Gators face Missouri for SEC Tournament championship

Skylar Wallace connects for second inning home run against Texas A&M (UAA Photo)

After an April where she almost couldn’t buy a base hit, Skylar Wallace has turned May into her personal revenge tour. Wallace went 7-47 at the plate in April when the Gators had the look of a team that had hit a wall. In the six games – all of them Florida wins – since the calendar turned over to a new month, Wallace is 11-19 with three doubles, three homers and 13 RBI. At the Southeastern Conference Tournament in Auburn, she is 5-6 with two home runs and six RBI to lead Florida (45-12) to the championship game this evening (5 p.m., ESPN2) against Missouri (44-13).

With Wallace making a strong case for tournament MVP the Gators won two games Friday, trouncing Georgia 9-4 in the quarterfinals and then Texas A&M 7-4 in the semifinals. Wallace went 3-4 against Georgia with a home run, three singles and four RBI. Against Texas A&M she was 2-2 with a home run, two RBI and two walks. Wallace scored four runs, raising her NCAA leading total to 80 on the season.

Against Georgia, Wallace hit a 2-run homer in the first inning, an RBI single in the fifth and another RBI single in the sixth. Jocelyn Erickson hit a 3-run home run in the fifth and Emily Wilkie hit a 2-run home run in the sixth. Keagan Rothrock got the win with 1-1/3 innings of shutout relief from Ava Brown, who earned her second save of the season.

Florida jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second inning against the Aggies in the semifinals as Mia Williams hit a 3-run home run off the scoreboard and Wallace hit a 2-run home run to right center. The Aggies scored a pair of unearned runs in the fourth and closed to within 5-3 in the fifth, but Erickson launched a 2-run double to left field in the bottom of the sixth to provide Rothrock with the final 7-3 cushion.

Rothrock allowed only one earned run while limiting the Aggies to five hits while striking out six. In improving to 25-6 on the season, Rothrock needed only 76 pitches and didn’t walk a single batter.

Korbe Otis, who leads the country in on base percentage (.597) went 4-6 at the plate while reaching base three other times on walks.

The Gators were mortal locks to host an NCAA Regional even before the SEC Tournament, but with the two wins, they most likely have sealed a top eight seed. A week ago, the Gators were No. 16 nationally in RPI, but after Friday they are now No. 7. If the Gators can secure the top eight seed, they will be able to host a super regional if they advance.

With five freshmen and a pair of transfers factoring prominently, the Gators are 45-12 in 2024. A year ago, UF went 38-22 and was on the road for the regional.

SEC honors: Catcher Jocelyn Erickson was selected SEC Player of the Year while pitcher Keagan Rothrock was named SEC Freshman of the Year. Erickson was joined on the SEC first team by outfielders Korbe Otis and Kendra Falby, shortstop Skylar Wallace and DH/third base Reagan Walsh. Rothrock and fellow freshman Ava Brown were named to the second team. Erickson and Falby were named to the All-Defensive team.

Softball RPI top 25: 1. Texas 47-6; 2. Oklahoma 48-6; 3. Duke 46-6; 4. Tennessee 40-10; 5. LSU 40-15; 6. UCLA 36-10, 7. FLORIDA 45-12; 8. Stanford 43-13; 9. Missouri 43-14; 10. Oklahoma State 44-10; 11. Georgia 39-16; 12. Louisiana 42-16; 13. Florida State 43-13; 14. Arkansas 36-16; 15. Texas A&M 40-13; 16. Alabama 33-17; 17. Arizona 34-16-1; 18. Texas State 44-13; 19. Virginia Tech 39-12-1; 20 Baylor 32-20; 21. Auburn 27-10-1; 22. Clemson 34-17; 23. Mississippi State 33-18; 24. Washington 31-13; 25. California 36-17

UF BASEBALL: It may take a miracle for the Gators to make the NCAA

Deflating. That might be the best word to describe what happened at Condron Family Ballpark Friday afternoon.

On a weekend that may very well determine if the Gators (25-24, 10-15 SEC) make the post season for the 17th straight year, the bullpen melted down again. Instead of a win over 4th-ranked Kentucky (36-10, 19-6 SEC), the Gators gave up three runs in each of the eighth, ninth and 10th innings, gift-wrapping a 12-11 win for the Wildcats that kept them a game ahead of Arkansas and Tennessee in the race for the Southeastern Conference regular season championship.

