OMAHA, Neb. — The four other teams left in the College World Series are all chasing something Florida already has: a national championship.
Florida captured the title in 2017, sweeping SEC rival LSU in the best-of-three championship series.
Along with that championship, the Gators have been the national runner-up three times — most recently, last year — and own 14 CWS appearances in their program’s proud history.
WATCH:Follow Kentucky baseball in the College World Series on Fubo (free trial)
Kentucky is at the other end of the spectrum, in its maiden run in the College World Series.
Despite their vastly different histories, the Wildcats and Gators will be on level ground come Wednesday morning, when they take the diamond for an elimination game postponed from Tuesday night.
The winner remains in contention for a national title; the loser goes home.
The Courier Journal’s Ryan Black is at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska, and will have live updates throughout the game — here and on X, formerly known as Twitter — and complete coverage after. You can follow him on X at @RyanABlack.
AFTER TOP OF SIXTH INNING IN NCAA COLLEGE WORLD SERIES: Florida 14, Kentucky 4
Mitchell Daly singles, but UK does nothing else in a scoreless sixth.
AFTER BOTTOM OF FIFTH INNING IN NCAA COLLEGE WORLD SERIES: Florida 14, Kentucky 4
Florida answered Émilien Pitre’s homer with one of their own: Brody Donay crushed a pitch to left field to lead off the bottom half of the fifth. The Gators kept piling on from there: They added four more runs to push their lead to 10.
AFTER TOP OF FIFTH INNING IN NCAA COLLEGE WORLD SERIES: Florida 9, Kentucky 4
Émilien Pitre launches a two-run homer into the stands to help UK continue to cut into its deficit, which is now five.
AFTER BOTTOM OF FOURTH INNING IN NCAA COLLEGE WORLD SERIES: Florida 9, Kentucky 2
Robert Hogan permits a leadoff single, but then sits down Florida’s next three batters in the fourth.
AFTER TOP OF FOURTH INNING IN NCAA COLLEGE WORLD SERIES: Florida 9, Kentucky 2
Nick Lopez has his second RBI of the day, singling to bring home Émilien Pitre. But the Wildcats still trail by seven runs.
AFTER BOTTOM OF THIRD INNING IN NCAA COLLEGE WORLD SERIES: Florida 9, Kentucky 1
After Cameron O’Brien hit a batter to begin the bottom of the third, his day came to an end. Robert Hogan took the mound and gave up two runs on a single from Cade Kurland. The Wildcats’ deficit is eight.
AFTER TOP OF THIRD INNING IN NCAA COLLEGE WORLD SERIES: Florida 7, Kentucky 1
An odd way to end the inning for Kentucky: a double play where the ball hit James McCoy, who was trying to slide into second. Because of the ball hitting him, he was ruled out on interference and Ryan Waldschmidt was out at first.
AFTER BOTTOM OF SECOND INNING IN NCAA COLLEGE WORLD SERIES: Florida 7, Kentucky 1
Three up, three down for Florida, which maintains its six-run lead over Kentucky.
AFTER TOP OF SECOND INNING IN NCAA COLLEGE WORLD SERIES: Florida 7, Kentucky 1
A 1-2-3 inning for UK, which included a pair of strikeouts.
AFTER BOTTOM OF FIRST INNING IN NCAA COLLEGE WORLD SERIES: Florida 7, Kentucky 1
Rough start for UK pitcher Dominic Niman: He only goes ⅓ of an inning before he’s lifted after giving up three runs. Cameron O’Brien comes on in relief, inheriting two runners. He promptly gives up a single to load the bases. It got worse for the Wildcats from there: Brody Donay cleared the base paths with a grand slam.
AFTER TOP OF FIRST INNING IN NCAA COLLEGE WORLD SERIES: Kentucky 1, Florida 0
Ryan Waldschmidt drew a leadoff walk, then scored on Nick Lopez’s RBI single for the first score of the game.
What channel is Kentucky vs Florida on today?
Kentucky’s NCAA College World Series game against Florida will air on ESPN.
You can stream ESPN on Fubo, which offers a free trial here.
Last time out:Kentucky baseball suffers first NCAA loss, falling to Texas A&M in College World Series
Kentucky vs Florida start time
First pitch for Wednesday’s game in Omaha, Nebraska, is set for 11 a.m. ET.
Kentucky vs Florida prediction
Kentucky 9, Florida 8: The Gators can mash the ball with the best in the country, tallying 133 homers this season, the fourth-best figure in Division I. And they’ll also have the best player on the field: all-world performer and offensive wunderkind Jac Caglianone, who set Florida’s single-season mark for homers (34) with a second-inning blast Monday. But as adept as the Gators are scoring runs, they’re almost as likely to help their opponents do the same. As a staff, Florida has the SEC’s worst earned run average (6.16) and issues more walks per game (4.74) than any team in the league. Top to bottom, Kentucky is the better team. It won’t be easy: Florida is 7-1 in elimination games the past two seasons. But this year’s batch of Wildcats have found ways to win in nearly every fashion imaginable. They’ll outlast Caglianone and the Gators in a slugfest to set up a rematch with the Aggies.
Kentucky vs Florida location
All games in the College World Series will be held at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska.
Kentucky vs Florida lineups
Check out the starting lineups for both Kentucky and Florida in the embedded tweets below.
Kentucky
Florida
Kentucky baseball schedule 2024
Kentucky is 46-15 in 2024, including 22-8 in SEC play during the regular season. The Wildcats claimed a share of the league’s regular-season title for only the second time in school history.
Click here to see the Wildcats’ full 2024 schedule.
Florida baseball schedule 2024
Florida is 35-29, going 13-17 in SEC play during the regular season to finish in a three-way tie for fourth (alongside South Carolina and Vanderbilt) in the Eastern Division.
Click here to see the Gators’ full 2024 schedule.
Kentucky baseball roster
Interested in seeing the Wildcats’ entire roster?
Click here to meet the 2024 UK baseball team.
Florida baseball roster
Want to learn about the Gators’ roster?
Click here for player bios and more.
College World Series schedule, bracket, TV info
All times Eastern
Friday, June 14
- Game 1: North Carolina 3, Virginia 2
- Game 2: Tennessee 12, Florida State 11
Saturday, June 15
Sunday, June 16
- Game 5: Florida State 7, Virginia 3
- Game 6: Tennessee 6, North Carolina 1
Monday, June 17
Tuesday, June 18
- Game 9: Florida State 9, North Carolina 5
Wednesday, June 19
Thursday, June 20
- Game 13 (if necessary): TBD vs. TBD, 2 p.m.; TV broadcast channel TBD
- Game 14 (if necessary): TBD vs. TBD, 7 p.m.; TV broadcast channel TBD
CWS championship finals schedule 2024 (best-of-three series)
Saturday, June 22
Sunday, June 23
Monday, June 24
2024 College World Series odds
- Tennessee: -105
- Texas A&M: +250
- Kentucky: +350
- Florida State: +1700
- Florida: +3500
Kentucky baseball odds to win 2024 College World Series
Odds courtesy of BetMGM. Odds will be updated as they become available.
Kentucky: The Wildcats have the third-best odds, at +350, to win the College World Series, per BetMGM.
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Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.
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