Florida Baseball Ranks No. 12 After Opening Weekend

Florida Baseball closed out its opening weekend, jumping one spot to No. 12 in D1 Baseball’s Top-25 rankings, despite a loss. Five SEC teams are ranked above Florida.

The Gators went 2-1 this weekend in their series against UAB. They fell to UAB in the home opener in the 10th inning (9-7). 

“Ideally, you don’t want the first loss to be the first game, but you bounce back, you know what you did wrong and you just learn from it,” sophomore pitcher Aiden King said.

Florida opened up its second game in the series, packing nine runs in the first inning. It defeated UAB in a seven-inning mercy rule, 11-0. The Gators carried on this energy into the final series game, posting a 6-2 win. 

The Gators were strong behind the plate throughout the weekend. Red shirt sophomore centerfielder Kyle Jones led the pack. Jones returned to play after a season-ending left shoulder injury last year. He had seven hits in 13 at-bats over the series and was 5-for-8 over the Sunday doubleheader. He had four runs over the stretch.

“We’re gonna hit,” Jones said.”We know we can hit. We are all confident in each other.”

The Gators used nine pitchers over the series. King pitched six innings during the second game. He held the Blazers to three hits and no runs and tallied four strikeouts. 

Next up for Florida is a two-game series against Stenson. The Gators will play away in DeLand, FL, on Tuesday. The first pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. 

Category: Baseball, College Baseball, Gainesville, Gators Baseball, SEC