Florida held a 6-3 lead heading into the eighth inning when the bullpen gave way. Brandon Neely gave up a 2-run homer and an RBI double in the eighth when Kentucky tied the score at 6-6. In the bottom half of the inning, the Gators retaliated with two runs on a Brody Donay single, a Tyler Shelnut RBI double, a sacrifice bunt by Hayden Yost and a sacrifice fly by Dale Thomas.

Florida’s 8-6 lead didn’t last long. In the top of the ninth with two out, Luke McNeillie walked two straight batters then gave up a 3-run homer as Kentucky took a 9-8 lead. Again, Florida rallied. A 2-out single to right field by Shelnut was followed by a bloop single by Yost that clipped the glove of the UK second baseman. Thomas tied the score with hard single through the right score that plated Shelnut, sending the game into extra innings.

Kentucky pushed across three more runs in the top of the 10th when Cade Fisher hit two batters, walked one and gave up a bases clearing double. Florida countered in the bottom half of the inning on the 28th homer of the season by Jac Caglianone and Colby Shelton’s second home run of the game, his 18th with one out. Luke Heyman lined a 3-2 pitch up the middle, bringing the game-winning run to the plate but Donay’s one-hop grounder to third was turned into a game-ending double play.

It was a stunning loss that significantly narrows Florida’s margin for error. The Gators are five games under .500 in SEC play with five games to go, two with Kentucky and three on the road in Athens against Georgia next week. It is almost imperative that the Gators win four of their next five. That’s not impossible but highly improbable given Florida’s penchant for turning winnable games into mind-numbing losses.

“I don't know what else to say at this point,” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “There're no long speeches, they know what's at stake. All you can do as a coach is be honest and upfront and specific on what's ahead of you and if you do this, this will happen. If you don't do this, it won't happen. I don't know. This is uncharted territory.

“I spent nine years at Clemson, the last 17 years here. Take out COVID, that's 25 years I've been in the postseason, 25-straight years. So yeah, this is frustrating for everybody. We have some work to do now and we had some work coming into the weekend. This loss is magnified because of where we're at."

Game notes: Caglianone stretched his hitting streak to 28 games with a 2-3 effort. He was walked three times, twice intentionally. Caglianone is now hitting .416 … Shelton drove in four runs with his two home runs … Donay hit his 10th homer of the season in the fourth … The Gators will face Kentucky at 12 noon (SEC Network).

UF LACROSSE: Gators take out UNC in first round NCAA matchup

Amanda O’Leary’s 400th career win was doubly sweet Friday afternoon as Florida (18-2) dominated North Carolina, 17-8, in Charlottesville, Virginia to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. With the victory, the Gators made it to the second round of the tournament for the 13th straight year plus they avenged a 19-10 loss to UNC back on February 17. Since losing to the Tar Heels, the Gators have won 18 straight games. Sunday, they take on 5th-seeded Virginia (15-4) with the winner advancing to the quarter-finals.

Ten different Gators scored with Maggi Hall, Josie Hahn and Emily Heller scoring three goals apiece. Hall became the second Gator in school history to reach 100 points.

O’Leary (career record 400-126) is just the fourth coach in NCAA Division I history to win 400 games.

UF TRACK AND FIELD: UF women within striking distance of first place

Paced by a 1-2 finish in the long jump by Claire Bryant and Anthaya Charlton, the Gators are within seven points of first place Texas A&M with 13 events to go on the final day of the Southeastern Conference Track and Field Championships at the Percy Beard Track. The Florida men are in fifth, also with 13 events to go on the last day.

Florida also got a fourth place finish in the women’s shot put from Alida Van Daalen and third, fourth and sixth place finishes in the men’s long jump from Caleb Foster, Malcolm Clemons and Sean Dixon-Bodie.

Women’s scores: 1. Texas A&M 45; 2. FLORIDA 38; 3. Ole Miss 34; 4. Alabama 33; 5. Arkansas 31; 6. Vanderbilt 27; 7. Kentucky 23; 8. Georgia 21; 9. Tennessee 15; 10. LSU 11; 11. (TIE) Auburn and Mississippi State 10; 13. Missouri 8; 14. South Carolina 6

Men’s scores: 1. Arkansas 55; 2. Ole Miss 40; 3. Alabama 39; 4. Texas A&M 38; 5. FLORIDA 28; 6. Georgia 27; 7. (TIE) LSU and South Carolina 18; 9. (TIE) Mississippi State and Tennessee 11; 11. (TIE) Kentucky and Missouri 10; 13. Auburn 7