In a game of inches, Florida Baseball comes up just short against Texas A&M

As Florida Baseball can attest to, one needs some good fortune to make a deep run in Omaha. A bounce here, a split second there, and extra oomph on the ball somewhere else can sometimes be the difference when going up again elite competition.

That was the case in Omaha during the dead of night as the Gators fell short of knocking off the Aggies and are off to the loser's bracket at the College World Series.

Florida Baseball: Midnight Club

Rain and lightning caused the start of the game to be delayed by four hours. When action got underway at 11:15 PM ET, Liam Peterson took to the mound as the first freshman to ever start the opening game for the Gators in Omaha.

Peterson was sharp in the first inning but ran into trouble in the second inning. With the base loaded and one out, Texas A&M hit an awkward chop to the third base side to Brody Donay. Donay was caught in no man's land and by the time he tried to step on third to at least get an out he was too late.

Well, maybe. If Florida was going to challenge the safe call at third, they were a bit distracted as two deranged Aggie fans began screaming into Florida's dugout. Would the Aggie runner have been called out on challenge? Hard to say. But his presence proved costly as Peterson threw a wild pitch to make it 2-0.

Peterson would only make it into the third inning before giving way to Fisher Jameson and Florida's all of a sudden reliable bullpen. Jameson, Cade Fisher, and Brandon Neely teamed up to go 5.2 innings and didn't give up any runs between them.

Unfortunately for Florida, the bats went cold. It wasn't due to a lack of opportunity, but Florida had runners in scoring position in the 3rd, 6th, and 8th innings only to come up empty.

Also coming into play for the Gators was the massive ballpark at Charles Schwab Field Omaha. In the 7th inning, Dale Thomas hit a ground rule double which could have been a home run at most ball parks in America, As it was he wound up scoring and the Gators went into the 9th inning down 3-2.

Then in the 9th, Texas A&M made a play which will live in Aggie lore until the end of time. Michael Robertson singled and Cade Kurland put a charge into one towards the right field fence. Had it cleared the fence, Florida goes up 4-3. Texas A&M had other ideas.

Unfortunately for the Gators, the road back through the loser's bracket is a long one. The Gators now have to win four games in a row for four straight days if they hope to make it to the championship series.

Florida can't win four before they win one, and their next game is Monday against NC State at 2 PM.