BT Riopelle and the No. 2 seeded Florida baseball team were up against elimination as the host of the Gainesville Regional. Fortunately, the Gators rallied and rattled off 3 straight wins to advance to the Super Regionals!

After losing to Texas Tech on Saturday, Florida faced 2 must-win games on Sunday. The Gators rolled past UConn and posted a 7-1 win in the first rematch against Texas Tech to force a winner-take-all game on Monday.

Wyatt Langford started the scoring for Florida with a solo home run in the bottom of the 3rd inning but it was Riopelle that would provide the major blows for the Gators. In the bottom of the 4th, Riopelle delivered a deep 2-run blast out of right-center field to give Florida a 3-0 lead.

In the bottom of the 5th, Riopelle struck again with another 2-run blast to straight right field to make it 5-0. By the time the frame ended, it was 6-0, a lead the Gators would not relinquish.

On the mound, Florida’s pitching staff was locked in and kept Texas Tech in check all game long. Ryan Slater went 5 innings as the starter and scattered 3 hits and 2 walks without allowing a run. Philip Abner and Brandon Neely would follow with each tossing 2 shutout innings to cap the performance.

With the win, Florida takes the Gainesville Regional and will advance to face South Carolina in the Super Regionals. The Gators and Gamecocks will face off in the best-of-3 series with a shot at Omaha on the line. The Gamecocks swept the regular-season series in Columbia, outscoring Florida 25-10 in April.

Main photo via Florida Gators Baseball video on Twitter.