Florida faces Central Michigan in the NCAA baseball tournament on Friday, June 3.
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The game (6:30 p.m. ET start time) isn’t on regular TV anywhere, but you can watch Florida vs Central Michigan live on ESPN+:
ESPN+ will have exclusive coverage of every non-televised game at the 2022 NCAA Baseball Tournament (around 60 games total). It also includes other live sports, every 30-for-30 documentary and additional original content (both video and written) for $6.99 per month (or $20.97 for a bundle of all three of ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu).
Once signed up for ESPN+, you can watch Florida vs Central Michigan live on the ESPN app on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4 or 5, Xbox One or Series X/S, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), Samsung Smart TV, Oculus Go, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
You can also watch on your computer via ESPN.com.
Florida vs CMU Baseball Preview
Florida comes into the NCAA baseball tournament with high expectations.
The Gators open up tournament play with Central Michigan on Friday. Gators head coach Kevin O’Sullivan doesn’t want his team overlooking the Chippewas and will have Texas Rangers draft pick Brandon Sproat pitching in the opener.
“Us throwing Brandon kind of tells you what my thought process is: it’s only Central Michigan right now,” O’Sullivan said via Gator Sports. “I hate to sound like coach-speak, but that’s the truth.”
Central Michigan reached the tournament a third-straight season by winning the Mid-American Conference title. The Chippewas have a history of pulling upsets in baseball’s big dance. CMU stunned Michigan last year and Miami in 2019.
“In a sense, the NCAA tournament, I think, is probably more relaxing for these guys than a conference tournament,” CMU head coach Jordan Bischel said via the Detroit Free Press. “It’s a little bit of house money at this point … not that we don’t want to go down there and compete and win, but this is kind of bonus baseball for these guys.”
Florida expects a formidable task in the Chippewas, the only 40-win team seeded fourth in the whole tournament.
“They’ve got a real No. 1 pitcher, they’ve got three guys who have double-digit stolen bases,” O’Sullivan said via Gator Sports. “They defend good, they’re confident, their line-up is balanced left-handed and right-handers. They’ve won 42 games this year. They’re talented…”
CMU will take its fun-loving approached to Gainesville regardless if the Cinderella slipper fits again. “In-game shenanigans” have been a hallmark of the program for a while, the Detroit Free Press’ Mason Young wrote.
“We keep everything to ourselves, we keep everything respectful, but you’re darn right, I want ‘em to have fun,” Bischel said per Young. “We’ve got 30 guys in that dugout, and nine are in the game, and you’re going to tell these guys… to stay engaged and stay involved, but just sit there like a lump on a log? Heck no, these guys gotta have fun with it.”
Gainesville Regional Schedule
All Times in Eastern Time
Friday, June 3
Game 1: Liberty vs. Oklahoma, 1 p.m.
Game 2: Florida (13) vs. Central Michigan, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 4
Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. loser Game 2, TBD
Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. winner Game 2, TBD
Sunday, June 5
Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. loser Game 4, TBD
Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. winner Game 5, TBD
Monday, June 6
Game 7: If Necessary (Based on Game 6 Results), TBD
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Where to Watch Florida vs Central Michigan Baseball Game Today