Florida baseball eliminated from CWS with 3-2 loss to Texas Tech
The No. 1 seed Florida baseball team’s stay at the College World Series has come to a close.
Following a disappointing 2-1 loss to Coastal Carolina in Florida’s CWS opener on Sunday night, Florida's late rally fell short Tuesday in Omaha as it lost to fifth-seeded Texas Tech 3-2 to see its CWS hopes dashed.
The Gators, which went 0-2 in this year’s CWS, are now 6-10 in its five trips to Omaha under Florida baseball head coach Kevin O’Sullivan. UF, also the No. 1 overall seed in 2012, went winless that year as well. Under O’Sullivan, Florida has gone winless in three (2010, 2012, 2016) of its five CWS appearances. Florida is the fourth team in CWS history with 10-plus appearances but no national titles to show for it.
Florida now holds a 98-69 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament and a 14-21 mark in the CWS.
Texas Tech struck first Tuesday at the top of the fourth inning. After Cory Raley singled to third base on a bunt, he stole second and Tyler Neslony grounded out to advance Raley to third. Then, Eric Gutierez homered to left field to lift the Red Raiders to a 2-0 advantage.
Two innings later, Florida coughed up a golden scoring opportunity. Following pitch hitter Jeremy Vasquez’s single to left field and a Dalton Guthrie walk, Buddy Reed grounded out to advance both Guthrie and Vasquez to second and third base. Texas Tech then opted to walk Peter Alonso, loading the bases for the Gators with just one out on the board.
But with J.J. Schwarz at the plate, Florida couldn’t take advantage. He grounded out into a double play, as the umpires called runner’s inference on Schwarz on TTU catcher Tyler Floyd’s throw to first base to end the inning.
Texas Tech tacked on another run in the ninth working against UF pitcher Dane Dunning with Neslony at second base after two throwing errors by Florida – one on a throw to first base and the next back to third. On the play, Neslony took advantage to score and give the Red Raiders a 3-0 lead.
With three outs until elimination, Florida cut its deficit to just one run in the bottom of the ninth when Buddy Reed singled and then Alonso homered to left field. But after that, Schwarz struck out swining and Mike Rivera popped up to second base.
Then, it came down to Jonathan India with two outs. He singled to left field but tried to stretch it to a double - but was thrown out by the Red Raiders at second base to close the game.
UF starting pitcher Alex Faedo pitched 7.2 innings for the Gators Tuesday, allowing seven hits, two runs and no walks. He recorded nine strikeouts and no walks. Meanwhile, Texas Tech pitcher David Martin excelled in seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and three walks while recording three strikeouts in seven innings. Hayden Howard then came in and allowed three hits, two runs and two errors in the final two innings.
Florida, which was ranked No. 1 throughout much of the 2016 season in numerous polls, now finishes the year 52-16 (19-10 SEC). That’s the highest win percentage Florida has achieved under O’Sullivan in nine seasons – and it’s tied for its second-most wins in a single season under O’Sullivan, as UF also won 52 games in 2015. UF’s best win total under O’Sullivan was its 53-19 record in 2011.
Discuss the Florida-Texas Tech result here in the Alley.