Kevin Brockway,Ainslie LeeThe Gainesville Sun
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OMAMA, Neb. -- Florida baseball (51-15) will look to continue to move on in the winner's bracket when they face Oral Roberts (51-12) on Sunday night at Charles Schwab Field in the College World Series (7 p.m., ESPN2).
The Gators will face one of the hottest teams in college baseball, as Oral Roberts has won 24 of its last 25 games.
Florida will start righty Hurston Waldrep (9-3, 4.15 ERA) against Oral Roberts lefty Harley Gollert (10-1, 4.30). Waldrep has been outstanding in his last outings, going 2-0 with a 0.60 ERA in wins over Connecticut and South Carolina. He's struck out 25 in his last 15 innings pitched.
Ready to close: With jitters out, Florida baseball's Brandon Neely could be key to College World Series title
How to watch: College World Series: How to watch Florida baseball vs. Oral Roberts on TV, radio, livestream
On Friday night, Florida rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth to beat Virginia 6-5, winning the game on a sac fly by designated hitter Luke Heyman after solo home runs from Ty Evans and Wyatt Langford.
"Special things happen this time of the year," Florida coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. "Awfully proud of the team the way we battled."
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10:24 p.m. | Florida survives late-game collapse
After having a a 5-1 lead through 6.5 innings, the Gators allowed the Eagles to make it interesting and bring it within one.
But Florida edged out Oral Roberts 5-4 as the Eagles stranded the winning run on second.
10:23 p.m. | Eagles make it a one-run game
Oral Roberts' Drew Stahl grounded into a fielder's choice with the bases loaded to bring across another run and to bring the Eagles within one of tying the Gators.
10:06 p.m. | Gators survive dicey inning
A whacky inning put Florida in trouble as Oral Roberts loaded the bases with two outs. Florida's Kevin O'Sullivan made a trip out to the mound, but UF was out of free visits, meaning the Gators had to make a pitching change and remove their ace closer Brandon Neely.
O'Sullivan gave the nod to rookie Cade Fisher, who got out of the jam as he forced a fly ball to left field which was caught to leave the bases stranded.
Florida leads Oral Roberts 5-3 in the top of the ninth inning.
9:34 p.m. | Oral Roberts cuts its deficit
After four scoreless innings, the Golden Eagles brought the game within two runs with a two-run home run off the bat of Matt Hogan.
Florida continues to lead Oral Roberts 5-3 heading into the top of the eighth inning.
8:14 p.m. | Luke Heyman joins launch party
Florida's Luke Heyman gives the Gators their third home run of the day with a two-run shot to left centerfield, scoring BT Riopelle and extending Florida's lead out to 5-1 in the top of the fourth.
Oral Roberts makes a pitching change, yanking Gollert from the hill and giving the ball to Dalton Patten.
8:10 p.m. | Josh Rivera notches solo blast
Florida stretches its lead out to two runs with a lead off home run in the top of the fourth inning.
The Gators lead the Golden Eagles 3-1 in the top of the fourth with no outs.
7:50 p.m. | Wyatt Langford misses a home run by a hair
After narrowly missing a home run in his first at-bat, Florida's Wyatt Langford missed another long ball by an eyelash with a shot out near the left foul pole.
The initial call on the field was a solo home run, but was later reversed to a foul ball. The call of a foul ball was confirmed after a brief review.
7:46 p.m. | Oral Roberts gets a run back
With two outs and the bases loaded, ORU's Justin Quinn shot a RBI single back to Hurston Waldrep on the mound, allowing Holden Breeze to score from third.
Waldrep and the Gators went on to force the Eagles to strand the bases loaded.
Florida leads Oral Roberts 2-1 heading to the third inning.
7:33 p.m. | Ty Evans continues his tear
Eyeing a 2-2 count, Florida's Ty Evans rips a pitch from Gollert over the left field wall, good for a two-run home run that scored Tyler Shelnut.
Florida leads Oral Roberts 2-0 in the top of the second inning.
7:08 p.m. | First pitch
Harley Gollert hurls the first pitch of the night to Florida rookie Cade Kurland to open the game.
Kurland reaches via an error to lead off for the Gators.
6:50 p.m. | Wind blowing out
The wind is blowing out at Charles Schwab Field (Northwest 5-7 mph) approaching first pitch of Sunday night's game between Florida and Oral Roberts.
6:06 p.m. | Gators the visiting team
Florida will be the visiting team in the batting order tonight against Oral Roberts. Florida is in its blue tops with white pants, while Oral Roberts is in white tops and white pants.
6:05 p.m. | Oral Roberts starting lineup
Starting lineup for Oral Roberts: McMurray 1B, Quinn LF, Cox CF, Hogan RF, McCroskey SS. Breeze 3B. Stahl DH, Godman C, Brothers 2B.
6:02 p.m. | Evans in starting lineup for Gators
Ty Evans, after finishing 2 for 2 with a double and a home run in UF's opening College World Series win over Virginia, is in the starting lineup today vs. Oral Roberts. Florida lineup: Kurland 2B, Langford CF. Caglianone 1B, Rivera SS, Riopelle C, Heyman DH, Shelnut LF, Evans RF, Halter 3B.
