The Florida baseball season came to an abrupt halt Sunday when East Carolina eliminated the Gators 11-4 in the NCAA Conway (S.C.) Regional at Springs Brooks Stadium.
It was the second loss to the Pirates in three days. East Carolina beat UF 11-6 in the opening round of the Regional Tournament. This wasn’t a pretty postseason for the Gators. The Pirates scored 22 runs and pounded 27 hits in the two victories over Florida, which ends the season at 39-22.
Florida Baseball sees season end in Conway
ECU first baseman Austin Irby did most of the damage to the Gators’ defense. Irby went 2-for-4 with a homer, two RBI, and three runs scored Sunday. That came after he was 4-for-5 with a homer, three RBI, and three runs scored in Friday's victory over the Gators.
For the Gators, their season ends for the first time since 2022 somewhere other than the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. Florida won the NCAA National Championship in 2017.
Florida's season came to an end at a road Regional for the first time since 2019 when the Gators were eliminated in the Lubbock (Texas) Regional. Florida's streak of never winning a Regional title after losing its first game remains intact.
The silver lining for UF this season? Nobody thought the Gators would reach the Tournament after a dismal 1-11 record in rugged Southeastern Conference play. The Gators won 14 of their final 18 conference games (19 of 27 overall) to earn an at-large bid.
Florida Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan was gracious in defeat.
“First of all, congratulations to ECU, obviously they beat us handily two times this weekend,” he said. “It’s always tough when your season comes to an end, but there’s a lot of guys I want to thank for their efforts this year. Obviously East Carolina deserves to move on and we’ll get back to Gainesville, have our exit meetings and prepare for next year.”
Florida will return next season, undoubtably with a chip on its shoulder. This Regional was very un-Gator-like. The Gators are 138-90 across 40 NCAA Tournament appearances. Florida is 91-54 all-time at NCAA Regionals.