The Road to Omaha!
Posted by UFreak in 
Florida punches its ticket by sweeping scUM!…..just like in Football, UFlorida beats down the “305″!….
Gators win opener vs USF, 6-2
2009 — Position — 2010
Avery Barnes — LF — Tyler Thompson
Matt den Dekker — CF — Matt den Dekker
Riley Cooper — RF — Daniel Pigott
Brandon McArthur — 1B — Preston Tucker
Clayton Pisani — 2B — Josh Adams
Mike Mooney — SS — Nolan Fontana
Josh Adams — 3B — Bryson Smith
Buddy Munroe — C — Mike Zunino
Preston Tucker — DH — Austin Maddox
Rounding the bases Friday night, Austin Maddox wasn’t sure if he was going to wake up before he reached home plate.
Moments earlier, Florida’s freshman designated hitter had just belted the second collegiate pitch of his career over the right-center field wall for a two-run home run to give the Gators (1-0) a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
His trance ended after he touched home and realized what happened.
“First (at-bat). That doesn’t happen to many people, but it felt really good,” Maddox said.
It felt pretty good for the Gators all night in their season opener against South Florida at McKethan Stadium. Along with Maddox’s debut, junior infielder Josh Adams showed off some power by clearing the left field bleachers twice as the Gators defeated USF 6-2 in front of a crowd of 3,309.
While Maddox felt like his at-bat was a dream, Adams, who has won consecutive All-SEC accolades, said he had goosebumps after his first at-bat when he hit a two-run homer off Randy Fontanez in the first.
He was giddy after the hit, but he wasn’t very nervous coming into the game.
“Honestly, for a lot of us it felt like another scrimmage game because we’ve been scrimmaging so much,” Adams said. “About five minutes until game time everybody started getting that look like, ‘All right, it’s here. We’re ready to go.’ Everybody was ready and it was a good night.”
Besides Florida’s offensive explosion in the first, Friday meant the return of a familiar face. After spending the 2009 season sidelined after shoulder surgery, sophomore right-hander Tommy Toledo made his first appearance on the mound in more than a year.
He started strong as he struck out his first batter, but admitted jitters caught up to him while facing his third batter, Stephen Hunt, who saved the inning with a single to center. After Hunt stole second, Toledo walked Sam Mende off a wild pitch, putting runners at the corners.
Toledo then calmly struck out the next batter on a 3-2 count.
Toledo’s nerves didn’t leave him. His control problems landed him in a bases-loaded situation in the second, but like the inning before, he escaped with a strikeout and the clean sheet.
“It was definitely good to get my feet wet a little bit with the guys on and get those situations out of the way,” Toledo said. “I’m sure its going to be like that for the rest of the season, so I’m glad I got the first one out of the way.”
Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan pulled Toledo after 3 1/3 innings with four strikeouts, two walks and an unearned run off 71 pitches. He was replaced by lefty Alex Panteliodis, who picked up the win after 3 1/3 innings and three strikeouts.
Florida’s bats went silent after Fontanez found his rhythm. He retired six straight after giving up those four runs and went 6 2/3 with five strikeouts in the losing effort.
Adams, who went 3-for-3 on the night, hit his second homer in the fifth and drove in his fourth run with a double in the seventh that scored senior center fielder Matt den Dekker.
The early bat work proved too much for the Bulls, but nerves kept the game from getting out of hand as Florida committed two errors on the night and only five hits after the first inning.
Still, O’Sullivan was pleased with the solid opening.
“There’s nothing like opening day,” he said. “Everybody’s anxious and everybody’s kind of amped up. I could tell our (batting practice) was a little different. It’s always good to get the first one out of the way.”
UFlorida earns #8 National Seed
The University of Florida baseball team learned on Monday afternoon that it was awarded the eighth national seed for the 2009 NCAA Baseball Tournament that begins on Friday at McKethan Stadium. Making their 25th Regional appearance, the top-seeded Gators (39-20) will face fourth-seeded Bethune-Cookman (32-26) at 6:30 p.m. Second-seeded Miami (Fla.) (36-20) will meet third-seeded Jacksonville (36-20) earlier in the day at 1 p.m.
“We are very excited for the start of Regional play,” second-year head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “Playing at home should be a good opportunity for our fans to come and support us. It will be a challenging field and we are looking forward to facing a talented Bethune-Cookman team on Friday.”
The Regional continues through Sunday, with a final game to be played Monday night, if necessary. The Gainesville Regional winner will face the winner of the Atlanta Regional in a Super Regional series next weekend. The eight Super Regional winners advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
UF is 64-51 (.557) all-time in NCAA Tournament action and has reached the CWS five times: 1988, 1991, 1996, 1998 and 2005. The Gators are 3-0 against Bethune-Cookman in NCAA play, most recently defeating the Wildcats at the 2003 Coral Gables Regional. Florida has not encountered Jacksonville in the postseason since posting a 3-0 win at the 1991 NCAA East Regional at McKethan Stadium.
The Gators have faced Miami (Fla.) three times this season and suffered a three-game sweep during its second series of the campaign. The Sunshine State rivals last met in the postseason at the 2004 Coral Gables Super Regional won by the hosts in two games.
