It’s down to one game.
The University of Florida baseball team had to win Game 2 of the College World Series Finals against LSU Sunday to keep their season alive.
The Gators did just that in a big way, beating the Tigers 24-4.
Florida scored the most runs in a CWS game and came up one short of the record for the largest margin of victory in a 24-4 rout of LSU that forced a deciding Game 3 of the finals.
"All the runs we scored [Sunday], we can't carry those over to [Monday],” Florida’s Wyatt Langford said. “But we can carry over the momentum.”
The Gators (54-16) hit six home runs on a windy day at Charles Schwab Field and pounded LSU (53-17), pitching for a CWS record-tying 23 hits a day after Ty Floyd struck out 17 in the Tigers’ 4-3, 11-inning win in Game 1.
Plant High School alum Jac Caglianone hit two home runs in Game 2, setting the single-season home run record with 33 in the BBCOR bat era of college baseball.
The sophomore slugger will also be the starting pitcher for Game 3.
“I'm really excited,” Caglianone said. “I’d give anything for this team to win. My biggest goal is just getting a ring to these guys that have been here a while.”
“The irony of the whole thing is, Jac struggled a little bit throwing strikes in the middle of the year,” Gators head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “I just felt like if we were ever going to have an opportunity to win the last game of the year, he was going to have to stay in the rotation. He'll have that opportunity [Monday].”
Caglianone (7-3, 3.68 ERA) allowed a run on three hits in his last start, getting a no-decision in UF's eventual 3-2 win over TCU on Wednesday.
“You got to look at it like it's any other game,” Caglianone added. “There is a lot on the line, but as long as we play our game, the cards will fall as they will.”
Florida’s last national championship came in 2017 against LSU.
The Gators hope they have enough juice in the bats to do it again in the final game of the season.
First pitch is set for 7 p.m. in Omaha, Neb.
