The Gators have reached the SEC Tournament Semifinals in each of the last two seasons.
HOOVER, Ala. – As the top overall seed in the field, No. 2 Florida opens up 2023 SEC Tournament play with a Wednesday evening meeting against No. 9-seed Alabama in Hoover for the third-straight year. The matchup is scheduled to air on SEC Network at approximately 5:30 p.m. ET.
The Gators (42-13, 20-10 SEC) have won four-straight games against the Tide (39-17, 16-14 SEC) in Hoover since 2011 and are 4-1 overall in the SEC Tournament in the series under Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/kevin-o-sullivan/1551>.
Florida holds a 28-7 overall record against the Tide under O’Sullivan. The Gators have claimed 15 of the last 17 matchups to improve to 69-59 all-time against Alabama including 9-9 in neutral-site battles.
Pitching Matchups
Thursday | ~5:30 p.m. ET (SECN)
Alabama RHP Luke Holman (7-3, 3.53 ERA)
Florida RHP Hurston Waldrep<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/hurston-waldrep/15517> (7-3, 4.83 ERA)
Links WATCH<https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=af148208-62c3-4960-a5e3-9578525f7fe9> | LISTEN<https://floridagators.com/showcase?Live=5174>
Florida jumped from No. 5 up to No. 2 in the D1Baseball Top-25 after taking two out of three at No. 19 Kentucky in Lexington to earn a share of the SEC Title alongside Arkansas. The Gators are ranked as highly as No. 2 according to multiple polls including Baseball America and the USA Today Coaches Poll.
SEC CHAMPS!
Finishing the season with a 20-10 SEC record, Florida won its 16th SEC Regular Season Championship in program history including the team’s sixth under Kevin O’Sullivan<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/kevin-o-sullivan/1551>. After being swept on the road at then-No. 6 South Carolina, the Gators went 11-3 including 9-3 in SEC play down the stretch to win the University of Florida’s sixth overall conference title in 2023, which leads the SEC.
HOOVER’S FINEST
Florida is one of two teams to have reached the SEC Tournament Semifinals in each of the last two seasons featuring a trip to the finals one year ago. During that span, the Gators own a 7-3 record in Hoover.
LAST TIME OUT
The Gators won the series premiere and finale at No. 19 Kentucky (W 10-3, L 6-4, W 5-2) to finish the regular season with a 20-10 SEC record and wins in eight of 10 SEC series (12 of 14 overall). Wyatt Langford<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/wyatt-langford/15497> paced the squad in the series, going 5-for-13 with two home runs, two doubles, five runs and four RBI including his eighth-career multi-homer game in game two.
IRREGULAR SEASON
Florida’s 42 wins in the regular season are the second-most in program history. The 2023 campaign represents the 28th 40-win season time in team history, 11 of which have come under O’Sullivan. The 2016 squad (44-11, 19-10 SEC) holds the record for regular-season wins at UF.
ALL-SEC CLEANUP
Florida led the conference with seven All-SEC honorees as well as a league-high five First Team players. First baseman Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/15489>, second baseman Cade Kurland<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-kurland/15514>, shortstop Josh Rivera<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/josh-rivera/15504>, Langford and relief pitcher Brandon Neely<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/brandon-neely/15499> were named to the All-SEC First Team while Brandon Sproat<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/brandon-sproat/15508> received a Second Team nod. Kurland and catcher/designated hitter Luke Heyman<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/luke-heyman/15522> were both honored on the Freshman All-SEC Team.
NATIONAL WATCH LISTS
The Gators are one of five schools with at least two Golden Spikes Award semifinalists in Langford and Caglianone. Caglianone is also one of 12 semifinalists for the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year while Rivera is one of 25 semifinalists for the Brooks Wallace Award for the nation’s top shortstop.
PITCHING PEAKING
Over the last two series (No. 4 Vanderbilt, at No. 19 Kentucky), Florida pitchers have combined for a 2.12 ERA, .214 batting average against and 53 strikeouts against just 16 walks in 51 innings. Caglianone has led the way, producing two of his best starts of the year with a 2-0 record, 0.66 ERA, .114 BAA and 17 strikeouts vs. four walks over 13 2/3 frames.
