Florida’s ace Faedo stymies TCU in 3-0 College World Series victory.
OMAHA, Neb. — The Detroit Tigers’ brass must have been smiling after the performance Alex Faedo put on at TD Ameritrade Park. The Florida Gators sure were.
Faedo limited TCU to two singles and struck out 11 in seven innings Sunday night, and Florida posted its first College World Series shutout since 1991 with a 3-0 win.
The Tigers’ first-round draft pick this month had at least one strikeout each inning and retired 10 in a row before turning the game over to closer Michael Byrne to start the eighth.
“There have been historic great pitchers come through, Rosenblatt and now TD Ameritrade, and tonight has to go down as a great, great performance in the College World Series history,” TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle said.
Faedo, who mixed his slider with a mid-90s fastball during his dominant 106-pitch performance, has been part of seven of the Gators’ nine shutouts this season. This shutout was Florida’s second in its 36 all-time CWS games and first in Omaha since a 5-0 win over Florida State 26 years ago.
“Just throwing whatever Sully wanted me to throw and trusting him and Mike,” Faedo said, referring to Gators coach Kevin O’Sullivan and catcher Mike Rivera. “They know the hitters more than anyone. Just trusting them and just attacking the zone with whatever they call.”
TCU’s Jared Janczak (9-1) struggled in his four innings. Byrne worked out of two mini jams and earned his 17th save.
JJ Schwarz, Christian Hicks and Nelson Maldonado each drove in runs for the Gators (48-18).
Florida is in the CWS for the sixth time in eight years and TCU (47-17) for the fourth year in a row. This was the first time they’ve met.