Florida Gator baseball heads to Lubbock for NCAA regionals

Despite bowing out of the Southeastern Conference tournament in the second round, the Florida Gator baseball team earned a slot in the 2019 NCAA Baseball tournament Monday.

It might have been pins and needles for about six days in the Florida Gator baseball locker room.

After ending the SEC tournament in the second round with a loss to Texas A&M, the Gators were forced to wait until Monday to see what, if anything, awaited them in the postseason.

The wait is over as the Gators were announced as the No. 3 seed in the Lubbock (Texas) regional for the 2019 NCAA Baseball Tournament.

It marks the 12th straight appearance in a regional tournament for the Gators under head coach Kevin O’Sullivan and its 35th overall.

The Gators (33-24) will take on Dallas Baptist (41-18) in the final game of day one in the tournament at 8 p.m. EDT, Friday, May 31. Host Texas Tech (39-17) is the No. 8 overall seed and will face Army (35-24) in the earlier game Friday, at 4 p.m.

For the third time in conference history, the SEC has a tournament-leading 10 teams in regional play. The Atlantic Coast Conference has eight as the Pac-12, Big 12 and Big 10 each have five teams in the field.

UCLA earned the No. 1 overall seed with Vanderbilt picking up the No. 2 seed. The top 16 seeds and the teams in their regionals are:

• No. 1 UCLA (47-18) – Baylor, LMU and Nebraska-Omaha
• No. 2 Vanderbilt (49-10) – Indiana State, McNeese and Ohio State
• No. 3. Georgia Tech (41-17) – Auburn, Coastal Carolina and Florida A&M
• No. 4 Georgia (44-15) – Florida Atlantic, Florida State and Mercer
• No. 5 Arkansas (41-17) – California, Texas Christian and Central Connecticut
• No. 6 Mississippi St. (46-13) – Miami, Central Michigan and Southern
• No. 7 Louisville (43-15) – Indiana, Illinois State and Illinois-Chicago
• No. 8 Texas Tech (39-17) – Dallas Baptist, Florida and Army
• No 9 Oklahoma St. (36-18) – Connecticut, Nebraska and Harvard
• No. 10 East Carolina (43-15) – North Carolina State, Campbell and Quinnipiac
• No. 11 Stanford (41-11) – California-Santa Barbara, Fresno State and Sacramento State
• No. 12 Ole Miss (37-25) – Illinois, Clemson and Jacksonville State
• No. 13 LSU (37-24) – Arizona State, Southern Mississippi and Stony Brook
• No. 14 North Carolina (42-17) – Tennessee, Liberty and UNC-Wilmington
• No. 15 West Virginia (37-20) – Texas A&M, Duke and Fordham
• No. 16 Oregon St. (36-18-1) – Creighton, Michigan and Cincinnati

The winner of the Lubbock regional will take on the winner of the Oklahoma City regional (Oklahoma State, Connecticut, Nebraska and Harvard) in the super regionals beginning June 7.

Lubbock Regional schedule

Friday, May 31

Game 1: No. 4 Army vs. No. 1 Texas Tech, 4 p.m. EDT (ESPN3)

Game 2: No. 3 Florida vs. No. 2 Dallas Baptist, 8 p.m. EDT (ESPN3)

Saturday, June 1

Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 1 p.m. EDT (ESPN3)

Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 7 p.m. EDT (ESPN3)

Sunday, June 2

Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 3 p.m. EDT (ESPN3)

Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 9 p.m. EDT (ESPN3)

Monday, June 3

Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 (if necessary), 4 p.m. EDT (ESPN3)

Regionals and Super Regionals are a double-elimination format. Winners of the Super Regionals will advance to the College World Series, beginning June 15 at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska.

The Gator baseball team last won the College World Series in 2017.