The Florida baseball team used a pair of home runs from freshman Austin Langworthy and sophomore Deacon Liput and another excellent starting pitching outing to beat the Louisville Cardinals 5-1 Tuesday night in the College World Series in Omaha. The Gators are now in the winner’s bracket and don’t play again until Friday. In this game, Florida got on the board first after a solo homer from Langworthy in the third inning and the Gators extended their lead to 4-0 after a three run homer from Liput to right field. In the top of the seventh, Mike Rivera had an RBI hit to give Florida a 5-0 lead.
LIPUT REAL GOOD!
A 3-run shot gives Florida a commanding 4-0 lead in the 4th. #CWS pic.twitter.com/xRsS4RzseD
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 21, 2017
Meanwhile Gator starting pitcher Brady Singer cruised into the seventh inning but that’s where he ran into trouble. The Cardinals scored the first run off Gator pitching in the last 24.2 innings after a single by Colin Lyman. A stolen base and a single put runners on the corners for Louisville and a walk from Singer loaded the bases. With two outs, Singer got a ground ball out to escape the jam and his day was done, allowing just six hits and a run with one walk and nine strikeouts to his credit.
Florida escapes the jam! #CWS pic.twitter.com/O5lZA9TNfG
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 21, 2017
Junior lefty Nick Horvath replaced Singer in the eighth and allowed a double but no runs. He stayed in the game defensively in the outfield as freshman Tyler Dyson then took the mound in Omaha for the first time in his career in the ninth inning and set the Cardinals down without incident.
The Gators finalized their third 2-0 start at the CWS in school history and the first since 2011. Next up, Florida will play Friday against the winner of the TCU-Louisville elimination game that takes place on Thursday night.