GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Before Gators coach Kevin O'Sullivan could get halfway to the mound from the dugout, starting pitcher Brandon Sproat let him know his thoughts.

You didn't have to be a professional lip reader to decipher Sproat's message.

"No, no, no, no," Sproat muttered as O'Sullivan neared.

In Sproat's first career start in the NCAA Tournament, the 6-foot-3 sophomore was one out away from making it through the seventh inning. Sproat owned a two-run lead but had two runners on base when O'Sullivan arrived for the meeting with his tall right-hander and catcher BT Riopelle.

"Just please don't do it,'' Sproat told him. "Me and BT were on the same page there. I didn't want to come out and BT didn't want me to come out."

O'Sullivan told them that wasn't the plan. He wanted Sproat to finish the job. Sproat answered the bell in Florida's 7-3 victory over Central Michigan on Friday night in the first round of the Gainesville Regional.

Sproat pitched seven solid innings, while teammates Sterlin Thompson and Colby Halter connected for solo home runs off formidable Chippewas starter Andrew Taylor. The No. 1-seed Gators (40-22) will play No. 2-seed Oklahoma, a 16-3 winner Friday afternoon against Liberty, in the second round Saturday (7 p.m.) at Condron Ballpark.

"I just wanted to give him more confidence and just told him plain and simple, that he had earned the opportunity to pitch,'' O'Sullivan said. "He was outstanding tonight, and he needed to be. I mean, their starter was really good."

Florida fans agreed with O'Sullivan's assessment.

One of the biggest cheers from the announced crowd of 5,472 came with two outs in the top of the seventh inning and a pair of Chippewas on base. After Sproat walked Central Michigan's Justin Simpson, that is when O'Sullivan strolled to the mound with Gators reliever Ryan Slater warming up in the bullpen.

When O'Sullivan returned to the dugout without making a pitching change, fans roared their support.

"That fired me up,'' he said. "That was awesome."

Sproat escaped the jam by getting Jakob Marsee to line out to left field, capping his 114-pitch outing. Sproat scattered nine hits over his seven innings and allowed only one run. He struck out six and walked two for his first career victory in the NCAA Tournament.

A third-year sophomore who has developed into the team's No. 1 starter since a season-ending injury to Hunter Barco, Sproat improved to 5-0 with a 1.59 ERA (39 2/3 IP, 31 H, 9 R, 7 ER, 11 BB, 33 SO) in his last six starts. He got better after escaping early trouble, letting out some emotion in the moment.

"Seeing him get fired up, fires up the hitters,'' UF designated hitter Jac Caglianone said. "I think it's huge, just the way he went out there and shoved. I think that outing right there is just going to push us through the rest of this weekend."

Sproat's outing began with a jam. He allowed back-to-back singles in the top of the first inning, then balked the runners to second and third. However, he escaped unharmed by retiring the next three batters. Central Michigan stranded two more runners in the second inning.

The Chippewas struck first in the top of the third when Simpson scored on a one-out single by Danny Wuestenfeld. Thompson tied the game in the bottom of the third on a solo homer, and Halter put the Gators ahead for good with a one-out solo shot in the fifth.

Escaping that early trouble was key for Sproat's ability to hang around for seven innings.

"When that's happening, you've got really to slow the game down and not let it speed up on you,'' Sproat said. "That's what I was able to do as I got better throughout the game. The first couple of innings were a little rough."

While Sproat was keeping the Chippewas in check, the Gators padded their lead on Caglianone's RBI double in the sixth, and his two-run single in the eighth. Halter too added a two-run double in Florida's four-run eighth.

The Gators won for the 17th time in the last 22 games.

This one started and ended with Sproat setting the tone.

"He gets out of [that first inning],'' O'Sullivan said. "I think it tells you everything you need to know about his maturity and his ability to rise to the occasion and make big pitches. The second inning, the same thing. He has come a real long way.

"Any time you get seven innings out of your starter in opening game of a weekend series in a regional, it's big."

Nothing meant more for the Gators in their NCAA Tournament opener.

 

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NOTABLES         

• Sproat pitched seven innings and allowed just one earned run.
  • Sproat has gone 5 1/3-plus innings in 10-straight starts.
  • He has thrown five-plus innings in 13 of 16 starts this year while allowing three earned runs or less in 12 of those outings.
• Thompson's third-inning long ball marked his 11th home run of the season.
• Florida won 40 games for the 27th time in program history, and 12th time under O'Sullivan.
• Halter's fifth-inning, go-ahead blast represented his eighth homer of the campaign and Florida's 112th of the 2022 season.
  • Florida's 112 home runs rank second all-time in program history, passing the 2002 team's mark of 111.
    • Record: 132 (1998)
• Florida is now 8-0 all-time against Central Michigan including 7-0 at home.
  • Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan is 1-0 vs. the Chippewas.
• Florida is 117-80 in NCAA Tournament games.
  • Florida picked up its first win in NCAA Tournament play since June 1, 2019 vs. Army (13-5).
  • The Gators are playing in their 14th consecutive Regional under O'Sullivan.
    • 2022 represents Florida's 37th NCAA appearance and 18th time hosting.
• Florida has won 15 of its last 19 games and 17 of its last 22.

FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O'SULLIVAN
On Jac Caglianone showing maturity…
"He has been great. It is a lot to ask of someone who hadn't had two weeks of live BP off our arms before he made the decision to try this thing and not redshirt. He is one of the few guys that can beat the shift and quite honestly, he is the strongest guy on the baseball field. He has given us a lift and obviously he had two really big at-bats tonight. Colby Halter was outstanding tonight with his home run and double late. The first game of the regional is different, you can feel the anxiety and nervousness, but Sterlin's homerun was big to tie the ballgame. Just a lot of good things tonight."
  
On the matchup with Oklahoma…
"We have looked at them, but our whole focus has been on Central Michigan. We are going to get in here early tomorrow and knock out Oklahoma. They are obviously playing really well, we are playing well, it is what it is. We are going to have to play our best baseball like we did tonight."

UP NEXT
Florida advances to the winner's bracket to take on No. 9 Oklahoma tomorrow night at 7 ET with a berth in the championship game on the line. Florida will serve as the home team and the matchup will stream on ESPN+.