HOOVER, Ala. – Fourth-seeded Florida (44-16) brought home its seventh SEC Tournament Championship with a 7-3 triumph over second-seeded Vanderbilt (42-19) on Sunday night at the Hoover Met. The Gators claimed the event for the first time in four years by winning four straight contests and knocking off the top two seeds in consecutive outings, top-ranked LSU and the defending national champion Commodores. The teams endured two hours and 48 minutes of two separate weather delays before wrapping up the action.
Freshman catcher/designated hitter JJ Schwarz, who went 2-for-5 with a run scored tonight, was chosen as the Most Valuable Player of the SEC Tourney after batting .526 (10-for-19) over the five games, with six RBI, five runs and three doubles. He joined Gator winners Rich Bombard (Pitcher, 1982), Brian Reimsnyder (Outfielder, 1988), Herbert Perry (Designated Hitter, 1991), Brian Purvis (Outfielder, 1991) and Daniel Pigott (Outfielder, 2011). Other members of the All-Tourney Team from the Orange and Blue included sophomore first baseman Peter Alonso, junior right-hander Taylor Lewis, sophomore left-hander A.J. Puk and sophomore outfielder Buddy Reed.
The Gators jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening frame against redshirt freshman Ryan Johnson (5-1). Junior Harrison Bader (1-for-5, two runs) started the game with a flourish by homering to left field, his 13th big fly of the campaign. Reed (3-for-4, two runs) followed with a single into left center and was sacrificed to second on a bunt by junior Richie Martin. With two down, Alonso roped a 1-2 pitch up the middle to drive in Reed.
Vanderbilt cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the inning, when sophomore Ro Coleman (2-for-4) scored on a wild pitch from junior Eric Hanhold. Coleman and junior Rhett Wiseman drew consecutive walks and a fly ball from junior Dansby Swanson pushed Coleman to third. After a wild pitch brought Coleman across and advanced Wiseman into scoring position, Hanhold struck out junior Zander Wiel and had freshman Will Toffey ground out.
Following a 34-minute rain delay during the second inning, the Gators added two more runs to build a 4-1 advantage. Freshman Christian Hicks had reached on a one-out infield single but was erased on a fielder's choice by Bader. The rains came during Reed's at bat, play was halted and the tarp was put on the field at 5:13 p.m. ET. When action resumed, Reed smacked his 11th double of the year into left center to bring Bader all the way around from first base and end the day for Johnson (1.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R). Martin drew a walk from freshman Jordan Sheffield and an infield single to second base by senior Josh Tobias (2-for-4) scored Reed, with Martin being thrown out in a run-down to end the inning.
Freshman Jeremy Vasquez (2-for-4, two RBI) boosted UF's lead to 5-1 in the third with a two-out RBI single that plated Schwarz, who had singled with one down and moved over on a grounder by freshman Mike Rivera. The Commodores answered in the home part of the inning on a run-scoring single by Wiseman that scored sophomore Karl Ellison (3-for-4), who had led off with a double down the left-field line. Another rain delay forced at stoppage at 6:26 p.m. ET.
Senior Aaron Rhodes took over for Hanhold (2.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R) after a two-hour, 14-minute rain delay and recorded the final two outs of the third. A two-out single by Ellison in the fourth narrowed the gap to 5-3. Sophomore Bryan Reynolds was hit by a pitch with one down and went to second on a wild pitch before Rhodes fanned freshman Jeren Kendall. Following a free pass to freshman Penn Murfree, Ellison came through with a base-knock up the middle to score Reynolds. Junior Danny Young replaced Rhodes (1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 3 K) and had Coleman ground out to complete the inning.
Florida countered with a pair of runs in the fifth, as Vasquez delivered an RBI single against sophomore Ben Bowden and Rivera came home on a wild pitch. Alonso had led off with a single and Rivera launched a one-out double into left center before Vasquez's base-hit ricocheted off of Bowden to bring in Alonso and Rivera gave the Gators a four-run lead by racing home on an errant pitch.
Young (2-0) set down the first 10 Vanderbilt hitters he faced before surrendering a two-out double to Coleman in the seventh and he permitted two hits over 3.1 scoreless innings, with three strikeouts. Sophomore Shaun Anderson struck out the lone batter he faced and sophomore left-hander Kirby Snead recorded the final five outs and notched three strikeouts to secure the win.
2015 SEC Baseball Tournament All-Tournament Team
Starting Pitcher: A.J. Puk, FLORIDA
Starting Pitcher: Matt Kent, Texas A&M
Relief Pitcher: Taylor Lewis, FLORIDA
Catcher/Designated Hitter: JJ Schwarz, FLORIDA
First Base: Peter Alonso, FLORIDA &Zander Wiel, Vanderbilt
Second Base: Jared Foster, LSU
Third Base: Will Toffey, Vanderbilt
Shortstop: Dansby Swanson, Vanderbilt
Outfield: Jeren Kendall, Vanderbilt
Outfield: Bryan Reynolds, Vanderbilt
Outfield: Trey Harris, Missouri
Outfield: Buddy Reed, FLORIDA
Most Valuable Player: JJ Schwarz, FLORIDA
Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan
On using momentum for NCAA Tournament:
“Unfortunately, this doesn't help us for next weekend. It's a new tournament and a new season. I am pleased with how we played this week. We had a very difficult loss on Wednesday. Arkansas played great. We battled back and played some really good teams. We beat LSU, the No. 1 team in the country (Saturday). That was a big win for us, and obviously Vanderbilt is extremely talented and are very good. We played two of the best teams in the whole country the last few days.”
Junior left-hander Danny Young
On pitching after the rain delay:
“Obviously, rain delays are kind of tough, but I just tried to attack hitters the best I could. I didn't really have much working, but I was just trying to locate my fastball and get ground balls to get easy outs.”
Postgame Notes:
- The Gators have now claimed seven SEC Tournament titles: 1981, 1982, 1984, 1988, 1991, 2011 and 2015.
- Florida has taken three of the four meetings from Vanderbilt this year, including the last three.
- Harrison Bader led off the game with a homer to left field, becoming the first Gator to open a contest with a round-tripper since Dalton Guthrie did so against Stetson on April 7.
- Bader also homered against Vanderbilt in Nashville on May 8 and his total of 13 homers are second on the Orange and Blue behind JJ Schwarz (14).
- Josh Tobias made his first start at second base since March 26, 2013, against Florida State in Jacksonville and was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a walk tonight.
- Eric Hanhold drew his fourth start of the season for the Gators, first since April 21 against Bethune-Cookman.
- The Gators out-hit the Commodores, 14-7, with eight of their nine starters contributing hits.
- Florida's bullpen gave up one run in 6.2 innings.
Up Next
The Gators will find out on Monday at 12 p.m. who they will open the NCAA Tournament against when the 64-team field is revealed on ESPNU.
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