Florida Gators
LSU (Semifinal)
Ninth-Inning Homer Carries No. 7 Florida Over No. 1 LSU, 2-1, Into SEC Tourney Final
Sunday, May 24, 2015 | Baseball
HOOVER, Ala. – Freshman Mike Rivera snapped a 1-1 tie with a leadoff homer in the ninth inning as fourth-seeded Florida (43-16) defeated top-seeded and top-ranked LSU (48-11), 2-1, on Saturday afternoon in the second semifinal of the 2015 SEC Tournament. In halting the Tigers' nine-game SEC Tournament winning streak, the Gators will face second-seeded Vanderbilt (42-18) tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN2 seeking their seventh SEC Tournament crown.
After Florida tied the game at a run apiece in the eighth on an RBI double by freshman JJ Schwarz (2-for-4) that scored senior Josh Tobias, junior right-hander Taylor Lewis (6-1) came through with a shutdown inning. Rivera stepped to the plate in the ninth and launched a 1-2 offering from sophomore righty Jesse Stallings (1-2) to left field for his third round-tripper of the season. Lewis went back out for the home part of the inning and set down the Tigers 1-2-3 to complete a 4.1-inning stint in which he permitted one hit and zero runs to the 14 batters he faced.
In the first inning, Florida mounted a two-out rally but was unable to score, as junior Richie Martin walked and stole second base, Tobias was hit by a pitch and sophomore Peter Alonso earned a free pass from Alex Lange, the SEC's Freshman of the Year. However, the righty had Schwarzfly out to left field.
LSU broke the ice in the second inning on a two-out RBI single by senior Jared Foster. Senior Kade Scivicque (2-for-4) opened the frame by doubling down the left-field line against freshman starter Alex Faedo and junior Andrew Stevenson (2-for-4) singled through the left side for runners on the corners with none out. Faedo responded by having both junior Chris Chinea and senior Chris Sciambra pop up to Martin before Foster sliced a base-knock into left field to plate Scivicque. Faedo escaped further trouble with a strikeout of junior Mark Laird.
Sophomore Jake Fraley reached on an error by Martin to start the Tigers' third and stole second base before Faedo had junior Alex Bregman fly out. The right-hander picked Fraley off of second base and yielded back-to-back singles to senior Conner Hale (2-for-4) and Scivicque. Sophomore left-hander Kirby Snead replaced Faedo (2.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R) and stranded the runners by striking out Stevenson.
The Gators loaded the bases for the second time in the fourth inning but kept at bay by Lange. Alonso drew a leadoff walk and junior Harrison Bader (3-for-4) collected his second hit of the day with a single before being erased on a fielder's choice by freshman Jeremy Vasquez. Rivera walked to fill the bags and Lange struck out freshman Dalton Guthrie.
LSU had a pair of runners aboard and two down in the fifth, when Lewis was summoned from the bullpen for Snead. The righty had a grounder by Scivicque force Hale at second base to keep the Gators down a run.
Vasquez began Florida's seventh with a single into right field and moved to second on a wild pitch when Rivera struck out. After Guthrie walked, Lange countered with consecutive strikeouts of sophomore Buddy Reed and Martin.
Schwarz tied the game in the eighth with a double to bring home Tobias. Freshman Zac Person replaced Lange (7.0 IP, 5 H, 6 BB, 7 K) at the start of the frame and surrendered a single to Tobias and a walk to Alonso before freshman Hunter Newman was called upon. Schwarz belted a double off the wall in left field but the Tigers were able to turn a double play by throwing out Alonso at third base and Schwarz at second base on the play.
Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan
Opening Statement:
“It was a heck of a ballgame. We battled all the way until the end. It was a great environment. Our kids hung in there. Alex Lange is as good as advertised. He made pitches all day long. We hung in there. Our relief pitching was really good. We started a freshman on the mound and it was a great experience for him. I think we had four freshmen in the starting lineup, and it was a great experience for these guys. To win a game like that it should help us moving forward with our confidence and dealing with some adversity. LSU is a great ballclub and there is a reason they are the No. 1 team in the country. It was a great ballgame all the way around by both clubs.”
On available pitchers for the championship game:
“I think we're in good shape. I don't know who we're going to start yet. I think we have four guys who haven't thrown yet, Eric Hanhold, Danny Young, Logan Browning and Shaun Anderson, so we have four guys who that have not touched the mound yet. We're not in as bad of a shape as it may look. Bobby Poyner hasn't thrown since Wednesday night. We have seven or eight guys we could probably use tomorrow. We'll talk about it as a staff and go from there.”
Freshman catcher Mike Rivera
On game-winning homer:
“My approach was to square the ball up and get on base for the team. That was the main goal. I ran into a hanging changeup. It was special to me because we got the win and it's also my dad's birthday. I actually promised him that I was going to do something special, which is ironic.”
Junior left fielder Harrison Bader
On avenging last year's loss to LSU in the championship game:
“(Last year's game) was incredibly similar. In those types of games, you need to grind out every at bat, and I think both sides did that very well. The pitchers really dominated. Obviously, last year it didn't go our way, but it felt really good to go out there today and have it go our way.”
Postgame Notes:
- Head coach Kevin O'Sullivan improved to 5-1 in his career against the nation's top-ranked team.
- The Gators advanced to the SEC Tournament Championship round for the second year in a row and for the 13th time in school history.
- UF has won six tournament titles and been the runner-up six times.
- Florida improved to 9-4 in one-run games with the win and had been 2-14 this season when trailing after seven innings.
- The Gators were meeting the Tigers in Hoover for the second year in a row, as the Bayou Bengals notched a 2-0 victory in the SEC Tournament title game last year.
- Alex Faedo made his 17th appearance and 10th start for Florida, working 2.2 innings in which he allowed six hits and just one run.
- Kirby Snead was the first UF reliever this afternoon and threw two scoreless frames, with three strikeouts and a couple of hits.
- Florida's bullpen tossed 6.1 scoreless innings between Snead and Taylor Lewis (4.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R).
- Harrison Bader was 3-for-4 and JJ Schwarz chipped in with a pair of hits for the Gators.
Up Next
The Gators will play second-seeded Vanderbilt (42-18) for the fourth time this season at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow on ESPN2. The game can be heard on the Gator IMG Sports Network with Jeff Cardozo and Mick Hubert and will be shown on the SEC Network and available through WatchESPN.
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