GAINESVILLE REGIONAL: Gators 7, Texas Tech 1 – Fisher shines to keep the Gators alive

What happened: The Gators played their second playoff game of the day, defeating Texas Tech 7-1 on Sunday night to force a winner-takes-all tournament in the Gainesville Regional on Monday afternoon. Florida opened a scoreless game with a four-run lead in Series F, avenging a 5-4 loss to the Red Raiders on Saturday night.

Play the game: Jack Caglianon Again he was in the middle of work. In Florida’s 8-2 win over UConn earlier in the day, Caglianone hit two home runs and drove in five runs. He threw in a more accurate fashion against the Red Raiders, lining up an RBI single to right to catch the scoreless tie in the top of the sixth and sparking a four-run spree. What made Caglianone’s hit so impressive was that it immediately followed disaster on the Gators’ bases. With the contestants in second and third place and no one else out, White Langford He hit a ground ball to third base. Richie Schickover He was thrown out at home during the play, then Langford stalled between first and second, knocking him out Kid Kurland To try to score from the second position. Courland was thrown off the plate, resulting in a 5-2-6-3-2 double play that ended with Langford at second base, in the scoring position for Caglianon.

Amazing case: The Gators got 18 hits in 14 innings from their two starting pitchers: Hurston Waldrip And Kid Fisher. Waldreb and Fisher, meanwhile, allowed only 10 hits and posted an ERA of 1.29.

In the spotlight: Left-handed rookie Fisher had made 20 home runs before Sunday, 19 of those in relief. However, the Gators coach Kevin O’Sullivan He turned to Fisher to start his team’s second do-or-die game of the day, and Fisher gave an amazing performance. He limited Texas Tech’s Fisher to five hits and ran over seven innings. He did not walk a batter and hit six. Fisher carried a shutout in the bottom of the eighth before being substituted out Brandon Neely After the first two batters arrive in the inning.

Key moment: Fisher avoided any serious trouble on Sunday, but he did hit in the Red Raiders’ sixth game Noelene HesterAnd after retirement Kevin BazilFisher hit Gage Harrelson with the pitch. But with two on and one out, Fisher retired the next two outs to preserve Florida’s 4-0 lead.

In numbers: 84 – RBI for Caglianone, just shy of matching the school record you’ve set Preston Tucker in 2009; 10 The batters were sent to the plate by the Gators in a four-run sixth inning that snapped the scoreless tie.

From the trainer: “Kidd was fantastic. The same can be said of Hurston. We wouldn’t be in that position to have enough promotion.” [Monday] If we don’t get these two starts. We’re in good shape. I know you will ask me who will start. i don’t know yet. But we have options. We have a group of players who have been in great situations that will be available.” – Gators coach Kevin O’Sullivan on pitching

Notable

• Sunday night’s game was delayed by weather by an hour and 30 minutes.
• The Gators are playing in their second consecutive NCAA Regional Final against a Big-12 opponent.
• Florida is now 122-83 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
  • The Gators are 85-51 in NCAA regional play.
  • UF hosts its 19th NCAA regional while making its 38th regional appearance in program history.
  • Florida has hosted 12 of the 15 prospects in O’Sullivan’s era.

• In his second career start, Fisher pitched a career-high seven innings pitched while striking out six to tie his personal best.
  • The freshman allowed only one run of five hits.

• Kurland was hit by a pitch for the 20th time this season, which now ranks second all-time in a single season at UF behind David Eckstein (25 – 1997).
• Caglianone now has 84 RBI on the season, one short of tying Preston Tucker (2009) for the most in a single season in the UF.
• Langford hit his 24th hit of the season driving in two runs in the ninth, bringing him close to four of Mike Zunino’s single-season program record of 28.
• Florida struck out 638 batters in 532 innings—translating to 10.8 per nine innings pitched, which set a new program record.
• The Gators have 600 hits over 62 games (9.7 hits/game).
• The Gators have scored 44.2% of their innings pitched (223 of 505).
• Florida is now 2-3 all-time against Texas Tech, all of which have occurred in the postseason in the O’Sullivan era.

the next: Florida and Texas Tech meet for the third time at the Gainesville Regional on Monday at 12 p.m. This is the regional championship and a Super Regional berth.

– Sullivan Portner contributed to this report.