Brandon Sproat filling the role of Florida Gators ace
Brandon Sproat yelled into his glove as Kevin O’Sullivan walked to the mound. Sproat had lasted 8.1 innings in the opening game of the SEC Tournament but was being lifted with runners on the corners and one out. Sproat had earned the right to try and finish the game. A pair of one-out singles ended his night but there was nothing to hang his head about on Tuesday night in Hoover.
There hasn’t been anything to hang his head about for more than a month now.
Three weeks ago Hunter Barco announced that he needed to undergo Tommy John surgery. The Gators were swept that weekend at home by Tennessee and fell to 6-12 on the year. Sproat, who didn’t start the season as a weekend starter, was moved into the Friday role.
The Florida Gators’ season was quickly slipping away and Sproat would need to be the tone-setter for the rest of the SEC slate.
A new ace for the Gators
Sproat has answered that call.
Since the Tennessee series, spanning five starts, he has had four wins and has thrown at least five innings in each of his starts. He has posted a 1.65 ERA over that span and shown a new maturity in his game.
Pitching Tuesday night in an elimination game, Sproat was better than he ever has been in orange and blue. He gave up just one run over 8.1 innings and struck out seven. He carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning.
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“That’s the best he’s pitched here. I think it’s a career-high for innings pitched. I talked to Jeff Cardozo, our radio guy, after the game, and to know where Brandon started from his freshman year to where he is now is just awesome,” Kevin O’Sullivan said after the game. “This is why you get into this profession, to hopefully help guys get better and see the progress that they’ve made. But he was certainly special tonight.”
Sproat’s career-long outing Tuesday also served the Gators in another facet. He saved the bullpen. Florida has an outside chance at hosting a regional. They’ll need to make it to the weekend in the SEC Tournament and that means they need arms.
“When you’re playing in the play-in game on Tuesday, obviously it’s an extra game, and then you’re facing probably someone’s No. 1 when you start the tournament on Wednesday. But our bullpen is intact,” O’Sullivan said.
Sproat has been everything O’Sullivan and the Gators could have hoped for and now he’s poised to lead Florida on a run in the NCAA Tournament.
Sproat’s last five starts
| Opponent | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
| Kentucky | 5.1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| Mississippi State | 6.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Missouri | 6.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| South Carolina | 6.1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| South Carolina | 8.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
