Florida Baseball: Gators top TCU to advance to College World Series Finals
The Florida baseball team defeated the TCU Horned Frogs 3-0 on Saturday to advance to their third College World Series final in school history.
The Gators were outstanding on the defensive side of the ball, and it all started with P Alex Faedo.
Faedo didn’t throw his best game of the year, but he was able to help seal the deal for the Gators first CWS Finals appearance since 2011.
TCU P Jared Janczak started the game off with two strikeouts in his first three batters but wasn’t able to hold it together for long.
Gators LF Austin Langworthy started the second inning off with a single, followed by a Jonathan India single to advance Langworthy to third base. C Mike Rivera singled to second base to drive Langworthy home to give the Gators an early 1-0 lead over the Horned Frogs.
Faedo caught fire and struck out three batters in the second inning, breaking Florida’s single-season strikeout record with 149 strikeouts.
FLORIDA RECORD!
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 25, 2017
With 149 Ks, Alex Faedo is now in sole possession of the single-season strikeout record for the Gators. pic.twitter.com/S7zZEs0loM
The future Detroit Tiger gave the Horned Frog bench a stare down heading to the dugout after ending the inning.
Alex Faedo is locked in #NCAABaseball #CWS pic.twitter.com/FcSbuJfo5L
— Courtney Jasmin (@IamCourtJasmin) June 25, 2017
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Faedo wasn’t done.
The first-round pick finished the game pitching 7 and 1/3 innings, allowing only 3 hits with 11 strikeouts, in what could possibly be his last game in a Florida Gators uniform.
SS Dalton Guthrie left the game in the third inning with what looked like a back injury, but 2B Deacon Liput slid over to SS and did fairly well in the position.
The Gators opened up the game little-by-little after Rivera was hit by a pitch in the fifth inning. DH Christian Hicks came in clutch with a RBI double, bringing home Rivera to extend the Gators lead to 2.
In the seventh inning, Hicks blasted a triple to put himself in scoring position. Deacon Liput singled and drove in Hicks to extend the lead to 3-0.
P Michael Byrne took over on the mound for Faedo halfway through the eighth inning.
TCU had two batters reach base, but Byrne was able to close out the game to give the Gators the victory.
The Gators advance to the CWS Final to take on a familiar foe LSU in a three-game series for the national championship starting Monday evening.