After seven innings in Hoover on Friday, Florida looked lost at the plate against Mississippi State starter Cole Gordon, and was staring at a 3-0 deficit and a possible date with red-hot Arkansas in the losers’ bracket of the SEC Tournament.
After the eighth, Florida was up — by eight runs. After the ninth, the Gators had earned passage to the SEC Tournament semifinals for the fourth straight year.
An SEC Tournament-record 11-run onslaught in the top of the eighth — in which Florida finally chased Gordon, then piled on Bulldogs relievers with the help of only one extra-base hit — got the Gators the lead for good, and a final insurance run in the ninth brought the contest to its final score of 12-3.