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2009 NCAA Gainesville Regional Schedule |
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Friday, May 29 |
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Game 2: 1 p.m. – No. 2 Miami (Fla.) (36-20) vs. No. 3 Jacksonville (36-20) |
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Game 1: 6:30 p.m. – No. 1 FLORIDA (39-20) vs. No. 4 Bethune-Cookman (32-26) |
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Saturday, May 30 |
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Game 3: 1 p.m. – Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 |
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Game 4: 6:30 p.m. – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 |
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Sunday, May 31 |
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Game 5: 1 p.m. – Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 |
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Game 6: 6:30 p.m. – Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 |
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Monday, June 1 |
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Game 7: (if necessary) – 6:30 p.m. – Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 |
The national top eight seeds are Texas (41-13-1), Cal State Fullerton (42-14), LSU (46-16), North Carolina (42-16), Arizona State (44-12), UC Irvine (43-13), Oklahoma (41-18) and the Gators.
The Big 12 and Southeastern Conference lead all conferences in the number of teams in the championship field with eight, followed by the Atlantic Coast Conference with seven. The Big Ten, Big West, Conference USA and Pacific-10 each have three teams each.
Twenty-nine of the 64 teams were not in the field last year. Binghamton (AQ), Cal Poly (at-large), Georgia State (AQ), Kansas State (at-large) and Xavier (AQ), all are making the championship for the first time. Utah last was in the field in 1960, Boston College last made it in 1967.
Miami (Fla.) is in the field for the 37th consecutive year, extending its own record. Florida State is making its 32nd straight appearance, second all-time. Other long consecutive streaks: Cal State Fullerton (18), Rice (15) and Oral Roberts (12).
Of the 288 championship eligible Division I institutions that sponsor baseball, Coastal Carolina and LSU have the most Division I wins with 46. Twenty-five other teams won at least 40 Division I contests, and all of which but New Mexico State and San Jose State, are in the field.
Each of the 16 NCAA Regionals features four teams, playing a double-elimination format. The Regionals are scheduled to be conducted from Friday, May 29, to Monday, June 1 (if necessary). Selection of the eight Super Regional hosts will be announced on www.ncaa.com, Monday, June 1, at approximately 11 p.m. The best two-of-three Super Regionals will be played from Friday, June 5, to Monday, June 8. The 63rd College World Series begins play Saturday, June 13, at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb.
FIELD BY CONFERENCE (30)
Big 12: 8 (Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M)
Southeastern: 8 (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Mississippi, South Carolina, Vanderbilt)
Atlantic Coast: 7 (Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami (FL), North Carolina, Virginia)
Big Ten: 3 (Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio State)
Big West: 3 (Cal Poly, UC Irvine, Cal State Fullerton)
Conference USA: 3 (East Carolina, Rice, Southern Miss)
Mountain West: 3 (San Diego State, TCU, Utah)
Pacific-10: 3 (Arizona St., Oregon State, Washington State)
Colonial: 2 (George Mason, Georgia State)
Southern: 2 (Elon, Georgia Southern)
Southland: 2 (Sam Houston State, Texas State)
Sun Belt: 2 (Middle Tennessee, Western Ky.)
America East: 1 (Binghamton)
Atlantic Sun: 1 (Jacksonville)
Atlantic 10: 1 (Xavier)
Big East: 1 (Louisville)
Big South: 1 (Coastal Carolina)
Horizon: 1 (Wright State)
Ivy: 1 (Dartmouth)
Metro Atlantic: 1 (Marist)
Mid-American: 1 (Kent State)
Mid-Eastern: 1 (Bethune-Cookman)
Missouri Valley: 1 (Wichita State)
Northeast: 1 (Monmouth)
Ohio Valley: 1 (Tennessee Tech)
Patriot: 1 (Army)
Southwestern: 1 (Southern)
Summit : 1 (Oral Roberts)
West Coast: 1 (Gonzaga)
Western Athletic: 1 (Fresno State)
FIELD BY STATE (27)
Texas: 7 (Baylor, Rice, Sam Houston State, Texas, Texas A&M, TCU, Texas State)
California: 5 (UC Irvine, Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton, Fresno State, San Diego State)
Florida: 5 (Bethune-Cookman, Florida, Florida State, Jacksonville, Miami [FL])
Georgia: 4 (Georgia, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Georgia Tech)
Ohio: 4 (Kent State, Ohio State, Wright State, Xavier)
Kansas: 3 (Kansas, Kansas State, Wichita State)
New York: 3 (Army, Binghamton, Marist)
North Carolina: 3 (East Carolina, Elon, North Carolina)
Oklahoma: 3 (Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oral Roberts)
South Carolina: 3 (Clemson, Coastal Carolina, South Carolina)
Tennessee: 3 (Middle Tennessee, Tennessee Tech, Vanderbilt)
Kentucky: 2 (Louisville, Western Kentucky)
Louisiana: 2 (LSU, Southern)
Mississippi: 2 (Mississippi, Southern Miss)
Virginia: 2 (George Mason, Virginia)
Washington: 2 (Gonzaga, Washington State)
Alabama: 1 (Alabama)
Arizona: 1 (Arizona State)
Arkansas: 1 (Arkansas)
Indiana: 1 (Indiana)
Massachusetts: 1 (Boston College)
Minnesota: 1 (Minnesota)
Missouri: 1 (Missouri)
New Hampshire: 1 (Dartmouth)
New Jersey: 1 (Monmouth)
Oregon: 1 (Oregon State)
Utah: 1 (Utah)
UC Baseball takes down USF
Bearcats win game two, 4-2 stay alive in National picture-Rubber match with Bulls today, at 11:00am, in Tampa, FL
story on GAME TWO