The Wildcats and Gators will play at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday
OMAHA, Neb. – June 18, 2024
After suffering its first loss of the NCAA Tournament, [2] Kentucky will play with its season on the line on Tuesday night, facing Florida in an elimination game at the Men’s College World Series. The game is set to begin at 7 p.m. ET and will be televised on ESPN. The UK Sports Network will also provide an audio-only broadcast, available online at on 630 WLAP (Lexington).
Kentucky (46-14, 22-8 SEC) fell to [3] Texas A&M on Monday night, 5-1, to move into the elimination bracket. The Aggies scored all five of their runs in the sixth inning and the Wildcats did not manage a hit until the seventh. However, the Cats did win the program’s first-ever MCWS game on Saturday, defeating [10] NC State, 5-4, in ten innings.
In Monday’s loss, Ryan Nicholson tied the Kentucky single season home run record, blasting his 23d long ball of the season in the ninth inning. He is now tied with AJ Reed (2014), John Wilson (1999), and Jeff Abbott (1994) for the most home runs in a single year. Nicholson has already hit five home runs in the NCAA Tournament and two during the MCWS.
Florida (35-29, 13-17 SEC) enters Tuesday’s elimination game on the backs of a 5-4 win over NC State on Monday. After dropping their MCWS opener to Texas A&M, 3-2, the Gators survived for another day, improving their record to 4-0 in elimination games this season. After ending the regular season only one game above .500, the Gators made it to Omaha after upsetting a pair of national seeds on the road, defeating (11) Oklahoma State in the Stillwater Regional before taking down (6) Clemson in the Clemson Super Regional. 1B/LHP Jac Caglianone leads the Gators on both sides of the ball, batting .413 with 34 home runs while holding a 5-2 record on the mound with a 4.76 ERA.
Florida leads the all-time series 150-74-1, but the Wildcats did take two of three in Gainesville earlier this season. Both Kentucky wins came in extra innings. It was Kentucky’s first series win over Florida since 2016, and the first in the Swamp since 2015.
If the Cats were to advance, they would be set to rematch against [3] Texas A&M in the MCWS Semifinals on Wednesday, June 19 at 7 p.m. ET. The Aggies are only one win away from the championship series, but the winner of Tuesday’s contest would need to beat Texas A&M twice to advance.
GAME DETAILS
Tuesday, June 18
[2] No. 2 Kentucky vs. Florida
7 p.m. ET; Omaha, Neb. (Charles Schwab Field Omaha)
Radio: UK Sports Network | Television: ESPN
