It's go time: Florida, UConn make Tech an underdog in Gainesville Regional
The Texas Tech baseball team's longest win streak of the season was a 10-gamer right at the very beginning. Alas, the Red Raiders built that streak against three opponents who finished the season a combined 47 games below .500.
Since then, Tech coach Tim Tadlock hasn't seen his team play at as high a level as his teams that reached the College World Series four times between 2014 and 2019.
He'd love to see the Red Raiders put together something memorable in the first weekend of the NCAA tournament. The opportunity is surely there at the Gainesville Regional, where the Red Raiders join host and No. 2 national seed Florida as well as Connecticut, which has won the Big East three years in a row and won Maryland's regional last year.
"You're going to have to play good sound baseball to come out on the right side of it," Tadlock said Thursday in a pre-tournament press conference.
How to watch: NCAA Gainesville Regional baseball schedule, TV and online coverage
Tech (39-21) plays UConn (43-15) in the first game at 11 a.m. CDT Friday at Condron Family Ballpark. ESPNU will carry the game.
In the other first-round game, Florida (44-14) hosts Florida A&M (29-28) at 4:30 p.m. CDT. In this week's ranking by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, Florida is No. 2 and UConn No. 13.
"Really excited about it," Tadlock said. "Excited about the opportunity for the guys. I think through the year, we really haven't put together a good stretch of playing for some days in a row. We have a big challenge in front of us tomorrow with UConn and (are) excited to see how the guys respond."
Tech will pitch its usual No. 1 starter, second-team all-Big 12 selection Mason Molina (5-2, 3.72 earned-run average). The Red Raiders expect to face UConn first-team all-Big East honoree Stephen Quigley (4-2, 4.75), a senior righthander. Molina has pitched 77 1/3 innings over 15 starts this season, and Quigley has thrown 72 innings covering 13 starts and one relief appearance.
UConn has made nine of the past 13 NCAA tournaments and is in for the fifth year in a row. The Huskies won the College Park Regional as the No. 3 seed last year, taking down No. 2 seed Wake Forest and No. 1 seed Maryland. Then they beat Stanford in the first game of a super regional before losing in three.
"Coach (Jim) Penders has done a good job for a long time there," Tadlock said. "Their program's very well-respected across the country the way they go about things and the way they play the game."
Tadlock said the Huskies' lineup "can give you some problems," and noted a well-fortified UConn bullpen with lefthander Zach Fogell (8-0, 1.74) and righthander Justin Willis (3-3, 3.32, 11 saves), who has 25 career saves.
The Huskies' key hitters include center fielder David Smith (.305 average, five home runs, 33 runs batted in, 38 stolen bases), first baseman Ben Huber (.330-16-63), third baseman Dominic Freeberger (.349-7-60), right fielder Jake Studley (.336-8-56) and designated hitter Luke Broadhurst (.321-14-50). Freeberger was the Big East player of the year with Quigley, Fogell, Huber and Studley all first-team honorees.
Many of the Huskies' top players started their careers at other four-year schools: Fogell at Brown, Willis at Vanderbilt, Smith at La Salle, Freeberger at North Carolina-Asheville, Huber at Division II Limestone, Studley at Division III Wheaton and Broadhurst at Division III Eastern Connecticut State.
If there's any question about UConn, it might be the strength of schedule. The Huskies have played only two games this season against teams ranked in this week's NCBWA top 30, both against No. 29 Boston College.
"Anytime you win 43 games, you've done something," Tadlock said, "no matter what the people doing the rankings say."
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Getting past UConn is only part of the task. If the Red Raiders can achieve that, standing in the way is Florida, one of the nation's top teams this year. First baseman-pitcher Jac Caglianone and left fielder Wyatt Langford make the Gators one of five teams to have two semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award. They're among the 25 remaining candidates for amateur baseball's player of the year.
Four Gators are on MLB.com's list of the top prospects for this year's draft: Langford at No. 3, starting pitchers Hurston Waldrep and Brandon Sproat at No. 20 and No. 79, respectively, and shortstop Josh Rivera at No. 111. Caglianone, a sophomore, is a finalist for the John Olerud Award that goes to the nation's top two-way player, and Rivera is a finalist for the Brooks Wallace Award that goes to the nation's top shortstop.
Florida has made each of the past 15 NCAA tournaments, hosting a regional 13 times. The Gators have made the College World Series seven times under coach Kevin O'Sullivan.
Tadlock has tried this week to keep the conversation focused on UConn, though he was asked again Thursday about having a chance to face Florida and O'Sullivan.
"We go way back," Tadlock said. "I've got a lot of respect for the way he goes about things, the way he's recruited over the years and the teams he's put together. Some of the games we've had, battled in Omaha, have been cool moments.
"But the message to our team: You're getting way ahead of us to (discuss a Texas Tech-Florida matchup) at this point. But I think our guys are excited about being here. There's a lot of tradition here, all the way back to (College Baseball Hall of Fame coach) Andy Lopez and that group. There's been a lot of tradition in the state of Florida."
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This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: It's go time: Florida, UConn make Texas Tech underdog in Gainesville Regional
