BOTTOM OF THE NINTH; FINAL 5-2 Florida
FINAL
Florida 5
Nebraska 2
Ashton Wilson had an unbelievable day with three doubles, a solo homer and three RBI. Liam Peterson allowed two earned runs over 5.1 strong innings.
Florida will play the winner of Oklahoma State and Niagara tomorrow night.
— Neely dialed up a double play to end the game
— Stokes singled to center
— Clay Bradford flew out to center
TOP OF THENINTH; 5-2 Florida
— Thomas grounded out to second
— Donay was called out for leaning into a pitch
— SCORE: Ashton Wilson hit a solo homer to left, his first as a Gator. Wilson is 4-for-5 with three doubles and a homer today. 5-2 Florida
— Shelnut lined out to left
BOTTOM OF THE EIGHTH; 4-2 Florida
— Carey struck out swinging.Brandon Neely loaded the bases with one out then got a liner to center and three-pitch strikeout. He unleashed a huge celebration as he came off the mound.
— Stone hit one on the screws but straight at Michael Robertson for the second out.
— Swansen walked to load the bases with one out.
— Columbus singled to right. Caron to second with one out.
— Caron singled to right off a leaping Jac Caglianone's glove
— Sanderson flew out to left after a 10-pitch at-bat
TOP OF THE EIGHTH; 4-2 Florida
— Heyman grounded out to third
— Shelton struck out looking
— Caglianone was intentionally walked for the third time today, moving Kurland up to second.
— SCORE: Cade Kurland singled to right, driving in Dale Thomas from second for some critical insurance. 4-2 Florida with one out and a runner on first T8
— Robertson grounded out to second. Thomas advanced to second with one out.
— Dale Thomas was rewarded for some hard hit balls that didn't find grass earlier in the game with a leadoff single to start the eighth.
BOTTOM OF THE SEVENTH; 3-2 Florida
— Neely retired Overbeek on three pitches with a groundout to short.
— Brandon Neely is taking over for the Gators with two outs in the seventh. Seven-out save opportunity for the junior righty. Goes to show you the importance of securing a day-one win. This is a long outing with a lot of regional left.
— Stokes flew out to center
— Silva tried to bunt his way on but Jameson made a nice play to throw him out at first
TOP OF THE SEVENTH; 3-2 Florida
— Donay struck out looking
— Wilson grounded out to second
— Shelnut struck out looking
BOTTOM OF THE SIXTH; 3-2 Florida
— Carey was caught stealing to end the inning
— Carey singled to left
— Stone struck out swinging
— Liam Peterson's postseason debut comes to an end after 5.1 innings of two-run ball. He allowed four hits and struck out seven while walking three. Fisher Jameson is taking over on the hill with one out in the sixth.
— SCORE: Gabe Swansen hit a mammoth solo shot to left with one out in the sixth. 3-2 Florida
— Fisher Jameson is getting hot in the Florida pen with one out and nobody on in the sixth. Peterson has thrown 91 pitches.
— Columbus struck outlooking
TOP OF THE SIXTH; 3-1 Florida
— Heyman flew out to left-center to end the inning. Excellent defense from the Cornhuskers in that frame.
— Shelton lined one back up the middle but Carey was there with a diving catch
— Caglianone was walked intentionally
— Rhett Stokes made a diving play to take away a hit from Cade Kurland and a run from the Gators. It also allowed the Huskers to walk Jac Caglianone intentionally with one out.
— Robertson doubled off the top of the wall in right to lead off the sixth
— Nebraska has gone to its bullpen for junior righty Drew Christo. Florida leading 3-1 to start the sixth
BOTTOM OFTHE FIFTH; 3-1 Florida
— Caron grounded out to short to end the inning.Petersonhasthrown 87 pitches and dropped his May ERA to 2.11. He's allowed just three hits today and none since the second.
— Sanderson walked
— Overbeek flew out to left
— Stokes grounded out to short
TOP OF THE FIFTH; 3-1 Florida
— Thomas lined out to short to end the inning
— Donay singled to third. Wilson advanced to third with two outs.
— Wilson is 3-for-3 with three doubles today. He had zero multi-double games in college prior to today.
— Shelnut struck out swinging
— Web gem from Nebraska third baseman Joshua Overbeek just stole a hit from Luke Heyman. Great play.
BOTTOM OF THE FOURTH; 3-1 Florida
— Silva grounded out to second
— Carey struck out swinging
— Stone grounded out to second
TOP OF THE FOURTH; 3-1 Florida
— Shelton popped out to second to end the inning.Florida has left six on base and is 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Ashton Wilson's double was the only hit that produced runs.
— Nebraska intentionally walked Jac Caglianone with two outs in the fourth, moving Michael Robertson over to second. Colby Shelton up now.
— Kurland flew out to center
— Robertson singled to center
— Thomas flew out to deep center. Riley Silva caught the ball while crashing into the wall for the first out.
BOTTOM OF THE THIRD; 3-1 Florida
— Swansen flew out to center to end the inning. Peterson has thrown 62 pitches.
— Columbus walked
— Caron hit a bouncer to third for the second out of the inning
— Sanderson struck out swinging. Heyman completed the punchout with a throw to first.
TOP OF THE THIRD; 3-1 Florida
— Donay grounded out to short
— SCORE: Ashton Wilson hit a two-RBI double to left. He's 2-for-2 with two doubles today. 3-1 Gators with two outs and a runner on second T3.Wilson is 8-for-22 (.364) with four doubles and seven RBI since May 11 when he started to earn more consistent playing time.
— Shelnut singled to third. Caglianone to third with two outs.
— Heyman popped out to short
— Shelton struck out swinging
— Caglianone smoked a first-pitch double to center
BOTTOM OF THE SECOND; 1-1
—Peterson struck out Overbeek and stranded the runner at secondto put up a zero in the second inning. He's thrown 42 pitches.
