OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Eric Gutierrez hit a two-run homer, Texas Tech picked up a huge insurance run by way of two errors on the same play in the ninth inning, and the Red Raiders eliminated Florida 3-2 at the College World Series on Tuesday — a stunning early exit for the No. 1 national seed.
The Gators made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth after Peter Alonso's two-run homer made it a one-run game. The game ended when Jonathan India tried to stretch a single into a double and was thrown out by left fielder Tyler Neslony.
The fifth-seeded Red Raiders (47-19) will play Thursday against the loser of the Tuesday night game between TCU and Coastal Carolina. The Gators (52-16) went 0-2 at the CWS after coming in heavily favored to win the program's first national championship.
Davis Martin (10-1) and Hayden Howard combined to hold Florida to six hits. Florida starter Alex Faedo (13-3) cruised until the fourth inning when Gutierrez went deep.
In a CWS where runs have been at a premium, Texas Tech's biggest came on botched infield play by the Gators in the top of the ninth.
Neslony scored from first after third baseman India threw in the dirt trying to get Gutierrez at first. Alonso, the first baseman, bounced a throw past third trying to get Neslony, allowing him to go home.
Howard, who entered in the eighth, allowed a single to Buddy Reed to start the Florida ninth. Alonso then smacked his 14th home run of the season.
Mike Rivera popped out for the second out, and then India drilled a ball into the left-field corner. Neslony threw on a line to second, where Michael Davis put the tag on the headfirst-sliding India.
Florida came to Omaha with seven of the top 108 drafted players and with extremely high expectations. It turned out to be maybe the most disappointing of the Gators' 10 CWS appearances. They scored just three runs in 18 innings and are now 14-21 all-time here.
Florida, which didn't have a runner reach second base until the fifth inning, had the bases loaded with one out in the sixth but couldn't push across a run.
JJ Schwarz, who had a 3-0 count go full, tapped a comebacker to Martin, who went home with the ball. Catcher Tyler Floyd then threw to first, hitting Schwarz on the arm. Schwarz, running just inside the base line, was called out for interference. That double play, the Raiders' third of the game, might have been the biggest of their nation-leading 81 this season.
