Florida moves within victory of final series

Brady Singer pitched seven strong innings and Austin Langworthy and Deacon Liput homered to lead Florida to a 5-1 win over Louisville in the College World Series on Tuesday night.

The Gators (49-18) have won their first two CWS games for the first time in four appearances since opening 3-0 and reaching the finals in 2011. They advanced to Friday’s Bracket 2 final against the winner of the Louisville-TCU elimination game on Thursday.

The Gators would make next week’s best-of-three championship series with a victory Friday or Saturday in a rematch.

Louisville (53-11) managed one run on six hits and struck out nine times against Singer (8-5). Florida pitchers finished with 10 strikeouts, making it their fifth straight game in double digits.

The left-handed-swinging Langworthy sliced a ball just inside the left field foul pole in the third inning, and Liput hit a three-run homer to right in the fourth. Both homers came against Kade McClure (8-4), who otherwise was impressive in striking out nine and walking one in six innings.

The 6-foot-7, 230-pound McClure kept the game close until there were two outs in the fourth. He walked Nelson Maldonado, and Jonathan India singled before Liput drove a low 1-2 pitch into the bullpen for his second homer in four games and third of the season.

Singer hummed along through six innings, striking out eight, walking none and limiting the Cardinals to three singles. Louisville broke through for a run in the seventh when Brendan McKay doubled and scored on Colin Lyman’s two-out single. A base hit and walk followed, but the Cardinals left the bases loaded. TCU 4, Texas A&M 1: Roommates Brian Howard and Ryan Merrill kept the Horned Frogs’ season going with a victory that eliminated Texas A&M.

Howard matched his career high with 12 strikeouts in seven-plus innings. Merrill, playing before friends and family in his hometown, homered to start a three-run third inning.

The Frogs are 48-16; the Aggies finished 41-23.

NATI HARNIK / ASSOCIATED PRESS TCU senior Brian Howard (12-3) struck out 12, matching his career high, and didn’t walk a batter in seven-plus innings as he beat Texas A&M.