Back to Omaha. Florida baseball beats Clemson in 13-inning marathon to earn 14th CWS trip in school history
Florida baseball was in danger of missing the 2024 NCAA Tournament field less than a month ago.
Now, the Florida Gators are heading to the College World Series.
Florida (34-28) clinched its second straight trip to the College World Series and 14th in school history, outlasting Clemson in an 11-10, 13-inning marathon to sweep the NCAA Clemson Regional at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in Clemson, S.C,
After Clemson took a 10-9 lead on a solo home run in the top of the 13th by Alden Mathes, Florida loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the inning. Then, UF center fielder Michael Robertson delivered the walk-off hit, a two-RBI double off Clemson reliever Ethan Darben to win a game that lasted 5 hours and 5 minutes.
"I was just looking for something up in the zone, a good pitch to hit," Robertson said. "It was there, I was able to put a good swing on it. I thought I got enough barrel for it to find a gap, and it did, but obviously none of that happens without the guys in front of me."
Florida won its fifth straight, matching a season-long win streak that last occurred Feb. 20-25 against North Florida and Columbia. After going 13-17 in SEC play, the Gators are peaking at the right time.
"We had put ourselves in position to get over the .500 mark to get into the tournament," Florida baseball coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. "And honestly the last month of the year we've been pretty much playing playoff baseball. Every game mattered. Every Tuesday game, mid-week, and then we had to finish it off at Georgia, win two out of three there ...
"But I think us going through those struggles and have every game matter, the last two or three weeks of the year, probably helped toughen us up a little bit."
Florida was two outs away from a CWS berth in the top of the ninth, with closer Brandon Neely on the mound. But after giving up back-to-back singles, Neely surrendered a three-run homer to Clemson center fielder Cam Cannarella, tying the score at 9.
Neely regrouped to keep the score tied in the ninth and pitched a scoreless 10th and 11th inning in a 72-pitch, 4-inning outing. Florida had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the 10th, but with two runners on, Cannarella made a Willie-Mays style catch to rob Florida right fielder Ashton Wilson of a game-winning, walk-off double.
Freshman righty Luke McNiellie (4-6) earned the win for the Gators, allowing one run over two innings pitched with three strikeouts.
Jac Caglianone powers Florida baseball to early lead
Jac Caglianone got Florida off to an early 2-0 lead with a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning and allowed 4 runs over 5 2/3 innings as UF's starting pitcher. Shortstop Colby Shelton also went 2-for-5 with 3 RBIs, including a tiebreaking two-RBI single that gave the Gators a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the fifth.
Clemson cuts Florida's lead to 5-4 on a solo home run by catcher Jimmy Obertop in the top of the sixth, but Florida answered with a big blast of its own. After Dale Thomas led off the bottom of the sixth with a single, catcher Brody Donay hit a towering two run homer to right center field, putting Florida back up 7-4.
After Clemson cut Florida's lead to 7-6 in the top of the eighth, Florida answered again with another timely home run. Clemson chose to intentionally walk Caglianone with two outs and no one on, and Ashton Wilson followed with a two-run homer, giving Florida a 9-6 lead.
The high-stakes game included some tense moments early. In the top of the second, Caglianone tagged out designated hitter Nolan Nawrocki on a slow roller up the first base line. Nawrocki delivered an elbow into Caglianone's body on the play, and Caglianone responded with a shove, causing both dugouts to empty.
After a lengthy 18-minute review, umpires ejected Clemson first baseman Jack Crighton for crossing the diamond to get involved in the scrum. Crighton had doubled in the second inning before Nawrocki's ground out.
Caglianone stayed in the game and surrendered three runs in the top of the third, as Clemson went up 3-2 on a two-run homer by third baseman Blake Wright. But Shelton answered with an RBI single in the bottom of the third, tying the score at 3.
Clemson coach Erik Bakich was ejected in the top of the 13th inning, after umps conferred whether the eject Mathes from the game for his bat flip following his home run swing. Mathes, though, remained in the game.
"Obviously, you get to this time of the year, there's a lot at stake for both teams," O'Sullivan said. "But we were able to persevere through it."
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida baseball outlasts Clemson in Super Regional to advance to CWS
