Florida pitcher Brandon Neely has found his rhythm at the right time to help the Gators reach the College World Series. The closer has played some of his best baseball across the NCAA Tournament, striking out a career-high 11 batters in a Regional game against Oklahoma State.
That play carried over into the Super Regional against Clemson, which Florida won with a 11-10 walk-off victory in extra innings. Neely entered that game having yet to give up a run across 12 innings of NCAA Tournament action before surrendering a three-run homer in the ninth.
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Neely has thrown a combined 23 strikeouts throughout Regional and Super Regional play, and coach Kevin O’Sullivan knows the Gators wouldn’t be heading to Omaha without him.
“Between last weekend and what he was able to do yesterday and today — I know he was disappointed in himself tonight but Clemson earned it,” O’Sullivan said following the Super Regional win. “What a good swing for the three-run homer. But he’s just starting to find his niche again. In all fairness to him, he started the season as our closer and then we struggled a little bit starting pitching wise. So then we moved him back to a starting role.
“Then once Liam Peterson started figuring things out it gave us the ability to go ahead and put him back at the back end of the bullpen. What you see is what you get. He’s gonna fight you tooth and nail and you’re gonna have to pull the ball out of his hand. We certainly wouldn’t be here without him as well.”
Neely leads Florida with four saves and 93 strikeouts this season and provides a reliable veteran presence behind ace Jac Caglianone. He’s made six starts but should continue to work as a closer for the Gators, who are aiming for revenge after finishing runner up in last season’s CWS.
His performance in 2023 was even more impressive as he led the SEC with 13 saves to earn first team all-conference. He struck out seven batters in Game 1 of the Super Regional against Clemson this year as he pitched the final four innings while giving up only one hit.
The run to the College World Series has been quite impressive for Florida after it barely snuck in to the NCAA Tournament following a 28-27 season. The Gators won both the Regional and Super Regional on the road as they had one of the toughest paths of any team in getting to Omaha.
Now as they look to finish things off with a title, Neely will continue to be an arm they lean on down the stretch in this critical games.
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