Florida rode the bat of sophomore outfielder Ashton Wilson to a 5-2 win over Nebraska on Friday, putting the Gators in the winner’s bracket of the Stillwater Regional in the NCAA Baseball Tournament.
Wilson doubled three times and homered in the ninth for a big insurance run. His 10 total bases on the day more than double his season total (9) coming into the game.
“(My confidence level) wasn’t the highest thing in the world (coming into the game),” Wilson said after the game. “I was trying to pass it to the next guy, keep the train moving.”
After 10 total bases on Friday, “it’s definitely higher, no doubt about it.”
Three of Florida’s five runs can be tied directly back to Wilson, but the other two scored off the bat of sophomore second baseman Cade Kurland. He set the tone early with a leadoff home run and delivered again in the eighth to extend a one-run lead.
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Liam Peterson’s ability to pitch in a big game might have been under question coming into this one, but the freshman right-hander answered any doubts by coming just two outs shy of a quality start — six full innings and three or fewer earned runs.
Peterson started the game with some jitters, which is reasonable for a 19-year-old who celebrated a high school state championship around this time last year. He gave up a run in the first inning but settled down until the sixth after that.
The fastball-changeup mix played well for Peterson all night. He froze several Huskers with his heater, which ran up to 97 mph early on. Nebraska finally knocked him out of the game in the sixth with a solo home run to pull things within one run, but 5 1/3 innings is good work from the first-year Gator.
Peterson didn’t get a ton of run support from Florida. A leadoff home run from Cade Kurland made the first-inning mistakes more palatable, and a two-run double from Wilson in the third gave UF the lead right back.
Fisher Jameson was first out of the bullpen and allowed a two-out single in the sixth after a quick punchout. Luke Heyman erased that base knock with a rifle down to second to catch the runner stealing, a pivotal moment in the game.
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Jameson got the first two outs of the seventh. Then, Kevin O’Sullivan turned to his…
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