What happened: Florida is heading into the College World Series for the first time since 2018. The Gators capped off a sweep of Southeastern Conference rival South Carolina with a 4-0 win in the best-of-three Gainesville Super Regional at Condron Ballpark on Saturday afternoon. Florida won Game 1 on Friday night 5-4. In the decisive win on Saturday, the third baseman Colby Halter He contributed two runs and a start Hurston Waldrip It was an exciting 2 hour 36 minute weather delay before the first pitch.
Play the game: In a match dominated by Waldrip, it was Halter’s weakness that did the damage offensively. Halter drives down the right line from the Gamecocks’ starter Jack Mahoney Scored PT Riupel And Luke Heyman. In the previous at-bat, Tyler Schellnat She faced a left turnaround with all of South Carolina State Brilliane Wimmer And the second rule Michael Braswell Anchored on the left side of the playing field. Braswell fielded what would normally have been a double bunt, but with no one covering second he dismissed Schelnat at first but Riopelle and Heyman pulled ahead. This set up Halter for his biggest hit of the season.
Amazing case: Waldrip has 25 strikeouts in 15 innings in two NCAA Tournaments. He struck out nine of the final 14 batters he faced before getting out to a standing ovation with a one, no out in the bottom of the ninth.
In the spotlight: who else? And the trail, young right-hander from Thomasville, Ga.. transferred to UF in the offseason from southern Mississippi and was sensational Saturday. Waldrip pitched a career-high eight innings and struck out 13 Gamecocks. Waldrip only allowed three hits before closing Brandon Neely came in to score the last three outs.
Key moment: As good as the trail was, the Gators added insurance runs in the fifth inning Josh RiveraAn RBI single and in the eighth on Halter’s RBI sacrifice fly. Halter finished 1-for-2 with three RBI.
he said that: “It was the most amazing thing I could ever dream of. This crowd, this team, this is amazing. This is what you play in college baseball. That’s why I got to this level.” – Crocodile start Horson Waldrip After Saturday’s picnic
In numbers: 8,851 – The crowd at Condron Ballpark on Saturday declared, for the second day in a row UF had the largest campus crowd in state college baseball history; 7,673 – The crowd announced Wednesday at Depot Park in Miami for the Marlins-Royals game; 13 – College World Series berths for the Gators in program history.
the next: The Gators advance to the College World Series, which they will open against the winner of the Virginia-Duke Super Regional when they arrive in Omaha, Neb. The Virginia-Duke series is tied at one game each.
– Sullivan Portner contributed to this report.
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