Sunday’s Super Regional game between Florida and Clemson certainly didn’t disappoint, coming down to the wire as it took 13 innings to reach a conclusion. It was the Gators who came out on top in the end, using a walk-off double from Michael Robertson to escape with an 11-10 victory to punch their ticket to the College World Series.
Florida overcome several blows, including a solo home run from in the top of the 13th from Alden Mathes that gave the Tigers a 10-9 lead. But each time the Gators came back with a response as they refused to go down.
Speaking postgame, coach Kevin O’Sullivan praised his team for the way they pushed through until the end.
“It was just back-and-forth,” he said. “We really had a tough decision to make with bringing Neely back in. We really tried to get through the eighth inning there and just use him for the ninth. But we showed a tremendous amount of resiliency against an outstanding Clemson team. I’m just awfully proud of our players.”
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Florida led 9-6 going into the top of the ninth inning before Cam Cannarella connected on a three-run homer to tie things up. The Gators then went three up, three down in the bottom of the inning to send the game to extra.
There was a moment in the 10th inning when it appeared as if Florida would get the walk-off when Ashton Wilson hit a ball to deep center with two runners on. However, Cannarella made a spectacular catch to end the inning and keep the game going.
Still, the Gators continued to fight. That has been the attitude they’ve adopted all season long and it paid off Sunday.
“It’s a long season for a reason,” O’Sullivan said. “Our guys just kept fighting and fighting. We had our inconsistencies earlier in the year because our pitching was very young. But you’ve got Luke McNeillie out there to finish a game. We just continued to stay the course. It was up and down this season but we did what we needed to do to win two out of three and here we are.”
McNeillie pitched the final two innings of the game to pick up the win for the Gators. Jac Caglianone got the start and pitched 5.2 innings, while Brandon Neely pitched four innings including the first two of extras.
The College World Series appearance is the 14th in program history and second straight for Florida, which finished runner up in 2023. The Gators had a tough path to get there as they were not a national seed, winning both their Regional and Super Regional on the road.
They certainly showed their grit on Sunday and proved they belong despite finishing the regular season with a 28-27 record. Now after barely sneaking into the field, they’ll have a chance to win it all next week.
“It’s sweet right now,” O’Sullivan said. “I know we got a lot of criticism throughout the year. But all the teams, it’s really hard to go on the road. Oklahoma State last weekend was an outstanding team on the road. Then to turn around and come to Clemson. The fans, the atmosphere was just outstanding this weekend. It’s certainly exciting right now but we’re gonna let this one savor a little bit.”
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