2010 College World Series: TCU & Florida St. Square Off In Elimination Game

By the time TCU and Florida St. finish their game tonight, one of them will be going home. Such is the reality of the loser’s bracket in the College World Series. With both teams having already lose since getting to Omaha, they will be one loss away from elimination when they square off for the second time in this College World Series. The two teams opened their College World Series accounts versus each other on Saturday and thanks to a five-run fifth inning and some shutdown pitching from freshman Matt Purke, TCU cruised to a 8-1 win.

Following their win over Florida St., TCU faced off against UCLA, but a dominant pitching performance by Gerrit Cole and some early offense by the Bruins put the Horned Frogs on their heels. A late rally cut the UCLA lead to 5-3, but that’sall TCU had in them and they lost thegame, 6-3. Now, they find themselves one loss away from the end of a historic season, the Horned Frogs’ first trip to Omaha.

Not long after dropping their game against TCU, Florida St. had to regroup and avoid being eliminated after just two games in Omaha. To avoid doing so, the Seminoles would have to take down in-state rival Florida and take them down they did. After jumping out to a lead, the Gators rallied to cut the Seminoles’ lead to three in the ninth and loaded the bases, but a game-ending double play handed Florida St. an 8-5 victory.

Now, a rematch is in the card as the Horned Frogs and Seminoles battle with all hands on deck. While the winner of this game would still have to defeat UCLA on Friday and Saturday to win the bracket and advance to the best two of three Championship Series, the focus is on tonight and any pitcher or player will be used in any situation to find a W at Rosenblatt Stadium tonight.

TCU is likely to enter the game plenty confident after taking down Florida St. earlier in the week, but there is something to be said for the experience of playing with your backs against the wall, as the Seminoles did on Monday versus Florida. The edge on the mound will definitely go to TCU and statistically, the edge at the plate does too, but elimination games rarely play out according to script. Call it a hunch, but the Seminoles are my favorite in tonight’s ballgame..