STILLWATER, Oklahoma – Ashton Wilson was the hero of Florida’s NCAA Regional win over Nebraska on Friday afternoon.
The Gators have been snakebit by injuries in right field. Wilson, a sophomore from Orlando, drew the start and delivered when his team needed it most. With two outs in the third and runners on the corners against Brett Sears, Wilson roped one of his three doubles down the right-field line to give Florida a 3-1 lead.
Then he crushed the first home run of his Florida career to extend the lead in the late innings.
Along Ashton’s performance, Nebraska missed on several key opportunities at the plate in Friday’s 5-2 loss. Here’s more on how the Huskers dropped their Stillwater Regional opener.
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It didn’t take long for the Gators to start mashing.
Brett Sears went ahead 0-2 on leadoff man Cade Kurland in the first. Then the second baseman deposited a slider in left-center to give Florida an early 1-0 edge. Nebraska escaped the inning via a 4-3 double play and answered with a two-out rally in the home half. Ben Columbus worked a walk to put two on for Gabe Swansen who plugged the gap in left-center to stay hot and tie the game 1-1.
Florida stayed on the barrel against Sears. The Gators first three leadoff hitters reached base and all of those at-bats resulted in an extra-base hit. Jac Caglianone started off the third with a double off the wall in center and came around to score on a two RBI Wilson double down the line in left.
Nebraska managed to limit the damage from then on. Sears stranded two runners in the second, fourth and fifth innings while reliever Drew Christo did the same in the sixth. Meanwhile, the Huskers’ offense sputtered. The first and second batters in each of Nebraska’s first five innings combined to go 1-for-10.
Then, Swansen struck again. The junior hammered a 2-2 offering off the scoreboard in left for his fifth home run of the season. Swansen’s blast made it 3-2 and chased Gator starter Liam Peterson from the game after striking out seven Huskers in 5 1/3 innings of work.
Florida stymied the Huskers in the seventh and quickly countered in the eighth. A leadoff single and one out base hit to right from Kurland made it a 4-2 game.
Nebraska left the bases loaded in the eighth.
With one out, Swansen worked a walk to load the bases for Tyler Stone. The Husker designated hitter scorched a ball to center but it was caught for the second out. Dylan Carey followed with a three-pitch strikeout.
Wilson struck again in the ninth and extended the Gators’ lead to 5-2 by launching a 1-2 pitch to deep left.
What’s next for Nebraska?
The Huskers will return to O’Brate Stadium to face the loser of Oklahoma State and Niagara in an elimination game tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+. The host Cowboys will face the Purple Eagles tonight at 6:00 p.m. CT.
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