Florida catcher Brody Donay (29) celebrates his home run during a Men’s College World Series elimination game against Kentucky on Wednesday in Omaha. (KeynoteUSA Photo/Mike Buscher)
The Florida Gators will play two games on Wednesday after eliminating the Kentucky Wildcats in the first game of the day in Omaha. After a seven-run first inning, Florida added eight more, driven in by Pierce Coppola on the mound and Brody Donay at the plate, to advance to the College World Series semifinals against Texas A&M.
Florida 15, Kentucky 4
Florida used a big first inning to advance to the evening’s semifinal against the Aggies. The Gators scored seven runs in the first inning, chasing Kentucky starter Dominic Niman after he recorded just one out and allowed five runs on three hits. One of those hits was a grand slam by Donay that gave Florida a 7-1 lead.
The Gators added two more at the bottom of the third, another five in the fifth and one more in the sixth.
Kentucky had a tough time breaking through against Florida left-hander Pierce Coppola, who went five innings and struck out nine batters.
Émilien Pitre’s two-run homer off Coppola in the top of the fifth inning was the last time the Wildcats would score in the game.
Key statistics
Donay is the fifth Gator with a multi-home run game in this College World Series. His second blast of the game went 415 feet and reached an exit velocity of 117.6 mph, the hardest-hit ball of the tournament. He finished the game 3-for-5 with five RBIs.
Reflexes
The Gators jumped on the Wildcats early, punctuated by Donay’s opposite-field grand slam.
Donay wasn’t done dropping bombs. He led off the bottom of the fifth with his 14th home run of the season to make the score 10-5 Gators.
Jac Caglianone hit his 35th home run of the season and 75th of his Gators career to surpass Matt LaPorta for the most in program history.
Tennessee 7, Florida State 2
In the second game of the day, Tennessee made easy work of Florida State to extend the Volunteers’ postseason run and advance to the finals.
Tennessee got things going early, scoring three runs in the first inning and adding a fourth in the second. Although Florida State made some strong efforts, the Volunteers held the Seminoles scoreless for six innings and added two more runs, one in the fourth and one in the seventh.
Back-to-back solo home runs by Daniel Cantú and Alex Lodise in the seventh inning put Florida State on the board, but the Seminoles couldn’t close the gap. A home run by Tennessee first baseman Blake Burke to lead off the ninth sealed the deal for the Volunteers, ending Florida State’s season.
Key statistics
Tennessee pitcher Zander Sechrist had a big game for the Volunteers in six innings, throwing three strikeouts and allowing just five hits.
On the Florida State side, starting pitcher John Abraham was pulled shortly after Tennessee’s hot bats got going in the first inning. He was replaced by Brennen Oxford, who pitched four strikeouts in three innings. Joe Charles then finished the game, striking out five while limiting the Volunteers to just three hits.
Reflexes
Although Tennessee’s bats gave the team the early lead, it was the Vols’ fielding that maintained it. Tennessee center fielder Kaveres Tears helped keep Florida State scoreless with a monster catch against the wall (losing his hat and glasses, but somehow holding on to the ball) to end the first inning.
Volunteers second baseman Christian Moore had another good night, hitting an RBI triple in the fourth to extend Tennessee’s lead.
Back-to-back home runs in the seventh marked Florida State’s main offensive threat of the night, and both navigated to right field with ease.
But Burke’s home run sealed the deal for Tennessee, increasing the Volunteers’ insurmountable lead and helping secure the team’s victory.
Whats Next
With the victory, Tennessee advances to the College World Series championship, which begins Saturday. Florida State and Kentucky have been eliminated.
Florida, after playing earlier Wednesday, will play again Wednesday night against Texas A&M as part of the Bracket 2 semifinal. An Aggies win would eliminate the Gators.
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