The Turnaround Keeps Rolling As Gators Win Clemson Super Regional

Michael Robertson is mobbed after his walk-off double that gave UF an 11-10 win over Clemson (UAA Photo)

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.” – Ferris Bueller from the film “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”

The destination has always been Omaha, starting way back in February when every prognosticator in the country had the Florida Gators penciled in as mortal locks to return to the College World Series. Well, things have moved pretty fast since then, which is why the Gators have gone from the 2024 season’s most disappointing team to the one that had no business making the NCAA field to the one that nobody at the College World Series is going to want to play.

There is no doubt far too often during the regular season the Gators found themselves stopping to look around. Too often they snatched losses from the jaws of winnable games. And yet, for the past month, those same Gators who almost seemed to invent new ways to lose are red hot, having won the NCAA Stillwater Regional and the Clemson Super Regional.

The Gators, who some critics believed got into the NCAA field based on lifetime achievement while more deserving teams stayed home, staved off three straight elimination games to win in Stillwater, beating Oklahoma State two straight on the Cowboys’ home field.

Winning four out of five at Stillwater was unexpected, but Clemson was supposed to be a whole different animal yet somehow the Gators went 2-0 to eliminate the Tigers at a ball yard where they rarely, if ever lose. Florida took out the Tigers 10-7 on Saturday behind a 3-run homer by Jac Caglianone and four innings of brilliant relief by Brandon Neely. Sunday it took the Gators 13 innings to put Clemson’s season on ice. Florida’s 11-10 win in 13 innings involved serious contributions from Caglianone and Neely, but this was a day when heroes showed up in unexpected places.

It is way too early to be calling the Gators (34-28) a team of destiny, but the way they pulled off the Sunday win makes you think maybe there is something to it. Unlike Saturday when Caglianone’s 3-run homer put Florida in front for good and Neely proved untouchable, the Sunday win was white knuckles all the way.

Caglianone hit a 2-run homer in the first and gave the Gators 5-2/3 innings on the mound, leaving the game with a 5-4 lead with two out in the sixth. Who knows if Caglianone could have had a dominant effort on the mound, but he spend more than 30 minutes between pitches after a bit of a dust-up along the first base line that resulted in the third out of the inning. Nolan Narwocki tapped a slow grounder down the first base line that resulted in the third out of the inning when Caglianone fielded and jumped into the basepath in front of Narwocki to apply the tag. Narwocki gave Caglianone a shove, Caglianone shoved back and said something and next thing you know the umpires were making sure things didn’t escalate into a brawl when the Clemson dugout emptied out onto the field. At some point during all the festivities, Clemson’s Jack Crighton, who was nearly at third base when the tag was applied, raced over and apparently got into a shouting match with one of the umpires. Video evidence showed he reached out and grabbed an umpire.

Peace was restored to the playing field, but for nearly 19 minutes the NCAA technical people in Pittsburgh kept reviewing the entire situation over and over again. They finally concluded that Crighton should be tossed, which sent the Clemson crowd into a frenzy.

Florida still had to bat so by the time Caglianone threw his next pitch more than 30 minutes had elapsed and it was the top of the third. He wasn’t as sharp as he was in the first two innings nor was his velocity the same or as consistent.  A walk, a run-scoring double and a home run gave the Tigers a 3-2 lead that was erased in the Florida half on a run-scoring single by Colby Shelton.

Caglianone pitched scoreless fourth and fifth innings with the Gators taking a 5-3 lead in the fifth on Shelton’s 2-run single. In the bottom half, Caglianone gave up another home run and one out later gave up a walk to a freshman .231 hitter. That was the end of his day on the mound as O’Sullivan called on freshman Jake Clemente to get the final out. In the Florida half of the inning, Brody Donay launched his 12th homer of the year, a 2-run shot that gave UF a 7-4 lead.

Caglianone gave the Gators 5-2/3 innings but the question that will linger is what might have happened without the lengthy delay? He was good after the delay but he was a dominator before.

If anyone deserved a day off Sunday it was Neely, but he told O’Sullivan pre-game that if he needed an out or an inning just make a call to the bullpen. The call came in the eighth when the Tigers got to freshman reliever Jake Clemente. Neely got the Gators out of a jam although he gave up a hit that plated two runners put on base by Clemente, narrowing Florida’s lead to 7-6. That one out or one inning would turn into four.

Another of Florida’s cast of unlikely heroes showed up in the UF half of the eighth when Ashton Wilson, the unexpected MVP of the Stillwater Regional, hit a 410-foot, 2-run homer that gave the Gators a 9-6 lead. The way Neely has been throwing lately, a 3-run lead seemed very safe, but he was operating without a day of rest, not to mention the fact that Clemson just wouldn’t go away. Cam Cannarella hit a 3-run homer that tied the game with one out in the ninth. Instead of yanking Neely, O’Sullivan left him in and he got the final two outs. Even running on fumes, his heater was in the 94-95 range when he needed something extra.

