WATCH: Florida Advances to College World Series on Walk-Off Home Run Off Outfielder's Glove
The College World Series field is set, and the No. 1-seeded Florida Gators were the last to join, doing so in dramatic fashion on Monday night in Gainesville.
The defending national champions were tied at two with SEC foe Auburn in the 11th inning, when outfielder Austin Langworthy led off the bottom of the frame by drilling a 1-2 pitch to deep rightfield.
Auburn’s Steven Williams made a leaping attempt at the catch, but the ball hit the top of his glove and went over the fence to give the Gators the walk-off victory and send the Tigers home.
Langworthy hit two homers during the regular season, but matched that total in the past two nights against Auburn, with both coming off freshman righthander Cody Greenhill.
Langworthy also had a memorable at-bat earlier in the contest. With two outs and a runner on first in the bottom of the eighth in a tie game, the sophomore lifted a fly ball down the line in leftfield. Auburn’s Judd Ward made a spectacular full-extension diving effort to keep the score knotted at two.
The excitement wasn’t limited to just the end of the game either. Florida’s Blake Reese audaciously stole home after teammate Nick Horvath lured Auburn pitcher Andrew Mitchell’s attention at first base.
In its next game, Florida will play Texas Tech at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday in the Gators’ quest to repeat. College baseball fans best take advantage of those days off to regain their breath after this heart-pounding battle.
