Florida wins 5-4 over NC State, advances in College World Series

Florida survived again by winning a competitive elimination matchup versus NC State in the 2024 College World Series.

The Gators won 5-4 in the loser’s section of bracket two over the Wolfpack on Monday afternoon. That means that they’ll survive to play against on Tuesday night. Meanwhile, it’s also now the end of the season for NC State.

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Jac Caglianone was a story early on in this matchup. After starting on the mound for the Gators, he loaded the bases and gave up a base hit to Brandon Butterworth to give the Wolfpack a 1-0 lead to start. However, he immediately made up for it at the top of the second. A flyout from Cade Kurland with loaded bases tied it at one. Caglianone then came up to hit a historic home run for himself to bring in three for the Gators and give them a 4-1 lead. Caglianone would not return to pitch in the game after that.

Still, NC State didn’t go away from there. At the bottom of the third, Alex Makarewicz cut it to 4-3 with a two-run home run of his own. It was his second at Charles Schwab Field after hitting one in their opener in the game prior.

The fourth inning would go by with no updates besides the beginning of a trend for the Wolfpack. After Caglianone hurt them early, Elliott Avent began to intentionally walk him from there on out.

The fifth inning would create the final margin of the game with both teams scoring one more run. Florida would get their fifth of the contest after a solo shot out of the park from Tyler Shelnut. Butterworth would get another on the board and keep it at one, though, with a double that scored Garrett Pennington.

Both teams made a handful of pitching changes in the sixth through the ninth but the last four frames went by without another change. Florida would be the one to close it out in the ninth with Brandon Neely getting two strikeouts and a sealing fly out to end it from Omaha.

With the close, one-run win, Florida has set up another conference meeting tomorrow night. They will get the loser of Kentucky and Texas A&M from tonight and, from there, will need to win another to avoid their own elimination once again.