a home series during the regular season at Condron Ballpark.
“I’m just really proud of our team’s resiliency,” O’Sullivan said. “Obviously, everybody knows when you get in the elimination bracket, it’s about emotion and keeping your energy going.”
In college baseball, it’s also about getting hot and peaking at the right time towards the end of the season. This became evident for an unranked Florida team making an unexpected appearance at the MCWS and is now a threat to send the No. 2 national seed home packing.
Kentucky poses a balanced lineup consisting of quality contributions at the plate as well as a solid defense behind its pitchers. It has eight players raking in a batting average of .290 or better with graduate student Nick Lopez, junior outfielder Ryan Waldshmidt and graduate student infielder Ryan Nicholson leading the way.
Lopez boasts team highs in batting average and hits with a .341 average with six home runs on the year. Though, the majority of the Wildcats power in their lineup comes from Nicholson. The graduate student mashed 23 home runs while tallying 63 RBIs in 2024. Waldschmidt rounds out Kentucky’s impressive batting order with a 1.078 OPS and a team-high 64 runs scored.
Florida’s pitching staff will be challenged with its backs against a wall in a win or go home matchup. Although there’s been a number of pleasant surprises on the bump for Florida fans after what was an underwhelming campaign from the Gators this season.
O’Sullivan announced after UF’s 5-4 victory over NC State, Monday, that he will likely be handing the ball over to redshirt sophomore pitcher Pierce Coppola with its season on the line.
Despite Coppola’s 9.16 ERA on the season, O’Sullivan emphasized the importance of getting quality outings from his staff.
“I’m sure we’re gonna start Pierce [Coppola],” O’Sullivan said. “We’re gonna need some guys that haven’t pitched to go out there and get three or six outs for us.”
The first pitch between Florida and Kentucky is slated for 7 p.m. EST at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska.
Contact Max Tucker at mtucker@alligator.org. Follow him on X @Max_Tuckr1.
Max Tucker is a junior transfer student at UF. After obtaining his A.A. in Journalism from Santa Fe College in 2023, he chose further his education at Florida's College of Journalism and Communications. Max is currently pursuing his Bachelor of Science in Journalism with a specialization in sports and media. He enjoys golfing and going to the beach with his friends in his free time.
