The Florida Gators
win their first national baseball championship by topping LSU 6-1 Tuesday in the College World Series.
OMAHA, Neb. — A controversial call, a throw home, a sliding catch, an unexpected star and a championship.
It was quite a Tuesday night for the Florida Gators, who earned their first baseball national title with a 6-1 win against Louisiana State. The Gators (52-19) swept the College World Series final and become the fifth Division I school to hoist the ultimate trophy in baseball, football, and men’s basketball.
“I’m just so happy for our players,” UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan told ESPN. “It’s all about them. They’re the ones who put in all the hard work.”
Tyler Dyson’s second start of the season was sterling, giving up one run in six innings. The freshman allowed one run in 14
1⁄3 innings in the NCAA Tournament, but most of the action took place after he left Tuesday’s game.
Zach Watson’s dribbler turned into a lead-off infield single for LSU in the seventh, and he was the last hitter Dyson would face. Watson stole second, then scored on Josh Smith’s double, cutting Florida’s lead to 2-1. Jake Slaughter singled, and moments later was part of one of the more controversial plays in CWS history.
Michael Papierski grounded into a double play, allowing Smith to score from third with what would have been the tying run. Instead, Slaughter’s high slide — his foot struck shortstop Dalton Guthrie’s knee — was ruled interference by second base umpire Steve Mattingly,
nullifying the run.
While Tigers’ coach Paul Mainieri argued with Mattingly, numerous LSU fans sitting in the outfield of TD Ameritrade Park tossed cups and other debris on the field. They did so again after Papierski’s line drive was caught by a sliding Nick Horvath to end the inning.
Two singles — a bloop and a bunt — put runners on the corners with no outs in the LSU eighth. After a strikeout, first baseman JJ Schwarz threw home on a groundball to get Kramer Robertson on a close play for the second out. Robertson remained face down, agonizing about coming up inches short of tying the game. Again, Horvath caught a line drive to center to end the threat.
Florida’s offense, which hit .204 in its first five CWS games, broke open the game with a four-run bottom of the eighth. Horvath’s hit-by-pitch forced in the first run, then Oviedo High alum Deacon Liput plated two with a line drive to center. Schwarz added a sacrifice fly for his second RBI of the game.
“I’m just so happy for our players. It’s all about them. They’re the ones who put in all the hard work.” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan
The Gators led 2-0 after three, but the lead could have been much bigger. Florida didn’t score in a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the third, and left seven runners on base in the first three innings. Those wasted opportunities were of no matter when at 11:24 p.m. Eastern time, Liput threw to Schwarz for the final out of the season.
UF players piled onto the mound, celebrating their victory. O’Sullivan joined them, fighting back tears.
“No one believed in in us,” he said. “... I don’t think anybody thought we’d get to this point. We had our struggles offensively . ... I told them at the beginning of this season we had what it took to pull this thing off.”
Florida ace pitcher Alex Faedo, the tournament’s most outstanding player, joined the Gators celebrating a season that relied on elite pitching and a surprising surge of timely hits at the CWS to bring home the title.
“It’s just an unreal feeling right now,” he said before adding the Gators never doubted they could hoist the title trophy. “. . . It’s awesome . ... We always thought we had a shot.” Gators to host victory party
UF announced it would host a public celebration of the baseball team today from 4:30-6 p.m. at McKethan Stadium. Admission and parking for the event is free.
The gates at McKethan Stadium will open at 4 p.m. and the team is set to arrive at about 4:30 p.m. Fans can enter the park through the main gate or the right field entrance by the Lemerand Center. In addition, parking will be available in the main O’Connell Center lot.
There will be video highlights and interviews with O’Sullivan and several players about their experience at the College World Series.