Florida Gators refuse to reschedule rained out game to avoid embarrassing loss
Florida was losing 10-1 to Stetson through four innings when the rain came
By
Mike Axisa
•
1 min read
A midweek college baseball game between No. 7 Florida and unranked Stetson was halted by heavy rain Tuesday night in the top of the fifth inning. Stetson was a heavy underdog going into the series, but the Hatters were leading 10-1 before the rain arrived.
Not long after the tarp was pulled onto the field, Florida announced the game had been rained out and will not be completed at a later date.
UPDATE:
— Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) April 5, 2017
Tonight's game will not be resumed due to continuing weather in the area.
The game will not be rescheduled.
Because five innings were not completed, Tuesday’s game is not official. Stetson won’t get credit for the win and Florida won’t get dinged for the loss. After the game, folks with Stetson said Florida refused to agree to a makeup date so the game could be completed.
Florida has decided not to resume tonight's game and has refused to agree upon a day to continue. The game effectively did not happen.
— Stetson Baseball (@StetsonBaseball) April 5, 2017
For what it’s worth, Stetson coach Steve Trimper took to Twitter to try to quell the controversy and move on.
Want to clarify to all fans @StetsonBaseball & @GatorsBB competed last night hard and both got ready for big weekends! #cantcontrolweather
— Steve Trimper (@Steve_Trimper) April 5, 2017
Good work tonight, fellas. Need to refocus and on to the next one. Build off both our successes and failures. @StetsonBaseball #gohatters
— Steve Trimper (@Steve_Trimper) April 5, 2017
Reports indicate the rain stopped not too long after the tarp was put on the field, meaning the two teams may have been able to resume the game later Tuesday night. Rather than finish the game, Florida decided to refuse a makeup date, which allowed them to avoid an embarrassing loss to unranked Stetson.
I suppose the rules are the rules, and Florida doesn’t have to agree to makeup a game. But we all know what’s going on here. The Gators are using the rain delay to weasel out of an ugly loss.
(h/t Deadspin)
