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The Florida Gators (42-17) are once again heading into the postseason as the No. 1 national seed for the NCAA Baseball Tournament. The full 64-team field was released Monday and Florida is now the first team to ever be named the number one overall seed on three separate occasions. They’re also the only team to earn a national seed in each of the past five seasons. Additionally, the announcement marks the ninth time the Gators will be a national seed under the leadership of head coach Kevin O’Sullivan.
Gainesville Regional
Florida will be making a school-record 11th Regional appearance in a row. The Gators will play in the opening game at noon on Friday against the Ivy League Champion Columbia Lions (20-28). The Jacksonville Dolphins (39-19) will face the Florida Atlantic Owls (40-17-1) in the late game at 6:30 p.m.
During the Kevin O’Sullivan era, Florida has a combined record of 21-7 against the Gainesville Regional field. The Gators most recently played Columbia in 2017 and swept a three-game series. Florida played both in-state opponents, Jacksonville and FAU, earlier this season. They defeated the Owls by a score of 6-1 and split two games with the Dolphins. All three of the games were midweek match ups at McKethan stadium.
SEC Well Represented
The Gators aren’t the only SEC team that managed to secure a national seed. Ole Miss, Arkansas and Georgia will all also host Super Regionals if they advance past the Regional round. The other six SEC teams in the field are Auburn, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State and LSU. The four national seeds and 10 teams in the field from one conference both tie NCAA records.
The numbers speak for themselves. pic.twitter.com/kl692fhIHo
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) May 28, 2018
Gator Notes
Senior captain JJ Schwarz is day-to-day with his hand injury. O’Sullivan said “he’s working hard to get back and hopefully we’ll know more later this week.”
O’Sullivan also commented on the health status of Brady Singer and Tyler Dyson. “Brady threw a bullpen session on Saturday in Hoover and it certainly looks like he’ll be ready to go this weekend,” he said. “Tyler Dyson also looked good in his last bullpen and we look forward to getting him back out there.”
