Gators hold off Mississippi State to win opener

BT Riopelle swings against Georgia State on Feb. 26, 2022. GatorCountry photo by David Bowie.Florida’s bullpen has been the bane of Gator Nation’s existence this season. They’ve blown six late leads in SEC games and have been walked-off three times.

On Friday night in Starkville, it looked like they might pull off their biggest collapse yet. The Gators led Mississippi State 7-0 after 4 1/2 innings and 8-2 after six.

Then, falling behind in counts and a big defensive mistake allowed the Bulldogs to cut it to an 8-6 game going into the ninth inning. UF’s offense didn’t do anything to halt the momentum, as they failed to score in the final three innings and struck out three times in two of those…