The Athletic predicts Florida baseball's Conway Regional outcome
Florida baseball opens up its endeavor to earn the 2025 College World Series title on Friday as the second seed in the Conway Regional following a season that saw some significant ups and downs en route to a postseason bid.
The Gators opened up the spring with 11 straight wins before back-to-back losses to the Miami Hurricanes and UCF Knights, respectively, in non-conference play. Kevin O'Sullivan's team would win the next five games, but everything changed once the Southeastern Conference schedule began.
The first dozen games of the SEC slate left the Orange and Blue black and blue, struggling to a 1-11 start against fellow conference foes. However, following a home sweep at the hands of the Vanderbilt Commodores, Florida took the rubber match in the season series against the Florida State Seminoles to start an epic run to end the season.
It is worth noting that the team's late-season surge began immediately after the men's basketball team earned its third-ever national championship.
Alas, that final push ended short after the Gators lost to the Ole Miss Rebels in the second round of the SEC Tournament, eliminating any chance of hosting a regional. The good news is that O'Sullivan's squad is favored to emerge from the opening bracket — at least The Athletic's Mitch Light feels this way in his college baseball NCAA regional predictions.
Take a look below at his breakdown of Florida's regional bracket.
Conway Regional
Coastal Carolina (13) Florida East Carolina Fairfield
"Coastal Carolina is second nationally in ERA (3.29) and third in WHIP (1.19) and OPS against (.648). The Chanticleers are hosting a Regional for the fifth time in program history," Light begins.
"For the first time in Kevin O'Sullivan's 18 seasons at Florida, the Gators are not hosting a Regional for the second consecutive season. Florida was a No. 3 seed in the Stillwater Regional last year and advanced to the College World Series," he continues.
"East Carolina went 13-14 in the American Athletic Conference, only the fourth time this century the Pirates have had a losing record in league play. But Cliff Godwin's club is back in a Regional, for the seventh consecutive season, after winning the AAC tournament title," Light notes.
"Fairfield is 108-23 in the MAAC over the last five years with two Regional appearances. The Stags went 2-2 as a No. 3 seed in the Austin Regional in 2021."
Prediction: Florida
Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
2 minutes ago
- USA Today
LSU baseball pitcher Anthony Eyanson agrees to deal above slot value with Red Sox
Former LSU baseball pitcher Anthony Eyanson came to terms with the Boston Red Sox for $1,750,000 million, according to MLB Pipeline's Jim Callis. The Red Sox selected Eyanson in the third round with the No. 87 overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft. He ranked No. 40 on prospect list following a breakout year with the Tigers. Scouts were high on Eyanson's breaking pitches during the 2025 season, especially his slider sitting at 82-85 mph and upper-70s curveball. In his first year of power four baseball, Eyanson earned the Saturday starter role and finished third nationally with 152 strikeouts. He posted a 3.00 ERA through 108 innings and ended his collegiate career. He hurled 6.1 innings with nine strikeouts in the College World Series final against Coastal Carolina. Eyanson played his first two seasons at UC San Diego before heading to Baton Rouge. He finishes a three-year career with a 3.21 ERA and 271 strikeouts through 219 innings.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Coastal Carolina AD Chance Miller: Kevin Schnall ejection 'drastically altered' game
Coastal Carolina athletic director Chance Miller shared his thoughts on Kevin Schnall's ejection against LSU in Game 2 of the College World Series championship series on June 22, claiming the move "drastically altered the trajectory" of the game. "The ejections of head coach Kevin Schnall and assistant coach Matt Schilling in the bottom of the first inning drastically altered the trajectory of a must-win game for our team," Miller shared on X (formerly Twitter), hours after Coastal Carolina's 5-3 loss. "These decisions were made with an alarming level of haste, without an attempt at de-escalation, and deprived our student-athletes of the leadership they have relied on throughout a historic postseason run." REQUIRED READING: Why was Coastal Carolina's Kevin Schnall tossed in College World Series final game? Miller didn't hold back his thoughts on the situation, which saw Schnall and Schilling ejected from the game in the bottom of the first inning after Schnall argued balls and strikes. Schnall also let his thoughts be known in his postgame press conference after the Game 2 loss. "This is not about a single call — it's about process and professionalism," Miller continued. "In the biggest moment of the college baseball season, our program and its student-athletes deserved better. The NCAA must re-evaluate how it trains, assigns, and reviews umpires in championship environments. We expect consistency, communication, and the same level of excellence from officials that we demand of our teams. "Our players have represented this university, this conference, and college baseball with integrity and heart, and they deserved the opportunity to compete for a national championship with their leaders and we were denied that opportunity today." The Chanticleers entered the national championship series with a 26-game win streak, which was broken after falling to LSU 1-0 in Game 1 of the series on June 21. Coastal Carolina looked to force a winner-take-all Game 3 on June 23, but fell again in Game 2. Coastal Carolina made its second-ever College World Series appearance in 2025, reaching the CWS finals for the second time in as many tries. The Chanticleers won the championship in 2016m when Schnall was an assistant coach under Gary Gilmore. Schnall's ejection was controversial to many fans and analysts, including the ESPN broadcast crew, and Coastal Carolina's athletic director echoed that sentiment in his statement. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coastal Carolina AD: Kevin Schnall ejection 'drastically altered' game
CNET
3 hours ago
- CNET
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for July 21 #301
Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today's Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles. Golf knowledge is a weak point for me, so I struggled a little with today's Connections: Sports Edition. It's nice to see an appearance from one of the best team names in minor league ball. Hello, Yard Goats fans. Stuck? Check out our hints and get the answers. Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That's a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn't show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic's own app. Or you can continue to play it free online. Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta Hints for today's Connections: Sports Edition groups Here are four hints for the groupings in today's Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group. Yellow group hint: Don't skip this step. Green group hint: Par for the course. Blue group hint: Constitution state. Purple group hint: Not bored. Answers for today's Connections: Sports Edition groups Yellow group: Get ready for a game. Green group: Golf wedges. Blue group: Connecticut teams. Purple group: _____ board. Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words What are today's Connections: Sports Edition answers? The completed NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for July 21, 2025. NYT/Screenshot by CNET The yellow words in today's Connections The theme is get ready for a game. The four answers are get loose, prepare, stretch and warm up. The green words in today's Connections The theme is golf wedges. The four answers are gap, lob, pitching and sand. The blue words in today's Connections The theme is Connecticut teams. The four answers are Sun, UConn, Yale and Yard Goats. The purple words in today's Connections The theme is _____ board. The four answers are back, leader, skate and surf.
