GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Shortstop Peyton Graham hit a two-run homer to spark a four-run eighth inning and Oklahoma rallied to beat No. 13 overall seed Florida 5-4 to win the Gainesville Regional on Monday.
Oklahoma (40-21) won two of three games against Florida (41-25) on its way to earning a berth in the super regionals. The Sooners knocked the Gators into the loser’s bracket with a 9-4 win. Florida bounced back with a 7-2 victory over the Sooners to force Monday’s showdown.
Jac Caglianone staked Florida to a 1-0 lead with a home run in the bottom of the second. Kendall Pettis’ solo shot for Oklahoma tied the game in the fifth. The Gators retook the lead in their half of the inning when Colby Halter reached on an error by Graham and scored on a two-out single by BT Riopelle.
Halter walked and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ty Evans in the seventh to put Florida up 3-1. Langford homered with one out in the ninth to cap the scoring for the Gators.
Jake Bennett pitched the final two innings for his first save. He allowed only Langford’s homer, striking out two, including Riopelle to end the game. Trevin Michael went the first six innings, surrendering two runs — one earned — on six hits and a walk with five strikeouts. Chazz Martinez (4-3) allowed a run in his only inning of work but got the win.
Tanner Tredaway had three of Oklahoma’s eight hits and scored a run.
Langford had three of Florida’s eight hits.
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