Very long day/nite at the park and as Ocala summed it up well, the Gators salvaged Game 3 which I think was huge for a few reasons. You don;t want to get swept at home and go to Vandy 0-3. However MSU is a very good team and looks like an Omaha team in all facets. BTW that frosh pitcher named Ginn, who was the 1st round pick of the Dodgers last draft and turn down millions to go to school, is the real deal.. he is a Friday nite starter on 99.9% of all teams. 94-95 mph fastball with movement and very little effort. he was untouchable for 5 innings. he is going to be something to watch the next 3 years.
As for the Gators, this series had to open many of the young guys eyes what SEC play is all about. All 3 of our starters pitched well enough to win, granted Leftwich gave up a few homers (which he will do) but they were solo shots. The young bullpen shows that just throwing strikes over the plate will get hit hard. Quality pitches are very important. We still were unable to move a runner from 2nd to 3rd with no outs nor able to plate a run with a man on 3rd and less than 2 outs. Happened on more than one occasion. Yes MSU starters are very good, but we must make productive outs. Game 3 defensive lineup was interesting, but done surely to generate offense and we swung better bats in Game 3. Young looked much more comfy as an outfielder and if he keeps hitting this could happen more often.
Getting that win made the weekend tolerable and to me was important for nothing more than the mindset. This team does not have an unlimited ceiling, however they are far from the ceiling they do have. The fact that there is plenty of talent and plenty of room for development means that the end goal is still achievable. 20+ wins in SEC play is a pipe dream b/c this league is extremely tough and we do not have a stacked deck this year. But we have plenty of cards and an above .500 record in SEC play would be a very good season.