Georgia rallies from 6-run deficit, outlasts Florida to advance to SEC Tournament final
Published:
Georgia didn’t let a 6-run hole in the third inning or a weather delay in the seventh inning get in the way of stunning an SEC rival for a trip to Sunday’s conference tournament final in Hoover.
The Bulldogs pushed across 2 runs in the seventh and 2 more in the eighth to overcome a 7-4 deficit and earn a dramatic 8-7 victory over Florida. What felt like a lost Saturday in Alabama turned into a riveting one for Georgia, which will now get to play for an SEC championship on Sunday afternoon.
The Dawgs (45-12) will find out their title game opponent later Saturday night, with Auburn and Arkansas fighting it out in a second semifinal that didn’t start until about 6 p.m. ET. What Georgia does know is that it will be there on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET (ABC, SEC Network) against the survivor of Saturday night’s battle.
It’ll be the Bulldogs’ fourth appearance in the SEC title game since 1989.
The next question for Florida (39-19) will be how Saturday’s ugly loss affects its NCAA Tournament seeding. The Gators will find that out during Monday’s NCAA tourney selection show, but until then they’ll be thinking about a missed opportunity to play for an SEC championship on Sunday.
Florida went down in order in the top of the ninth inning, bringing a rainy afternoon that started with so much promise to a bitter end. When a weather delay that would last for 1 hour hit in the bottom of the seventh, Georgia trailed 7-4 with 1 out and a runner on first base. The Gators were in control, even if the 6-0 lead they took with a 5-run third inning had been trimmed to 3 runs with still 8 outs to get.
But everything changed once the tarp was pulled off the field in Hoover in that seventh inning. Kenny Ishikawa ripped a 2-run double in that seventh to pull Georgia within 7-6, and the bad vibes continued in the bottom of the eighth for Florida when third baseman Ethan Surowiec committed an error to start the inning.
Ryan Black then put Georgia’s game-winning rally into full force with a double to left-center field. Suddenly, the tying and go-ahead runs were in scoring position for the Dawgs, and then some really solid situational hitting got Georgia over the top. Back-to-back sacrifice flies by Tre Phelps and Daniel Jackson tied the game and then put the Bulldogs ahead.
Justin Byrd slammed the door on Florida with 2 scoreless innings of relief after the weather delay. He struck out 2, and there was no hint of a Gators’ rally in the ninth after Georgia seized the lead.
The Dawgs were onto Sunday’s title game, while Florida was left to ponder a big early lead that went up in smoke.
While Georgia and Florida battled in Hoover for SEC supremacy, the next goal for both teams after this weekend will be their pursuit of a spot in Omaha for next month’s College World Series. Here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about the top teams in the mix to be playing for a national championship in June:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
