The last four games in Omaha have handed Florida some of the toughest breaks you’ll see in college baseball, and with Florida facing elimination in the 2012 College World Series, they all went against the Gators again.
Kent State caught a huge break when Florida ace righty Hudson Randall left the game Monday after the first inning with “heat-related symptoms.” The Gators never really recovered, giving up a run in the first inning in Randall’s shaky start, three in the second after Jonathon Crawford took over and one more in the third.
Ultimately, Kent State knocked off Florida 5-4 to send the Gators back to Gainesville without the school’s first-ever national title. Below is our instant play-by-play recap of the game.
Top of the 1st Inning
Nolan Fontana led off with a towering shot to the warning track, which the right fielder tracked down for the first out as he crashed into the wall. Preston Tucker drew a one-out walk on four pitches. Tucker then got thrown out at second on what looked like a hit-and-run that Mike Zunino didn’t swing on. Zunino grounded out to third to end the inning.
Bottom of the 1st Inning
Evan Campbell flew out to center field for the first out. Jimmy Rider hit a hard grounder to short, and Fontana bobbled it and threw high of the bag to Taylor Gushue, who couldn’t keep his foot on the base to make the catch. The error allowed Rider to reach first. Tucker then missed a diving catch in right center field on a liner by David Lyon, putting runners at the corners with one out.
Kent State first baseman George Roberts drove in a run with a line-drive single to right field to score Rider. T.J. Sutton grounded out to second base for the second out, as the runners moved to second and third. Randall stuck out Sawyer Polen to end the inning with Kent State up 1-0.
Top of the 2nd Inning
Brian Johnson reached first safely on hard-hit grounder to first base that got stuck in his glove. Daniel Pigott popped up to shortstop for the first out. Casey Turgeon reached first on a fielder’s choice, and Johnson made it safely to second on an error by the second baseman on the Turgeon grounder, with the second baseman missing the throw to second on an attempted double play. Justin Shafer grounded out to second for a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.
Bottom of the 2nd Inning
Hudson Randall left the game for Florida due to dehydration after the first inning, with Jonathon Crawford coming on to replace him. Jason Bagoly led off the inning with a single to center field. A sac bunt attempt by Alex Miklos put runners on first and second with no outs when third baseman Josh Tobias bobbled the ball as he tried to barehand and throw to first.
Derek Toadvine then successfully laid down a sac bunt to move the runners to second and third with one out. Crawford struck out Campbell for the second out. An infield single by Rider on the third base line plated a run and left runners at the corners with two outs. Lyon then hit an RBI single to center field to extend the lead to 3-0. Roberts followed that with another RBI single right back up the middle to make it 4-0. Sutton grounded out to shortstop to end the inning.
Top of the 3rd Inning
Josh Tobias got to first to start the inning on a hit-by-pitch. Taylor Gushue flew out to left field for the first out. Fontana walked to put runners on first and second with one out. Tucker flew out to the catcher out of play for the second out. Zunino then hit a two-out RBI single to center field to cut the deficit to 4-1 and leave runners at the corners. Johnson struck out to end the inning.
Bottom of the 3rd Inning
Polen hit a leadoff single to right field. Bagoly flew out to center field for the first out. Miklos reached first on a fielder’s choice on a grounder to Crawford on the mound. Crawford turned and threw the lead runner out at second for the second out. Toadvine grounded out to third to end the inning safely.
Top of the 4th Inning
Pigott grounded out to shortstop to start the inning. Turgeon flew out to right field for the second out. Shafer roped a stand-up double to left with two outs. Tobias flew out to the catcher out of play to end the inning, stranding Shafer on second.
Bottom of the 4th Inning
Campbell grounded out to shortstop to start the bottom half. Rider doubled to left field, and then a wild pitch allowed him to get to third base with one out. Crawford struck out Lyon swinging for the second out. Another wild pitch from Crawford allowed Campbell to score to make it 5-1 Kent State. Crawford struck out Roberts swinging to end the inning.
Top of the 5th Inning
Gushue led off the inning with a single to right field. Fontana flied out to second for the first out. Tucker popped up to shortstop for the second out. Zunino flied out to the warning track in center field.
Bottom of the 5th Inning
Sutton reached first with a leadoff single to left field. Polen singled to center field. Greg Larson came on to pitch for Crawford with runners on first and second and no outs. Bagoly hit a sac bunt that moved the runners to second and third with one out. Turgeon threw home on a grounder to second to nail the runner coming home for the second out. Toadvine grounded out to second to end the inning.
Top of the 6th Inning
Johnson lined to center field, where Campbell made a terrific diving catch to rob him of an extra-base hit. Pigott singled to left field before Turgeon hit a deep fly ball to right for the second out. Shafer roped a two-out double to right center field to plate a run and cut the Kent State lead to 5-2. Tobias grounded out to third to end the inning.
Bottom of the 6th Inning
Campbell grounded out to third base to start the bottom half. Rider flew out to right field for the second out. Lyon hit a two-out triple off the wall in right field. Roberts grounded out to second base to end the inning.
Top of the 7th Inning
Brian Clark came on to pitch for starter Ryan Bores to start the inning. Gushue drew a leadoff walk. Fontana singled to right center field to put runners on first and second. Tucker singled to right field to load the bases with no outs. Zunino hit an RBI single to center field to cut the lead to 5-3 with the bases still loaded. Johnson grounded into a double play, but a run scored to cut it to 5-4 with two outs and a runner on third.
Kent State put reliever Casey Wilson on the mound to face Pigott. Pigott lined out to second base to end the inning with Florida still trailing 5-4.
Bottom of the 7th Inning
Sutton flew out to center field to start the bottom half of the inning. Polen struck out for the second out. Bagoly hit a two-out double just over Pigott’s head in center field. Larson walked Miklos on four pitches, and O’Sullivan went to Austin Maddox out of the pen to face Toadvine. Toadvine popped up to second base to end the inning.
Top of the 8th Inning
Turgeon led off with a single to center field. Shafer flied out to left center field for the first out. Tobias grounded to second base and reached on a fielder’s choice as Kent State threw Turgeon out at second. Kent State brought Michael Clark on to pitch to Gushue. Gushue walked on five pitches to put runners on first and second with two outs for Fontana. Fontana lined out to shortstop to end the inning.
Bottom of the 8th Inning
Campbell flew out to center field for the first out. Rider flew out to center for the second out. Lyon grounded out to second base to end the inning.
Top of the 9th Inning
Fontana drew a leadoff walk on four pitches. After two balls to Zunino, Kent State pulled Clark from the mound for Josh Pierce to pitch the rest of the at-bat. Cody Dent pinch-hit for Brian Johnson and put down a sac bunt to move the runners to second and third with one out. Pigott was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out for Turgeon. Turgeon worked a 3-0 count, before Kent State worked it full at 3-2. On a check swing, the home plate ump called Ball 4, but an appeal to the third-base ump was successful and Turgeon was called for the strikeout for the second out. Shafer flew out to right to end the game.