The Florida Gators piled up 68 runs in their first six NCAA Tournament games, averaging 11.3 runs per contest and topping 10 in a game five times. Only the Florida Atlantic Owls — who fell to Florida, 2-1, on the last day of May — had held the SEC tournament champs below eight runs.
Monday night in Omaha, Virginia opposed Florida in the College World Series — and emphatically rose to the occasion. Far from becoming another casualty of the Florida bats, the No. 14 Cavaliers (41-22, 15-15 ACC) muzzled the No. 4 Gators (51-17, 19-11 SEC) in a 1-0 win at TD Ameritrade Park.
Facing off against lanky sophomore lefty A.J. Puk, junior southpaw Brandon Waddell came up big, firing seven-plus scoreless innings against a lineup batting .298 with 64 home runs this year. When the Houston native stumbled leading off the eighth, ceding a walk and a single to leave men on the corners, junior closer Josh Sborz cleaned up his mess.
All told, Sborz and Waddell combined to two-hit Florida, propelling Virginia into Friday afternoon’s bracket championship game. The Cavaliers — national runners-up in 2014 — stand one win from a return to the CWS Finals.
Florida and Puk — the potential No. 1 overall pick in next year’s MLB Draft — nearly matched the Virginia duo, yielding five hits, all singles, while issuing five walks.
The Cavaliers manufactured their sole run in the bottom of the sixth, when sophomore catcher Matt Thaiss, senior third baseman Kenny Towns and freshman first baseman Pavin Smith rapped out consecutives base hits, setting up junior designated hitter Robbie Coman’s sacrifice fly off junior righty Taylor Lewis.
Sborz retired junior left fielder Harrison Bader, junior shortstop Richie Martin and senior third baseman Josh Tobias — all 2015 MLB Draft picks and the first three batters in the Gator order — in relief of Waddell. He then tossed a 1-2-3 ninth to close the deal.
Virginia competes against Florida again Friday at 3 p.m. The Gators must defeat the Cavaliers twice to advance to the Finals, while Virginia — undefeated in double-elimination bracket-play — needs just one victory.
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