2014 Gainesville Regional

(capsules compiled by Sean Ryan, Phil Stanton, Colin Graves, John Whittle, Matt Mullen)

1. Florida Gators

Gainesville, Florida

At-large bid from SEC

2014 record: 21-9, 40-21 (first in SEC East)

Head coach: Kevin O’Sullivan (Virginia, 1991)

Record at school: 292-153 (7 years)

Overall record: 292-153 (7 years)

Assistant coaches: Craig Bell, Brad Weitzel

Team offense: .267 BA, 285 R, 26 HR, .352 SLG%, .350 OBP%, 56-83 SB

Team pitching: 3.24 ERA, 557.2 IP, 527 H, 172 BB, 416 K

Top hitters: Harrison Bader (.333/2/24/13-19 SB), Taylor Gushue (.323/6/49), Braden Mattson (.276/1/28), Richie Martin (.267/1/26/18-20 SB)

Top pitchers: Logan Shore (7-3, 1.99 ERA, 92.2 IP, 76 H, 18 BB, 62 K), A.J. Puk (5-2, 3.35 ERA, 40.1 IP, 33 H, 18 BB, 44 K), Danny Young (5-0, 2.33 ERA, 48.1 IP, 55 H, 18 BB, 36 K), Bobby Poyner (5-3, 3.44 ERA, 55 IP, 53 H, 10 BB, 44 K)

Last NCAA appearance: 2013 (0-2 at Bloomington Regional)

Notes: Florida has a streak of seven straight Regional appearances dating to the 2008 season and has advanced four of those times. The Gators have eight appearances in the College World Series, which includes three straight from 2010-12. In 2011, the Gators faced South Carolina in an All-SEC national championship series with the Gamecocks coming out on top. Florida doesn’t have a national championship to its credit in baseball. The Gators won the SEC Championship outright in 2014 and advanced to the SEC Tournament finals before dropping a 2-0 decision to LSU in the championship game.

Centerfielder Harrison Bader was suspended early in the season but has come back to start 42 games and leads the Gators in several offensive categories, including batting average (.333) and on-base percentage (.412). Freshman Logan Shore took over the Friday-night starting duties and is one of two players (Kirby Snead, 1.79) with a sub-2.00 ERA. The Gators have seven pitchers with at least 40 innings this season. After starting all 59 games last season, catcher Taylor Gushue has started all 61 games this season.

2. Long Beach State 49ers

Long Beach, California

Automatic – won Big West regular season (no league tournament)

2014 Record: 17-7, 32-24 (second in Big West)

Head Coach: Troy Buckley (Santa Clara, 1990)

Record at School: 118-105 (four years)

Overall Record: 118-105 (four years)

Assistant Coaches: Jesse Zepeda, Shawn Gilbert, Justin Ramsey

Team offense: .261 BA, 238 R, 6 HR, 64-97 SB

Team pitching: 2.91 ERA, 495.1 IP, 429 H, 136 BB, 315 K

Top hitters: Garret Hampson (.316/1/16), Richard Prigatano (.314/1/45/18-20 SB), Johnny Bekakis (.306/2/19), Ino Patron (.302/2/31), Michael Hill (.267/0/24/13-17 SB), Colby Brenner (.263/0/12)

Top pitchers: Josh Frye (8-0, 1.51 ERA, 77.1 IP, 52 H, 17 BB, 51 K), Andrew Rohrbach (6-2, 2.13 ERA, 101.1 IP, 84 H, 20 BB, 67 K), Nick Sabo (4-5, 3.08 ERA, 76 IP, 63 H, 26 BB, 47 K), Ryan Millison (4-1, 1.48 ERA, 48.2 IP, 37 H, 12 BB, 29 K), Ty Provencher (5-5, 1.90 ERA, 4 SV, 42.2 IP, 38 H, 10 BB, 26 K), Kyle Friedrichs (1-1, 4.24 ERA, 6 SV, 23.1 IP, 28 H, 6 BB, 22 K)

Last NCAA appearance: 2008 (1-2 at Long Beach Regional)

Notes: Long Beach State is in the mix for the first time since 2008 after winning 10 of 11 down the stretch. And it’s in for the first time under Troy Buckley, who spent two years as Minor League Pitching Coordinator for the Pittsburgh Pirates before taking over for the Dirtbags. Buckley was a tremendous catcher for Santa Clara, batting .442 with 82 RBI as the 1988 West Coast Conference player of the year. The 49ers don’t score a lot – they average 4.25 runs a game – and their large park limited homers to six, near the fewest in the nation. But Richard Prigatano was all Big West in 2013 and is the best stick. And shortstop Garrett Hampson is one to watch. On the mound, the Dirtbags pitch to contact and are led by Josh Frye, who limits hitters to a .195 average. Closer Kyle Friedrichs has returned from missing all of last year after Tommy John surgery. 

