Entering Tuesday, the Florida Gators baseball team had been scuffling on the diamond of late.
And that’s putting it kindly.
Florida’s last two weekend series had both been lopsided losses, with the Gators managing to take just the second half of a doubleheader from Mississippi State in the midst of series losses to the Bulldogs in Gainesville and to Vanderbilt in Nashville. Florida’s vaunted pitching staff had been getting touched up, too, with Tyler Dyson allowing two earned runs in six innings and getting the win in that 4-2 victory against Mississippi State being the only Gators start with fewer than three earned runs over those two weekends.