No. 1 Florida Gators baseball swept out of 2016 College World Series

By Adam Silverstein
June 21, 2016
No. 1 Florida Gators baseball swept out of 2016 College World Series
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Image Credit: ESPN Images

The woes in Omaha, Nebraska, continued for Florida Gators baseball, which got swept out of the 2016 College World Series via consecutive losses to Coastal Carolina (2-1) and Texas Tech (3-2).

Florida went winless in CWS play for the third time in five appearances over the last seven seasons and became just the third No. 1 seed in CWS history to fail to win a game. UF is also fourth team with 10 or more CWS appearances to never win a national title, joining Florida State, Clemson and Northern Colorado.

The three runs scored by the Gators over their two games marked their lowest scoring output over two contests this season, which was of particular disappointment considering how it wasted tremendous starts from a pair of right-handed pitchers in junior ace Logan Shore and sophomore Alex Faedo. UF went just 13-61 (.213) at the plate over two games.

Compounding Florida’s offensive woes was strangely inconsistent defense, particularly in the top of the ninth on Tuesday when two costly errors on a single play allowed Texas Tech to score an insurance run that became the difference in the game. (UF also gave up a run-scoring opportunity earlier in the contest when junior JJ Schwarz was called for base-path interference.)

Junior first baseman Peter Alonso rocketed a two-run homer out of the park in the bottom of the ninth that otherwise would have tied the elimination game; instead, the extra run on the scoreboard clinched a win for the Red Raiders.

The Gators will look to regroup in the offseason despite losing a large portion of its talent — including its Friday and Saturday starting pitchers, top reliever, best hitter and best defender — to the pros.

OnlyGators.com will update this story shortly.

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