Pressure is on Florida after Gators flame out against Troy, 16-11
- Franz Beard
- Jun 1
- 6 min read
On paper this was an almost comical mismatch. The Gators were sending Liam Peterson to the mound to wrap up a championship weekend at the NCAA Gainesville Regional against the Troy Trojans, a team barely above .500 for the season. To counter Peterson and his 100-mph fast ball, Troy went with Cooper Ellingworth, whose very average fast ball had plenty to do with a plus-six earned run average.
What could be easier? A soon to be first round pitcher backed up by bats that had just hung 22 runs on nine Miami pitchers, all of them more highly regarded than Ellingworth. Piece of cake, right?
Well, not exactly.
In five innings on the mound, Troy roughed up Peterson for nine runs and 10 hits, four of which went sub-orbital as they made their way to the parking lots beyond Condron Family Ball Park’s outfield fences. It wasn’t a case of Peterson not throwing hard. He routinely hit 99 on the gun. That same gun registered exit velos that were akin to rocket launches.
Troy had Peterson’s number. So did Ellingworth, at least through the first five innings. He gave up four runs on five hits through the first five, then tired a bit in the sixth. By the time he called it a day after Troy (35-30) lit up the Gators (41-20) for nine runs in the sixth, the Trojans were well on their way to a 16-11 drubbing of Florida, the No. 8 national seed.
Ellingworth was pressed into an emergency start since Troy had used up most of its bullpen simply getting to the Sunday night game. By eating up six innings, Ellingworth saved Troy from going deep into the bullpen for a third straight game. Not so for Florida, which used four pitchers against Troy and 11 for the three games so far in the regional.
“Today is obviously disappointing,” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “We have not pitched well this regional. Our bullpen fell apart on Friday. We only got three innings out of Aidan King last night. Then obviously, today was not what Liam wanted. We have just got to pitch better if we want to move on…”
Fortunately for the Gators, there is an opportunity to move on. NCAA regionals are double elimination, so Florida and Troy will square off Monday at 6 p.m. with the winner advancing to the super regional round. If Florida wins, the Gators will host Little Rock, the surprising winner of the Hattiesburg Regional. Should Troy win it would be an old home week revival of a Sun Belt Conference rivalry.
Troy reached the Sunday game with Florida after knocking off Miami 9-6 in an elimination game earlier in the day. The momentum of lighting up five Miami pitchers for nine runs, 15 hits and three homers carried over to Sunday evening’s encounter with the Gators. The Trojans weren’t the least bit awed by Peterson’s heater, one of which traveled more than 440 feet after a full swing by Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Jimmy Janicki with one on in the first. Two innings later, Houston Markham led off with another no-doubter, his third of the season. Two hits and a pop out later, Janicki came to the plate again. Another no doubter. Jabe Boroff also found a Peterson fast ball to his liking, launching it over the fence in right center, the fourth Troy homer that traveled more than 400 feet before gravity coaxed it back to earth.
Considering Florida’s late game awakenings that led to wins over Rider and Miami in the first two games of the regional, hope circulated the ball yard after a sixth inning home run by Caden McDonald cut Troy’s lead to 7-5. Then came Troy’s turn at the plate and a bad day at the office turned into a flaming disaster of Hindenburg proportions.
By the time the Troy half of the sixth came to a merciful end off the fourth Florida pitcher of the inning, the Trojans had turned seven hits, three walks and a hit batter into nine – count ‘em – runs and an insurmountable 16-5 lead.
“Obviously, the sixth inning was a disaster,” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan understated.
Disasters can be dealt with. This was ground zero. Not only did Troy barrel up every pitcher O’Sullivan threw at them, but Ellingworth kept the Gators off balance with a slider that managed to keep contact to a minimum. It wasn’t until Ellingworth departed the game after the sixth that Florida’s bats awoke from their slumber. The Gators rallied for six runs in the eighth and ninth innings but that made only a slight dent in Troy’s margin of victory. Cade Kurland launched his fourth homer in the last three games, a three-run shot to right field in the eighth, and McDonald belted his second homer of the game with one on in the ninth.
Troy, which was one of the last teams selected for the NCAA 64-team field, goes into the Monday game playing with house money. The Trojans, whose uniforms look like they were tailored by Tractor Supply, have nothing to lose. They will come to the ball yard loose and feeling no pressure whatsoever.
Florida, on the other hand, has the pressure of playing at home and the weight of the No. 8 national seed. Win and the Gators are assured of at least one more weekend of baseball. Lose and the season comes to a disappointing end.
O’Sullivan said, “… you win: you move on. You lose: the season is over. We played a tough schedule. We have been through ups and downs. I definitely think they will be ready to play. What else do they have to lose? The alternative is that the season is over. So they have to go out there and give their best effort and have as much energy as they possibly can. When your name is called in the pen, you do your job, and keep swinging it the way that we have been swinging it, and keep playing how we have been defensively, the rest will play out in itself.”
