The University of Florida and Mississippi State will play one game for the right to game to Omaha and the College World Series after Nick Vickerson shocked the Gators with a two-run walk-off home run in the ninth to lead the Bulldogs to a 4-3 win.
The Gators were three outs from a return to the College World Series for a second straight year before Jarrod Parks led off the bottom of the ninth with a single. Vickerson then greeted reliever Stephen Rodriguez with a two-run walk-off homer to stun a McKethan Stadium crowd of 4,223.
Tyler Thompson had delivered an RBI triple in the top of the eighth inning to break a tie game and put the Gators up 3-2 and within reach of clinching the series.
Game three will be played at 1 p.m. tomorrow and will be broadcast on ESPN.
The Gators got a sacrifice fly from Nolan Fontana, a solo home run from Josh Adams and the RBI triple from Thompson. Mississippi State got two runs off of starter Karsten Whitson in the bottom of the seventh to chase the freshman right-hander in what had been a spectacular start until that point.
Florida jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but the Bulldogs knotted things 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh before the Gators regained the lead on Thompson’s triple in the bottom of the eighth.
The Gators, the visiting team in today’s game, got a two-out single in the top of the first from SEC Player of the Year Mike Zunino, but were unable to string anything together. After Whitson walked Bulldog lead-off hitter C.T. Bradford to lead off the bottom of the first, Ryan Collins bunted him over to second. Whitson responded with back-to-back strike outs of Jarrod Parks and Nick Vickerson to keep the Bulldogs off the board.
Adams led off the second inning with a single but the Gators were unable to take advantage. Whitson then returned to the hill in the bottom of the second and sat the Bulldogs down in order.
Cody Dent led off the third inning for the Gators with a sharp single passed Bulldog shortstop Jonathan Ogden. Bryson Smith continued to torch opposing pitching, hitting a deep double to right center to put runners on second and third. A sacrifice fly by Fontana gave the Gators a 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the third Ogden led off the inning with an infield single and advanced to third after a sacrifice bunt and a fielder’s choice, but Whitson once again was able to pitch his way out of the inning.
Adams immediately made the Bulldogs pay in the top of the fourth, hitting his sixth home run of the year just over the right field wall to put the Gators up 2-0.
Whitson was sailing along, giving up just one hit through the first six innings. He ran into trouble in the bottom of the seventh, as he gave up three straight singles, to exit with the Gators up 2-1, then Tommy Toledo gave up a single to Brent Brownlee to tie the game 2-2.
It didn’t take long for the Gators to respond. Zunino doubled to open the top of the eighth and was driven in by a two-out triple from Thompson to give the Gators a 3-2 lead.
The Gators were three outs from closing the game before the Bulldogs’ dramatic rally capped by Vickerson’s walk-off homer.
