Thoughts of the Day: June 2, 2026

Caden McDonald was the lone bright spot Monday night (UAA Photo)

A few thoughts to jump start your Tuesday morning:

Florida baseball’s version of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” concluded Monday night with the Troy Trojans doing a dandy impersonation of Freddy Krueger, the slasher who did his dirty work through teenagers’ dreams. In the role of Krueger, Troy slashed and killed off the dreams of the Florida Gators, the No. 8 national seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The Trojans were relentless Sunday when they left the Gators bleeding in the tall grass. In the Monday sequel, this one to decide the winner of the NCAA Gainesville Regional, the Trojans finished off the Gators, leaving no doubt that their 16-11 Sunday win was no fluke.

Troy 10, Florida 2. Troy, wearing camouflage caps, uniforms and batting helmets that looked like they were clearance items from Play It Again Sports, will host an NCAA Super Regional where they will play host to Sun Belt Conference mates Little Rock, which breezed through the Hattiesburg Regional.

Florida, which seemed to have one of the easier paths to Omaha when the tournament began, is left to wonder why its pitchers took a powder. In four games in the regional, the Gators gave up 43 runs, 49 hits, seven doubles, 10 home runs, 19 walks, five wild pitches and they hit three Troy batters.

That prompted Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan to offer this explanation: “Quite frankly, we didn’t pitch well enough in this tournament.”  

Really?

After the Sunday debacle in which the Gators gave up a nine-run sixth inning and five home runs to the Krueger impersonators, O’Sullivan went into the Monday game with a pitch by committee approach, one that disintegrated one out into the second inning. Cooper Walls, who gave up two first inning runs, was lifted after a four-pitch walk in the second. His replacement, Caden McDonald, came on to pitch brilliantly for the next 4-1/3 innings, allowing just two hits while striking out three.

When McDonald was lifted one out into the sixth inning, the Gators were trailing 2-1. O’Sullivan brought in Russell Sandefer, who walked the bases full on 16 pitches. He was replaced by Ernesto Lugo-Canchola, who gave up a two-run single, a squeeze play bunt that scored another run, and a two-run double to Jabe Boroff. Later in the game off Josh Whritenour, Boroff launched a 3-run homer. Just three weeks ago Boroff was hitting .139. In two games against the Gators he was 6-11 with two homers (one a grand slam) and 11 RBI.    

The question on everybody’s mind when the carnage ended and Troy dogpiled on the infield of Condon Family Ballpark was why take McDonald out?

“I mean, it’s always easy to second guess, but here’s the deal,” O’Sullivan explained. “I saw him in the dugout, and he looked gassed. I think the most number of pitches he’s thrown this year is 52, and that was against Oklahoma, and he was at 48. We knew we were going to go to Russ (Sandefer), so he (McDonald) threw two breaking balls that backed up on him, and it was real hard contact to the shortstop and I did not want to bring Russ in with runners on base because he has been starting, so he was going to start from the wind up.

“And, you know, it’s a lot to ask somebody to be a two-way player, and I’m the one who sees him in the dugout. I could see him. He looked tired, and I didn’t want to put him in a situation where he pitched so well. All we’re looking for from Russ was to give us five outs, and unfortunately that didn’t work out.”

No, it didn’t work out. And there was no help from Florida’s bats. In going 2-1 in the first three games, the Gators were good for 41 runs, 37 hits and 16 home runs. Monday, none of the Gators seven hits left the yard.

This was a nightmare, one that left O'Sullivan grasping for an explanation of what went wrong.

"It's hard to put into words, honestly," he said. "You go into these things feeling fully confident that you're going to win. It's going to take a while to fully digest it."

He has eight months before the Gators play again to figure it out.

NCAA Regional scores

Atlanta: Oklahoma (36-22) 8, No. 2 Georgia Tech (50-11) 7, 10 innings; Georgia Tech eliminated

Oklahoma wins regional

Auburn: No. 4 Auburn (42-20) 8, Milwaukee (27-33) 3, Milwaukee eliminated

Auburn wins regional

GAINESVILLE: Troy (36-30) 10, No. 8 FLORIDA (41-21) 2; FLORIDA eliminated

Troy wins regional

Tallahassee: St. John’s (36-24) 5, No. 10 Florida State (40-19) 4; Florida State eliminated

St. John’s wins regional

College Station: Southern Cal (44-16) 7, No. 12 Texas A&M (41-16) 1; Texas A&M eliminated

Southern Cal wins regional

Morgantown: No. 16 West Virginia (43-15) 6, Kentucky (33-23) 5, 10 innings; Kentucky eliminated

West Virginia wins regional

Super Regional Matchups

Morgantown: Cal Poly (39-22) at No. 16 West Virginia (43-15)

Lawrence: Oklahoma (36-22) at No. 15 Kansas (45-16)

Athens: No. 14 Mississippi State (43-17) at No. 3 Georgia (49-12)

Auburn: No. 13 Ole Miss (39-21) at No. 4 Auburn (42-20)

Chapel Hill: Southern Cal (44-16) at No. 5 North Carolina (48-11-1)

Austin: No. 11 Oregon (45-14) at No. 6 Texas (43-13)

Tuscaloosa: St. John’s (36-24) at No. 7 Alabama (40-19)

Troy: Little Rock (39-26) at Troy (36-30)

UF GOLF: GATORS SURGE INTO MATCH PLAY

Led by Zack Swanick (66) and Jack Turner (68), the Gators shot a brilliant 12-under par Monday, surging into a tie for fourth at the NCAA Golf Championships in Carlsbad, California. The Gators began the day in a tie for 11^th, barely inside the cut line as the tournament shifts into the match play competition that will decide the national championship. Only the top eight teams qualify for match play.