Neely kept the Gators in it through the 11th. He gave way to Frank Menendez in the 12th but one walk and O’Sullivan gave him the hook in favor of freshman Luke McNeillie, who induced a double play grounder and got a strikeout to end the threat. McNeillie gave up a 2-out, 2-strike home run in the top of the 13th but he got the third out. That was gutsy. Back in April, one home run might have become two and two might have become three. Not anymore. Composure is a sign of a maturing pitcher.

It is almost fitting that the 13th-inning rally that decided the game was ignited by three Gators who were a combined 1-14. Luke Heyman, 0-6 with three strikeouts, hit a single that the Clemson shortstop couldn’t handle. Tyler Shelnut, 0-5 with four consecutive whiffs, singled deep in the left center gap. That Heyman held up at second on a ball hit deep enough to move him to third necessitated O’Sullivan sending in pinch runner Jaylen Guy. Dale Thomas, a .230 hitter and 1-3 in the game, executed a perfect sacrifice bunt to move the runners over. Clemson intentionally walked Brody Donay rather than risk another home run. Donay sent a ball into near orbit in the sixth, a 2-run job, but he struck out in the seventh and the 10th.

That brought Michael Robertson to the plate. He spent a good portion of the season riding the pines because of his inconsistency at the plate. The lights came on at Georgia and he’s 14-43 since. He was 1-5 when he stepped to the plate with the bases loaded Sunday. It was his opposite field double in the left center gap that scored Guy and Shelnut to send the Gators to Omaha and bring Clemson’s season to an end.

they could have won at either Stillwater or Clemson, but here they are 8-3 since winning two of three in the final regular season series in Athens. Even when the Gators were struggling to find a measure of consistency they were a dangerous team, which probably explains why they were swept only one weekend series all year. They could always find a way to pull out at least one win on the weekend, but things have changed.

Why? How? That is a question that maybe only O’Sullivan can answer and even he may not have all the answers. Sports momentum can often be filed under a category entitled mysterious. The Gators had to use a lot of freshman pitchers, but other teams had freshmen step up consistently. That also doesn’t explain why Cade Fisher and Ryan Slater have been largely ineffective all season even though they were brilliant in the fall and preseason.

There is no explaining Neely, either. He struggled as a closer, started a few games and struggled some more. Since the Georgia series he’s been a warrior. The Gators aren’t in Omaha without his 11-strikeout game in relief against Oklahoma State or his 1-hit over four innings Saturday against Clemson. Other than that one pitch Cannarella hit out of the yard, he was gutsy good Sunday. Even running on fumes, he was good.

Caglianone is the best player in baseball. Sunday’s home run was his 33rd of the year, matching his school record 33 of a year ago and moving him to within one of Matt LaPorta’s Florida record 74 career homers. Cags has been Florida’s only consistent hitter and pitcher. He won’t win some of the postseason awards because Florida’s record wasn’t all that good, but the Gators wouldn’t have gotten this far without him.

Given the consistency of Florida baseball in Kevin O’Sullivan’s 17 years on the job, this has to rate as probably the Gators’ most puzzling season, but all the games in which the Gators seemed to invent new ways to lose, either have already been forgotten thanks to this late season run or else they will be soon if the Gators can win a game or two in Omaha.

The record says it would be foolish to pick the Gators to win even one game in Omaha. The weekends at Stillwater and Clemson say it would be foolish to count them out. Could they win it all? Probably not. The odds are stacked against UF pulling off a monumental task like that, but how many thought the Gators would leave Stillwater with a regional title? And how many thought UF would dispose of Clemson in two straight?

Life has moved rather fast for the Gators the last couple of weekends. There will be time to look around and enjoy it after Omaha. No time now to take a day off.

Sunday’s SEC super regional scores:

Clemson: FLORIDA (34-28) 11, No. 6 Clemson (44-16) 10, 13 innings; FLORIDA wins series, 2-0, advances to Omaha

Knoxville: No. 1 Tennessee (55-12) 12, Evansville (39-26) 1; Tennessee wins series, 2-1, advances to Omaha

Lexington: No. 2 Kentucky (45-14) 3, Oregon State (45-16) 2; Kentucky wins series, 2-0, advances to Omaha

College Station: No. 3 Texas A&M (49-13) 15, Oregon (40-20) 9; Texas A&M wins series, 2-0, advances to Omaha

Athens: No. 7 Georgia (43-16) 11, No. 10 North Carolina State (37-21) 2; Series tied at 1-1

Monday’s game

Athens: No. 7 Georgia (43-16) vs. No. 10 North Carolina State (37-21), 7 p.m., ESPN