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Florida celebrates Michael Robertson walk off clinching College World Series berth

Wade-Peeryby:Wade Peery•06/09/24
Florida baseball
Cyndi Chambers Sports/Special to the Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Florida Gators are heading to Omaha. The Gators stunned the No. 6 seed Clemson Tigers the past two days, defeating them 2-0 in their Super Regional series. Florida had a barrage of home runs on Sunday to help lift them to victory, but it certainly didn’t come easy in what was an absolute classic of a baseball game. The Gators had to survive a marathon of 13 innings to punch their tickets to Omaha, winning 11-10 after Michael Robertson slapped in the winning run in the bottom of the 13th.

Once they outlasted Clemson, the celebration was on for Florida, and they piled on top of each other in the outfield.

It was 5 hours and 5 minutes of college baseball and the game simply had everything imaginable.

Florida will face the winner of the Texas A&M-Oregon Super Regional. Currently, Texas A&M leads that series by a score of 1-0. It marks the 14th appearance in the College World Series for the Florida Gators. And it’ll also be their second straight trip to Omaha.

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Brody Donay blasted a pivotal three-run shot for the Gators. That allowed them to jump out to a 7-4 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. And Ashton Wilson also sent one deep into the seats for Florida, launching a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Gators a 9-6 cushion.

But the Tigers didn’t wait long until they answered the bell, as Cam Cannarella launched a three-run blast into the seats at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The clutch home run tied the game up at 9-9 in the top of the ninth inning and in the process, extended the Tigers’ season. The game lasted 12 innings, thanks to some amazing heroics by Cam Cannarella, not only at the plate, but in the outfield.

It was unquestionably one of the best plays of the 2024 college baseball season. Cannarella sprinted back to deep center field, jumped in the air, and hauled in an over-the-shoulder catch in the bottom of the 10th inning. If he would have dropped the spectacular grab, the Tigers season would have been over then.

Clemson has been one of the best teams in America at coming from behind and they played true to form on Sunday, giving Florida all they could handle and more. But ultimately the Gators were able to outlast them. The Tigers have 25 comeback wins this season. Clemson trailed 7-4 entering the 7th inning on Sunday and still managed to extend it to a marathon that lasted over five hours.

In the top of the sixth inning, Clemson slugger Jimmy Obertop launched a solo shot to left field, cutting the Florida lead to 5-4.