3. North Carolina Tar Heels

Chapel Hill, North Carolina

At-large bid from ACC

2014 record: 15-15, 34-25 (fourth in Coastal Division)

Head coach: Mike Fox (North Carolina, 1978)

Record at school: 728-299-1, 16 years

Overall record: 1,268-440-5, 31 years

Assistant Coaches: Scott Forbes, Scott Jackson, Bryant Gaines

Team offense: .273 BA, 304 R, 26 HR, 70-95 SB

Team pitching: 3.03 ERA, 538 IP, 466 H, 209 BB, 483 K

Top hitters: Michael Russell (.345/4/32/13-18 SB), Wood Myers (.302/1/29), Landon Lassiter (.300/1/20), Tyler Ramirez (.290/2/26), Parks Jordan (.272/0/29), Skye Bolt (.256/3/30)

Top pitchers: Chris McCue (7-0, 0.77 ERA, 7 SV, 11.2 IP, 10 H, 9 BB, 14 K), Spencer Trayner (3-2, 1.69 ERA, 37.1 IP, 29 H, 15 BB, 32 K), Reilly Hovis (8-1, 2.10 ERA, 6 SV, 60 IP, 39 H, 21 BB, 78 K), Trent Thornton (7-3, 2.24 ERA, 92.1 IP, 73 H, 26 BB, 80 K), Benton Moss (4-2, 3.33 ERA, 92 IP, 72 H, 29 BB, 75 K), Zac Gallen (5-4, 4.43 ERA, 81.1 IP, 88 H, 22 BB, 59 K)

Last NCAA appearance: 2013 (3-1 in Chapel Hill Regional, 2-1 in Chapel Hill Super Regional; 2-2 in College World Series)

Notes: The Tar Heels, the No. 1 national seed a year ago, reach the tourney for the 13^th straight year and 29^th overall, this time as an at-large. North Carolina has reached Omaha six times in the past eight years. This year’s edition has scored about three fewer runs per game than last year’s team did entering the tourney (52-9). UNC is 29-5 when leading after six innings and 30-1 after eight – it is 1-17 when trailing after six. Trent Thornton is 16-4 over the past two seasons – his father was a quarterback at Indiana, and his grandfather played football and baseball at Kansas. Sophomore Reilly Hovis, brother of former Tar Heel Jonathan Hovis, is 13-1 over two years – his full name is Patrick O’Reilly Hovis. There are only three seniors on the Tar Heels’ roster.

4. College of Charleston Cougars

Charleston, South Carolina

Automatic bid – won CAA Tournament

2014 record: 15-6, 41-17 (second in CAA)

Head Coach: Monte Lee (College of Charleston, 2000)

Record at School: 228-28, six years

Overall Record:  228-28, six years

Assistant Coaches: Matt Heath, Brandon Sizemore, Chris Morris, Tyler Jackson, Jimmy Holton

Team offense: .261 BA, 290 R, 34 HR, 50-75 SB

Team pitching: 2.80 ERA, 529.2 IP, 440 H, 153 BB, 450 K

Top hitters: Gunnar Heidt (.335/4/30/15-20 SB), Carl Wise (.293/3/52), Blake Butler (.288/3/24), Nick Pappas (.279/4/22), Brandon Murray (.270/6/22), Brandon Glazer (.221/5/30/7-10 SB)

Top pitchers: Bailey Ober (9-2, 1.37 ERA, 91.2 IP, 60 H, 18 BB, 78 K), Taylor Clarke (10-3, 2.65 ERA, 91.2 IP, 70 H, 25 BB, 86 K), Tyler Thornton (6-5, 3.13 ERA, 89 IP, 77 H, 16 BB, 67 K), Nathan Helvey (3-4, 3.84 ERA, 68 IP, 79 H, 19 BB, 53 K), Eric Bauer (5-2, 2.06 ERA, 48 IP, 42 H, 7 BB, 26 K), Chase Henry (2-0, 2.31 ERA, 46.2 IP, 37 H, 13 BB, 51 K), Michael Hanzlik (2-1, 3.53 ERA, 14 SV, 35.2 IP, 23 H, 12 BB, 35 K)

Last NCAA appearance: 2012 (1-2 at Gainesville Regional)

Notes: Playing its first year in the CAA after previously a Southern Conference member, College of Charleston swept through the CAA Tournament and beat defending champ William & Mary in the title game. The Cougars are making their third trip to the Regionals under Monte Lee (2010, 2012) and seventh since 2004. Lee spent six years on Ray Tanner’s staff at South Carolina and holds the distinction of being the first College of Charleston player to be selected in the Major League Draft (St. Louis, 39^th round) – he hit .333 for his career and ranks sixth in school history in RBI. Brandon Murray, from the Bahamas, was injured for much of the season but is healthy again – he drove in 96 runs the previous two seasons. Leading hitter Gunnar Heidt has missed time with a hand injury. Bailey Ober is one of the best freshmen pitchers in the country and was named the CAA Rookie of the Year and first-team pitcher. Taylor Clarke is a transfer from Towson when the program was in limbo – he missed most of 2013 after Tommy John surgery.