Matt Hogan delivers historic inside the park home run against Florida in College World Series
The Oral Roberts Golden Flashes made a furious rally in the seventh inning of their matchup against the Florida Gators in the 2023 College World Series on Sunday evening. Matt Hogan stepped up to the plate and delivered a deep shot off the left field wall in Charles Schwab Field, where the ball nearly cleared the wall, but bounced off of it.
That left Florida outfielders scampering to recover and grab the ball. They bobbled it once they finally got to it, which allowed Hogan even more time to round the bases and make his way to home plate. The play at the plate was pretty close, but it bounced off the Florida catcher, allowing Hogan to complete the inside the park home run.
Check it out below.
It’s just the second inside the park home run in College World Series history. The last time it happened in Omaha was over two decades ago in 2001. It was an amazing play by Matt Hogan, and it takes serious wheels to do that. There were plenty of mistakes by the Florida outfielders, but that doesn’t make the play any less spectacular.
What an amazing play on the biggest of stages. It was his 19th home run of the 2023 campaign. It simply doesn’t get much bigger than that one.
Hogan’s two-run inside the park home run cut the Florida lead to 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Florida led the game 5-1 heading into the 7th inning. But the Golden Flashes mounted a furious rally in the final two innings.
Oral Roberts trailed Florida 5-3 in the bottom of the eighth inning and got the bases loaded. That’s when Florida had to pull their All-American closer, Brandon Neely, from the game because head coach Kevin O’Sullivan lost track of mound visits.
They had to send freshman Cade Fisher to the mound without warming up, but the Gators ended up escaping the eighth inning without giving up any more runs.
Later in the bottom of the ninth inning with Oral Roberts trailing by two (5-3), Hogan drilled a ball down the left field line where it landed perfectly on the chalk before going into the corner. It ended up being a ground-rule double. Then the Golden Flashes got a single, advancing Hogan to third. He would eventually score, giving ORU their final run they would score on Sunday evening.
Florida ended up surviving against Oral Roberts, 5-4. It was yet again another highly entertaining affair in the College World Series. Things have lived up to the billing in Omaha. For a look at Day 4 of the 2023 College World Series, check out this article by On3’s Chandler Vessels.