Preston Tucker sent Florida back to Omaha with a pivotal home run.
Mississippi State led by two in the bottom of the seventh before Tucker hit a three-run home run to center field, and the Gators won 8-6 to clinch a berth in the College World Series.
Florida (50-17) will begin the eight-team, two-week tournament on Saturday in Omaha, Neb., against either Texas or Arizona State. Those two teams will play a decisive Game 3 tonight.
Alex Panteliodis, a junior, was strong in his past two starts and won the deciding games of the SEC Tournament and the regional, but faltered against Mississippi State.
He whipped through the first three innings against Mississippi State on 24 pitches before stumbling in the fourth. After allowing back-to-back singles to start the inning, he surrendered a three-run home run to Nick Vickerson, pulling the Bulldogs within 4-3.
Florida took an early 4-0 lead thanks to home runs by Mike Zunino, Daniel Pigott and Vickash Ramjit in the first two innings.
Mississippi State recovered to take a 6-4 lead in the seventh. Vickerson hurt Florida again with an RBI single to tie it 4-4, and Brent Brownlee followed two batters later with a two-run single.
After Tucker put Florida back on top in the bottom of the seventh, Pigott led off the eighth with another home run.
This is the Gators’ second straight College World Series appearance and third in the past seven seasons. They have gone to Omaha six times, but have yet to return with a national championship.
