For the second time in four days, two Southeastern Conference titans will clash at the College World Series, this time in a crucial semifinals matchup.
Florida will look to continue its dominance over Vanderbilt at 2 p.m. Friday for a spot in the CWS championship series.
For the sixth time this season, Gators coach Kevin O’Sullivan will oppose Tim Corbin in a meeting pitting former assistant coaches from Clemson.
O’Sullivan and Corbin worked together on Jack Leggett’s staff from 1999 to 2002 before Corbin accepted the head coaching position at Vanderbilt. Despite both coaches building powerhouse programs in the same division and conference, they have remained friends — and friendly rivals.
Although the competition between the Gators (52-17) and Commodores (54-11) has been recently ramped up, the teams are hardly hostile because of the coaches’ relationship on and off the field.
“Me and Tim go back an awfully long way. I care about him deeply,” O’Sullivan said earlier this week. “They’re like family. Tim and I are very, very close. Our families know each other. It goes well beyond the baseball side of things.”
But the stakes between the two have never been as high as they will be Friday.
The Gators defeated the Commodores 3-1 on Tuesday in a weather-suspended contest that began Monday night. On Wednesday, facing elimination, Vanderbilt easily dispatched North Carolina for a rematch with the Gators.
Although Florida holds the scoring edge in the series matchup — the Gators have won four of the five meetings this season — Vanderbilt has more than a puncher’s chance to reach its first CWS championship series.
For the third time in as many games in Omaha, a Major League Baseball first-round draft pick will start on the mound against Florida.
Sonny Gray, the 18th overall pick by the Oakland Athletics this month, will make his second start in Omaha and second appearance this year against UF.
He shut down the Gators (one earned run, two hits) in six sharp innings May 13, but Vanderbilt lost the game.
If Florida loses Friday, it will see another high-pick Saturday — Grayson Garvin is scheduled to start again against the Gators should the Commodores win in the double-elimination tournament.
“It seems to be all we’ve been facing since we’ve been out here,” UF second baseman Josh Adams said. “But we love it. The talent out here is really impressive.”
Junior left-hander Alex Panteliodis, who shut out Vanderbilt for 62/3 innings in the SEC tournament championship game, will start for Florida. He has dominated Vanderbilt in four career appearances, allowing only one run in 131/3 innings (0.68 ERA) with 13 strikeouts.
The decision to start Panteliodis over ace right-hander Hudson Randall possibly stems from Vanderbilt’s struggles against left-handed pitching recently. In the loss Tuesday, Vanderbilt’s five left-handed hitters went 1 for 18 with nine strikeouts.
Vanderbilt has labored scoring against Florida, with only one run in its past 26 innings against the Gators, resulting in three losses by two runs or less.
• Virginia 8, California 1: Tyler Wilson carried a shutout into the eighth inning and Virginia used a four-run sixth inning to break open a close game and eliminate California from the College World Series.
Virginia (56-11) will face defending national champion South Carolina on Friday. The Cavs would need to beat the Gamecocks on Friday and again Saturday to reach next week’s best-of-3 championship round.
The loss ends an improbable postseason run for California (38-23), which started the year with its program scheduled to be dropped in 2012 for budgetary reasons. A $9 million fund-raising effort saved the program.
Wilson (10-0) allowed five hits over his career-high 72/3 innings. Cal starter Dixon Anderson (4-4) took the loss.
