HOOVER – What does it feel like to play two SEC tournament games less than nine hours apart? Just ask the Florida Gators. Less than nine hours removed from a 14-inning, five-hour and seven-minute marathon loss to the LSU Tigers, the longest game in SEC tournament history, the Gators took the field in an elimination game vs. the Alabama Crimson Tide.
After Florida took a 1-0 lead thanks to three walks in the first, the Tide picked up their first hit, and baserunner, in the bottom of the second when Will Haynie singled up the middle after Gator first baseman Christian Hicks had recorded the first four outs of the game. Chance Vincent followed with a worm burner of a single under a diving Deacon Liput at second, moving Haynie all the way to third. Daniel Cucjen was the next Tide hitter to the plate and he delivered in a big way, ripping a two-out double just inside the third base line and into the left field corner to score Haynie and Vincent. Cucjen would take third on a throwing error by shortstop Dalton Gutherie. This miscue would loom big as Hunter Webb smacked a double to center, scoring Cucjen. This would put the Tide on top 3-1 after two full innings.
The third looked rocky for Bama when Tide starter Jake Walters issued back-to-back walks, his fifth and sixth free passes of the game, causing Matt Foster to start loosening up in the bull pen. Two batters, two hits, two runs and a tie score later, he was summoned in from the right field pen to face designated hitter Mike Rivera with two on and no outs. He would quickly single to load the bases. Liput would follow with a ground out, scoring JJ Schwartz to put Florida back on top 4-3 before Foster got the Crimson Tide out of the inning with a strike out and ground out.
“Jake (Walters) has been so good for us all year,” said Bama coach Mitch Gaspard about his starter, “but he just didn’t have the command today that he’s had throughout the course of the season.”
Alabama’s next scoring chance came in the bottom of the seventh when Cody Henry walked and Greg Wood got hit in the hand with a fastball, putting two on with no outs, but a strikeout and a foul bunt put Bama’s back to the wall and forced them to go to the bench in the form of Connor Short and boy did he ever deliver. He took the first good pitch he saw in the at bat to right field and dropped it in front of the charging Danny Reyes to score Henry as he just beat the throw to pull even with Florida, 4-4, with two innings left to play, but the Tide momentum was short-lived.
Mike Rivera of Florida led off the top of the eighth inning with a solid single and Liput quickly moved him over to second with a sacrifice. Reyes followed and smashed a double to left center to bring home Rivera and put the Gators back on top 5-4 and this is where it would stay as Alabama would go six up, six down over the next two innings.
Florida eliminated Alabama from the 2016 SEC Baseball Tournament 5-4.
“Florida is the obviously the No.1 team in the country, and today they proved that,” said Gaspard.
