After managing just one hit against Texas A&M in the second round of the SEC Tournament, Florida baseball got back to business as usual and outscored the Arkansas Razorbacks, 7-5, on Friday. That sets up another loser-goes-home matchup with Alabama on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. EDT for the Gators.
[autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag], [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] and [autotag]Nick Pogue[/autotag] have already pitched so the Gators are running thin on starting pitchers coming into the game. [autotag]Garrett Milchin[/autotag] was an option, but [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag] is going with freshman [autotag]Anthony Ursitti[/autotag] on the bump Saturday. It’ll be the former Canterbury Cougar’s first start at the collegiate level after throwing 18 2/3 innings out of the bullpen over the regular season.
On offense, Sully’s switch-up of [autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag] and [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] in the lineup seems to be a winner. Fabian played longball for just the second time since hitting three out against USF on May 3, and Riopelle is just too hot to keep in the five-hole.
Tomorrow's assignment đź“ť pic.twitter.com/qUs3B9Gjk9
— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) May 28, 2022
[autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] and [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] have also been red-hot, with the latter driving in the first three runs of the day against Arkansas. Halter, of course, delivered the walk-off against South Carolina in round one and went deep on Friday.
If the bats don’t fall quiet as they did against Texas A&M, the Gators should be able to fight their way into the conference semifinals. That would be a huge boost to the rĂ©sumĂ© going into regional play regardless of the team’s finish in the SEC Tournament.