In Omaha, Neb., Ty Evans, Wyatt Langford and Jac Caglianone combined for 11 hits, five home runs and 16 RBI as No. 2 Florida thumped No. 5 LSU 24-4 on Sunday afternoon to even their Championship Series at 1-1 in the 2023 College World Series.
“A lot to be said,” UF head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “We swung the bats really good today. And the wind was in our favor. It was obviously a tight game to start. And then we just swung the bats extremely well.”
The Gators (54-16) and the Tigers (53-17) will meet on Monday, June 26 at 6 p.m. CT to determine this year’s national championship.
Evans went 3 for 5 with two homers, three runs and five RBI. He had a solo home run in the second to put UF on the board, tying the game at 1-1. His grand slam capped a six-run third as UF took a 7-3 advantage.
“I honestly thought it was foul off the bat probably just like everybody else,” Evans said. “But I just started jogging it out and I looked up at Luke and he was spinning around in circles. I didn’t see the ball. I just knew it was out when he started doing that.”
Langford was 5 for 5 with two doubles, one home run, four runs and six RBI. His three-run homer sparked a five-run sixth as the Gators went up 13-3. Langford added an RBI double in the seventh and a two-run double in the eighth.
Caglianone went 3 for 6 with two homers, three runs and five RBI. His RBI single sparked a six-run third. Caglianone had a solo homer in the sixth, an RBI fielder’s choice in the seventh and a two-run dinger in the eighth.
Gavin Dugas homered in the bottom of the first as LSU took the early lead. Tommy White had an RBI single and Tre’ Morgan added a sacrifice fly in the second as the Tigers took a 3-1 lead. LSU left the bases loaded in each of the first two innings and stranded a pair in the third.
Brayden Jobert went deep in the bottom of the ninth for LSU to complete the scoring.
Dylan Crews went 2 for 3 with two runs for the Tigers.
“Tough one, obviously,” LSU head coach Jay Johnson said. “Really good job by Florida swinging the bat. They’ve got great players. They played great today. We got off to a good start offensively. Did a nice job, I thought, with [Hurston] Waldrep. Would have been good to maybe get a two-out hit in either the first or second to put more pressure on them. But we didn’t do that. You have to credit them. It was just an onslaught of good at-bats and barrels. And they’re a great team, and they played great today.”
Blake Purnell (2-0) pitched 1.2 innings of hitless and scoreless relief to pick up the win. Nick Ficarrotta allowed three hits and one run over the final five innings with two strikeouts to record his second save.