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Florida could get key offensive player back for Regionals, per report
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Florida could be without one of its top offensive threats for the remainder of the SEC tournament.
Shortstop Colby Shelton suffered an injury to his hamate bone in April and hasn’t played since then. And, according to Baseball America’s Jacob Rudner, it’s likely he won’t be back for the SEC Tournament.
Prior to his injury against Arkansas, Shelton was batting .377, a team high, with 7 home runs and 35 RBI. His 66 hits rank 2nd on the team as of Tuesday.
It came at a tough time for a Florida team looking to make headway in the SEC tournament. The Gators enter the tournament as the 10th seed and with an RPI of 13.
Florida’s still in good shape to make the NCAA Tournament regardless of how it makes out in Hoover. But it will need a deep run in order to position itself to possibly host through Super Regionals. Sunday’s D1Baseball NCAA Tournament projections have the Gators as a 2 seed in the Chapel Hill regional.
The Gators face 15th-seeded South Carolina on Tuesday. A win there will put them in the second round, where they’ll face 7th-seeded Ole Miss. A victory over the Rebels sets up a quarterfinal showdown against second-seeded Arkansas.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
