OMAHA, Neb. - Kent State scored four unearned runs and another on a wild pitch, then held off Florida's comeback bid in the ninth to eliminate the top-seeded Gators from the College World Series with a 5-4 victory on Monday.
The Gators loaded the bases with one out in the ninth against shaky relievers Michael Clark and Josh Pierce.
But Pierce fought back from a 3-0 count to strike out Casey Turgeon when Turgeon couldn't check his swing and got called out on an appeal to the third-base umpire.
Justin Shafer then flew out to right to end the game.
The Gators (47-20), who reached the CWS finals last year, committed five errors in two games after coming to Omaha seventh in the nation in fielding.
Florida's Hudson Randall (9-3) left after the first inning because of heat-related symptoms. Ryan Bores (10-3) got the win for Kent State (47-19), which is making its first CWS appearance.
Arizona dumps UCLA. Konner Wade pitched a five-hit shutout, Arizona did its scoring on five straight fourth-inning hits, and the Wildcats beat Pac-12 rival UCLA, 4-0, on Sunday night.
The win put the Wildcats (45-17) in control of Bracket 1 and gave them three days off. They are one victory away from the best-of-three finals, in which they would play for their fourth national championship and first since 1986.
UCLA (48-15), which lost for the first time in 11 games, played Florida State in an elimination game late Tuesday.
Wade (10-3) outdueled Nick Vander Tuig (10-4), throwing his first career shutout and fifth complete game of the season.
It was Arizona's sixth shutout in 62 CWS games and its first since Craig Lefferts blanked Michigan in 1980.
