Wyatt Langford made history in the ninth inning of Florida’s come-from-behind victory over Virginia in the opening game of the 2023 Men’s College World Series.
According to the official media notes for the NCAA 2023 College World Series, Langford hit a 456-foot game-tying home run, which is unofficially the longest in the history of the men’s College World Series at Charles Schwab Field Omaha (formerly TD Ameritrade Park), beating the home run by Arkansas’ Brady Slavens by 20 feet. The stadium has been a tournament venue since it opened in 2011. In 2024, Tennessee’s Christian Moore moved into third place on the all-time list with a 440-foot home run to center field.
Why is this record unofficial? In 2019, we contacted Jeff Williams, the NCAA’s associate director of media coordination and statistics, to see if the NCAA held the historical record for the longest home run hit in the College World Series. We learned that they don’t. However, thanks to ESPN, the home television station for the CWS since 2003, we have a pretty good idea of some of the other longest home runs.
ESPN has been tracking the distance of home runs since the tournament moved from Rosenblatt Stadium to Charles Schwab Field in Omaha in 2011. Here are the longest home runs hit in the Men’s College World Series since 2011, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Date Batter School Home Run Distance Opponent Innings Home Run Direction 6/16/23 Wyatt Langford Florida 456 feet Virginia #9 Left field 6/25/23 Wyatt Langford Florida 449 feet LSU #6 Left field 6/14/24 Christian Moore Tennessee 440 feet Florida State #6 Center field 6/22/22 Brady Slavens Arkansas 436 feet Ole Miss #5 Center field 6/25/23 BT Rio Pelle Florida 435 feet LSU #9 Center field 6/16/19 Edouard Julien Auburn 429 feet Mississippi State #2 Right field TCU #4 Right field 6/21/2016 Pete Alonso Florida 425 feet Texas Tech#9 Left June 25, 2023 Ty Evans Florida 423 feet LSU #2 Left June 17, 2015 Pete Alonso Florida 421 feet Miami (Florida) #7 Center June 17, 2017 Dylan Busby Florida State 421 feet LSU #1 Center June 17, 2019 Cameron Warren Texas Tech 421 feet Arkansas #4 Left
Nine days after hitting his record-setting home run, Langford homered again, smashing the second-longest MCWS home run in the ballpark’s history, this time in Game 2 of the Championship Series, a wind-aided homer to left field that traveled 449 feet.
Prior to Langford, the Slavens briefly held the record for deep drives in 2022, becoming just the third player to hit a home run in a college game into the gap between the center field seats at Charles Schwab Field Omaha, joining Alonso and Busby on the MCWS list above.
Alonso has hit three of the longest home runs on this list. The first big fly ball of the 2015 tournament was a 93 mph fastball off Miami right-hander Derick Beaupres on June 17, 2015, that traveled an estimated 421 feet to left field. The ball was a straight shot down center field, just to the left of the batter’s eye and about five rows back.
“It’s the best feeling in the world,” Alonso said after the game. “Especially when you hit the ball and it goes out of this ballpark, it’s definitely a well-hit ball, because historically the ball doesn’t fly very well in this ballpark, and then to hit it head-on and send it over the fence, it’s the best feeling in the world.”
Just three days later, Alonso broke his own stadium record with a massive 429-foot shot against Virginia, this time taking a leap on a hanging curveball and launching it far past the 408-foot wall in center field.
The Gators ended up losing to Virginia 5-4, falling one game short of a spot in the CWS finals, but Alonso certainly made an impression in Omaha, and his performances weren’t over yet.
Florida returned to the College World Series in 2016, and Alonso continued to perform well. In the bottom of the ninth inning of a consolation game against Texas Tech, Alonso hit a 425-foot, two-run home run that nearly reached the concourse beyond left field.
It was Alonso’s final at-bat in a Gators uniform. He signed with the Mets as a second-round pick after Florida’s loss to Texas Tech. In seven MCWS games, Alonso batted .320 (8-for-25) with three home runs, five runs scored, and nine RBIs.
The longest CWS home run at TD Ameritrade Park, behind Langford, Slavens, Julien and Alonso, was hit by three-time John Olerud Award winner Brendan McKay.
McKay hit a 428-foot home run, one foot shy of the record, in his final collegiate game of 2017. He was 1-for-4 in Louisville’s 4-3 loss to TCU in the elimination game.
“For me personally, it’s just a statistic,” McKay said at a post-game press conference in 2017. “But to hit a home run in the College World Series is awesome. To do it on national TV and in front of like 20,000 people in the stands is just awesome.”
It’s worth noting that the top eight home runs on ESPN’s list were all hit since 2015. Flat-seam baseballs (which fly farther off the bat) were approved for use by the NCAA starting that season. The move was made to combat the decline in offensive power that came with bat changes in 2011. In the 2013 and 2014 College World Series, a total of six home runs were hit in 30 games.
Homer History: A Brief History of the College World Series Grand Slam
In 2015, with the introduction of the new ball, the CWS home run total increased to 15, then finished with 10 in 2016. In 2017, 23 extra-base hits were hit, breaking the new stadium record (2011 to present). In 2021, the MCWS surpassed the record with 28 home runs.
