Florida barely made it by Central Michigan earlier in the day, and now the Gators must right the wrongs of Saturday and overcome an Oklahoma team that beat them handily in the second round of the regional tournament.
The Sooners brought the offense and overpowered Florida’s young arms to an easy 9-4 victory. Florida has shown the ability to make adjustments in the past — UF was mercy-ruled by Texas A&M in the second round of the SEC Tournament and ended up beating the Aggies in the semifinals — but Oklahoma has the benefit of resting for a full day and being up at least one starting pitcher on the Gators.
Remember, even if Florida wins this game, they have to do it again on Monday to advance to the Super Regionals. It would be UF’s first trip to that round of the national championship tournament since 2018.
Survive and advance! ✅
We'll take on Oklahoma at 7 p.m.#GatorsWin | #GoGators
Presented by @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/dfAMRkuFaJ
— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) June 5, 2022
It’s a daunting task, but Florida has played some of its best ball backed into a corner and there are plenty of storylines to look for. [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] is chasing home run No. 26 to tie Matt LaPorta for the single-season record at the school. He hit two in the early game, so breaking the record is a possibility albeit unlikely.
[autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag] could be playing his final game with the Gators and is still looking to prove that turning down the Red Sox’s second-round offer was the right decision. Coming up big in playoff time is a good way to remind people of how valuable you are, even after a big slump.
Then there are the others who are likely moving on from the program after this season. [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag], phenomenal as he’s been, is MLB bound after transferring to Florida for a season, and [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] is a projected first or second-round pick. Of course, the freshmen are trying to prove themselves just as much in their first taste of big stakes college ball.