UF tops rival FSU, advances to CWS
GAINESVILLE — UF’s Bobby Poyner and JJ Schwarz watched anxiously as DJ Stewart’s line drive flew toward left-center field in the bottom of the ninth inning on Saturday.
But once the ball landed safely in outfielder Harrison Bader’s glove, the celebration began.
Poyner and Schwarz — pitcher and catcher, senior and freshman — threw their gloves in the air and embraced near the pitcher’s mound as the entire team ran toward them to celebrate Florida’s 11-4 win over Florida State, a win that secured the Gators’ first trip to the College World Series since 2012.
“Every ounce of me was just sprinting toward my teammates and the dog pile,” Bader said.
And it’s only fitting that Poyner and Schwarz were at the bottom of that dog pile considering the two gave the Gators the push they needed on Saturday to make it back to Omaha.
Schwarz, the freshman, hit two of the Gators’ four home runs to spark a Florida offense that recorded 13 hits. Schwarz’s second home run was his 18th of the season, which breaks Florida’s previous freshman record of 17 set by Austin Maddox in 2010.
Poyner, the senior, threw five scoreless innings in relief of starter A.J. Puk to close out the game and punch Florida’s ticket to Omaha.
“I knew there was a really good chance coming into the game that this could be my last time playing on this field,” said Poyner, one of two UF players on the roster to make an appearance in the College World Series. “I couldn’t have asked for a better outing and a better group of guys to do it with.”
FSU (44-21) took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a combination of three hits and two UF fielding errors, but the Seminoles’ lead did not last for long.
Florida (49-16) picked apart Florida State’s pitching for the entire game, scoring at least one run in six of the final eight innings.
Florida tied the game in the second when Schwarz hit his first home run of the game — a no-doubter to left field. Schwarz finished the game going 3 for 4 at the plate and is hitting .600 since the NCAA Tournament began.
A Dalton Guthrie sacrifice fly later in the second inning gave UF the lead for good, but the Gators made sure to tack on some insurance runs.
Richie Martin hit a solo home run to lead off a threerun third inning and Bader hit a two-run homer in the fourth to bring UF’s lead to 8-2.
A bases-loaded walk in the top of the fifth gave Florida a 9-2 lead before FSU found a hiccup of life when Stewart hit a two-run shot to right field to cut Florida’s lead to 9-4.
Schwarz’s record-setting home run in the sixth gave Florida the 10-4 edge and the Gators closed out scoring in the eighth when Josh Tobias reached home on a wild pitch.
“It was a great overall effort by our guys, especially answering back after we fell behind in the first inning,” UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan said.
The Gators will open College World Series play Saturday against the fifth-seeded Miami Hurricanes, who swept their super regional against VCU by scores of 3-2 on Friday and 10-3 Saturday.