The Florida Gators will start their road to Omaha this weekend as the hosts of the Gainesville Regional. Florida welcomes the Miami Hurricanes, South Alabama Jaguars, and South Florida Bulls.
2021 has been a rollercoaster of a season for the Gators but they come into the NCAA Tournament after a good showing in Hoover for the SEC Tournament.
Kevin O'Sullivan met with the media Thursday afternoon to preview the regional as well as talk about where his team is as they head into the NCAA Tournament.
Pitching Plan
Over the years Kevin O'Sullivan has used different philosophies when it comes to the NCAA Regional. He's thrown his best pitcher in the opening game against the four seed in the tournament and he's also saved his best pitcher for a potential matchup with the two seed in the second game.
O'Sullivan has had to tinker and massage his pitching rotation and lineup more this season than he ever has in Gainesville. With the tournament upon him, Sully is opting to keep it simple. Tommy Mace will start Friday at noon against USF with HUnter Barco slated to start game two and Franco Alemán in game three.
Full Capacity for the First time
The brand new $65 million dollar Florida Ballpark has been home to the Gators all season but has yet to allow a full capacity crowd for a game. That will change during the NCAA Tournament with the Gators allowing a full crowd for the first time.
Florida Ballpark has 4,000 chairbacks, 700 club seats, and berm seating for over 2,000 spectators. Several Florida administrators have estimated that they could get upwards of 10,000 people into the stadium when you consider all of the standing room as the park has a full 360-degree concourse with ample room to attend a game in the outfield to accompany the general seating and standing room only areas.
Tinkering done
As noted before, O'Sullivan has tinkered with his lineup and pitching rotation more in 2021 than he ever has in his 14 years at Florida. Some of that has been due to performance, with some due to injury. One of the biggest changes that happened recently was getting freshman catcher Mac Guscette back. That move allowed Nathan Hickey to slide over to third base, a position he played prior to coming to Florida. Hickey has looked good defensively and is one of three Gators hitting over .300 this season.
“We’ve probably done more tinkering this year than any other year. It’s just taken us longer than usual to figure out our players and putting them in the right spots. Guys like Kirby McMullen, who contributed as much as anybody this year. Jordan Carrion had that stretch where he was really good and Colby Halter had played so good throughout the year. There’s been a lot of moving parts."
However, the Gators will settle in with the lineup they featured in Hoover with Hickey hitting second and playing third. Guscette rounds out the bottom of the lineup and gives Florida a better defensive option behind the plate. Kris Armstrong, who has been in and out of the lineup, will be the designated hitter, with Kendrick Calilao and Sterlin Thompson at first base and right field respectively.
"Getting back Mac was huge for this team. It gave us the ability to tinker with Hickey in different positions and I know Kris (Armstrong) was kind of in and out of the lineup but he’s so dangerous every time he comes to the plate he has a chance to change the game," O'Sullivan said. "It’s been trying and it’s been an interesting year coaching-wise trying to move things around but I feel really good about where we’re at right now and I think we answered a lot of questions throughout the year and I think we’re in a good spot.”
