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The College World Series is in full swing, and the Florida Gators find themselves in the winner’s bracket, just one victory away from the championship series.
UF has ripped off a pair of wins over Virginia and Oral Roberts in Omaha as the program pursues its second national title. They currently find themselves in a matchup with TCU where they’re hoping to eliminate the Horned Frogs from the field.
Ahead of that Wednesday contest, head coach Kevin O’Sullivan was seen sporting an interesting shirt in the Gators’ dugout. The top took a playful shot at O’Sullivan, himself, for an error made earlier in the NCAA Tournament.
In Florida’s most recent College World Series matchup against ORU, the coach made the mistake of visiting the mound one too many times. According to NCAA rule, each team is allowed six defensive (pitching) conferences per game.
Rule 6.5.f – A coach or player is granted a timeout for an offensive or defensive conference. Each team shall be allowed three (3) offensive and (6) defensive conferences per game, no more than three (3) of which may include a coach.
Those visits include both coaches and players (i.e., catchers, infielders).
O’Sullivan apparently missed one of those visits, and accidentally made a seventh late in the game. Due to the infraction, Florida was forced replace their pitcher with that replacement having limited time to warm up.
“We keep [track of] it in the dugout,” O’Sullivan said after the game. “It was totally my mistake, and no one feels more terribly than I do.”
It didn’t hurt the Gators as they’d close out the win, but the head coach had some fun with the blunder on Wednesday.
Gator HC Kevin O’Sullivan pic.twitter.com/4UrJQDLIh9
— Dani Wexelman (@DaniWex) June 21, 2023
“Yes, I can count to 6,” the t-shirt read.
Fans were quick to respond on social media.
“This is awesome. Coaches are human too!” one post read.
“Gotta love a coach who can laugh at his own mistakes,” another follower said.
At the time of this writing, O’Sullivan and the Gators are leading TCU in the fourth inning of play. With another College World Series win, they’ll secure a spot in the title matchup.