Bats, gloves and baseball caps littered the field.
As the crowd began a chant of Omaha, a dog pile formed in front of home plate. Somewhere at the bottom was JJ Schwarz.
“This week has been indescribable,” he said.
On Saturday, fourth-seeded Florida (49-16) defeated Florida State (44-21) 11-4 to advance to its first College World Series since 2012.
Schwarz hit two home runs, one in the second inning and one in the sixth, and both left McKethan Stadium.
Schwarz has tallied a .564 batting average in the postseason, and his 18 home runs broke the program record for most homers by a freshman in a season.
A.J. Puk allowed four runs and struck out six batters, and was part of a starting pitching staff that limited its five NCAA tournament opponents to five runs combined.
Senior left-hander Bobby Poyner (5-2) pitched the game’s final five innings and held FSU scoreless.
Florida will take its season-best nine game winning streak into a matchup with Miami (FL) next weekend in Omaha, Nebraska.
“When the first weekend (of the season) starts, the message is the road to Omaha. Let’s go to Omaha,” said junior outfielder Harrison Bader, who finished with 3 RBIs, two hits and one home run. “We got there… and there’s no reason as to why we can’t win five more games and win a National Championship.”
After UF committed two errors and fell into an 0-2 deficit in the first inning, Schwarz blasted a two-run homer past the student-section bleachers in left field. Then, Peter Alonso scored on a Dalton Guthrie sacrifice fly to take a 3-2 lead.
Richie Martin followed with a left-field homer in the third inning, and a triple from Alonso scored Schwarz from first. Jeremy Vasquez hit an RBI single to right field to take a 6-2 lead.
Bader hit a two-run homer to left field in the fourth and then walked in a run in the fifth to increase UF’s lead to six. Schwarz homered again in the sixth, and Josh Tobias scored on a wild pitch in the eighth to seal the win.
“He’s just got a knack. The barrel gets to the right spot a lot,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said of Schwarz. “…he has really caught fire.”
After Bader caught a fly-out to end the game, O’Sullivan was doused in Gatorade, the dugout emptied, and the players joined together and swarmed Schwarz.
“It’s our turn now,” the freshman said.
Follow Ian Cohen on Twitter @icohenb
JJ Schwarz celebrates with teammates at home plate after hitting the first of his two home runs during Florida's 11-4 win against Florida State on June 6, 2015, at McKethan Stadium.
