NCAA College World Series - Game 5 Recap - Florida State vs Florida

Florida State 8, Florida 5 - Florida eliminated from CWS

A gorgeous Monday afternoon in Omaha, Nebraska was the setting for one of college sports’ most bitter rivalries, as the Florida Gators (47-16) battled the Florida State Seminoles (47-19) in a College World Series elimination game.  The north-Florida rivals are no strangers on the baseball diamond, having met four times already this season.  The Gators and Seminoles split the games held on their own campuses, with each defending their home turf, but the Seminoles took the neutral site games in Jacksonville and Tampa.  On Monday, the Seminoles won the most important neutral-site game, held halfway across the country rather than in the Sunshine State, and eliminated their arch-rivals from the College World Series. 

Both of the Sunshine State clubs were dominated in their opening games of the College World Series.  Texas Christian advanced to the winners’ bracket by beating FSU 8-1, while UCLA advanced to play the Horned Frogs by beating Florida 11-3.  Neither squad from Florida pitched well and the bats never got going for either club.  The story of the teams’ first games was the opposing pitching, as both TCU’s Matt Purke and UCLA’s Trevor Bauer had dominant performances on the mound.  The story of this game was Florida State’s pitching – at least for the first eight innings. 

Florida State starter Brian Busch started out shaky, walking the first two Gator batters and giving up an RBI single to Austin Maddox.  Busch was sensational over the next three innings, though, facing only nine batters, the only base-runner being the result of a base on balls.  In the fifth inning, Busch gave up a solo shot to right field by Jonathan Pigott, as he began to lose his control.  By the sixth, after giving up two runners on an error and a hit by pitch, Busch’s evening was complete.  He gave up only two runs on two hits in five and a third innings. 

Florida’s starter did not have as successful an outing.  Hudson Randall lasted only two and a third innings, giving up a solo homer to the game’s leadoff hitter, FSU All- American Tyler Holt, and a three-run shot to Mike McGee, earning him a quick hook by Florida manager Kevin O’Sullivan.  Gator reliever Brian Johnson gave up a run in the fifth when FSU manager Mike Martin elected to call the safety squeeze with power hitter Mike McGee at the plate with runners at first and third and only one out.  The controversial decision took the bat out of FSU’s second-best hitter and gave the Seminoles only one run in what could have been a big inning.  Nevertheless, the squeeze was properly executed, FSU scored, and the Seminoles led 5-1 going into the sixth inning. 

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The game looked well in hand for the Seminoles with middle reliever Geoff Parker dominating the Gators.  He showed masterful control with his pitches, and a wicked curveball kept the Florida hitters off balance.  Parker did give up four hits, but two of them were infield singles and the two others were singles into the shallow outfield.  Martin chose to pull Parker while he still appeared to have good stuff, after Parker put two runners on base in the top of the eighth, one of which was a grounder to the mound that he knocked down but was not able to pick up in time to retire the runner.  Up 7-2 by then, after a Stephen Cardullo homer and a Tyler Holt RBI single, FSU breathed easier as reliever Daniel Bennett picked off Florida’s Tyler Thompson at first by faking the throw to third to end the Gator scoring threat. It looked in that moment like FSU had the game in hand. 

A Jayce Boyd RBI single in the bottom of the eighth expanded FSU’s lead to 8-2, but the side-arm pitcher Bennett never seemed to have the movement on his ball required to get batters out with that style of delivery. He allowed the Gators to threaten the ‘Noles in the ninth because his pitches hung up in the strike zone and lacked the downward bite they need.  Bennett was pitching to give stud closer Mike McGee the day off (the mound, at least – he was playing left field all game up to that point), but Martin’s decision to keep McGee off the mound was called into question when Bennett gave up consecutive singles to Jerico Weitzel and Nolan Fontana.  A Cardullo error at short loaded the bases for Preston Tucker, who came through with a clutch double just inside the right field foul line that cleared the bases.  That hit made Martin rethink his decision to pitch Bennett in favor of McGee.  Bennett managed to retire just one hitter at the plate, giving up three runs and leaving McGee a man on second. 

McGee, who had given up only one run all season in save situations until giving up three runs to Vanderbilt in the Super Regional, conceded a single to Austin Maddox that moved Tucker to third.  McGee then hit Matt den Dekker on the wrist, though dan Dekker made no effort to move out of the path of the ball, which was over the inside part of the plate.  The Gator hitter was awarded first base nonetheless, putting the potential game winning run at the plate with only one out. UF's Mike Zunino then ripped a hard liner just to the short stop side of second base, but Cardullo was playing near the base due to the runner at second.  The line drive was snagged by Cardullo, who doubled up Maddox at second to end the Gators’ comeback and their season.

Florida and Florida State’s third battle of the season on a neutral site ended like the first two, with a Seminole victory.  This win sent the Gators home to Gainesville, as the national third seed and the second-highest seed to make it to Omaha (behind overall top seed Arizona State) became the first team eliminated from the College World Series field.  Florida State survives another game to take on the loser of Monday’s nightcap between TCU and UCLA in another elimination game for the ‘Noles.  That game will take place on Wednesday night at 7 PM EST on ESPN2.

By: John Cary
DFN Sports Guest Writer