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Brandon Sproat made early adjustment, Florida leads Virginia early at College World Series

On3-Social-Profile_GRAYby:On3 Staff Report•06/16/23
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Photo courtesy of UAA Communications

Florida took an early lead in its opening College World Series game against Virginia on Friday night, plating a run in the bottom of the second inning that gave starting pitcher Brandon Sproat a little room to work with.

Sproat was shaky for a bit in the second and third inning, but seemed to settle back in during the middle frames.

“It looked like his tempo kind of slowed down a little bit and he was pulling his pitches for a couple innings to the glove side, but he made a good adjustment,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said during an in-game interview on the ESPN broadcast. “He’s been pitching great.”

Through five innings of work, Sproat had given up just three hits while striking out five and walking two. Florida is likely to ride him until he runs into trouble or tires, then turn things over to closer Brandon Neely.

O’Sullivan indicated in the lead-up to the first College World Series game that Neely could be used for multiple innings, a bit of a shift from his traditional closing role.

Florida, of course, would love to add some additional run support before that point.

The Gators took the lead in the bottom of the second inning after working their way around the base paths. Catcher BT Riopelle drew a leadoff walk, then moved over to second on a Luke Heyman single.

After right fielder Tyler Shelnut hit into a fielder’s choice to put runners at the corners with two outs, third baseman Colby Halter gave the Gators the lead with an RBI single to left center field.

Beyond that, though, Florida has had trouble getting to Virginia starting pitcher Nick Parker. Through five full innings Parker had given up just one run on four hits, while striking out one and walking three.

Despite the lack of run support so far, O’Sullivan was pleased with how his team was handling the spotlight of the College World Series in Omaha.

“They’ve been great,” he said. “We’re playing clean baseball and so is Virginia. It’s been a really good baseball game so far.”

The winner of tonight’s game will face Oral Roberts in the winner’s bracket on Sunday. Oral Roberts topped TCU 6-5 in the first game of the day. The loser of tonight’s game will meet TCU in an elimination game.