Florida Baseball Collapses, Falls to Georgia in SEC Tournament

When Florida baseball arrived at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium for its semifinal matchup against rival Georgia, the list of things capable of slowing the Gators felt nonexistent. However, the regular-season SEC champions had other plans. 

An hour-long rain delay mid-game sparked four runs for the Bulldogs in the final innings, leaving the Gators on the steps of the SEC championship game in an 8-7 semifinals loss. 

Florida stayed in front for eight innings, but Georgia chipped away throughout the game. The rain delay in the seventh inning did little to stop the Georgia bats after the stop in play. Despite leading the country with 148 home runs, Georgia failed to leave the ballpark, relying heavily on extra base hits. 

The bottom of Georgia’s lineup paved the way for Tre Phelps and Daniel Jackson, who sit atop the batting average leaderboard in the SEC. A couple of sacrifice flies in the eighth helped take the lead for good. With Georgia’s win, teams are now 4-140 when trailing by at least six runs in the SEC Tournament. 

“I’m really proud of the way our team played this week,” UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “I think we maybe opened up some eyes to other people around the country that may not have seen us play. And we’ve come such a long way. I think this weekend kind of puts us in a position for our team to be ready for the postseason.”

Bulldogs right-handed pitcher Caden Aoki pitched three innings, allowing three hits and one run to buy Georgia time to climb back into the game. Consecutive doubles by Georgia with two outs in the fourth inning closed the gap to 6-3.

For the Gators, their streaky offense came out swinging early. Left fielder Blake Cyr stepped to the plate in the first with one thing on his mind, and the crack of the bat was all anyone needed to know it was out of the yard. Caden McDonald’s late-season spark — like the Gators had picked up a midseason transfer from the portal — continued when Georgia starting pitcher Dylan Vigue threw a sinking ball that never sank, but instead flew off McDonald’s bat, putting Florida up 6-0. 

The five-run inning came after Florida’s starter left the game. On a 1-2 count in the second inning, Georgia’s Kenny Ishikawa lined a ball right back to the spot it came from — the arm of right-hander Russell Sandefer. Despite the smile flashed by Sandefer after contact, it would be the end of his day. He exited without giving up a run and later developed a lump on his arm about the size of a baseball. X-rays came back negative, and he was removed for precautionary reasons.

“That was the best he’s (Sandefer) looked,” O’Sullivan said. “So lucky enough for us immediately they got him an X-ray and they came in and, I said, ‘You already got one? That’s awesome.’ It came back negative, so he’ll be ready to go next week.”

A long delay followed, giving the Gator bullpen a chance to run from the dugout to the outfield. Right-hander Jackson Barberi was given the keys to the car for what would start a bullpen game for Florida. Barberi struck out five batters in 2 2/3 innings before running into a punishing Georgia offense.

The Gators trotted out four more pitchers on the afternoon, and ultimately, Joshua Whritenour couldn’t keep the dam from breaking on Georgia’s two sac flies.

Florida will now have the week to give its hard-throwing arms a rest before potentially hosting the Gainesville Regional next weekend. The field will be announced during a selection show Monday at noon on ESPN2.

“I know a lot of people asked if we should be a top-eight national seed,” O’Sullivan said. “My answer every year is the same thing. It’s out of my hands. It’s in the committee’s hands. I do think that we are one of the top eight teams in the country, but it’s not my decision to make.”

Category: Feature Sports News, Gators Baseball