Florida’s 2018 Orange and Blue Debut spring game set for April 14

The Florida Gators’ 2018 spring game — the 2018 Orange and Blue Debut, formally — will take place on Saturday, April 14 at 3 p.m., the program announced Friday.

This marks a return to a Saturday afternoon game after two straight years of Friday night spring games, which were generally well-received by the fan base. Per Florida’s release, that change was done with “the intent of allowing fans to experience a real Gators game day.”

“What an exciting weekend this will be for Gator Nation,” Coach Dan Mullen said. “I can’t wait for our staff and players to be back home in The Swamp. Gators, we need to you to come out and support our top-ranked baseball, softball, tennis and track and field teams that weekend while also packing Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on that Saturday.”

The latter part of Mullen’s quote refers to Florida’s practice of staging the spring football game during one of its busiest weekends for home sporting events in the spring. The weekend of April 13-15 — which Florida is branding #WeChompWeekend — will be no different this year, with 10 other home meets/games/matches taking place, including home series for both Florida’s baseball and softball teams.