Florida’s ace, Brandon Sproat, fired a complete game one-hitter against No.24 Alabama in the Gators’ SEC opener on Thursday night. The shutout awarded Sproat SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week and Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week honors.
“That’s as good as he’s thrown since he’s been here,” head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said during Thursday’s postgame press conference. “I think bouncing back from last week’s start to be able to do what he did tonight speaks volume to where he’s at mentally and maturity-wise. He was really, really special tonight against an older lineup.”
The hard-throwing right hander needed just 106 pitches to complete the game, including an eight pitch ninth inning.
“He was at 98. Obviously, you look at the pitch count and you kind of think, well should we run him back out there in the ninth? In all honesty, his stuff in the eighth didn’t look any different than it did in the first,” Sullivan said. “I thought he earned the opportunity to finish it. Between 98 pitches and 105 is not a whole lot of difference. If someone would have got on or something, we probably would have went to the pen. Like I said, his stuff there in the ninth was just as good as it were in the first. It wasn’t that hard of a decision. Like I said, sometimes you just watch the stuff and he didn’t look like he had to make a whole lot of leverage pitches tonight and it worked out.”
Sproat struck out 11 batters while allowing just three free passes (two walks and a HBP) against Alabama. A week before that, the Pace native struggled against Siena, tossing just four innings while allowing three hits and five free passes.
“It really all comes down to the mental side,” Sproat said after his complete game shutout. “Last week, I was struggling a little bit. This week, I had a ton of clarity and what I was going to do of myself and for the team. I just go out there and throw the ball as hard as I can every time. It works for me.”
Monday’s announcement marks the second-career weekly SEC accolade for Sproat, who previously earned the same honors on March 7 of last season after posting 6 1/3 scoreless frames against No. 22 Miami.
Sproat’s complete game marks the first of his career (high school or college) and the first complete-game shutout by a Gators’ pitcher since Jack Leftwich accomplished the feat vs. Missouri on May 17, 2019.
Dating back to April 29, 2022 when Sproat took over the Friday-night role vs. Kentucky, he has made 11 starts and is 9-0 with a 2.08 ERA, 76 strikeouts and 25 walks across 69 1/3 innings – and Florida is 11-0. Sproat is averaging over 6 1/3 innings per start during that span.
Sproat carries a 4-0 record, 2.73 ERA and 43 strikeouts across 29 2/3 innings into his next start at No. 13 Ole Miss on Friday, March 24.
Sproat is the third Gator to be named a National Player of the Week, joining Wyatt Langford and Jac Caglianone.