Cade Kurland shares emotions of driving in go-ahead run against TCU

The pressure was high when Florida infielder Cade Kurland stepped up to the plate in the ninth inning of a College World Series game against TCU on Wednesday. With two outs and a runner on third base, the freshman found himself in perhaps the biggest moment of his young career.

The game was tied at 2 and Kurland had a chance to drive in Michael Robertson for the go-ahead run. The at-bat didn’t start off well for him, as he quickly found himself in an 0-2 count. However, he never gave up hope, connecting on the third pitch for a single to shortstop.

That put the Gators up 3-2, which ended up being the final score as they advanced to the CWS finals.

“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. And that’s why, 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.”

After Kurland’s clutch hit, it was up to the Florida defense to get the final three outs and put the Horned Frogs away. The Gators retired the first two batters as Brayden Taylor then stepped up to the plate for what could possibly be TCU’s final chance.

Taylor connected on the pitch from Brandon Neely, sending it deep back to center field. It looked like a potential home run coming off of the bat, traveling 407 feet. However, Robertson somehow made the catch at the warning track, colliding with the wall as he secured the ball in his glove.

The hit was the only one of the day for Kurland, who is Florida’s leadoff batter, in his five at-bats. However, as he told reporters postgame, he never got discouraged despite the previous results and kept the same confidence as he stepped up to the plate.

On the season, Kurland ranks fourth among all Gators players with 73 hits in addition to 16 home runs with a batting average of .290. He’ll hope to carry over the momentum from Wednesday’s big play as Florida head into the final series this weekend.

This marks the fourth time that the Gators have made it to the College World Series final. They won the championship in their last appearance in 2017, but finished runner-up in both 2005 and 2011.

Now Florida awaits either Wake Forest or LSU, which face off Wednesday night on ESPN, for the best-of-three series. The first game of the CWS final is set to begin at 7 p.m. ET Saturday in Omaha.