Florida Gators
Virginia (College World Series)
Gators Beat Virginia to Set Up Rematch for Berth in CWS Championship Series
Friday, June 19, 2015 | Baseball, Scott Carter
OMAHA, Neb. -- The Gators used two big innings on Friday to set up one huge game on Saturday.
Florida scored four runs in the third and added five in the sixth on the way to a 10-5 victory over Virginia, setting up a rematch in the College World Series on Saturday for a berth in the best-of-three championship series.
The Gators (52-17) improved to 6-0 in elimination games this postseason and solved Virginia's pitching staff after losing to the Cavaliers, 1-0, Monday night. Florida won four consecutive elimination games in the SEC Tournament last month to capture the title and have beaten Miami and Virginia in Omaha with its season on the line.
On Friday, after the Cavaliers provided starter Nathan Kirby a 1-0 lead in the first, the Gators erupted for four runs in the third.
"We have responded all year long when we've had our backs up against the wall,'' Gators coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. "We have a tendency to have big innings. In order to have big innings, you have to have a consistent lineup one through nine. We're getting a lot of contributions up and down the lineup. That just allows us to get things rolling to build some big innings."
Harrison Bader tied the game with an RBI groundout to second, and Richie Martin put the Gators in front with an RBI double. Josh Tobias followed Martin with an RBI single, and after moving to third on JJ Schwarz's single, Tobias scored on a passed ball by Virginia catcher Matt Thaiss.
The early breakthrough against Kirby was a key moment for the Gators after he cruised through the first two innings. The Gators were unable to produce in what few clutch moments they had Monday against Cavaliers lefty Brandon Waddell, who limited Florida to two hits over seven innings.
"Bader gets to two strikes, and it was almost reminiscent of the other night,'' O'Sullivan said. "He put the ball into play -- he didn't hit it hard -- but he got us on the board for the first run and that kind of got us going. If he strikes out there, who knows what happens."
Florida extended its lead to 9-1 with a five-run sixth inning, as five different Gators drove in runs in the frame. Michael Rivera had an RBI single, Dalton Guthrie walked with the bases loaded, Ryan Larson drove home a run with a fielder's choice, and Bader and Martin capped the inning with RBI singles.
Martin finished 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs.
"We just couldn't put them away in a couple of those innings,'' Virginia coach Brian O'Connor said. "They have had a nice offensive ballclub all year long."
Virginia (41-23) scored three runs in the seventh to chase Florida starter Logan Shore, but the Gators answered with a run in the bottom of the inning on Rivera's RBI double, which made it 10-4. The Gators reached double digits in runs for the third time in four games in Omaha.
That was ample support for Shore, who improved to 5-0 in the postseason as the Gators won for the 12th time in 14 games since the regular season ended. In 6 1/3 innings, Shore allowed eight hits, four runs, walked two and struck out four to become the first pitcher in school history to win two games in the same CWS.
"How many opportunities are you going to get to throw two games in the World Series, especially in an elimination game?'' Shore asked rhetorically. "I love those kinds of situations. If you can't win a game when your team scores 10 runs, something must be wrong."
Shore also earned the win in Florida's 15-3 win over Miami on Saturday. The Gators finished with 11 hits Friday and have now outscored opponents 35-11 in four games here.
"Throughout the season we hadn't really put everything together as an offense, defense and pitching-wise,'' Martin said. "It's nice to get this going in the postseason when it matters."
Meanwhile, Virginia's seven-game win streak was snapped as Kirby, making his first start since April 17 due to a strained back muscle, lasted only 2 2/3 innings (four hits, four runs).
The Florida-Virginia winner Saturday will face either Vanderbilt or TCU in the championship series.
Check out GatorZone.com later for a more in-depth report from today's game.
