By Jackson Castellano
Orlando Sentinel Correspondent
CONWAY, S.C. — A outstanding convention turnaround and 17 straight NCAA tourney appearances apart, Florida baseball was not with out its flaws headed into this weekend’s Conway Regional.
Devastated by accidents all year long, the Gators had been undermanned within the fieldand the bullpen with only one bench participant obtainable. If the rest of Florida’s firepower fell aside or if it ran right into a staff that would expose its weaknesses, the miraculous run may very well be minimize quick.
Sadly for the Gators, each issues occurred — twice. Florida, the No. 2 seed in Conway, fell out of NCAA regional play in simply three video games, with each losses coming in opposition to the third-seed East Carolina Pirates.
The Gators fell 11-6 to ECU on Friday and 11-4 on Sunday with a 17-2 win in opposition to No. 4 seed Fairfield sandwiched between.
“They beat us handily two occasions this weekend,” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan stated. “Clearly East Carolina deserves to maneuver on.”
The Gators’ fixed in pitching, even previous to Aidan King’s emergence, has been LiamPeterson. The one SEC collection Florida gained the place it misplaced the sport Peterson pitched was in opposition to Texas.
O’Sullivan went to his ace to open the regional together with his freshman jitters behind him. However these jitters reared their head in opposition to the Pirates. He was pulled after simply 1 1/3 innings and allowed 5 hits and 4 runs, two of which had been earned.
A bunt-heavy ECU staff jumped on the chance with a weak Gators bullpen and accidents to Florida’s greatest fielders. East Carolina scored in any means it happy in a recreation the place late UF runs helped ease the harm on paper.
“Props to ECU for placing the strain on,” Florida shortstop Bobby Boser stated. “It’s hardplaying from behind, particularly in such a momentum recreation.”
The Gators turned issues round in opposition to Fairfield with an explosion of runs in opposition to a lesscapable pitching workers. King continued to dominate, ending his freshman season at Florida with a monstrous 73 1/3 innings with 79 strikeouts and a 2.58 ERA.
Florida confronted off in opposition to a taxed East Carolina staff Sunday after the Pirates went blow for blow in a loss to Coastal Carolina Saturday evening. Any momentum gained in opposition to the Stags didn’t carry over to Sunday’s matchup.
Left-hander Pierce Coppola received the beginning and, after a dominant return in opposition to Alabama to the tune of 10 strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings, simply couldn’t discover the zone. He walked three batters in as many innings and gave up two runs with not a lot signal of change forthcoming.
“David [Kopp] stated his [bullpen] was nice … clearly he was spraying the ball round slightly bit,” stated O’Sullivan, who selected to drag Coppola, and the Pirates jumped on the chance once more.
They tacked on two extra runs in opposition to Billy Barlow and compelled Florida to name on usualcloser Jake Clemente in simply the third inning.
“They only did a very good job offensively in two video games,” O’Sullivan stated.
Clemente, together with Luke McNeillie and Blaine Rowland, let up yet another run, and the Gators tacked on three within the prime sixth to point out some life.
However Florida couldn’t overcome the outlet it dug. Reliever Alex Philpott allowed two runs within the backside of the eighth, which all however assured Florida’s season to finish.
The Gators at the moment are tasked with squaring up a roster the place the vast majority of anticipated contributors in 2026 completed the 2025 season injured. Some could hit the portal or go professional. There’s a lot of questions, significantly with the pitching.
If it’s any comfort, O’Sullivan and the Gators have the longest offseason since 2022 to determine issues out.
“You possibly can see the ache they’re going via proper now,” O’Sullivan stated. “When you’ve gotten groups that don’t finish the place you need them to finish — and for us, it’s Omaha — it’s troublesome.”