Florida Gators
Auburn
No. 7 Florida Edges Auburn, 4-3, To Clinch Bye At SEC Tournament
Saturday, May 16, 2015 | Baseball
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 7 Florida (39-15/18-11 SEC) rallied from a 3-0 deficit with four unanswered runs to even its weekend series with Auburn (34-21/13-16 SEC), 4-3, on Friday night at McKethan Stadium. The victory assured that the Gators will begin next week's SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala., on Wednesday, with the seeds and bracket to be determined tomorrow on the final day of the regular season.
Florida tied the game with a three-run fourth inning and went ahead in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Peter Alonso (1-for-2, two RBI). Right-hander Aaron Rhodes (2-0) threw 3.2 scoreless innings to pick up the win and sophomore southpaw Kirby Snead retired all six batters he faced to register his first save of the campaign.
The Tigers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning. Sophomores Damon Haecker and Blake Logan started the frame with consecutive walks from sophomore A.J. Puk and a bunt single by junior Alex Polston loaded the bases with none out. Junior Jordan Ebert opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly into left field, Logan come home on a squeeze bunt by junior Cody Nulph and junior Melvin Gray (2-for-4) roped a two-out RBI single into left field to bring across Polston.
Florida reached senior righty Rocky McCord (5-4) for three runs on three hits in the fourth to tie the game. Freshman Dalton Guthrie led off with a single and sophomore Buddy Reed (2-for-4) followed with an infield hit, with a throwing error by Gray enabling the Gators to have a pair of runners in scoring position. Junior Richie Martin lofted a sacrifice fly into left field to score Guthrie, senior Josh Tobias doubled to left field to bring home Reed and sophomore Peter Alonso roped a single up the middle to plate Tobias.
The Gators seized a 4-3 lead in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Alonso. UF put its first two runners aboard, as Reed legged out an infield and Martin drew a walk. A fielder's choice by Tobias erased Reed at third base and junior Trey Wingenter replaced McCord (5.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R). After a double steal resulted in Martin taking third and Tobias swiping second, Alonso collected his second RBI of the night with a line drive into right field that enabled Martin to come in.
Gray had a two-out double in the seventh but Rhodes responded with an inning-ending strikeout of sophomore Anfernee Grier to preserve the Gators' advantage. From there, Snead set down all six Tigers he faced to secure the triumph.
Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan
On tying the series versus Auburn:
“This win was not easy. This was a gut check because we fell behind 3-0 and gave up three in the second. We didn't have a whole lot of a life, but we answered back with three [runs] in the bottom of the fourth. The neat thing about tonight was that Josh's [Tobias] double down the left-field line was a big at bat for us. Pitching-wise, Aaron Rhodes did a phenomenal job. With a game as important as this one, to have two seniors step up is really neat. I am really pleased with how those guys played and overall with our whole team. This has been a hard series. This is one of those things where we have had to grind out everything we've gotten. Auburn hasn't given us anything. We could've easily hung our heads after we fell behind in the second, but we battled and this is another gut-check win that we desperately needed.”
First baseman Peter Alonso
On tonight's win:
“It's always really important to come back after a loss. It was a tough game, but we grinded it out and got a win. It's really important, especially with the national seeding and trying to host Regionals. Tonight was a really big deal.”
Right-hander Aaron Rhodes
On coming in for A.J. Puk in the fourth inning:
“It means a lot, especially during Senior Weekend to do that for the team. It's crazy to think that my career is already almost over here at Florida. It was exciting to go out there and throw up a few zeros.”
Postgame Notes:
- The Gators overcame a 3-0 deficit to post the victory, matching the largest comeback win for the team this year for the fourth time.
- Florida finished 7-3 (.700) in game two of SEC series and will try to win a league series for the fifth time in 2015 after dropping the opener.
- UF improved to 8-3 (.727) in one-run games and is now 27-6 (.818) at McKethan Stadium.
- Josh Tobias' errorless streak of 104 chances ended in the fourth inning with his first error of the season at third base.
- Richie Martin stole his team-leading 17th base on the front end of a double steal in the sixth, with Tobias collecting his ninth theft. Martin later swiped second base in the eighth inning.
- After A.J. Puk worked 3.1 innings (3 H, 3 R, 6 K, 3 BB), Aaron Rhodes worked a season-high 3.2 innings and Kirby Snead closed out the game with two perfect frames.
Up Next
The Gators and Tigers will wrap up the series tomorrow at 1 p.m., with Bobby Poyner, Aaron Rhodes and Josh Tobias being honored in pregame ceremonies. The game can be heard on the Gator IMG Sports Network with Jeff Cardozo and Mick Hubert and will be simulcast on SEC Network+ through WatchESPN.
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