GAINESVILLE - The facts might suggest otherwise, but the Florida baseball team isn't lamenting that its road to the College World Series winds through Miami.
Nor is it surprised.
It's really nothing new.
Two of the past three years, Miami eliminated Florida in the regions. This time they meet in the NCAA Super Region, Florida's first appearance there. The best-of-three series begins today at Miami.
The Hurricanes are the Collegiate Baseball No. 1 team in the nation and have been nearly unbeatable at Mark Light Field in Coral Gables, going 6-0 in winning the past three super regions. "I think Miami has been our biggest rivalry and has surpassed Florida State just because we do play them every year in regionals it seems like," Tampa native C.J. Smith said. "But they always find a way to beat us and we're trying to change that this year."
And though Miami and baseball have been synonymous with heartbreak and disappointment for the Gators, they insist they wouldn't have it any other way.
"I'm excited as heck to play Miami," Florida coach Pat McMahon said. "This is what you play for, these moments. It was a very important step for us to play in a super regional this year. This is a new experience for our guys to journey through, so I'm excited about that. We're happy to play Miami."
In three seasons at Florida, McMahon has endured his share of disappointing losses to Miami, but he said they have been some of the most thrilling games he has been a part of. In 2002, underdog Miami came into Gainesville and defeated No. 1 seed Florida 8-7 in the region final, winning in its last at-bat. Last season, the Gators lost 13-10 in Coral Gables. In a way, last season's loss helped shape the course of this year's team because it prompted two key players to stick around.
Smith, a former Jesuit standout, was a redshirt sophomore who was selected in the sixth round of the Major League Baseball draft last year. Outfielder Ben Harrison was drafted in the fourth round by the Cleveland Indians. But both were young, still had eligibility remaining and neither had reached that elusive goal of playing in a College World Series.
If Florida had defeated Miami last season, "there's a good chance I wouldn't be here (now)," said Harrison, a senior who leads the team with a .357 batting average, 17 home runs and 69 RBIs. "If I had gone to Omaha, it would have been probably a lot easier for me to sign and I would have left realizing I didn't have a lot left to accomplish."
Second on the team with a .347 batting average, including 63 RBIs and 14 home runs, Smith played mostly first base this year. He was drafted in the fifth round by the Baltimore Orioles on Monday and likely is playing his final season.
"This would be such a great way to go out," he said. "If we beat Miami and we go to Omaha, we'd be down there celebrating on their field. That would be an outstanding feeling. That's a great reason to come back. But to be able to get that much closer to Omaha, for both me and Ben, that's been our goal. I won a state championship in high school and that was an awesome feeling, but Omaha has got to be one of the best feelings in the world. And we just want to know what that's like."
Turning good fortune in its favor could be a daunting task. Since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1999, Florida has never made it this far, and it has not been to the College World Series since 1998.
The Hurricanes won two of three against Florida in the opening series of the regular season, but the Gators say they are a much better team now.
"It's definitely an advantage having the home field, but I feel like we've played well on the road this year and I don't feel like it's such an advantage that if we go down and play well, (then) it's not going to stop us from coming out on top," Harrison said. " ... It's the best of three. We know in a three-game series, we can beat anybody in the country."
