Less than 12 hours after dropping its Southeastern Conference Tournament opener, the Florida baseball team returned to Hoover Metropolitan Stadium with a new mindset, knowing one more loss would send the team back to Gainesville.
The Gators delivered.
Behind an offensive explosion in the third inning, No. 4 seed Florida topped ninth-seeded Auburn 11-2 on Thursday afternoon to advance to the tournament quarterfinals.
Senior third baseman Josh Tobias led the Gators (41-16) on offense, going 4-for-5 at the plate while the team hit .366 overall.
UF took a quick 1-0 lead in the second inning on a JJ Schwarz sacrifice fly to score Tobias from third.
Then the offensive floodgates opened.
Florida sent twelve batters to the box against Auburn (35-24) in the third inning, scoring eight runs on seven two-out hits and a fielding error.
Both teams added a pair of runs over the next three innings, but the damage was already done.
Sophomore ace Logan Shore earned his seventh win of the season after giving up just two runs (both earned) in 7.2 innings of work, giving up six hits while striking out seven.
Florida will face the winner of the nightcap between No. 1 seed LSU and fifth-seeded Arkansas on Friday at about 7:30 p.m.
Follow Jordan McPherson on Twitter @J_McPherson1126
UF third baseman Josh Tobias slides into third base during Florida's 4-1 loss to Auburn on May 15, 2015, at McKethan Stadium.
