Finnvold offers relief, Gators-Sooners III on Monday afternoon at Gainesville Regional

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Freshman left-handed Carsten Finnvold did not start in Sunday’s must-win game against Oklahoma at the Gainesville Regional.

But he definitely finished it.

Finnvold replaced the ailing starter Timmy Manning with loaded bases and no outs in the bottom of the first inning. He worked his way out of the jam by retiring three straight Sooners, then set the Gators up for a 7-2 win and berth in Monday afternoon’s (1 p.m.) regional championship game at Condron Ballpark.

“No adjective I use does him justice,” Gators head coach said Kevin O’Sullivan said. “When I pushed him to the pen in the first inning, I just hoped he could limit the damage.”

Finnvold, a seldom used and almost forgotten pitcher during the regular season, threw the game of his life Sunday night with the Gators season at stake. He pulled back the first 16 hitters he faced and went the distance, giving up five hits and two runs over nine innings.

Finnvold’s 116-pitch relief effort brought the Gators to a time when they had few options after a 6-5 win over Central Michigan on Sunday afternoon.

outfielder Jew Fabian hit two homers, including a solo homer in the fourth inning for the first run against Sooners starter Cade Holton. The Gators added another run in the fifth, and after Oklahoma scored a few runs late in the sixth, Florida reclaimed the lead BT Riopelles RBI single in the seventh.

Fabian homed again to take an eighth lead, sparking a four-run breakout that iced the game for Finnvold in his sensational outing.

The Gators have won 19 of their last 25 games and need one more to earn a spot in the Super Regional.

NOTE

• Finnvold fielded nine innings of relief and allowed just two five-hit earned runs while going zero batters. He hit four.

  • Finnvold started with loaded bases and no outs in the first inning and went on to pull back the first 16 batters he faced.
  • Finnvold is the first Gator pitcher to pitch nine innings since Jack Leftwich accomplished the feat on May 17, 2019 in Missouri.

• J. Fabian hit a solo homer in the fourth to open scoring and extended his homer career to 23 long balls.

  • Florida’s 120 home runs this season rank second all-time in program history.
  • Fabian later hit his 24th homer in eighth, putting him in sole possession of third place on Florida’s single-season homer list.

    • That was Fabian’s 10th multi-homer game of his career and his fourth this season.

• Thompson (3-for-4) had three hits in today’s game and now has multiple hits in all four Gainesville Regional games.

  • Thompson is 10-for-14 at the Gainesville Regional.

• Florida is now 1-1 all time against Oklahoma
• Florida is 119-81 in NCAA tournament games.

  • The Gators are playing in the Regional League for the 14th straight year under O’Sullivan.

    • 2022 is Florida’s 37th NCAA appearance and 18th host.

• Florida have won 17 of their last 22 games and 19 of their last 25.

BY HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN

On Carsten Finnvolds Perfomance…
“I didn’t really have a chance to digest everything. Any adjective I use to describe his outing doesn’t do him justice. He had to come in first, bases loaded, nobody out. Had to rush him to the pen and he comes out. I was just hoping to limit the damage and next thing you know, he’s going nine. He gives up two runs. I really don’t know what to say at this point as other then I’m really happy for him. The season didn’t go the way he probably wished it would, but he gave us a great performance against Tennessee. He is an extremely hard worker. He’s tough… I think he deserves every award for that achievement. “