OMAHA, Neb. — One-run games never get old as long as you’re winning.
Florida is doing plenty of that right now.
The Gators reached the College World Series finals with a 3-2 victory over TCU on Wednesday afternoon, making them just the fourth team in CWS history to win its double-elimination bracket with three straight one-run wins.
“It’s not easy to get to this point. It’s just not,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “I know I overstate it and say it over and over, but we just played three one-run games and they’re all nailbiters down to the end.”
Cade Kurland, who struggled at the plate in Florida’s first two games at this year’s CWS, reached on an infield single to drive in the tiebreaking run in the ninth. Michael Robertson, who scored the winning run as a pinch runner and stayed in the lineup to play center field, ran down Brayden Taylor’s deep fly to make a dazzling catch at the wall to end the game at Charles Schwab Field.
“There’s a lot of things that have to go right,” said O’Sullivan, whose team was the No. 2 national seed when the NCAA tournament began early this month with a 64-team field.
Florida joined Eastern Michigan in 1976, South Carolina in 1977 and Texas in 2002 as the only teams in the 76-year history of the CWS to win their first three games by a single run.
The Gators’ run in Omaha started Friday with a walk-off 6-5 win over No. 7 Virginia after they erased a two-run deficit in the ninth. Then on Sunday, they survived Oral Roberts’ inside-the-park home run, O’Sullivan’s mound visit rules violation that forced closer Brandon Neely out of the game and anxious moments in the last two innings to win 5-4.
The Gators (53-15) have won eight games in a row since facing elimination in the Gainesville Regional they hosted. They’re hot at the right time, and TCU’s Taylor could see it Wednesday.
“Florida is going to be the team to win this thing,” he said.
The best-of-three championship series starts Saturday afternoon, with a second game on Sunday night and a third, if necessary, on Monday night. Florida is in the title round for the fourth time overall but first time since it won the national championship in 2017; the Gators were runners-up in 2005 and 2011.
The Gators will face the winner of Thursday’s other bracket final between No. 1 Wake Forest and No. 5 LSU. Each has one loss in Omaha after LSU beat Wake Forest 5-2 on Wednesday night to force a second game Thursday.
TCU (44-24) staved off elimination twice to get to Wednesday’s game, and the Horned Frogs finished the season with wins in 21 of their final 25 games.
“Obviously ran up against a great Florida team and just came up one run short,” coach Kirk Saarloos said. “But like I told them, just the story and the journey that they took us on this year will never be forgotten. I think it completely changes our program in terms of what they did from the middle part of the season until now. It just stinks that it’s over.”
Florida led 2-1 after the first inning, and neither team scored again until TCU tied it in the bottom of the eighth when Tre Richardson singled and came home on Anthony Silva’s deep fly to left-center that bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double.
Florida’s Tyler Shelnut doubled off the right-center wall leading off the ninth against Ben Abeldt. Garrett Wright relieved Abeldt, and pinch hitter Dale Thomas popped out trying to bunt before Colby Halter’s deep flyout allowed Robertson to take third.
Robertson scored when Kurland’s grounder to shortstop pulled Silva to his right. Silva bounced a throw to first that was far too late to get Kurland, who had been 1-for-14 in the CWS.
“A lot of times in baseball, things may not go your way, but I think baseball always has a way to come back around,” Kurland said. “It’s really important to stay in the moment for when you do get the opportunity. He got me 0-2 quick, and I just knew he wasn’t going to get me out. I wasn’t going to go down.”
Jac Caglianone, who has contributed as a hitter and pitcher for the Gators, was shaky over 4 1/3 innings in his first start on the mound since June 2. He walked three batters, hit three batters and gave up three hits.
Josh Rivera hit a two-run homer in the first inning for the Gators, and while playing shortstop, he made a perfect relay throw home to prevent the Horned Frogs from scoring the tying run in the fourth.
Florida reliever Cade Fisher, a former prep standout at Georgia’s Northwest Whitfield, made his third appearance at this year’s CWS. Three days after getting the save when Neely was forced out of the game by O’Sullivan’s rules violation, Fisher entered in the eighth and pitched 1 1/3 innings without allowing a baserunner.
TCU freshman Kole Klecker, starting on four days’ rest for the first time, allowed two runs on six hits in five innings.