Florida Gators vs. Clemson Tigers Super Regional Preview

Florida Gators baseball eyeing return to College World Series in Super Regional clash with Clemson Tigers.

Florida head coach Kevin O'Sullivan / Cyndi Chambers Sports / USA TODAY

On Monday, after securing a win over Oklahoma State to send Florida Gators baseball to the Super Regional, head coach Kevin O’Sullivan was doing something on the field he usually doesn’t: Smiling. 

He was thrilled with the Gators’ performance over the last two days of the Stillwater Regional, getting wins over Nebraska and Oklahoma State twice to advance in the NCAA Tournament. 

And after finishing 28-27 in the regular season, barely sneaking into the postseason and upsetting many “X” users, the Gators silenced the doubters by pulling off the upset against the Cowboys. 

“We put ourselves in that position to have some scrutiny, to be criticized,” O’Sullivan said after the win Monday. “But I did feel like we belonged. I did trust our team and we got rewarded for playing a very difficult schedule.”

The Gators now prepare for their Super Regional matchup with the Clemson Tigers, the No. 6 overall national seed.

The Tigers are coming off of sweeping their regional, earning three wins over High Point University and Coastal Carolina twice. Clemson is an ACC Powerhouse and is comfy when playing at home. 

Coming into the Super Regional, Clemson lost just six games at home on the year and is 29-6 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. It’ll be a tough and loud environment for the Gators. 

Tigers head coach Erik Bakich has a very balanced lineup, with eight players hitting over. 300. Bakich’s team also consists of seven players with an OPS of .900 or higher. 

Jimmy Obertop and Blake Wright are Clemson’s power hitters. Both reached the 20-home run marker on the season, with Obertop hitting 20 and Wright hitting 21, respectively. 

It’ll be a tough task for the Gators pitching staff, but they’ve pitched well at the right time. Despite early season struggles, the staff’s performance in the Stillwater Regional could allow O’Sullivan to go with more options. 

“One of the reasons why we were probably in the position that we were to get into the tournament, to begin with, was our young freshman struggled early in the year, especially in midweek games,” O’Sullivan said. “They just continue to get better and better and better.”

Along with the pitching, the bulk of the Gators’ lineup has been coming through when needed. Ashton Wilson, who rarely saw playing time during the season, won MVP of the Stillwater Regional after a 9-for-21 performance at the plate. 

“You need to have special performances from maybe people you don’t expect to,” O’Sullivan said. “And Ashton certainly has made the most of his opportunity. He’s worked hard.”

Wilson, along with Cade Kurland, Tyler Shelnut and Colby Shelton, had timely hits to pad or give the Gators leads during the weekend. 

They’ll need to continue to execute against the Tigers for a chance at returning to Omaha. Clemson will most likely go with Aidan Knaak in Game 1, who leads the starters in ERA with a 2.96. In 79 innings this season, Knaak struck out 103 batters. 

Florida should go with Liam Peterson for Game 1 and Jac Caglianone for Game 2, the same rotation they used for the first two games in Stillwater. 

Caglianone may have a little extra to prove after being snubbed as a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award given to the nation's best amateur player.

Peterson has been Florida’s best pitcher as of late, and he showed out during his first postseason game against Nebraska Friday. He allowed just two runs in 5 ⅓ innings while striking out seven. 

Game 1 of the Clemson Super Regional is Saturday at 2 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN. Game 2 is Sunday at 2:30 p.m., also on ESPN. And if necessary, a Game 3 will be played Monday with a time still to be determined. 

After stunning the college baseball world with the win over Oklahoma State,  the Gators showed their resilience and fight and should be ready for an entertaining matchup with the Tigers in Clemson. 

“The biggest thing is, we just have heart,” Jake Clemente said Monday. "I mean, everybody cares about each other, everyone cares about winning. We went through a lot of losses this season and each single one was horrible to face and we don’t want to have that feeling.”