Florida Baseball Overcomes Another Wave of Injuries in Gritty Win Over Alabama
The Florida Gators baseball team just can’t seem to catch a break when it comes to injuries—but that hasn’t stopped them from winning.
In a season filled with setbacks, Florida once again showed resilience, rallying from a five-run deficit to defeat Alabama 7-6 on Sunday night in Austin. The win evens their SEC record at 13-13 and improves their overall record to 36-18, keeping them firmly in NCAA Tournament contention.
The game continued a troubling pattern that has haunted the Gators all year: just as one injured player returns, another goes down. This time, it was catcher Luke Heyman, who suffered a season-ending fractured forearm after being hit by a pitch. Not long after, Justin Nadeau exited with a finger injury. While Nadeau’s injury is less severe, it added to an already depleted roster that includes Colby Shelton, Cade Kurland, and Kyle Jones.
Faced with a shortage of healthy position players, Florida was forced to activate seldom-used Blake Brookings, a 6’5″ sophomore who had only appeared in seven games last season and was expected to redshirt this year. Thrown into action, Brookings delivered when it mattered—hitting his first career collegiate double in the sixth inning, and later scoring the run that made it a one-run game.
Florida’s comeback began in the fourth, with Landon Stripling, who entered after Heyman’s injury, scoring on a wild pitch. He then drove in a run in the fifth and scored again to bring the Gators within one at 5-4. After Alabama added another run to make it 6-4, Brookings’ hit set up Bobby Boser to drive him in, trimming the lead to one again.
The turning point came in the seventh inning, when Brody Donay blasted a go-ahead home run to right field, putting Florida ahead 7-6. Jake Clemente shut the door in the final inning, securing a dramatic win for the Gators.
Despite their misfortune, Florida has now gone 11-5 over the past six weeks and climbed to 11th in the NCAA RPI rankings. Just a month and a half ago, their postseason hopes looked dim. Now, they are not only a near-lock for the NCAA Tournament but could also be in the mix to host a Regional—something that seemed far-fetched earlier in the season.
If the Gators can win one of their remaining two games against Alabama and notch at least one victory in the upcoming SEC Tournament in Hoover, their case to host becomes hard to ignore.
Next Up: Game two of the series is set for 6:30 PM tonight.
