Florida hit three times in the opening four innings to grab a four-run lead over Oral Roberts, and Hurston Waldrep struck out 12 in six innings.
The College World Series then had an intriguing turn of events.
With a 5-4 victory on Sunday night, the Gators took control of Bracket 1. Prior to that, though, Florida had to endure Matt Hogan’s inside-the-park home run that cut ORU’s deficit to two runs, a bases-loaded situation in the eighth when its closer was ejected due to a mound-visit rule infraction, and ultimately another threat in the ninth.
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According to Gators shortstop Josh Rivera, “These last couple of games that have been played early in the World Series have kind of been like thrill seekers towards the last couple innings.”
Five of the first six games in the CWS’s history, which dates back to 1947, have been decided by one run for the first time ever.
ORU coach Ryan Folmar said, “I think people here in Omaha are getting their money’s worth.”
The Gators (52-15) will play the victor of ORU vs. TCU on Tuesday’s elimination game on Wednesday. If necessary, Florida would have two chances to secure the one victory that would advance the Gators to the weekend’s best-of-three finals.
The Golden Eagles of the Summit League (52-13), the first No. 4 regional seed to compete in the CWS since 2012, are known for punching above their weight, but they struggled mightily against the No. 2 national seed Gators early on.
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That changed in the eighth inning when Hogan hit a pitch from Ryan Slater off the wall in left-center field. Wyatt Langford, the centre fielder, struggled to catch the ball off the carom, and by the time he did, Hogan had already started running towards third. However, Hogan easily entered the game with a head-first slide when Rivera took the cutoff and threw home.
Folmar stated that “Matt’s swing was big, but I think just as big as the swing was the way he’s running around the bases, the way he hustles, and the way he plays.” “I believe that is spread throughout our squad. I believe that applies to all of them.
In the eighth inning, against Brandon Neely, the Eagles had two outs and had loaded the bases. The Gators were penalised for having visited the defensive mound seven times, one more than allowed, when Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan went outside to speak to his closer. Neely had to be replaced by O’Sullivan under the rule. When Cade Fisher turned on, Justin Quinn flew out.
Although he said that someone in the dugout is assigned to keep track of the number, O’Sullivan placed the blame on himself.
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No one feels worse about it than I do, he remarked. “You have to move on from it. It’s like a player who has a horrible game or gives up a run in the ninth or extra innings. After the game, I apologised to the team, and they assured me that they would support me.
After ORU scored on a groundout and had runners on the corners with two outs in the ninth, Florida managed to hold on. The Gators poured out of their dugout to rejoice when Jacob Godman flew out to conclude the game.
Despite scattering seven hits and walking three times in his six innings, Waldrep (10-3) only allowed one run. Every inning Waldrep pitched against ORU saw at least one guy reach base, but the anticipated first-round pick made the big pitch when he needed it and concluded the game with double-digit strikeouts for the third time in a row.
Overall, the outcome was positive, and that is all that counts, according to Waldrep. It took me some time to feel at home. There was a lot of adrenaline flowing during this game in the large stadium. Although I didn’t have the finest fastball feel, I was able to control the game thanks to my three off-speed pitches.
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Going into the game, ORU starter Harley Gollert (10-2) was coming off two of his worst performances of the year, and things didn’t get any better. The left-hander pitched into the third inning but was relieved with his club down 5-1 after allowing home runs to Ty Evans, Rivera, and Luke Heyman.
With Evans’ home run, the Gators broke their previous season record of 132 home runs set by the 1998 squad.
In three appearances totaling 8 1/3 innings in the NCAA Tournament, Gollert has allowed seven home runs.