Game notes: Brendan Lawson hit his 19th homer of the season in the third, a 2-run shot that cut Troy's lead to 6-4. Lawson has hit eight home runs in the last 11 games ... Kurland has hit four home runs in three regional games ... McDonald's two home runs were his eighth and ninth of the season. All his homers have come in the last 19 games.
NCAA Regional Scores
Los Angeles
Saint Mary’s (36-26) 6, No. 1 UCLA (52-8) 5, 10 innings; UCLA eliminated
Cal Poly (39-22) 5, Saint Mary’s (36-27) 2; Saint Mary’s eliminated
Cal Poly wins regional
Atlanta
Oklahoma (34-22) 15, The Citadel (36-26) 5; The Citadel eliminated
Oklahoma (35-22) 15, No. 2 Georgia Tech (50-10) 8
Monday: Oklahoma vs. Georgia Tech
Athens
Liberty (43-20) 8, Boston College (37-23) 3; Boston College eliminated
No. 3 Georgia (49-12) 6, Liberty (43-21) 6; Liberty eliminated
Georgia wins regional
Auburn
No. 4 Auburn (40-20) 9, UCF (32-23) 3; UCF eliminated
No. 4 Auburn (40-20) 8, Milwaukee (27-31) 1
Monday: No. 4 Auburn vs. Milwaukee
Chapel Hill
East Carolina (38-23-1) 10, VCU (38-25) 0; VCU eliminated
No. 5 North Carolina (48-11-1) 9, East Carolina (38-24-1) 3; East Carolina eliminated
No. 5 North Carolina wins regional
Austin
UC-Santa Barbara (40-19) 9, Tarleton State (38-21) 5; Tarleton State eliminated
No. 6 Texas (43-13) 6, UC-Santa Barabara (43-20) 4; UC-Santa Barbara eliminated
No. 6 Texas wins regional
Tuscaloosa
Oklahoma State (39-21) 12, South Carolina Upstate (34-30) 1; South Carolina Upstate eliminated
No. 7 Alabama (40-19) 9, Oklahoma State (39-22) 7, 11 innings; Oklahoma State eliminated
No. 7 Alabama wins regional
GAINESVILLE
Troy (34-30) 9, Miami (39-21) 6; Miami eliminated
Troy (35-30)16, No. 8 FLORIDA (41-20) 11
Monday: Troy vs. No. 8 FLORIDA
Hattiesburg
Jacksonville State (48-14) 7, Virginia (37-23) 6; Virginia eliminated
Little Rock (39-26) 6, Jacksonville State (48-15) 3; Jacksonville State eliminated
Little Rock wins regional
Tallahassee
St. John’s (34-25) 21, Northern Illinois (36-18) 8
No. 10 Florida State (40-18) 7, Northern Illinois (36-19) 4, 10 innings; Northern Illinois eliminated
Monday: Florida State vs. St. John’s
Eugene
Oregon State (45-13) 10, Washington State (31-28) 1; Washington State eliminated
No. 11 Oregon (43-16) 4, Oregon State (45-14) 1
No. 11 Oregon wins regional
College Station
Southern Cal (45-16) 15, Texas State (37-26) 4; Texas State eliminated
Southern Cal (46-16) 14, No. 12 Texas A&M (41-15) 3
Monday: Southern Cal vs. No. 12 Texas A&M
Lincoln
Arizona State (39-20) 11, No. 13 Nebraska (43-17) 8; Nebraska eliminated
Ole Miss (39-21) 5, Arizona State (39-21) 4, 10 innings; Arizona State eliminated
Ole Miss wins regional
Starkville
Louisiana (41-24) 8, Cincinnati (38-22) 6; Cincinnati eliminated
No. 14 Mississippi State (43-17) 19, Louisiana (41-25) 5; Louisiana eliminated
Mississippi State wins regional
Lawrence
Arkansas (41-21) 10, Northeastern (39-22) 9; Northeastern eliminated
No. 15 Kansas (45-16) 13, Arkansas (41-22) 10; Arkansas eliminated
No. 15 Kansas wins regional
Morgantown
No. 16 West Virginia (41-15) 10, Wake Forest (39-21) 5; Wake Forest eliminated
No. 16 West Virginia (42-15) 11, Kentucky (33-22) 9
Monday: No. 16 West Virginia vs. Kentucky
Pitching staff has reverted to beginning of year blowing multi run leads. Sully being out for a little while really hurt continuity. 6 to 0 over final GEORGIA game. Never bothered Georgia. Alan Gordon
he certainly dis not have his best stuff
Liam Peterson’s lame fame reminded this old Gator of Florida quarterback John Reaves’ most uncharacteristic 1969 game at Auburn. A still NCAA record of nine interceptions. “They (the coaches) told me to keep on throwing. It was only chance we had,” he told me. Reaves came back strong. If our baseball team overcomes Troy tonight both Peterson and King will get another start. Just win. Now. It’s the season on the brink game.