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Gator Baseball Give Up Four Home Runs, Lose To Oklahoma In Gainesville Regional

By Benjamin Henderson

FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS - MAY 22: Josh Rivera #24 of the Florida Gators jogs off the field during a game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Baum-Walker Stadium at George Cole Field on May 22, 2021 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Razorbacks defeated the Gators to sweep the series 9-3. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS - MAY 22: Josh Rivera #24 of the Florida Gators jogs off the field during a game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Baum-Walker Stadium at George Cole Field on May 22, 2021 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Razorbacks defeated the Gators to sweep the series 9-3. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /
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4. 526. Final. 9. 464

Gators Fall To Loser’s Bracket Of Gainesville Regional

If you are a glass half full kind of person, you would say that Florida held Oklahoma to seven fewer runs than what they scored against Liberty the day before. Unfortunately that still meant Oklahoma had nine Sooners cross the plate to win 9-4, and send Florida to the loser’s bracket of the Gainesville Regional.

To be fair, this was probably one of the tougher matchups any regional host had this weekend. Even though the Gators are seeded 13th and are playing host, Baseball America has Oklahoma ranked 9th in the country.

It started well for Florida. Home runs by Ty Evans and Jac Caglianone in the 2nd inning gave Florida an early 2-0 lead.

https://twitter.com/gatorsbb/status/1533231251301101568?s=21&t=Uo4gKf2a5-_PvHhQ2cWqXg

https://twitter.com/gatorsbb/status/1533231796493557760?s=21&t=Uo4gKf2a5-_PvHhQ2cWqXg

Oklahoma Home Runs, Self-Inflicted Mistakes Do Gators In

Against Central Michigan, Florida was able to get out of any trouble it had created. Unfortunately Oklahoma is too talented and didn’t let Florida off the hook.

The Sooners responded with a four run 3rd inning of their own. Peyton Graham hit a two run homer and Blake Robertson went back-to-back to give Oklahoma the lead. After a walk, Florida starting pitcher Brandon Neely saw his night end.

The problem for Florida is that if they weren’t giving up runs via the long ball, they were giving Oklahoma free passes to score. The 3rd inning was capped off by a wild pitch that brought in the 4th run.

The Sooners 5th run was also self induced. Kendall Pettis hit a single in the 4th inning and came all the way around the score after stealing second, advanced to third on a balk, and came home after another wild pitch.

The Gators would battle but Jimmy Crooks would hit home runs in two straight plate appearances, the second of which was a two run shot to make it 8-3 and effectively end the night.

What Next For Florida

The road back is possible but not easy. Teams that start out 2-0 in the regional round wind up winning the region 81% of the time.

For Florida to emerge from the Gainesville Regional they first have to defeat Central Michigan in a rematch. The Chippewas knocked off Liberty 3-2 in 12 innings.

If the Gators can survive that, they would have to beat Oklahoma twice to advance to the Super Regional round.

Keep up with Gator baseball here.

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