With a series win or sweep of Bama Gators could host an NCAA regional

Friday night starter Liam Peterson is 8-2 with 85 strikeouts (UAA Photo)

It wasn’t all that long ago that the only thing missing from Florida baseball was to call in a priest to administer last rites. A 1-11 start in the Southeastern Conference will do that for you.

Well, reports of Florida’s impending demise might have been a teensy bit premature because there isn’t a team in the SEC that wants to play the Gators right now. The Gators are 35-18 overall, winners of five consecutive SEC series including takedowns of then No. 5 Arkansas and then No. 1 Texas. Heading into the final weekend of the regular season with a home showdown with No. 18 Alabama (39-13, 15-12 SEC), the Gators are not only very much alive, but perhaps a sweep away from hosting an NCAA regional.

Who would have ever thought the Gators would even make the NCAA Tournament much less hosting back when the Gators were contending for a last place finish in the toughest conference in the country? Starting with a win over now 2nd-ranked Florida State that clinched the season series with the Seminoles, the Gators are 15-4 overall, 12-3 in the SEC.

So where will the Gators end up when the NCAA announces its field of 64 teams at the conclusion of next week’s conference tournaments? D1Baseball’s latest projection is the Gators will go to Raleigh as the No. 2 seed in a regional hosted by North Carolina State. Others in the Raleigh regional are No. 3 UConn and No. 4 High Point. Baseball America projects the Gators as a No. 2 seed in the Chapel Hill regional hosted by North Carolina. Also in the regional are No. 3 seed Cincinnati and No. 4 SIU-Edwardsville.

Of course, those projections for Florida could take a dramatic turn after the weekend if the Gators are able to win their series with Alabama. D1Baseball has Alabama as a regional host while Baseball America projects Alabama as a No. 2. Should the Gators get a sweep of Alabama they could easily project as a No. 1 and host. There is also the SEC Tournament. A couple of wins there could also enhance the Gators’ chances to host.

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What has keyed the turnaround is the strike zone, as in Florida’s pitchers have been throwing strikes. In last weekend’s series win over Texas, starting pitchers Pierce Coppola, Liam Peterson and freshman Aidan King were a combined 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA, 15 strikeouts and only five walks. Coppola (3-0), who is coming back from an injury suffered March 1 against Miami, threw two quality innings for the Friday night win. The 6-8 lefty has a nasty slider to go with a fast ball that tops out at 94. If the Gators can get him back to where he can go four or five innings in the post season it could help carry Florida a long way.

Peterson (8-2) had a shutout going until the Saturday rain delay. He went four innings, allowing only two hits while striking out three. During Florida’s surge, Peterson has struck out 31 while walking 14 in 24-1/3 innings. Peterson has 85 strikeouts in 59 innings.

King (5-2, 2.90 ERA) clinched the series with seven dominant innings on Sunday. He gave up two hits, walked three and struck out nine. In 59 innings this season, King has walked only 19 batters while striking out 64.

In the Friday night win, the Gators got four 2-hit innings out of the bullpen from Billy Barlow. If he can take on the role of long relief and spot starter, the Gators will be in good shape for tournament play.

The closer is Jake Clemente (2-1, 6 saves), who can make any game an adventure if his mid-to-high 90s fast ball takes on a mind of its own, but he got the Gators through the final two innings to preserve King’s win.

Although the Gators don’t have one single hitter who scares the bejabbers out of every pitcher in the country, they have taken on a hitting by committee approach that is working quite well. During the 19 games of the surge, the Gators have outscored opponents 152-77, led by catcher Luke Heyman (.301, 13 HR, 41 RBI). During the surge, Heyman has hit seven home runs and driven in 24.

Just as Coppola’s injury hurt the pitching staff prior to the surge, injuries have plagued the offense, too. Cade Kurland, who hit 31 home runs in his first two seasons, was hitting .316 with three homers and 15 RBI before suffering a dislocated shoulder while making a diving stop defensively against Florida State in game 14, has not only hurt the offense but it’s forced O’Sullivan to shuffle things defensively until Justin Nadeau settled in as the regular second baseman. Colby Shelton was hitting .377 with seven homers and 35 RBI when he was injured in the second game of the Arkansas series. Getting him back would allow O’Sullivan to move Bobby Boser (.319, 14 HR, 51 RBI) back to third base, freshman Brendan Lawson (.316, 9 HR, 54 RBI) back to first base and Brody Donay (.303, 14 HR, 31 RBI) back to DH.

