In an upset loss that sent shock waves through the post-season baseball world, the Florida Gators have their backs against the wall in their home regional following a 3-5 loss to USF. The Gators will return back to Florida Ballpark in an advance or go home scenario against South Alabama at noon on Saturday.
🚨UPSET IN GAINESVILLE🚨@USFBaseball upsets Florida, 5-3, in the Gainesville Regional! This is the Bulls first NCAA Tournament win vs Florida since 1982.#RoadToOmaha pic.twitter.com/hgr0dpplQV
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 4, 2021
Following Florida’s loss on Friday, South Alabama fell to Miami in the late afternoon game in a close 1-0 loss to the Canes. The Gators have not faced South Alabama all season. The Jaguar’s currently sit at 33 wins and 21 losses on season. They are members of the Sun Belt conference and are the reigning Sun Belt champions, receiving an automatic bid into the NCAA postseason.
As it stands currently, the Gators must win all of their upcoming games in order to win the Gainesville Regional and continue their postseason journey. Following Saturday’s game if Florida emerges victorious, they will take on the loser from the winners bracket which will be Miami or USF.
Following that game, the Gators would then need to beat the winner on Sunday in order to clinch the regional.
Multiple games and an already tapped-in bullpen could prove to be difficult to manage for the Gators moving forward. Ace Tommy Mace recorded five innings and both Christian Scott and Trey Van Der Weide also made appearances.