The No. 2 Florida Gators bashed three home runs among their five hits to power past Oral Roberts 5-4 on Sunday night at the Men’s College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
Ty Evans and Luke Heyman hit two-run shots and Josh Rivera had a solo blast for the Gators, who are 2-0 in the series and will next play Wednesday against the winner of Tuesday’s elimination contest between Oral Roberts and TCU.
Oral Roberts edged TCU 6-5 in the first game of the series on Thursday.
On Sunday, Florida (52-15) went up 5-1 through four innings before the Golden Eagles (52-13) rallied with Matt Hogan’s inside-the-park home run that also scored Justin Quinn (walk) for a 5-3 deficit in the seventh.
Down to its last at-bats, Oral Roberts got even closer in the ninth. Hogan hit a ground-rule double with one out and went to third on Mac McCroskey’s single. Florida left-hander Cade Fisher walked Holden Breeze to load the bases.
Drew Stahl grounded into a fielder’s choice to shortstop for a forceout at second as Hogan scored. But with McCroskey on third base as the tying run, Jacob Godman flied out to center to end the game.
Oral Roberts had 11 hits and six walks but struck out 13 times. Florida starter Hurston Waldrep (10-3) fanned 12 while allowing seven hits and three walks with one run in six innings.
The Golden Eagles were 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position; the Gators were 0-for-5 and also struck out 14 times.
–Field Level Media