It looked like Florida would have to battle all night to come out on top against Oklahoma State and force a Game 7 in Stillwater, but [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] and [autotag]Colby Shelton[/autotag] came up big in a 5-2 win that should go down as one of the best Gators baseball games all season.
Neely gets the nod for player of the game after hurling 5 2/3 innings of one-hit ball in relief of Florida starter [autotag]Cade Fisher[/autotag]. Freshman [autotag]Luke McNeillie[/autotag] came in between the two but walked the only batter he faced.
Nerves understandably got to the first-year arm, but Neely lives for the moments where it’s all adrenaline and no brakes. He struck out 11 of the 21 batters he faced, recording seven straight outs via the punchout at one point.
Neely’s fastball ran up to 96 mph, and he was painting a somewhat generous strike zone that had the hometown fans irate. Florida struggled with the wide zone, too. Every Gators starter, aside from [autotag]Ashton Wilson[/autotag], struck out at least once.
Shelton is the runner-up for player of the game, but he probably had the bigger moment putting the Gators up with a three-run homer in the sixth. It’s been a rough second half of the year for Shelton at the plate, but he’s picking up steam at the right time.
[autotag]Luke Heyman[/autotag] added an insurance run later in that inning, scoring on a wild pitch.
Although there is much to celebrate, Florida’s job isn’t finished. To make it out of Stillwater as regional champions, the Gators must beat the Cowboys again on Monday at 3 p.m. ET. Both teams are running low on pitching after reaching Day 4 of play, so it’s anyone’s game to win.
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