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Friday, March 29, 2024
<p>South Carolina players celebrate after beating Florida 5-2 in
Game 2 of the NCAA baseball College World Series best-of-three
finals.</p>

South Carolina players celebrate after beating Florida 5-2 in Game 2 of the NCAA baseball College World Series best-of-three finals.

OMAHA, Neb. — It wasn’t supposed

to end this way. 

Not for the preseason favorite

and top-ranked team in the country. Not for the team that shrugged

off expectations and captured the regular season and tournament

title in the nation’s toughest conference.  

But it did. 

Florida’s season bitterly ended

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Tuesday night, as reigning national champion South Carolina

successfully defended its title and swept the Gators (53-19) 5-2 in

Game 2 of the College World Series Finals. 

"They earned this one. They were

a little bit better than us in all phases," UF coach Kevin

O'Sullivan said of the Gamecocks, who beat Florida in four of their

five meetings this season. "It's nice to make steps but the idea is

to win this thing. Our goal year in and year out is to win

championships."

After closing out historic

Rosenblatt Stadium with a championship, the Gamecocks (55-14)

opened beautiful TD Ameritrade Park with another, winning a NCAA

record 16 straight tournament games in the process. 

In two tries, the Gators are now

0-4 in the CWS Finals, also getting swept by Texas in

2005. 

Although Florida won a

school-record 53 games this season, numbers 54 and 55

exasperatingly eluded them.

In a series full of plays decided

by inches, the Gators continuously fell short. 

"We just didn't do enough. They

just did a little bit more,” O’Sullivan said. 

After struggling to score in

Monday’s frenzied loss, the Gators bats were flummoxed again, this

time by USC left-hander Michael Roth (14-3, 1.06 ERA). 

South Carolina’s ace, pitching on

three-days rest, tossed 7.2 sharp innings allowing two runs on an

astounding 127 pitches.

UF flamethrower Karsten Whitson

was rolling for the first two innings before unraveling in the

third when South Carolina put up a three spot. 

USC shortstop Peter Mooney led

off the inning with an opposite field double, as Florida’s freshman

All-American suddenly lost his command. 

Following a walk and a sacrifice

bunt, Monday’s hero and CWS Most Outstanding Player, Scott Wingo,

knocked a sacrifice fly to center. After another walk, UF shortstop

Nolan Fontana booted a routine high chopper, allowing a second run

to score. The Gamecocks plated their third run on an infield

squibbler by designated hitter Brady Thomas.  

In the sixth, Mooney, whose

brother Mike played for the Gators in 2009, smoked a solo homer

into the right field bullpen. 

Whitson (8-1, 2.40 ERA) pitched

4.2 innings but never looked comfortable after the first two

frames, hitting three batters on the night — matching his season’s

total coming into the game — and losing the first game in his

career.  

The Gators got on the board in

the fourth when Mike Zunino cranked his 19th homer to lead off the

inning. 

But UF could never put it all

together offensively, failing to get the timely hit. 

"We made great strides this

year," Zunino said. "But you're always going to have that hollow

feeling if you don't win. It's an empty feeling.”

All season, Florida’s kryptonite

has been crafty southpaws, and Tuesday night was no

exception. 

UF left-handed batters went 0-10

against the soft-tossing Roth, who moved his CWS ERA to 1.17 in 38

career innings. 

The Gators stranded a pair of

runners in the first when Preston Tucker and Josh Adams hit lazy

flyouts to center field. 

In the fifth, Florida had two on

and no outs but nine-hole hitter Cody Dent botched the bunt

attempt, fouling out on a third-strike effort. Two pitches later,

Bryson Smith rolled into a routine 4-6-3 double play. 

The Gators wasted two more

scoring opportunites in the sixth and seventh. For the series, the

Gators were just 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position with a

pair of RBIs.

In the eighth, Zunino doubled —

the SEC Player of the Year went 4 for 4 with two walks after going

2 for 15 to open the CWS — and later scored on Adams’ two-out RBI

single. Tyler Thompson then pinch hit for Pigott and just missed a

double down the left field line before USC closer Matt Price struck

him out looking to end the frame. Price recorded his 20th save of

the season to preserve the title. 

"We stuck with our approach, but

that's the game of baseball," Adams said. "Some days you can come

out on top but others days you look like a fool. All you can do is

say 'what if.'"

South Carolina players celebrate after beating Florida 5-2 in Game 2 of the NCAA baseball College World Series best-of-three finals.

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