Florida turns attention toward baseball postseason

Ok, so Florida ended the baseball regular season on a four-game losing streak, including being swept by top-ranked Arkansas in a three-game series in Fayetteville.

Time to turn the page for the Gators (35-19, 17-13 SEC) to the postseason. The Gators dropped from No. 9 to No. 13 in the latest D1Baseball Top 25 rankings.

"Yeah, we talked about that at the end of the game," UF coach Kevin O'Sullivan said after Saturday's 9-3 loss to the Razorbacks. "Bottom line is as difficult as this weekend was, we have to move on. The postseason starts Tuesday and we'll have a good practice on Monday and get ready to play on Tuesday."

More:2021 Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament bracket, schedule, game times and TV info

The postseason begins at the SEC Baseball Tournament in Hoover, Ala. The Gators received the No. 6 seed and will take on 11th-seeded Kentucky (29-22) at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in the single-elimination round of the 12-team tourney. Florida won the series at Kentucky earlier this month, 2-1.

Florida will go with righty Tommy Mace (5-1, 4.48 ERA) on the mound, while UK will throw righty Sean Harney (3-1, 3.86 ERA).

 The winner plays three-seed Mississippi State (40-13), which is ranked No. 8 nationally, at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday when the tourney turns into the double-elimination portion. The first five of the six days of the tourney will be covered by the SEC Network.

The Gators hope the results in Hoover produce a top eight national seed for the NCAA Tournament, whose field will be announced May 31. The final 16 regional sites, of which Florida Ballpark is a candidate, will be announced May 30.