Ty Evans makes history for Florida baseball with home run at College World Series

Florida sophomore Ty Evans got things going for the Gators’ offense on Sunday in their second game of the College World Series.

With the game still tied and scoreless early heading in the second inning, Evans launched a two-run homer over the right field wall draw first blood and give the Gators a 2-0 lead.

Evans absolutely crushed the ball, sending it 378 feet with a launch angle of 27.1 degrees and an exit velocity of 101 miles per hour according to NCAA Baseball. His home run was just his fifth of the season, but comes after hitting another homer in the Gators’ previous World Series matchup versus Virginia.

The home run also marks Florida’s 133rd of the season, setting a new school record and breaking the record set by the 1998 Gators. Check out Evans’ historic moonball below.

Ty Evans is EN FUEGO 🔥#MCWS x 🎥 ESPN2 / @GatorsBB pic.twitter.com/XYggCoReiO

— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 18, 2023

Evans came up big for the Gators versus Virginia, going 2-2 at the plate with a double and a solo home run at the bottom of the ninth inning that would spark a three-run rally inning for Florida. The Gators entered the ninth down 5-3 and left with a 6-5 comeback win capped off by a Luke Heyman game-winning RBI sacrifice fly.

But following the SEC Tournament, Evans had only made one postseason appearance for the Gators prior to the College World Series. He had an RBI single in the regional round versus UConn, but before that was on a dry spell, not recording a hit in eight straight games and 16 at bats.

He definitely chose a great time to snap out of his hitting slump, recording four hits, three runs, four RBIs, and two home runs so far in his three postseason games.

Oral Roberts answered Evans’ homer run with a run of their own at the bottom of the second inning, but the Gators decided they wanted to extend their newly set record.

Florida had an electric fourth inning, with shortstop Josh Rivera hitting solo home run to left field to start off the top of the fourth. BT Riopelle took his base on the next at bat after getting hit by a pitch, which led to Luke Heyman’s two-run homer that extended the Gators lead to 5-1.

Both home runs represent the 18th homer of the season for Rivera and Riopelle, as the Gators look to hold onto their lead and secure their second win of this year’s College World Series.