Coming into Friday's doubleheader, it wasn't unfair to wonder aloud if the season was on the line for Florida Baseball. After dropping the opening game of their series against Ole Miss to fall to 0-7 in SEC play, it was hard to envision a pathway back for the Gators if they dropped both games on Friday.
Many of the common flaws we have seen from Florida were still present, but the Gators were able to scrap out a split on Friday to keep some sliver of hope for 2025 alive.
Florida Baseball: Wild Thing
In game one, Florida took a 9-5 lead in the 8th inning off a Brendan Lawson grand slam. Lawson was also ejected for taunting, but that's a different story for now.
The Gators were six outs away from potentially jumpstarting their season until they weren't.
After giving two runs back in the 8th inning, Florida blew the save in the 9th inning for the 3rd time in six games when Florida walked the bases loaded, gave up a two-run double, then gave up a sacrifice fly for the 10-9 loss.
That dropped Florida to 0-8 in SEC play, and due to anticipated weather on Saturday, game three was played 45 minutes later.
Many of the same themes remained in the second game. Florida took the lead in the 6th, then promptly gave it back and found themselves down 8-6 heading into the 9th.
If Florida does turn their season around, the 9th inning will be remembered as the Gators put up four runs without recording an out and managed to get a 5th run across to go up 11-8. Billy Barlow came in and while he allowed the bases to be loaded he escaped without giving up a run to give Florida its first SEC win of the season.
The Road Back
If you squint hard enough, you can convince yourself there is a road back for the Gators. If Florida had just found one reliable arm to close out games, they would be 4-3 over their last seven rather than 1-6.
And for as gloom and doom as things seem, Florida is still 26th in RPI, and they are about to embark on a nine-game homestand that features a vulnerable Vanderbilt squad and a 9-15 Missouri squad.
Beat Vanderbilt two out of three and sweep Missouri, and Florida can claw back to 6-9 in SEC play with Mississippi State after that.
But make no mistake about it; there are still a plethora of problems with this team. Pitching depth is chief among them, and while injuries haven't helped, that isn't the sole explanation for why Kevin O'Sullivan seems to have no one he can trust out of the bullpen.
Add in an array of mental errors that include getting picked off twice on Thursday, a general inability for small ball/situational hitting, and a perceived lack of passion and leadership, and that pathway back is far from guarenteed.