Florida entered the NCAA college baseball tournament on Friday hoping to cruise through regional play, but the Gators are going to have to do things the hard way to come out on top of the Conway Regional after dropping the opener to East Carolina, 11-6.
Right-handed ace Liam Peterson (8-4, 4.28) didn’t have his best stuff and was out of the game by the second inning. The bullpen couldn’t back him up either. ECU draft prospect Ethan Norby silenced the Florida offense and pitched into the eighth with well over 100 pitches.
Kevin O’Sullivan spent most of the afternoon figuring out the most efficient way to use his bullpen without wasting someone. As always, winning Game 1 in a double-elimination setting is critical. A loss means Florida must win three in a row to advance.
A full recap from our live coverage of today’s game can be found below.
What channel is Florida vs East Carolina on today?
Florida vs. East Carolina in the Conway Regional will be carried nationally on ESPN2. Richard Cross and Todd Walker will call the game from the booth at Spring Brooks Stadium in Conway, South Carolina. Streaming options for the game include FUBO, which offers a free trial to new subscribers.
Florida vs East Carolina time today
The Florida vs East Carolina game starts at noon ET from Spring Brooks Stadium in Conway, South Carolina.
First Inning: ECU 2, Florida 0
Florida didn’t get the start to the game it was looking for. Just about everything that could go wrong did in the opening frame. It started with a Braden Burress bunt back to the mound for a base hit and a stolen base. Kevin O’Sullivan warned fans that ECU would play a strong small-ball game, and that’s exactly how things played out.
Burress moved to third on a sacrifice fly, and Liam Peterson hit Dixon Williams to put runners on the corners. Another bunt back to the mound scored Buress, although Peterson was very close to getting him out at home. The glove flip throw was perfect, but Brody Donay wasn’t able to make a clean tag without dropping the ball.
Ryley Johnson singled to keep the inning going and move Williams to third. Another sacrifice brought in Williams, and Peterson spiked a ball to move the other two runners into scoring position. Peterson finally got out of the first with a strikeout, but the damage was done.
Florida didn’t do much on offense. Bobby Boser reached on a wild pitch third strike that he fanned at, and the next three batters went down in order.
Second Inning: ECU 4, Florida 0
What a disaster this game became for Peterson…
Three consecutive singles after getting the first out of the second loaded the bases and brought Kevin O’Sullivan out with the hook. Peterson threw just 48 pitches (26 strikes), but his command was not there and Sully needed to give his team a chance to win. Luke McNeillie took over and induced a sacrifice fly, trading a run for out No. 2, and John Collins, the same Pirate who bunted in the first run of the game, singled into left to make it 4-0.
Florida went down in order against Ethan Norby, a 5-foot-9 pitcher with some wicked stuff.
Third Inning: ECU 6, Florida 0
For the third inning in a row, ECU loaded the bases and tacked on two runs. McNeillie got the first out, gave up a single, walked a batter, threw a wild pitch and then gave up a steal of second. That’s how quickly things can go from fine to a disaster in an inning. An intentional walk loaded the bases and set up force outs everywhere. That plan backfired as Jack Herring singled into right, bringing in the fifth and sixth runs of the day.
Kevin O’Sullivan changed pitchers again, opting to bring in Blaine Rowland. It’s only the third inning, so it’s not exactly waving the white flag, but Sully is clearly thinking about the rest of the weekend after going down six early.
Another 1-2-3 inning on offense for Florida didn’t help either. Norby has a no-hit the Gators the first time through the lineup.
Fourth Inning: ECU 9, Florida 2
Florida finally got on the board, but not before seeing ECU extend the lead to nine in the top half of the inning.
It started with an error by Boser at third. He made up for it by getting the lead runner at second on the next play, but three straight hits, including back-to-back doubles, brought the runner around plus two more. It’s been mostly singles up until this point, but ECU is starting to find the gaps.
Florida’s runs came off a pair of solo homers, the first from Brendan Lawson and the second from Blake Cyr. Everyone expected Florida to hit the long ball a bunch this weekend, but two solo shots don’t mean much when the team is still down nine. It’s a good start to mounting a comeback, but the pitching staff has to do its part and Sully has all but resigned himself to throwing the lower tier of arms in hopes of preserving pitching.
Fifth Inning: ECU 9, Florida 2
Caden McDonald threw the first scoreless inning of the day for Florida in the fifth. He gave up a leadoff single to Williams, but got the next three batters in order.
Unfortunately, Florida couldn’t capitalize on offense and eat into ECU’s lead any further. Landon Stripling and Bobby Boser each had a base knock, but Noby got Brendan Lawson with a slider on a full count to end the threat. If Florida was going to make a comeback, it likely needed some runs in the fifth.
Sixth Inning: ECU 10, Florida 2
McDonald came back out for the sixth but was quickly removed after a leadoff homer. Alex Philpott got the call, but he walked a pair after striking out the first batter he faced. Christin Rodriguez was the third Florida pitcher of the inning. He started off with a walk to load the bases, but retired the next two batters to escape the jam.
Florida went 1-2-3 for the third time on the day.
Seventh Inning: ECU 11, Florida 2
Rodriguez gave up a pair of hits and a run before coming out of the game. Sully is trying to keep most of his arms available for the rest of the weekend, so everyone is on a short leash. Carson Montesdeoca and got the second and third out of the inning. Montsdeoca has only worked six innings all year.
Another 1-2-3 inning for Florida on offense…
Eighth Inning: ECU 11, Florida 3
Montsdeoca continued cruising, putting together a 1-2-3 eighth. There are more trusted arms in the bullpen, but Montsdeoca earned some points from Sully today.
Three singles — Nadeau, Lawson and Evans, in that order — brought in a third run for Florida. Norby started the inning, but was nearing 120 pitches by the end, so there’s some fatigue to factor in. The Pirates turned to Jake Hunter for the close. He let Nadeau score on Evans’ single, but got the next two to preserve an 8-run lead.
FINAL: ECU 11, Florida 6
Montsdeoca delivered another 1-2-3 frame, retiring his eighth batter in a row out of the bullpen. Had Sully turned to him first, Florida might have won this game, but the rest of the pitching staff struggled.
Bobby Boser hit a three-run homer with two outs to cut the deficit to five, but it was too little, too late. Florida now faces elimination on Saturday against the loser of the nightcap between regional host Coastal Carolina and No. 4 seed Fairfield.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Conway Regional: Florida falls flat against ECU
Reporting by David Rosenberg, Gators Wire / Gators Wire
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