Coming into the SEC Tournament, the common belief is that Florida needed to make a mini-run in order to have a shot at hosting Regionals in the NCAA Tournament. But compared to where Florida was six weeks ago and compared to what their status was entering the SEC Tournament last year, the Gators are guaranteed a spot in the NCAA Tournament no matter what happens this week in Hoover.
It's with that backdrop that Florida didn't send their big guns to the mound on Tuesday, but also didn't have to, as they crushed a South Carolina squad that looked like they just wanted their stay in Hoover to end as soon as possible.
Florida Gators crush South Carolina, will play Ole Miss next
Billy Barlow got the start for Florida, and while it wasn't clean, he went 3.2 innings with just one run against. Blaine Rowland took over, and he also went 3.2 innings with just two runs against.
With no ability to engage in weather modification, South Carolina pitchers offered no resistance against Florida's hitters. After a scoreless 1st, Bobby Boser hit a three-run home run in the 2nd, Brody Donay homered in the 3rd, and Hayden Yost homered in the 5th.
Combined with RBI doubles from Yost and Ty Evans, the Gators shot out to a 7-1 lead heading into 8th. South Carolina scored two in the top of the 8th, and Florida responded in kind with four runs in the bottom of the 8th to formally send South Carolina to the offseason.
The SEC Tournament is single elimination this year, following the same format as basketball and softball. The Gators will now take on Ole Miss in a game that could dictate who gets to host Regionals.
Ole Miss took two-of-three from Florida earlier this season.
Tentatively, the game is scheduled for 8:30 PM.