Gator Baseball: Just call Ty Evans "Mr. June"

Ty Evans has been channeling his inner Reggie Jackson since arriving in Omaha.

Photo courtesy UAA

They used to call Reggie “Mr. October” the way he seemed to own the big stage of the World Series when he was playing for the New York Yankees. Since arriving at the College World Series in Omaha 10 days ago, Ty Evans has been “Mr. June” with four home runs, two doubles and eight RBI in five games.

Evans left the yard twice Sunday afternoon, just when the Florida Gators (54-16) needed him most. A prodigious 424-foot solo homer that sailed over the top of the left field foul pole and a third inning grand slam got the Gators going on a record-setting 24-4 rout of LSU (53-17) in game two of the CWS best-of-three championship series.

The two teams will face off Monday night with the winner taking home the NCAA championship trophy. LSU is expected to throw All-American Paul Skenes (13-2), who will be working on three days rest. Florida is expected to go with Jac Caglianone (7-3), who went 4-1/3 innings against TCU back on Wednesday.

Florida’s 24 runs were the most ever in a College World Series game and the 23 hits tied the record. Evans’ two home runs were part of a 6-homer effort as the Gators scored at least two runs off each of LSU’s six pitchers.

The Gators were long overdue for a breakout game at the plate after four consecutive 1-run games including a 4-3 loss to LSU in 11 innings Saturday night. In the previous four games, the Gators managed only 17 runs. The Gators exceeded that total in the eighth inning.

Best yet, the Gators saved their bullpen. Because it was an elimination game for UF, it was expected to be an all-hands on deck for the pitching staff. The way Hurston Waldrep struggled with his location in 2-1/3 innings in which he threw 85 pitches, it looked like Kevin O’Sullivan might need every single pitcher he had to even have a chance at getting to a game three, but Blake Purnell and Nick Ficarrotta were nails out of the bullpen.

Coming into the game with the bases loaded in the third, Purnell got LSU’s Tommy White, the nation’s RBI leader, to hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. He got a double play in the fourth as well as part of 1-2/3 innings of shutout ball.

Ficarotta went five full innings, allowing three hits while striking out two. He didn’t give up a run until Brayden Jobert hit a meaningless home run with two outs in the ninth.

It was Evans who got the Gators going. When he came to the plate in the second inning, LSU starter Nate Ackenhausen had struck out four consecutive hitters. On the heels of a night when Florida hitters struck out 20 times in 11 innings, this had the feel of a more of the same kind of game. Evans turned on an 0-1 pitch and the only question was going to be fair or foul. The ball sailed over the foul pole and landed fair 424 feet away.

That tied the game at 1-1 and was a wakeup call for the Florida bats. LSU answered with a pair of runs to take a 3-1 lead, but the stage had already been set for Mr. June. The third began when Cade Kurland was hit by a pitch. Singles by Wyatt Langford and Caglianone made it a 3-2 game. A Josh Rivera single tied it at 3-3. When Luke Heyman reached on an error, the bases were loaded with two out for Evans to go yard again.

The first pitch Evans saw was another high drive down the left field line and once again the question was fair or foul. The wind blew left to right, the ball went fair and it was a grand slam for a 7-3 Florida lead.

When LSU loaded the bases off Hurston Waldrep in the bottom of the third, this seemed like a slow pitch softball score in the making, but O’Sullivan brought in Purnell whose sinker was too tough for White to elevate. His grounder to Rivera was routine, resulting in an inning-ending double play.

From that moment on, Florida took batting practice off any pitcher LSU threw out there.

A Kurland walk, an infield single by Langford and a throwing error added a Florida run for an 8-3 lead in the fourth. Five Florida runs crossed the plate in the sixth when two more balls left the yard. Colby Halter doubled, Kurland was hit by a pitch and Langford unloaded for his second home run of the CWS, his 20th of the season. This one didn’t go as far as the one he hit against Virginia, but his 449-foot blast was the second longest homer in Charles Schwab Park history. The one against Virginia went 456 feet.

That brought Caglianone to the plate, still in the hunt for his first home run of the College World Series. On a 1-1 pitch, Caglianone hammered the ball into the seats in left center field to put the Gators up 12-3. It was the 32nd homer of the season for Caglianone and it assured him of the NCAA home run championship for the season. An error, a stolen base and a single up the middle by Tyler Shelnut drove in Rivera with the final run of the inning for a 13-3 lead.

In the seventh, Kurland and Langford hit back-to-back doubles to crank up a 2-run inning. Langford moved to third on a passed ball and came home on a ground out by Caglianone. Four more runs crossed the plate in the Florida eighth when Langford hit a 2-run double to drive home Shelnut, who had walked, and Evans, who had singled. Caglianone followed with his second homer of the game to right field, stretching the lead to 19-3.

Not to be left out of the home run party, BT Riopelle hit his second home run in two nights with a long ball that left the yard in dead center field. That gave the Gators an impressive 20-3 lead but there was more to come. Shelnut, who had singled, scored on an error after a single to right by pinch-hitter Matt Prevesk. Prevesk and Michael Robertson scored on a single by pinch-hitter Derek Fabian to finish off the scoring.

This is the kind of day it was for the Gators at the plate. Leadoff hitter Kurland was hit by a pitch twice, walked once and had a single and a double while scoring four times. Langford was 5-5 with two singles, two doubles, his 20th home run and six RBI. Caglianone was 3-5 with his 32nd and 33rd homers and five RBI. Rivera had two hits and an RBI. Riopelle hit a single and his 19th homer of the year. Tyler Shelnut had two singles and an RBI. Evans went 3-5 with five RBI. Halter hit a double and had an RBI single.

Waldrep struggled with the strike zone. In his 2-1/3 innings, he gave up four hits, six walks, hit two batters and threw a wild pitch before leaving the game with the Gators trailing 3-1. The Gators went the rest of the way with Purnell and Nick Ficarrotta, who shut down the Tigers in the final 6-2/3.

Getting the win was Purnell (2-0), who hadn’t pitched since the SEC Tournament back in May. Ficarrotta’s last outing was two innings against UConn in the Gainesville Regional after the game was all but over.