— Stokes stole second
— Nebraska nine-hole hitter Rhett Stokes singled to right-center to turn the lineup over and extend the second inning. Rough outcome there for Peterson, who got two fast outs.
— Riley Silva struck out swinging
— Dylan Carey flew out to left-center
TOP OF THE SECOND; 1-1
—Florida had runners on first and second with nobody out in the second but couldn't push a run across. Michael Robertson and Cade Kurland struck out swinging to end the inning. Brett Sears has thrown 41 pitches through two innings of work.
— Michael Robertson struck out with runners on the corners for the second out of the inning. Cade Kurland up with a chance to give Florida the lead and get Caglianone to the plate.
— Dale Thomas flew out in foul territory down the right-field line for the first out of the inning
— Brody Donay was hit by a pitch
— Nebraska left fielder Gabe Swansen misplayed a liner from Ashton Wilson, allowing it to fall in an reach the wall. Leadoff double to start the second.
BOTTOM OF THE FIRST; 1-1
— Tyler Stone struck out swinging to end the inning
— SCORE: Gabe Swansen hit a two-out double to left-center, driving in Case Sanderson from second. 1-1 with two outs and runners on second and third B1. Runs will be scored in the regional.
— Ben Columbus drew a walk on five pitches. Nebraska has runners on first and second with two outs.
— Josh Caron, Nebraska's best hitter, struck out swinging
— Case Sanderson singled to center on a soft-hit grounder that snuck past Colby Shelton.
— Joshua Overbeek grounded out to short
TOP OF THE FIRST; 1-0 Florida
— Tyler Shelnut grounded into an inning-ending double play but not before the Gators put a run on the board
— Luke Heyman followed up Colby Shelton's single with a single of his own. First and second with one out for Tyler Shelnut. Nebraska is already taking a mound visit.
— Colby Shelton singled to right with one out
— Jac Caglianone grounded out to short
— SCORE: Cade Kurland hit a leadoff home run to open the action in Stillwater. 1-0 Gators, who needed a fast start and got it.
FLORIDA LINEUP
2B Cade Kurland
1B Jac Caglianone
SS Colby Shelton
C Luke Heyman
LF Tyler Shelnut
RF Ashton Wilson
DH Brody Donay
3B Dale Thomas
CF Michael Robertson
SP Liam Peterson
NEBRASKA LINEUP
3B Joshua Overbeek
RF Case Sanderson
C Josh Caron
1B Ben Columbus
LF Gabe Swansen
DH Tyler Stone
SS Dylan Carey
CF Riley Silva
2B Rhett Stokes
SP Brett Sears
PREGAME
— Florida (28-27) is set to take on Nebraska (39-20) at 3 p.m. ET in the first game of NCAA Tournament play in the Stillwater Regional. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
— The Gators are set to star true freshman righty Liam Peterson. Peterson has pitched to the tune of a 2.33 ERA over his last five starts.
GETTING TO KNOW NEBRASKA
Overall record: 39-20
Conference record: 16-8 BigTen
D1Baseball RPI: No. 28
Regional seed: No. 2
Key stat: A small-ball, station-to-station offense that relies upon sacrifice hits and speed on the bases, Nebraska ranks eight among NCAA Tournament teams in stolen bases on the season (91) and ranked No. 41 nationally among all Division I teams in the category.
ON THE MOUND
In a regional with plenty of talented pitchers, it's the Cornhuskers who might have the best of the bunch with righty Brett Sears at the front of their rotation.
At six-foot and 205 pounds, Sears isn't necessarily the most physically imposing pitching prospect in the nation. However, his success has been undeniable in his fourth season at the college level as the senior right-hander owns a perfect 9-0 record with a 2.00 ERA, .176 batting average against and 97 strikeouts against 18 walks in 99 innings.
Twelve of Sears'15 starts have been quality starts (six or more innings and three or fewer earned runs allowed) and his 0.81 WHIP is tops in the nation entering regional play.
Exceptional control has been the basis for Sears' success this season as his career-low 4.7 walk rate has helped to elevate a fastball that ranges from 89-93 mph and an effective low-80s slider that he'll locate in and out of the zone to draw swings and misses. Sears has done a masterful job at putting pressure on opposing hitters by filling up the strike zone and working with solid tempo, giving players little time to solve his otherwise somewhat average stuff.
AT THE PLATE
Much of Nebraska's success this year has occurred due to its efficacy on the mound as the group is reasonably underwhelming at the plate, where it isn't a big run producer nor does it hit for an impressive average.
The Cornhuskers enter the NCAA Tournament ranked No. 96 nationally in team batting average, No. 110 in runs scored and No. 127 in home runs.
Nebraska does a solid job when it comes to situation hitting, though, as evidenced by its 41 sacrifice hits, something its opponents will have to be wary of when making defensive decisions. The Cornhuskers will also pressure teams with their base running as they've swiped more bags on the year (91) than all but seven NCAA Tournament teams. It should be noted, however, that more than a third of those stolen bases belong to outfielder Riley Silva, a junior who is in his first year at the Division I level after transferring from the junior college ranks. Silva has swiped 31 bags on 34 attempts.
Nebraska's most productive hitter this season has been catcher Josh Caron, a top-200 MLB Draft prospect with considerable pop for his position. Caron enters regional play batting .322 and leads his team in home runs (16) and RBI (62). Opposing teams could have success against him if they can locate offspeed pitches below the zone.
Infielder Rhett Stokes and designated hitter Case Sanderson, who rank first and second on the team in batting average, respectively, have served as valuable table setters this season but neither player has game-changing power and both are somewhat reliant on the bats behind them in order to do damage.