OH, WHAT A RELIEF IT IS!
Florida relievers sport a 1.40 ERA, .232 BAA and 16 strikeouts against five walks across the last two series of the season. Cade Fisher<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-fisher/15513> (4.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K) and Ryan Slater<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ryan-slater/15506> (1-0, 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K) have anchored the turnaround while closer Brandon Neely<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/brandon-neely/15499> (5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 K) was his usual dominant self. Neely’s 10 saves lead the SEC, as he has not blown a chance all season. Southpaw Philip Abner<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/philip-abner/15488> (3.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K) has been solid as well.
HIGHLY OFFENSIVE
Backed by double-digit runs in 22 games and 10-plus knocks in 32 contests, Florida ranks top-10 nationally in slugging (fifth – .560) and home runs (sixth – 111) while ranking 14th with 465 runs scored. Through 55 games, the Gators have scored in 45.8% of their batted innings (203 of 443) and are averaging 10.0 hits per game. The Gators are among the top-three in the SEC in triples (first), batting average (second), slugging (second), runs (second), RBI (second), total bases (second) and home runs (third).
RELENTLESS REPTILES
17 of Florida’s wins this season have been in comeback fashion (40.5%), surpassing last year’s 66-game total of 13 (30.1%). After going 0-20 last season when trailing after six innings, Florida has three wins in that scenario in 2023 and is 5-1 when tied after six. Even more impressively, the Gators are 14-6 when the opponent scores first this season, compared to 11-15 last year.
100-STRIKEOUT DUO
Sproat eclipsed 100 strikeouts in a season for the first time in his career with seven at No. 19 Kentucky. As a result, Sproat and Hurston Waldrep<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/hurston-waldrep/15517> became the ninth 100-strikeout duo in program history, and the first since Jackson Kowar (115) and Brady Singer (114) accomplished the feat in 2018.
WALLY’S WORLD
Leading Florida with six quality starts, Waldrep is making his second appearance of the year against the Tide on Wednesday. In the first go-round, he threw six innings with four runs (three earned) allowed on seven hits and four walks while striking out seven. Waldrep’s 13.6 strikeouts per nine rank fourth nationally and second in the SEC, and is in line to set a new school record (John Burke – 13.3, 1990). With 110 strikeouts on the season, Waldrep needs nine more to move into the top-10 all-time in a season at UF (10th – Marc Valdes – 119, 1993).
WHATEVER SPROATS OUR BOAT
As a two-time SEC Pitcher of the Week this season, Sproat is 7-3 on the year and 12-3 in his last 19 starts dating back to 2022. Florida is 16-4 in Sproat’s last 20 starts including 12-2 this season. He has gone five innings in all but one of his last 20 starts.
WY-WY THE BYE-BYE MAN
Langford is quietly having one of the best seasons in the country while improving in nearly every statistic compared to his All-American 2022 campaign. In 48 games, Langford is hitting .399/.527/.827, leading Florida in every slash category in addition to runs and OPS (1.354). Langford’s 39 extra-base hits surpassed his 2022 total and he has drawn significantly more walks (44) than strikeouts (34). In UF’s last 14 games, Langford is hitting an absurd .463/.525/1.019 with seven homers and 18 RBI.
SECOND TO CAGLIA-NONE
The two-way playing Caglianone broke Florida’s single-season home run record with his nation-leading 27th long ball in game two at Texas A&M. The blast broke a tie with Matt LaPorta (2005) and Langford (2022), as Caglianone now boasts a nation-leading 28 homers. He is on pace for 33 should the Gators play 66 games, which would break Ivan Melendez’s BBCOR record of 32 set last season. Caglianone’s 76 RBI rank t-ninth in the NCAA and are tied for the fourth-most in a single season at Florida (Record: Preston Tucker, 85, 2009).
CAUGHT A WHIFF
Florida ranks ninth nationally and is in line to set a school record with 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings as a team (9.9 in 2016). The Gators have double-digit strikeouts in 34 of 55 games.
SAVING HIS BEST FOR LAST
Over the past two seasons, Langford has eight multi-homer games. Three of those have come in the last week of the regular season, one in the SEC Tournament and one in NCAA Regionals.
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