We begin our 2018 regional previews with the defending College World Series champs in the Gainesville regional. This is a very sneaky good regional with some very good teams that could test the Gators.
In this regional you have Florida, Jacksonville, Florida Atlantic and Columbia. We’ll give a brief breakdown of every team and then give you our prediction for who will win this regional.
- Florida: 42-17 (20-10)
The Gators are the overall number one seed in the tournament and have been the best team in the country for most of the season. The defending champs return one of the best pitching staffs in the country led by Brady Singer (2.25 ERA, 88 IP and 92 Ks). He’s backed up in the starting rotation by Jackson Kowar (3.21 ERA, 92.2 IP and 91 Ks), and closer Michael Byrne (1.99 ERA, 45.1 IP and 46 Ks). Third baseman Jonathan India leads Florida on offense and was the SEC Player of the Year after hitting .362 with 17 home runs. The offense hit .281 and scored 6.8 runs per game. The pitching staff has a combined 3.58 ERA with 504 strikeouts in 518 innings pitched.
- Jacksonville: 39-19 (14-6)
Jacksonville had a great regular season, which included a mid-week win over Florida, and earned an at-large spot. Shortstop Scott Dubrule leads the team with a .358 average, while driving in 52. First baseman Angel Camacho will slot behind him in the order batting .328 with a team-high 56 RBI. Chris Lehane and Ruben Someillan will provide the speed on offense with a combined 19 stolen bases. This offense doesn’t produce a lot of power, but it is a deep lineup full of good hitters. They have three solid starters that all threw at least 85 innings with an ERA of 3.57 or lower. Chris Gau leads the team with a 2.65 ERA in 105.1 innings pitched with 91 strikeouts. Chris Mauloni is one of the top closers in the country with 20 saves to go along with a 2.53 ERA in 32 innings pitched with 48 strikeouts. They had a 3.88 ERA as a staff with 466 strikeouts in 514.1 innings pitched. The offense hit .292 as a team and scored 6.1 runs per game.
- Florida Atlantic: 40-17-1 (19-8-1)
The Owls lost to Southern Miss in the CUSA final, but did enough in the regular season to earn an at-large bid. Tyler Frank is an exceptional shortstop, both defensively and at the plate. He hit .315 with 64 runs scored, 19 doubles, 13 home runs and 34 RBI. FAU’s number three hitter, David Miranda, was injured during the CUSA Tournament and it’s not clear at this time if he’ll be available this weekend. The offense hit .271 this year and scored 6.5 runs per game. Jake Miednik leads the starting rotation with a 3.05 ERA in 76.2 innings pitched with 87 strikeouts. Zach Schneider had a 2.08 ERA out of the bullpen with 15 saves. The pitching staff had a 4.13 ERA in 513.2 innings pitched with 468 strikeouts.
- Columbia: 20-28 (13-8)
The pitching was essentially lights out for Columbia in the Ivy League Championship Series as they swept Yale in two games outscoring them 6-1. Harrisen Egly leads that pitching staff with a 3.86 ERA in 63 innings pitched with 46 strikeouts. Overall, the pitching staff posted an ERA of 5.81 this year with 329 strikeouts in 421 innings pitched. On offense they hit .264 as a team with 5.1 runs scored per game. Liam McGill leads the team with a .319 average to go along with 37 runs scored, 13 doubles, 6 home runs and 30 RBI.
Prediction:
I honestly believe that Jacksonville and FAU can cause some problems for Florida in this regional. They both have the offense to get the job done, and last year Bethune-Cookman gave the Gators a scare. If Miranda is not healthy for the Owls, that will be a big blow. The same can be said if JJ Schwarz is unable to go for Florida.
In the end, Florida’s pitching staff is way too dominant. And even if Schwarz doesn’t play, there is enough offensively to get the job done.
Winner: Florida