The Gators began the tournament with a +3 opening round, improved by one shot (+2) in the second round and then earned their way into the top 15 for the final round of stroke play with a -4 on Sunday.

Florida and Oklahoma State were tied for fourth at the end of Monday’s stroke play, but the Gators had the tiebreaker to earn the No. 4 seed for the match play. The Gators and Oklahoma State will face each other in match play beginning at 10:40 a.m. (Golf Channel) with the winner advancing to the semifinals against the winner of the Auburn-Stanford matchup at 5:05 p.m.

Team leaderboard after 72 holes of stroke play: 1. Auburn -26; 2. Texas -23; 3. Vanderbilt -12; 4. (Tie) FLORIDA and Oklahoma State -11; 6. Arizona -3; 7. (Tie) Stanford, UCLA, North Carolina and Tennessee -2; 11. Virginia +1; 12. LSU +3; 13. Duke +4; 14. Oklahoma +5; 15. San Diego +24

National Championship Match Play (Morning quarterfinals)

No. 1 Auburn vs. No. 8 Stanford

No. 2 Texas vs. No. 7 UCLA

No. 3 Vanderbilt vs. No. 6 Arizona

No. 4 FLORIDA vs. No. 5 Oklahoma State  

KENTUCKY LANDS IOWA STATE HOOPS TRANSFER MOMCILOVIC

Kentucky outbid St. John’s, Louisville and Arizona to land Iowa State transfer Milan Momcilovic (6-8, 220), who shot 48.7 percent on his three-pointers last season. Momcilovic participated in the NBA Draft Combine but couldn’t shoot his way into first round consideration, so he withdrew, sparking a bidding war for his services. Estimates are that Kentucky’s offer was in the $6-7 million range.

As a junior at Iowa State last year, Momcilovic averaged 16.9 points and 3.1 rebounds for a 29-8 Sweet 16 team that got knocked out of the NCAA Tournament by Tennessee.

The signing of Momcilovic along with the withdrawal from the draft of 7-footer Malachi Moreno temporarily take the heat off UK head coach Mark Pope. Kentucky fans expect championships and anything short of a deep run in the NCAA Tournament will only place Pope’s future in jeopardy.

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: A Lubbock County judge heard Brendan Sorsby’s appeal for a temporary injunction that will allow him to play college football this season after being banned by the NCAA for gambling approximately $90,000 over four years. Sorsby is a Texas Tech transfer who threw for 2,800 yards and 27 touchdowns at Cincinnati last year. Prior to Cincinnati, Sorsby spent two years at Indiana.

Using accounts held by family and friends, Sorsby wagered approximately $90,000 over a four-year period including placing more than 40 bets on Indiana in 2022-23. He was still gambling when he transferred to Texas Tech back in January.

The NCAA permanently banned Sorsby from playing college football but Texas Tech, which signed Sorsby to an NIL deal reportedly valued at $5 million has appealed the NCAA decision. Texas Tech has countered with an offer of a two-game suspension and is seeking a temporary injunction that will free Sorsby to play in 2026.

Texas Tech president Lawrence Shovanec writes in defense of the appeal that Sorsby “is not the first college athlete to face gambling addiction, and unfortunately, he will not be the last. Our responsibility as higher education leaders is to create environments that support young people’s growth, maturation, and success, fit for the times in which they live. Given that Brendan has taken accountability for his addiction and actions, a brave act in any circumstance, but especially under the intense scrutiny of a national spotlight, we believe that the best path forward for him is on campus, among his teammates, embraced by the strength of this community.”

Oh please. Spare me the “we’re only concerned about his well-being and mental health” defense. And spare us all the Sorsby is healed from his admitted gambling addiction simply because he has completed a 35-day stay at a rehab center in Arizona. Sorsby is not a victim here.  

Even if a local judge grants the injunction, the NCAA should stick to its ban and appeal the decision all the way to the US Supreme Court if necessary. Allowing Sorsby to play college football would be a dangerous precedent. Simply because Sorsby has done rehab is no guarantee that he is healed from his addiction. This is not a case of a naïve athlete who didn’t know what he was doing. He knew but he still gambled on games. Who is to say he won’t continue to gamble? And, what about the athlete who wagers too much and can’t pay up? That athlete becomes a target for those trying to fix the outcome of games. College basketball has been plagued for decades by gamblers trying to fix games.  

Dating all the way back to the Black Sox scandal of 1919 when Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis permanently banned Shoeless Joe Jackson and other members of the Chicago White Sox for throwing World Series games, pro sports have come down harshly on those who flaunt the anti-gambling rules. Pete Rose gambled on baseball games when he was the manager of the Cincinnati Reds. He was banned permanently and has been denied entry into the Hall of Fame.

Using those cases as precedent, the NCAA has to fight Sorsby and Texas Tech. There is no evidence that Sorsby ever tried to fix the outcome of a game, but if the NCAA doesn’t take a stand here, the door will be left open for some athlete to fall prey to people with very bad intentions.