Kevin O'Sullivan breaks down Florida's pitching entering deciding game of CWS Finals

Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said the team was in good shape in terms of the pitching staff going into Game 3. The Gators will start lefty Jac Caglianone.

After rolling to a 24-4 win over LSU in Game 2, it’s winner take all Monday night against the Tigers. With Caglianone on the hill and basically Florida’s pitchers going no-holds-bar in the final game, O’Sullivan is confident.

In fact, it couldn’t be better for this situation.

“We’ve got one of our weekend starters going on four days’ rest,” O’Sullivan said. “And, like I said, Neely and Cade, who have been pitching an awful lot for us out here, got the day off. Ryan Slater hasn’t pitched. I think we’re in as good a shape as we possibly could be in game three of a weekend series. That’s what this is.”

Caglianone is one of the best on O’Sullivan’s pitching staff, but it’s been a rough road to this point.

“The irony of the whole thing is, obviously Jac has struggled a little bit throwing strikes in the middle part of the year,” O’Sullivan said. “And just felt like if we were ever going to have an opportunity to win the last game of the year he was going to have to stay in the rotation. He’ll have that opportunity tomorrow to pitch. So it’s kind of funny how things work out.”

But Caglianone is ready to put on for Florida pitching in Game 3.

“I’m really excited,” he said. “I’d give anything for this team to win. I said it earlier in the year, my biggest goal is just to get a ring on these guys that have been here a while. That’s the whole game plan for tomorrow.”

After losing a tight one in Game 1 and then blowing up in Game 2, it could certainly take an emotional toll on O’Sullivan and his team. The beauty of the College World Series, Game 3 is immediate and both teams have to regroup.

O’Sullivan and the pitching staff have to lock in.

“It’s really hard to unwind, to be honest with you,” O’Sullivan said. “You lose a game like last night and it’s just really, really hard to kind of let it go. But you have to. That was the message last night.

“And then just to flip the switch and the whole story — the whole narrative changes, it’s just — yeah, it’s emotional. You just take it in and support all the fans. They’re singing the song at the end. And it’s really, really cool. It was a really cool deal.”