SEC Weekend: Florida Gators @ Mizzou

♦ Be sure to check out Sam Nasci's Mizzou Matchup preview of the Florida Gators here at SimmonsField.com

♦ Also check out our off-season South By Southeast posts about South Carolina Baseball:

• Gator Chomp: Florida Baseball traditions
• Kevin O'Sullican's Gators
• Florida Baseball History

♦ And for you Gator fans coming into Columbia, MO, for the weekend, check out The SEC Fan's Guide to Mizzou Baseball for everything you need to know.

UF Baseball's Harrison Bader Named SEC Freshman of the Week For First Time j.mp/1395BUV

— Florida Gators (@GatorZoneNews) April 16, 2013

#Gators baseball has the No. 12 RPI in the country with a 19-18 record: ncaa.com/rankings/baseb…

— Cody Jones (@CJonesScout) April 18, 2013

♦ Movin' On Up: Recent Surge has Gators Back in Hunt (GatorZone)

With the victory over South Carolina, the Gators moved into a second-place tie in the East with the Gamecocks, both 8-7 in league play, a half-game ahead of fourth-place Kentucky (7-7).

The bloopers that were caught early in the season are dropping. The pitching rotation is starting to take shape and the gloves have tightened up. Those wide-eyed freshmen are starting to feel like they belong and playing more like they did when Gators coach Kevin O'Sullivan recruited them.
...
Finally getting their head above .500 is a feather in those special caps they wore Saturday, but the Gators remain an unfinished product and there's more work to do if they want to get back to the NCAA postseason.

"I think we're starting to grow up,'' O'Sullivan said. "It certainly showed this week."...

♦ Red-hot Gators baseball team back in the postseason picture (Orlando Sentinel)

The once-reeling Florida Gators baseball team suddenly is red hot heading into the second half of the SEC season.

The Gators have won five straight games against ranked opponents, capped by a 15-4 rout of South Carolina, the College World Series winners two of the past three years.

Florida (19-8, 8-7 SEC) is now tied for second place in the SEC East with the Gamecocks and has a winning percentage above .500 for the first time since February.

While a fourth straight trip to the CWS is unlikely, the Gators are positioned to slip into the NCAAregionals. Other than a series in early May at West Division leader LSU, Florida has faced the upper-echelon teams of the SEC.

The Gators' bats finally have come to life in the past two weeks, highlighted by a 10-run sixth inning Saturday. Florida scored three runs or fewer in five of seven SEC losses and 13 games overall this season...

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