Florida earns No. 1 national seed in NCAA baseball tournament

The late-season struggles and injuries did not overshadow of the Florida Gators’ baseball team overall body of work this season.

On Monday, the SEC regular-season champion Gators were named the No. 1 national seed in the NCAA baseball tournament. UF will open play at 1 p.m. Friday in Gainesville against No. 4seed Columbia.

No. 2 Jacksonville and No. 3 FAU are scheduled to meet at 6:30 p.m.

The Gators (42-17) enter the NCAAs looking to get back on track after losing six of their final seven games. UF, though, was without ace pitcher Brady Singer and catcher JJ Schwarz during last week’s SEC tournament.

Singer is dealing with tightness in one of his hamstrings and has not pitched since May 11 against Georgia. Schwarz, the team’s second-most productive offensive player, has a broken bone in his hand.

The availability of each this weekend is uncertain, but Singer most likely will pitch.

Named SEC Pitcher of the Year, Singer led the conference with 10 wins and a 2.25 earned-run average. He entered the SEC tournament second in the league in opponent batting average (.186) and seventh in strikeouts (92).

Junior Jackson Kowar (9-4) and freshmen Tommy Mace (4-0) have anchored the starting rotation without Singer available.

Schwarz has 12 home runs, 46 runs batted in and 50 runs scored.