Ty Evans, who has missed chunks of the season with injuries, has made his presence felt since coming back nine games ago. He’s 9-31 since returning with three doubles, three homers and nine RBI. Hayden Yost (.283, 3 HR, 33 RBI) took over center field with the injury to Kyle Jones. In his last seven games he is 10-22 with two homers and 11 RBI.

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The hot streak has the Gators climbing in all the polls. Three games away from the end of the regular season and Florida is No. 13 in the Baseball America top 25 poll, No. 21 in the USA Today Coaches poll, No. 23 in the D1Baseball poll and No. 25 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll.

Baseball America top 25: 1. LSU 40-12; 2. Auburn 36-15; 3. North Carolina 37-11; 4. Georgia 40-13; 5. Florida State 36-11; 6. Texas 40-10; 7. Arkansas 41-11; 8. Coastal Carolina 41-11; 9. Oregon 38-13; 10. Vanderbilt 36-16; 11. Oregon State 37-12-1; 12. UC-Irvine 38-11; 13. FLORIDA 35-18; 14. Troy 37-16; 15. Dallas Baptist 36-13; 16. Alabama 39-13; 17. Clemson 38-15; 18. Tennessee 39-13; 19. West Virginia 40-10; 20. UCLA 37-14; 21. North Carolina State 32-16; 22. Ole Miss 34-17; 23. Louisville 34-17; 24. Southern Miss 38-13; 25. UT-San Antonio 39-11

USA Today Coaches top 25: 1. LSU 40-12; 2. Florida State 36-11; 3. Texas 40-10; 4. North Carolina 37-11; 5. Arkansas 41-11; 6. Auburn 36-15; 7. Oregon 38-13; 8. Georgia 40-13; 9. Vanderbilt 36-16; 10. Oregon State 37-12-1; 11. Coastal Carolina 41-11; 12. UC-Irvine 38-11; 13. Clemson 38-15; 14. Tennessee 39-13; 15. UCLA 37-14; 16. Alabama 39-13; 17. West Virginia 40-10; 18. North Carolina State 32-16; 19. Southern Miss 38-13; 20. Troy 37-16; 21. FLORIDA 35-18; 22. Dallas Baptist 36-13; 23. Louisville 34-17; 24. Duke 35-16; 25. Ole Miss 34-17

D1Baseball top 25: 1. LSU 40-12; 2. Florida State 36-11; 3. Texas 40-10; 4. North Carolina 37-11; 5. Oregon 38-13; 6. Auburn 36-15; 7. Oregon State 37-12-1; 8. Arkansas 41-11; 9. Vanderbilt 36-16; 10. Georgia 40-13; 11. Coastal Carolina 41-11; 12. UC-Irvine 38-11; 13. North Carolina State 32-16; 14. UCLA 37-14; 15. Clemson 38-15; 16. West Virginia 40-10; 17. Tennessee 39-13; 18. Alabama 39-13; 19. Southern Miss 38-13; 20. Duke 35-16; 21. Louisville 34-17; 22. Troy 37-16; 23. FLORIDA 35-18; 24. Dallas Baptist 36-13; 25. Northeastern 41-9

NCBWA top 25: 1. LSU 40-12; 2. Texas 40-10; 3. Florida State 36-11; 4. North Carolina 37-11; 5. Arkansas 41-11; 6. Georgia 40-13; 7. Oregon 38-13; 8. Auburn 36-15; 9. Clemson 38-15; 10. Oregon State 37-12-1; 11. Vanderbilt 36-16; 12. Tennessee 39-13; 13. UC-Irvine 38-11; 14. West Virginia 40-10; 15. Coastal Carolina 41-11; 16. Oklahoma 32-17; 17. Troy 37-16; 18. UCLA 37-14; 19. Southern Miss 38-13; 20. Alabama 39-13; 21. North Carolina State 32-16; 22. Louisville 34-17; 23. Dallas Baptist 36-13; 24. Arizona 34-17; FLORIDA 35-18

Further proof of Florida’s meteoric rise is Jacob Rudner’s SEC power rankings at Baseball America: 1. LSU 40-12; 2. Georgia 40-13; 3. Auburn 36-15; 4. Vanderbilt 36-16; 5. Arkansas 41-11; 6. Texas 40-10; 7. FLORIDA 35-18; 8. Alabama 39-13; 9. Tennessee 39-13; 10. Ole Miss 34-17; 11. Oklahoma 32-17; 12. Mississippi State 31-20; 13. Kentucky 28-20; 14. Texas A&M 27-23; 15. South Carolina 26-26; 16. Missouri 16-35