Nathan Kirby was nothing if not solid through his first two innings against Florida, facing the minimum number of batters of six. But things unraveled in the third inning. Curiously enough, that's when things went wrong last year in game one of the finals against Vanderbilt, too, when Kirby seemingly melted down. On Friday, Florida ended up tagging Kirby for three earned runs off four hits in 2 2/3 innings on the way to a 10-5 win.
I think Brian O'Connor still made the right call putting Kirby out there. O'Connor said he decided earlier this week that Connor Jones wouldn't pitch three times in Omaha. That means he would not have been used for the finals anyway if he had played and helped the Cavs win Friday. Either way, Kirby was likely to be pushed into action sometime, just because of the set-up and number of days off in the tournament, so it was better to roll Kirby out there in a non-elimination game than in a must-win situation. If it had worked out, that would have been really, really, good. If it didn't well, then, the gamble just didn't pay off.
Florida and Virginia play tonight at 8 for the right to face Vanderbilt in the final best-of-three series. The Commodores are back to defend their title after topping TCU, 7-1, after the Virginia-Florida game. The game will be on ESPN. Jones is expected to be the starter but it could be Waddell on four days' rest, based on how good he looked against Florida on Monday. Florida will probably put A.J. Puk (9-4, 3.81) out there, whom Virginia beat Monday, or Dane Dunning (5-2, 3.88).
A potential light at the end of the tunnel is Virginia did finally get the bats going against Florida, scoring four runs in the final three innings after scoring just two over the previous 14 innings against the Gators. The Wahoos will likely need more of that tonight to advance to a finals rematch against Vanderbilt.
I think Brian O'Connor still made the right call putting Kirby out there. O'Connor said he decided earlier this week that Connor Jones wouldn't pitch three times in Omaha. That means he would not have been used for the finals anyway if he had played and helped the Cavs win Friday. Either way, Kirby was likely to be pushed into action sometime, just because of the set-up and number of days off in the tournament, so it was better to roll Kirby out there in a non-elimination game than in a must-win situation. If it had worked out, that would have been really, really, good. If it didn't well, then, the gamble just didn't pay off.
Florida and Virginia play tonight at 8 for the right to face Vanderbilt in the final best-of-three series. The Commodores are back to defend their title after topping TCU, 7-1, after the Virginia-Florida game. The game will be on ESPN. Jones is expected to be the starter but it could be Waddell on four days' rest, based on how good he looked against Florida on Monday. Florida will probably put A.J. Puk (9-4, 3.81) out there, whom Virginia beat Monday, or Dane Dunning (5-2, 3.88).
A potential light at the end of the tunnel is Virginia did finally get the bats going against Florida, scoring four runs in the final three innings after scoring just two over the previous 14 innings against the Gators. The Wahoos will likely need more of that tonight to advance to a finals rematch against Vanderbilt.
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