OMAHA, Neb. – There were no rally caps. No rally monkeys or any other superstitions that carried Florida baseball through an unlikely run to its 14th College World Series appearance in school history.
Instead, the Florida Gators simply grinded out pitches and at bats to pull off five straight postseason wins and make it back to Omaha for the second straight year.
Florida will enter its 2024 College World Series opener on Saturday against Texas A&M (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) with 34 wins, its fewest in nine trips under head coach Kevin O’Sullivan. After losing six straight SEC series — including being swept in three games by Missouri in early April — Florida found a different gear in June to become the team that many projected going into the 2024 season.
“It’s very unconventional and probably not the way we would have wanted to draw it up,” said left fielder Tyler Shelnut, one of five starters making their second straight trip to Omaha. “Especially with the argument whether we should have even been in a regional, but we knew we belonged here, we knew we belonged in the postseason and we knew we could make a run if we got in.
“If anything, it makes it even more sweet that we were counted out by a lot of people and we still managed to find a way to get here and proved that we deserved to be here.”
Last season, Florida won a school-record 54 games but came up a win short of a national title, falling to LSU in the third game of the College World Series final series. This year, Florida could win a national championship with only 39 victories if it wins five in a row in Omaha (or goes 5-1 and loses a game in the final series).
“The biggest thing for me is the whole group has been playing for each other to get to this point,” Florida two-way star Jac Caglianone said. “We kind of bought into wanting the team's success over individual success, and that's just kind of what's propelled us and motivated us to get to where we are now.”
A long road to Omaha for Florida baseball
Florida played its final home of the season on May 12 at Condron Family Ballpark, a 7-5 extra-inning loss to Kentucky. Since, the Gators have bounced from Athens, Ga., to Hoover, Ala. (losing to Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament), to Stillwater, Okla., to Clemson, S.C.
Through the string of 11 straight road and neutral site games, the Gators went 8-3.
“It seems like we've been on the road forever,” O'Sullivan said,
O’Sullivan said he felt the Gators could make a run if they could just get into the postseason, which they secured by taking two of three games at Georgia to close the regular season. Florida took just one of three games in its prior two SEC series against Kentucky and Tennessee, the top two seeds in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, who also made it to the CWS.
“We weren't very consistent,” O’Sullivan said. “There was a reason for it. Our pitching was really young. They just kind of hung in there and got better and better but at some point, when you do get in the tournament, everyone starts with a clean slate and I think that's the message, get in and everybody has got the same record."
Those arms matured at the end of the season. Freshman righty Liam Peterson won UF’s regional opener at the Stillwater Regional over Nebraska. Two more freshmen – Jake Clemente and Frank Menendez – combined to pitch UF deep into a deciding Game 7 win in Stillwater over Oklahoma State.
Surprise contributors at plate emerge for Florida baseball
On offense, season-ending injuries to outfielders Hayden Yost and Ty Evans forced Michael Robertson and Ashton Wilson into the lineup. Robertson also made a stellar defensive play in center field to help save a game against Oklahoma State in Stillwater and delivered the walk-off, two-RBI double against Clemson in Game 2 of the Clemson Super Regional to secure UF’s trip to Omaha.
Wilson has been a revelation at the plate. A transfer from Charleston Southern who entered May with just six at bats, Wilson has provided the protection needed behind Caglianone in the lineup. He’s batting .462 in the 2024 NCAA Tournament with two home runs and nine RBIs. When Clemson intentionally walked Caglianone with no one on base and two outs in the eighth inning last Sunday, Wilson followed with a two-run homer.
“He earned the opportunity,” O’Sullivan said. “The thing about Ashton, he stayed engaged. Always gave a great effort in practice. Terrific teammate. He got his opportunity. Unfortunately, Ty broke his wrist, and he got the opportunity, and certainly he made the most of it.”
Florida is embracing its underdog status as the only non-national seed in the CWS field. The annual trip to The Drover steakhouse will come at some point over the weekend. Then, the Gators will be ready to play ball.
“It feels like home,” Shelnut said. “We’re ready to go. This is why you play the game, to be right here.”
