College World Series: Florida Baseball opens with Virginia Cavaliers
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — On Wednesday, the Florida Baseball team will head to Omaha, Nebraska for the 2023 College World Series. Florida and Virginia will play in the second game of the tournament in primetime. The Gators and Cavaliers will take the field at 7:00 pm ET on Friday night under the lights at Charles Schwab Field.
With two wins over Duke, the Cavaliers improved to 50-13 on the year, which marks the program’s fifth 50-win season and first since 2014. In addition to 2014, UVA tallied 50 wins or more in 2013, 2011, and 2010. Virginia outscored Duke 26-6 in the last two games of the Charlottesville Super Regional. The 30 total runs in the series are the most ever scored by UVA in a Super Regional.
The Gators and Cavaliers have a history in Omaha. The Gators were eliminated by Virginia in the 2015 College World Series. The Florida baseball team will have its hands full looking to avenge that loss.
Florida Baseball: Scouting the Cavaliers
Virginia by the numbers
Record: 50-13 (19-11 ACC)
Home: 37-5
Away: 11-7
Neutral: 2-1
Virginia Offense
This team can flat-out hit. Virginia leads the country with a .333 batting average an 169 doubles (2.68 per game). They only have 86 home runs as a team but they get on base at a .429 clip, sixth best in the country.
ACC Player of the Year, Kyle Teal, and Ethan Anderson lead the way in the two-bagger category. Virginia plays in a spacious ballpark and the Hoos’ lineup is recruited and coached to take advantage of those large gaps. Charle Schwabb Field in Omaha can play the same way.
Jake Gelof is a monster. Like Jac Caglianone for Florida, Gelof broke his school’s single-season home run record (23). He’s hitting .331 with 23 doubles to boot. An extremely dangerous bat.
Griff O’Ferrall has been the catalyst for the UVA offense. He’s kind of the engine that gets things going. His 105 hits are tied for the team lead and more than any Florida Gators player has on the season. He’s also scored 74 runs this season.
This is a scary lineup for the Cavaliers. They can score runs on any day and against any pitcher. They get on base, have four guys with double-digit home runs, and three guys with more than 20 doubles on the season. They’re a tall task for any pitcher.
Jake Gelof provides the power but O’Ferrall and Kyle Teel are currently tied for the most hits in a season in UVA history (105 apiece). Ethan Anderson (batting .377 has the fourth most hits in a season in school history.
Virginia offensive numbers (sorted by batting average)
Virginia pitching
The Cavaliers’ pitching staff was comprised through the transfer portal. Nick Parker (Coastal Carolina), Connelly Early (Army), and Brian Edgington (Elon) have combined to go 29-5 on the season. That’s been a very effective group, but the most exciting stuff on the staff is at the back end with Jay Wolfolk. The closer and quarterback excels on the diamond more than the gridiron. He’s made 20 appearances this season with a team-high nine saves. Wolfolk has struck out 38 batters over 33 innings. He has electric stuff — especially his slider — but has been erratic walking 20 batters on the season.
As a staff, Virginia will nibble around the zone. They’ll keep the ball away to a Florida lineup that is on track to break the school record for home runs. Fast, away. Slow, away, pitch to soft contact, and get teams to chase.
Virginia Tech pitching stats (sorted by ERA)
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