Who does Florida play in the first round of the College World Series? Putting the Virginia baseball roster under the microscope

There should be an exciting first-round matchup between the Florida Gators and Virginia Cavaliers as the College World Series begins on Friday. Two of the top seven seeds in the NCAA Tournament face off, with the loser being on the brink of elimination.

What should the Gators expect out of the Cavaliers when they play on Saturday? Let's take a closer look at Virginia and figure out its strengths and weaknesses before their big clash.

What should the Florida Gators expect out of the Virginia Cavaliers pitching staff?

Virginia has a solid pitching staff that really flexed its muscles throughout its super regional against the Duke Blue Devils as they allowed 11 runs over three games. This has been the way these pitchers have been dominating all season as they are fourth in the country with a 3.77 ERA over 555.2 innings.

A big reason for their success is that they do not issue a lot of free passes as they rank sixth with 3.11 walks allowed per nine innings. So, Florida batters have to be aggressive and swing early in the count as they are not going to get ahead of many counts.

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Virginia Baseball

@UVABaseball

🧢 Tip of the cap to this 𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗜𝗢𝗥!

Nick Parker:
6.2 IP
4 K
3 ER

#GoHoos

154

13

🧢 Tip of the cap to this 𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗜𝗢𝗥!

Nick Parker:
6.2 IP
4 K
3 ER

#GoHoos https://t.co/5NAqPdxMVZ

Nick Parker will likely be on the mound and is coming off a quality start against Duke, going 6.2 innings and allowed three runs on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

What should the Florida pitchers expect out of the Virginia lineup?

Florida's pitchers need to focus on getting outs as Virginia has one of the best lineups in the country. The Cavs have played five postseason games and have scored double-digits in three of them. This did not just begin recently though as they are the best-hitting team in the country as they have a .335 batting average and average 9.11 runs per game.

Junior infielder Jake Gelof has been one of the best hitters at driving in runs as he's tied for fourth with 89 RBIs. Meanwhile, junior catcher Kyle Teel is eighth in college baseball (first among catchers) with a .418 batting average.

This is going to be an amazing first-round matchup between two of the country's best programs. Florida has a tall task of escaping this game and silencing the Virginia bats.

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