This is familiar territory for the Florida Gators.
They haven’t won the SEC Tournament since 2015, and last year, they lost to Arkansas in the SEC Tournament.
This season, they also lost to Arkansas at the SEC Tournament in Hoover,
Alabama, albeit the score wasn’t as bad as in 2017 when UF got lambasted by the Razorbacks 16-0.
After a comeback finish against LSU in round one of the 2018 tournament in which Florida won 4-3, the team met Arkansas.
This time around, UF lost 8-2. Not one Gator recorded multiple hits on the day, and the lineup struggled from top to bottom. The lone bright spot for UF was when SEC Player of the Year Jonathan India scorched a home run to get his team on the board in the sixth inning.
However, Florida was given a second life as the tournament is double-elimination until the semifinals.
UF squandered its opportunity, getting blasted by the LSU Tigers 11-0 in seven innings in round three of the event. The defeat marked the second time in as many years that Florida has been knocked out of the SEC Tournament in the form of a shutout.
An eight-run sixth inning doomed the Gators in the loss as they fell into a deficit they couldn’t recover from. The inning lasted so long that it had to be finished the following day. Fog rolled into Hoover and made it so murky that play was postponed until the next morning.
In the inning, UF gave up only one earned run, but eight runs scored. The Tigers benefited from wild pitches, errors, a passed ball, walks, a hit-by-pitch and a few other avoidable mistakes.
Not one extra-base hit was recorded by Florida, and only shortstop Deacon Liput had multiple hits for the contest.
It was a struggle on the weekend for the Gators (42-17). They’ve looked out of sync since it was announced that ace Brady Singer is being held out with a hamstring injury. The good news for the team is that it expects Singer to be back on the bump for regionals.
Head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said in a release that Singer threw a bullpen in Hoover and that he’ll be ready to go on Friday.
Moreover, catcher/first baseman JJ Schwarz was held out of the tournament due to a broken bone in his thumb. He will be reevaluated before UF’s next game.
“JJ is day-to-day still, he’s working hard to get back, and hopefully we’ll know more later this week,” O’Sullivan said.
Monday it was announced that Florida received the top seed in the NCAA postseason and in doing so, earned a regional in Gainesville. The Gainesville Regional consists of Florida, Jacksonville, Florida Atlantic and Columbia.
The Gators begin play against Columbia on Friday at noon.
They have made the NCAA Regionals for a program-record 11 times in a row under O’Sullivan. UF has also made the College World Series in its last three campaigns.
“At the beginning of the year our goal is always to earn a national seed for the NCAA Tournament, and now we’ve done it nine times in the last 10 years,” O’Sullivan said. “That’s incredible.”
Although the Gators struggled at the SEC Tournament, they should feel confident going into their regional, especially since the SEC is extremely potent this season. The conference put 10 teams into the 64-team field, tying the SEC record.
O’Sullivan isn’t worried about his team’s struggles.
“At the end of the day, everybody has a clean slate now,” O’Sullivan said. “...our guys will be as motivated as anyone to show everyone how good they are.”
You can follow Chris O'Brien on Twitter @THEChrisOB or contact him at cobrien@alligator.org.
UF starting pitcher Brady Singer picked up the win in his final home game as a Gator. The junior was drafted 18th overall by the Kansas City Royals in the MLB Draft on Monday.
