College World Series 2018: Florida Eliminates Texas Tech with 9-6 Win

There are only four teams remaining in the 2018 College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, following the Florida Gators' victory over the Texas Tech Red Raiders in Thursday's matchup.

The elimination showdown between the Gators and Red Raiders was the only game on Thursday's slate, as the Oregon State Beavers, Mississippi State Bulldogs and Arkansas Razorbacks had the day off with their eyes on the title. Florida will face Arkansas on Friday in the second half of a doubleheader after Oregon State and Mississippi State square off.

Oregon State and Mississippi State are in Bracket 1, while Arkansas and Florida are in Bracket 2. The Bulldogs and Razorbacks are each undefeated, so the Beavers and Gators will need to win two straight in the double-elimination tournament to advance to the College World Series finals from June 25-27.

The full bracket is available at NCAA.com.

Thursday's Score: Florida 9, Texas Tech 6

The defending champions aren't going home just yet, but they didn't make it easy on themselves.

Florida appeared to be cruising toward an easy victory when it held a 5-0 lead in the seventh but continued letting Texas Tech back in the game before escaping with a 9-6 victory. Gators starter Jack Leftwich impressed with his team's season hanging in the balance, allowing just two earned runs in 6.1 innings of work before a shaky bullpen performance.

It wasn't all bad for the Florida bullpen, though, as southpaw reliever Jordan Butler struck out Zach Rheams and retired Michael Davis with the bases loaded after Texas Tech pushed three runs across in the seventh.

He rescued his side from disaster after Andrew Baker and Tommy Mace failed to pick up Leftwich when the starter left with two runners on and no runs allowed, and closer Michael Byrne did the same by tallying the final four outs after Hunter McMullan was charged with three earned runs in 0.2 innings after Florida extended the advantage back to 8-3.

The Gators needed all the offense they could muster given their bullpen issues, and they found it with a combination of small ball and power hitting throughout.

They struck first when Jonathan India walked, advanced to second on a wild pitch, stole third and scored on another wild pitch and added two runs in the fifth and two in the sixth with an RBI double from Deacon Liput, an RBI groundout from Nelson Maldonado and a two-run blast from JJ Schwartz.

The potent Florida offense touched Texas Tech starter Caleb Kilian for three earned runs in 4.1 innings, but it did most of its damage against the Red Raiders bullpen the rest of the way.

Texas Tech's bullpen was charged with six runs, five of which were earned, and failed to keep momentum on the Red Raiders' side every time they made a late charge. Texas Tech scored three in the seventh and three in the eighth but allowed four in the final two frames thanks in part to an RBI triple from Brady Smith and an RBI double from Nick Horvath.

The inability to prevent Florida from adding insurance runs ultimately sealed Texas Tech's fate and ended its season.