Photo courtesy of @GatorsBB via Twitter.

Gators Baseball Remains Undefeated in Omaha

June 19, 2023

The Gators defeated Oral Roberts 5-4 on Sunday to remain in the College World Series winners’ bracket. Florida improves to 2-0 in Omaha.

Waldrep Shoves

In his third NCAA Tournament outing, Gators starter Hurston Waldrep tossed six innings, giving up one run, seven hits and three walks. Waldrep struck out 12 and earned his 10th win of the season. Waldrep now has a 3-0 record and 0.86 ERA in the NCAA Tournament. Throughout his three tournament starts, he pitched 21 innings, surrendering 15 hits and two runs, walking seven and striking out 37.

https://twitter.com/GatorsBB/status/1670603109171621890?s=20

In his dominant performance, Waldrep has become the fourth-ever Gators pitcher to strike out double-digit batters at the College World Series. He joins Gator Greats such as Alex Faedo, Jackson Kowar and Brady Singer. Additionally, Waldrep’s 12 K is tied with Singer for the second-best by a Florida pitcher in the College World Series.

Gators Remain on Top

The Gator offense struck first. Ty Evans would break open the scoring with a two-out, two-run shot to right center field. The home run marked his second of the postseason in as many at-bats. In doing so, Evans becomes the first-ever Gator to homer in both of their first two games in the College World Series.

Following an Oral Roberts run on a bases-loaded two-out grounder, Wyatt Langford would receive a home run call before being overturned and ruled foul. Josh Rivera would seek revenge by going deep to left. His 18th home run of the season would give Florida a 3-1 advantage over Oral Roberts in the top of the fourth. Luke Heyman would follow up by blasting a two-run bomb to make it a 5-1 lead for the Gators.

Golden Eagles Rally Late

Sunday night’s game saw yet another dramatic finish for Gators baseball. The Golden Eagles cut the lead to one run in the bottom of the ninth. With the bases loaded and the game-tying run on third base, Florida reliever Cade Fisher sat down ORU’s Jacob Goodman on a fly ball to center to end the game.

Fisher took over on the mound in the bottom of the eighth after the umpires forced Florida to replace closer Brandon Neely due to one-too-many mound visits.

Up Next

The Gators remain confident after winning two-straight, however they understand in the game of baseball no matchup can be overlooked. Florida will next play the winner of Tuesday’s elimination game between TCU and Oral Roberts. The national semifinals will take place on Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET.

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