The Gators went to bed on Sunday night not knowing if they had played their last game of the 2013 season or if they would make a regional and still have a chance at making another run to Omaha and the College World Series.
The Gators received good news on Monday and will play in the Bloomington Regional to get the post season started. And on Tuesday there was more good news to be had when freshman Harrison Bader was named to the SEC All-Freshman team.
A New York native, Bader’s recruitment was a whirlwind. Initially committed to Pittsburgh, Bader decommitted and found himself committed to Maryland. Bader was all set to walk-on at Maryland before he was spotted by a coach from Florida this past summer and offered a scholarship later that day. Bader jumped at the chance to play baseball at Florida and Coach Kevin O’Sullivan is sure happy he did.
Bader started all 30 SEC contests this season and was second on the team with a .307 batting average, tied for second with 13 RBI, tied for fourth with 14 runs scored and led the team with 7 steals on just 8 attempts in those games. On the year Bader is hitting .304 with 35 runs, 22 RBI, 18 walks, 7doubles and leads the team with 14 steals on 19 attempts.
Bader was the only Gators to be named to any of the All-SEC teams.
The Gators will take on Austin Peay at 1 p.m. on Friday afternoon at Bart Kaufman Field as the No. 2 seed in the region. The regional is a double elimination style format and Florida will either play at 2 p.m. if they lose or 6 p.m. if they lose on Saturday.