OMAHA,
Neb. – Somewhere over the last few weeks, the Kent State baseball team realized
something hardly anybody else did.
It’s
safe to say there are a whole lot more believers now.
The
Golden Flashes belong in the conversation of college baseball’s elite in 2012.
Any lingering doubt about that got wiped out Monday in the first
down-to-the-wire thriller of the College World Series.
Buoyed
by a quick start and six strong innings from starting pitcher Ryan Bores, Kent
State stunned No. 1 seed Florida 5-4 to slam the door on the Gators’ season
after two straight losses.
The
Flashes (47-19) notched the first CWS victory in program history and will face
the South Carolina (46-18) at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The winner of that game gets another
shot at Arkansas at 8 p.m. Thursday.
Florida’s
promising season is over after the Gators (47-20) spent most of the season
hovering near the top of the national rankings and entered the NCAA Tournament
as a consensus No. 1.
As
jolting as that part of the equation was, the story of the game was Kent State
doing what it has done throughout the NCAA Tournament: Finding a way to
survive.
“I
don’t think many people gave us much of a chance (Monday),” Flashes coach Scott
Stricklin said.
“It
wasn’t the prettiest thing in the end. It was gut-wrenching no matter who you
were rooting for. Even if you weren’t rooting for anybody, that was tough to
watch.”
Indeed,
the final half-inning was an emotional rollercoaster tinged with controversy.
And
that came after a strange beginning when Florida starter Hudson Randall couldn’t
comeback out for the second inning, a victim of the steamy heat and humidity
that hovered around 95 degrees at first pitch.
Randall’s
struggles were immediate. Kent State’s Jimmy Rider reached on a one-out error
on steady Gators shortstop Nolan Fontana. David Lyon and George Roberts
followed with single to produce a quick run and prompt a visit from Florida
coach Kevin O’Sullivan and eventually a trainer.
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| Kent State players converge on the field to celebrate the first College World Series victory in program history: 5-4 over No. 1 seed Florida |
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After
several minutes, Randall stayed in the game and managed to record the final two
outs.
But
Jonathon Crawford came out for the second inning, and that seemed to be a boost
for the Flashes.
“Randall
was a guy we wanted to wait back on and try to attack his fastball a little
more and see it deep,” said Rider, who scored three runs.
“Crawford comes in
and he’s throwing upper 90s, mid 90s, so we had to jump on his fastball a
little bit more.”
Crawford
leaped right into the fire in the second inning when he gave up a single to
Jason Bagoly and Alex Miklos reached when the Gators misplayed his bunt. Derek
Toadvine pushed those two up with a bunt and Crawford struck out Evan Campbell
to nearly get out of trouble.
With
the Gators on their heels, Rider dropped a bunt down the third-base line and
beat it out for an RBI single. David Lyon added a third run – all unearned –
when he pumped a base hit to center field.
Florida
got one run on the scoreboard in the third inning on Mike Zunino’s two-out base
knock, but the Gators struggled to find a comfort zone.
Unfazed
by that small dent in the lead, Kent State manufactured another run in the
fourth inning when Rider cranked a double to left field with one out and scored
on a pair of wild pitches.
The
rest of the game was a matter of the Flashes holding off the Gators. And with
some assistance from home-plate umpire Phil Benson, Kent State managed to do
so, but just barely.
Justin
Shafer chased in a run in the sixth with his second double of the day to close
the gap to 5-2.
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| Florida freshman Justin Shafer covers his head moments after Kent State ended the Gators' season with a 5-4 victory |
|
An
inning later, Florida was in position to storm in front when Fontana, Preston Tucker and Zunino tagged consecutive singles after Taylor Gushue walked to open
the seventh and melted the difference to 5-3.
Reliever
Brian Clark – who gave up the three hits – got a huge break when he got Brian Johnson to roll into a 4-6-3 double play, with Fontana scoring to whittle the
deficit to 5-4.
Stricklin
summoned closer Casey Wilson at that point, and he ended the Florida at-bat
when he got Daniel Pigott to hit a soft liner to second base. Wilson got the
first two outs of the eighth before Michael Clark entered and extinguished another
threat when he got Fontana to pop up to Rider at short.
All
of that was just a warmup for a wild ninth inning.
Clark
threw six straight balls to start the frame, walking Tucker and leaving with a
2-and-0 count on Zunino. Josh Pierce came in and threw two more balls to walk
Zunino and put two runners on base.
O’Sullivan
sent light-hitting Cody Dent up to hit for Johnson, his cleanup batter, with
the express intent of bunting the two runners up a base. Dent did so on a
full-count pitch, but Pierce loaded the bases when he plunked Pigott.
That
brought Turgeon up and that was when Benson got involved.
Pierce
fell behind 3-and-0 and then blazed a gimme’ by Turgeon for strike one. The
next pitch appeared to veer six inches outside the strike zone and replays
showed it should have been ball four. But Benson called it strike two to fill
the count.
On
the next pitch, Turgeon offered and when Benson asked third-base umpire Jeff
Henrichs for a verdict, he ruled that Turgeon had gone far enough for a
swinging strikeout.
“I
saw a full swing and, and everyone else did, too – especially on the third-base
side,” Stricklin said.
With
two outs, Shafer stepped in and jumped on the first pitch, sending a routine fly
ball to right fielder T.J. Sutton to seal the upset.
O’Sullivan
was adamant when asked if umpiring determined the outcome in the first one-run
game of the CWS.
“The
game was not decided by the umpires,” he said. “The game was decided by both
teams playing.”
And
the game was decided like most of the Flashes’ postseason games.
Four
of Kent State’s last five contests have been settled by one run. The Flashes
are now 7-3 against ranked foes with six wins in the NCAA Tournament and three
against SEC opposition.
“We’re
not a fluke,” Stricklin said. “We’re a really good baseball team.”
BOX SCORE
Ninth Inning Breeds Hope, Misfortune
Heat-Related Issues Force Randall From Game
VIDEO: Zunino reflects on the ride
GAME 8: Arkansas 2, South Carolina 1
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