One of three super regional matchups involving SEC-on-SEC battles, Auburn and Florida should be a great series in Gainesville.
The number one overall seed Gators survived the regionals having to play a game seven against Florida Atlantic. That’s the second year in a row they’ve been pushed to the limit in the regionals.
Auburn, on the other hand, cruised through the Raleigh Regional as the bats were on fire, and they had just enough pitching to win their three games.
These two teams faced off in Gainesville a little over a month ago with the Gators taking 2-of-3. However, Florida has been a different team since then, and not in a good way.
They’re just 9-8 since that series with Auburn at the end of April, and have look pedestrian. Of course, their ace Brady Singer missed a couple of starts, and catch JJ Schwarz has been out for a while now. Singer did come back to pitch in the regionals and went seven strong.
As for the Tigers, they’ve gone 11-7 since that series loss in Gainesville. For them, it’s all about the bats. If they hot, then there’s a good chance they’re going to win.
They certainly were in the regionals scoring 13, 12 and 15 runs in their three games.
Pitchers to Watch:
Florida: There are three main veterans that carry the staff in Singer, Jackson Kowar and Michael Byrne. Singer and Kowar will likely starts games one and two in some order. If the Gators have a lead after the seventh you can bet that Byrne and his 1.79 ERA will be entering the game.
Kevin O’Sullivan also has three freshman arms that he will rely on in Jordan Butler, Jack Leftwich and Tommy Mace. They’ve had their struggles as freshman, but they all are very talented arms.
Auburn: Like Florida, the Tigers have three main arms that they will rely on in Casey Mize, Tanner Burns and Cody Greenhill. Mize and Burns will likely start games one and two in some order. Greenhill has been great as their closer this year with a 2.11 ERA in 55.1 innings pitched with 54 strikeouts.
There are three other arms Auburn will go to in Andrew Mitchell, likely the game three starter if necessary, Calvin Coker and Davis Daniel.
Hitters to Watch:
Florida: Jonathan India is maybe the best hitter in the country and just went fifth overall in the MLB Draft. He his 19th home run of the year during the Gainesville Regional, and leads the team with a .360 average.
It would be huge if Florida got Schwarz back as he’s their second leading hitter. Austin Langworthy, Deacon Liput, Nelson Maldonado and Wil Dalton round out what it is a very good lineup.
Auburn: The Tigers have a very deep lineup, and when they’re all clicking it’s a dangerous lineup. Their two best hitters are Will Holland and Steven Williams. Jay Estes has the best average on the team at .338.
They certainly bring the pop with five players that have 10 or more home runs. Edouard Julien leads them with 17 home runs and 68 RBI, and he has been on an absolute tear lately.
Final Thoughts and Prediction:
It will be interesting to see if each team throw’s their ace in game one. They did in the regular season and Singer out-dueled Mize in a 3-1 Florida win. I sure would love to see that matchup between two first round picks again.
For whatever reason, this Florida team has been playing with little passion lately. They don’t seem like the dominate team they were at the beginning of the season, and you have to wonder if fatigue from last year’s College World Series run is finally catching up to them.
As for Auburn, they are playing their best baseball of the year and are one of the hottest teams in the country. Their bats have certainly been hot lately, but that obviously wasn’t against the arms that Florida will throw out this weekend.
Auburn has a little more pitching depth than they did a year ago with five or six arms they can trust, so I think they are fine there. The key will be whether or not the bats remain hot.
Florida just needs to get back to playing at a championship level, and their fans need to show up. There was no one in that crowd for a game seven with FAU.
I think this will be a tight series that goes three games, but in the end you have to with the talent of the Gators.
Winner: Florida
