Florida Gators win “prize fight” in front of a record crowd
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — As soon as the ball left Tyler Shelnut’s bat a Florida Gators record crowd was on its feet. The announced crowd of 8,439 erupted. The crowd may have been the biggest Shelnut has ever played in front of. It’s 7,308 more people than call Fort White, Florida — where Shelnut is from — home.
“That’s something I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” he said after the game.
Five years ago when Scott Stricklin and the University of Florida brass decided to demolish McKethan Stadium to build Condron Family Ballpark, this is what they imagined. Like in Field of Dreams, the belief was if Florida built a stadium fit for the kind of program Kevin O’Sullivan had built that the fanbase would show up.
“Hell of a ballgame. I’m sure whoever watched that nationally saw two really, really elite teams going at it,” South Carolina skipper Mark Kingston said after the game. “It was a prize fight. I’m disappointed we didn’t come out on top, but we can’t wait to get back to the ballpark tomorrow.”
South Carolina did its best to take the record crowd out of it. Will McGillis deposited Brandon Sproat’s second offering onto the left field berm to open the scoring. Braylen Wimmer scored from second later in the first frame to give the Gamecocks a 2-0 lead.
Josh Rivera knotted the score with a blast estimated at 454 feet.
“Josh [Rivera] answering back with a two-run homer to get us right back into it,” O’Sullivan said. “Because usually in games like this, the team that scores first gets momentum and it can kind of get away from you a little bit in this environment. We battled. South Carolina played great and just came down to one run. It’s really that simple.”
Insurance run makes the difference
Florida’s first four runs were all products of baseballs leaving the yard. The run that made the difference barely left the infield.
With a 2-0 count in the bottom of the eighth inning, Tyler Shelnut walked to the plate. With runners on first and second and two outs, he was looking for one pitch in one spot. He didn’t get it.
“I don’t even know what it was,” Shelnut said. “A bad pitch and a bad swing.”
That didn’t matter. The soft line drive was placed perfectly between Wimmer at shortstop and Dylan Brewer in left field. With two outs, Rivera was running on contact. It gave Florida a 5-3 lead, which proved pivotal when McGillis homered to left field, his second blast of the game.
Florida and South Carolina will meet on the field Saturday 3:00 pm ET on ESPN2. Hurston Walkdrep will toe the rubber for Florida. South Carolina will send the Jack Mahoney to the bump.
Gators notes
NOTABLES
Friday night’s official attendance of 8,439 marked a new program record and the largest on-campus crowd ever for a collegiate baseball game in Florida.Friday’s Super Regional opener was delayed by two hours and 37 minutes due to weather.The Gators are one win away from their 13th College World Series appearance including the program’s eighth in 16 seasons under Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan.UF posted its 20th come-from-behind win of the season.Florida is now 124-83 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.Florida is 13-6 all-time in the Super Regional round.The Gators have never lost a Super after winning game one.UF is hosting its ninth NCAA Super Regional since 2008, which leads the nation.Rivera hit his 17th home run of the season in the bottom of the first, after homering in the first inning of Florida’s first game of the NCAA Gainesville Regional last weekend as well.Rivera has now homered in each of Florida’s postseason series in 2023, having also gone yard at the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala.Shelnut blasted his seventh home run of the season to tie the game in the fifth inning.He is the seventh different Gator to homer this postseason.Riopelle launched his 16th home run of the season to give Florida a 4-3 lead in the sixth inning.The home run marked Riopelle’s seventh-career postseason homer including his sixth of the 2023 postseason.Sproat completed at least five innings for the 22nd time in his last 23 starts to earn his eighth victory.Florida has hit 129 home runs this season, which ranks second in a single season in program history behind the 1998 team (132).Florida has struck out 654 batters in 550 innings – translating to 10.7 per nine innings, which would mark a new program record.The Gators have 622 hits through 64 games (9.7 hits/game).The Gators have scored in 44.1% of batted innings (230 of 521).Florida is 52-54 all-time against South Carolina including 30-16 in Gainesville.The Gators are 30-22 vs. the Gamecocks under O’Sullivan including 17-5 at home.UF is 1-3 vs. SC in the NCAA Tournament, although this is the first meeting between the two teams in the Regional or Super Regional rounds.
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