The Florida Gators claimed a share of the 2023 SEC Championship following their victory over Kentucky and losses from both Arkansas and LSU on Saturday afternoon.
Kevin O’Sullivan’s squad finished the regular season with a record of 42-13 (20-10 SEC), tying Arkansas for the top conference record in the SEC.
The Gators claimed their 16th SEC Championship in program history and sixth under Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan. Florida baseball clinched the SEC East on Friday night for the 26th time in school history.
Florida’s 42 regular season wins are the second-most in program history, falling just two games short of the program record held by the 2018 Gators baseball team.
Entering the day, the odds were not in Florida’s favor to claim their share of the SEC Championship, but the Gators did their job and let everything else play out.
“When we got off the bus last night, my message was to them, tomorrow is going to be extremely difficult. We can’t control what the other teams are going to do as far as us having a chance to win the SEC Championship,” Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “The goal today was to come in and win a series and to get some momentum going into Hoover. We’ll watch the scores and see what happens, but I’m awfully proud of this group and what they’ve accomplished this year.”
WHAT’S NEXT
The Gators will be the No.1 overall seed in the SEC tournament, receiving a first-round bye in the double elimination bracket. Florida will face the winner of the No.8 and No.9 seed on Wednesday, May 24th at 4:30 PM in Hoover, Alabama. Florida’s potential opponents remain undetermined. If Tennessee beats South Carolina tonight, the Gators face the winner of Kentucky and Alabama in Hoover. If South Carolina beats Tennessee, Florida would play the winner of Alabama and Tennessee. The Gators are searching for their 8th SEC Tournament Championship and first since 2015.
Following the SEC Tournament, the Gators will more than likely be selected as a top 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament, where they will host the Regionals and Super Regionals if Florida can advance. Gator Country will continue our coverage of the Florida Gators baseball team throughout the rest of postseason play.