Florida Gators earn a top-16 seed, will host a regional at Condron Ballpark
The Florida Gators will host a regional at Condron Ballpark. The 16 regional hosting sites were announced on Sunday night, and the rest of the field will be revealed on Monday.
This will be the 18th time the Gators host a Regional and the second consecutive season. Florida previously hosted an NCAA Regional in 1989, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2002, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2021.
Just over a month ago Florida was thought to be on the NCAA Tournament bubble. The Gators were 24-17 and 6-12 in the SEC. They were facing an uphill battle but put together an impressive run in May. Florida won each of its last four SEC series, including a road sweep of Mississippi State, and won 16 of its last 21 games.
“Do I think we’re one of the top sixteen teams in the country? Absolutely,” Kevin O’Sullivan said when asked Sunday. “I like our team, I really like our team. We’re playing our best baseball and have been for a while. I think a run like this in the tournament should really help us moving forward.”
Gators did enough in Hoover
Florida came into the SEC Tournament as the No. 7 seed with a lot of work to do if they wanted to host. The Gators were able to get a win on Tuesday, to move into the double-elimination portion of the tournament. They lost the next game to Texas A&M, which put them into the loser’s bracket. That forced the team to play four games over the next three days. It forced Kevin O’Sullivan to put some players who hadn’t contributed too much throughout the season into big spots and they responded. Ultimately, Florida’s play in Hoover was enough to earn the right to host.
“It set us up for success. I think we played our best baseball this week,” catcher BT Riopelle said after the game. “The first two games we didn’t swing it too well. I think the biggest thing to take away from this week is we had so many guys that didn’t really have positive contributions to the season on the field but they got their chance the last couple days and they really made the most of their opportunities. I’m really excited about them moving forward too. It’s more guys that we can add to the pot to put a run at this thing.”
NCAA Tournament Selection Show
Florida will find out who they will be hosting on Monday afternoon. The 64 teams and pairings for the 2022 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship will be announced during the selection show that will air at 12 noon ET, Monday, May 30 on ESPN2.
Top 16 Seeds
The sixteen teams that will host regionals were released in alphabetical order on Sunday night. The seedings for those 16 teams will be revealed on Monday.
Regional hosting sites
Auburn Regional – Auburn Tigers
Austin Regional – Texas Longhorns
Blacksburg Regional – Virginia Tech Hokies
Chapel Hill Regional – UNC Tar Heels
College Park Regional – Maryland Terrapins
College Station – Texas A&M Aggies
Coral Gables Regional – Miami Hurricanes
Corvallis Regional – Oregon State Beavers
Gainesville Regional – Florida Gators
Greenville Regional – ECU Pirates
Hattiesburg Regional – Southern Mississippi Eagles
Knoxville Regional – Tennessee Volunteers
Louisville Regional – Louisville Cardinals
Stanford Regional – Stanford
Statesboro Regional – Georgia Southern Eagles
Stillwater Regional – Oklahoma State Cowboys
