One thing for certain, though, is that the crowd brought the most energy of the year Friday night, and it came at the right time.
A 4-2 record in the Southeastern Conference Tournament last week secured a top-16 seed in the NCAA Tournament, granting Florida the ability to host a regional in Gainesville. Now, UF welcomes Oklahoma, Liberty and Central Michigan to Condron Ballpark for the event.
Even after receiving a beat-down at the hands of the No. 1-ranked Tennessee Volunteers in the tournament finale, the team did more than enough in Hoover to bring postseason play back to Condron Ballpark.
Still, a fifth-inning explosion followed by a three-run sixth sufficiently iced a game in which the UF offense was nowhere to be found until it was too late. The seven-seeded Florida Gators fell in the Sunday finale to the top-seeded Vols’, 8-5.
Manning worked five scoreless innings against the two-seeded Aggies, and the offense scrapped for runs in all but two innings. In one of the more miraculous wins of the season, the seven-seeded Gators booked their trip to the tournament final Sunday with a 9-0 win.
Ficarrotta entered the game in relief to work a career-high 6.1 innings en route to a shutout performance. As a team, the seven-seeded Gators topped the 11-seeded Crimson Tide in a high-scoring 11-6 game.
Regardless, with a return to Gainesville waiting for them if they fell, the seven-seeded Gators rallied to put together a solid 7-5 victory over the three-seeded Razorbacks. The win knocked off the reigning SEC Tournament champions, and kept the Gators fighting through Saturday.
In arguably the worst performance from the team all season, seven-seed Florida fell to the two-seeded Aggies, 10-0, receiving a run-rule after the top of the seventh inning.
No. 6 Florida defeated No. 10 South Carolina 2-1 in extra innings Tuesday to secure a second round appearance for UF in the Southeastern Conference Tournament in Hoover, Alabama.
Florida (35-20, 15-15) fell to South Carolina (27-27, 13-17) 4-1 in what could be the final game in Condron Ballpark for seven UF seniors.
Florida (35-19, 14-14) defeated South Carolina (26-27, 12-17) 8-0 on Friday, earning the series victory and an opportunity to sweep the Gamecocks on Saturday.
Sophomore starting pitcher Brandon Sproat pitched 6.1 innings for the Gators (34-19, 14-14), as Florida rolled over South Carolina (26-26, 12-16) 14-5 behind four total homers.
Redshirt freshman Nick Ficarrotta started on the mound for Florida (33-19, 13-14) in a thrilling Tuesday matchup that clinched the season series over FSU (32-19, 15-12), 7-5.
Florida (32-18, 13-14) defeated the Tigers (26-21, 8-18) 4-3 Sunday in a victory that was much too close for comfort.
Florida (31-18, 12-14) lost to Missouri (26-21, 8-18) 3-5 Saturday. The Gators led early before running out of gas in the fifth inning.
In a game that wasn’t close early on, Florida (31-18, 12-13) wiped the floor with the Mizzou Tigers (25-21, 7-18), 13-1.
Starting pitcher redshirt freshman Tyler Nesbitt did just that, working four scoreless innings before passing the torch to his relief to finish the night. The Gators (30-18, 11-13) blanked the ‘Cats (21-27, 15-9), 7-0.
Florida (29-18, 11-13) defeated the Bulldogs (25-23, 9-15) 6-2 Sunday in a game that came down to the final two innings and some late-stage heroics from sophomore second baseman Sterlin Thompson.
With the help of a six-run ninth inning, the Gators (28-18, 10-13 SEC) topped the Mississippi State Bulldogs (25-21, 9-14 SEC) in a 9-3 thriller.
Sproat outlasted Smith in the series opener Friday, working four scoreless innings to open the game en route to a 8-6 victory for Florida (27-18, 9-13 SEC) over the Bulldogs (25-21, 9-13 SEC).
Solutions by The State News
