OMAHA — Florida baseball’s potent power hitters showed up just in time Friday night.
Virginia
Florida overpowers Virginia late on College World Series opening night
Florida had hit 129 home runs in its first 65 games this season.
“Certainly a tough loss,” Virginia Coach Brian O’Connor said. “They put big-time swings in the ninth inning.”
Virginia put itself in position to win after trailing 1-0 through six innings.
The Cavaliers last played the Gators in 2015, when Virginia won two of the three meetings on its way to the program’s only national title. On Friday, the teams were locked in a pitchers’ duel.
Florida’s pitching staff had allowed a total of 12 runs in seven NCAA tournament games. And on Friday, Florida starter Brandon Sproat allowed three hits and struck out seven through the first six innings.
But after Ethan Anderson led off the Virginia seventh with a walk, Casey Saucke grounded a single to right to put runners at the corners on Sproat’s 100th pitch. Anderson scored on a groundout, and the Cavaliers had two on with two outs when Griff O’Ferrall drilled a shot down the third-base line for a two-run double and a 3-1 lead. Ethan O’Donnell followed with a single to center that scored O’Ferrall.
Florida’s bats soon came to life. The Gators, coached by Virginia alumnus Kevin O’Sullivan, scored on a groundout in the bottom of the seventh and loaded the bases with two outs. But Jake Berry, the third Virginia pitcher of the inning, got another groundout to keep the Cavaliers up 4-2.
After Florida’s BT Riopelle led off the eighth with a homer to left center to make it a one-run game, Virginia restored its two-run lead in the ninth when Henry Godbout hit a two-out RBI triple to the right field corner.
Behind the solo homers, Florida quickly tied it in the bottom of the ninth. Langford, who is expected to be one of the first players selected in next month’s MLB draft, made it 5-5 before a deep fly to center brought home the winning run.
With the loss, Virginia will play an elimination game at 2 p.m. Sunday against TCU, which also blew a ninth-inning lead in a 6-5 loss to Oral Roberts.
“This team has fought all year,” O’Ferrall said. “We’re not going to get down on ourselves, and [we’ll] get back to work like we have all year.”