It takes a lot of things going wrong in combination to lose a game 24-4, and there are very few clean hands in a game that featured five errors.
Still, an ill-timed error by shortstop Jordan Thompson turned what could've been an inning-ending double play into a second life, for Florida, followed by a Ty Evans grand slam that sure felt like the turning point on Sunday.
Another run scored in the 4th inning on a poor throw to third base trying to get an out that was never really there. The first error was a product of trying to go too fast, his coach said. The second was a product of trying to do too much.
Still, Jay Johnson said he isn't looking anywhere else as the biggest game of the season looms on Monday.
"He’ll play tomorrow," Johnson said. "There’s no question about it. He’s started every game for two years, he’s played very good shortstop this year."
It's not a huge surprise, as the Tigers don't have much behind Thompson from a fielding perspective. But any defensive woes are clearly magnified by an anemic hitting performance in the postseason. Thompson is 1-for-30 at the plate in Omaha. Of those 29 outs, 14 have been strikeouts.
The difficulties at the bottom of the batting order have exacerbated a concerning number of runners left of base, including stranding the bases loaded in each of the first two innings, then hitting into a bases loaded double-play in the third. Johnson points out that when you lead the NCAA in on-base percentage, there are going to be more runners stranded, that's just how it works.
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"It’s one game for a national championship," Johnson said. "I think coach O’Sullivan probably feels great about his team, as he should with the players they have. I feel great about my team with the players we have.”
But there are no major changes coming in the day-and-a-half break between games. There won't be any ground ball fielding drills on concrete. There will only be rest and the same preparation routine that the Tigers have followed throughout the postseason, and one that's featured just two losses in 12 games.
And when it comes down to it, Johnson trusts his shortstop in the field and at the plate, and he's got some prophetic words that we can come back to after Monday's result, whatever it is.
"We wouldn’t be in the College World Series without Jordan and how he’s played this year. He’s had a tough tournament offensively, but there’s been a lot of stories of guys in the College World Series of guys struggle, struggle, struggle and then get a big hit for you, make a big play for you," Johnson said. "And I think he’s a great candidate for that.”
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