CLEMSON, SC: Despite a late game push, the Clemson Tigers were unable to force a game three against the Gators. Florida heads to Omaha for the fourteenth time in program history after an 11-10 win over the Tigers. In a game that lasted 13 innings and nearly five hours, the two teams combined for 21 runs and 4 ejections.
In the bottom of the thirteenth inning, Michael Robertson saw a pitch high in the zone that ended up being all that was needed to drive in the winning run for Florida. Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan had high praise for his guys after the late inning walk off.
"We never lost faith in our team," said O'Sullivan postgame. "This season has been a good lesson. Our pitching was really young early this season and my guys hung in there and kept getting better and better. I am just really proud of this group and the improvement they have made over the season."
While the bats of Florida were too much for Clemson in the end, the ejections in the thirteenth inning will be what people remember from this contest. It all started when Alden Mathes put the Tigers on top in the top of the 13th with a solo shot to right field. After the hit, Mathes slammed his bat with enough force that caused the officials to meet at the mound. After the conversations, the officials handed down a warning to Alden for his bat slam. Within a matter of minutes, assistant coach Jack Leggett & head coach Erik Bakich were both ejected from the game. Chaos insued for several more minutes before Hinderleider grounded out to end the inning.
Clemson totaled for 13 hits on the evening while being led by Blake Wright who went 4 of 6 with three runs and two RBI's. Florida racked up one less hit on the night as the Gators accounted for 12 hits and 11 runs.
Blake Wright and Austin Gordon spoke postgame for Clemson due to Erik Bakich not being available to the media due to the ejection. Despite the loss, Blake Wright ensured the fan base that this program was headed in only one direction.
The Tigers finished the 2024 campaign 44-15 and look to build off of the recent success in 2025 where Erik Bakich will be entering his third season as head coach of the Tigers. Coach Bakich was not available for post-game comments but will be conducting an end of season presser later this week.
