Florida Gators

HOOVER, Ala.--Florida's offense exploded on Friday night with 14 hits in a 12-2 run rule victory over Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament. With the win, the Gators advance to play LSU in the semifinals on Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. on SEC Network.

Buddy Reed, leading off for the second straight game, beat out an infield single to open the game. Two batters later, JJ Schwarz doubled to left center and Reed came all the way around to score to give the Gators a 1-0 lead.
 
Mississippi State tied the game in the bottom of the inning after Nathaniel Lowe and Gavin Collins hit back-to-back two out doubles.
 
The Gators put a four spot on the board in the second inning to take control of the game. Deacon Liput singled to lead off the inning then moved to second on a throwing error by the pitcher. Jeremy Vasquez hit a RBI single to score Liput and give UF a 2-1 lead.
 
Nelson Maldonado and Reed followed with back-to-back singles then Dalton Guthrie hit a sac fly to center field to bring home another run. Schwarz picked up his second RBI of the day with a single to left field to score Reed.
 
Schwarz picked up his third RBI of the night with a single in the fourth to bring home Maldonado. In the fifth, Liput reached via an error and came around to score on Danny Reyes single up the middle.
 
After Reed drew a leadoff walk in the sixth, Schwarz continued his stellar night with a triple to the right center field wall for his fourth RBI of the day. India and Liput drew back-to-back walks with two outs, then Reyes doubled for the third time in two days to give Florida an 11-2 lead.
 
Florida put the run rule effect in place in the top of the seventh inning. Maldonado walked to lead off the inning, then pinch hitter freshman Blake Reese hit his first double of the season to pick up his first career RBI for a 12-2 Florida advantage.
 
Gators' starting pitcher Alex Faedo, who endured his worst outing of the season against Mississippi State earlier this season, was on his game on Friday night. He pitched 7.0 innings and gave up seven hits and just two runs on the night to pick up his 12th win of the season.

Postgame Quotes

Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan
Opening Statement:
"First it starts on the mound. Alex was really good tonight, pitched a seven inning complete game and saved our bullpen for tomorrow. JJ had a really, really good night. It was a fun night altogether. Guys were aggressive, they had some really good at bats with runners in scoring position. Seven of the nine starters got hits. We have some guys come off the bench. We had Blake Reese get a hit, a guy who's been a really good teammate. All in all it was a really fun night for us. Looking forward to staying around one more day and see what happens."
 
On the offense:
"I think this time of year, any time your offense can put together a game like that it's important because you just want to feel good about yourself going into the Regional. We made some changes tonight, like JJ playing first base, some things we talked about last night. We do anticipate having Pete back next week, but is he going to be able to play defense and hit? Just hit? It was just an idea to see what it looks like. JJ's done it in intersquad games all year, just no lives games. He's a good baseball player and he's got an idea of what he's doing over there.
 
"Danny Reyes has had two big games for us and I think that's been a spark. I think guys are excited for him. He's a good teammate and pulls together guys and when you do that, when you get your opportunity and have some success, the guys kind of rally around him.
 
"Last year we had Harrison Bader, we moved him I think in the SEC Tournament and the offense took off. I think Buddy likes hitting in the leadoff spot now. It seems like he's got a little pep in his step. We're hitting Dalton second and that's probably the best thing for him. Now he's got a chance to move the ball a little bit more, do some hit and runs with him, some drag and push, and that's really his strength as a hitter. It just looks pretty good right now so we'll see."
 
Sophomore JJ Schwarz
On the offense this week:
"With Pete [Alonso] going down, it's put a little more pressure on our lineup to score more runs because he was so good for us the whole year. I think a lot of guys have stepped up, today especially."
 
Sophomore Alex Faedo
On the offensive run support for him:
"They've been doing it all year. I'm pumped every time it happens. Sometimes I'm in the dugout so long I feel like I have to get up and go throw. They do a great job and take a lot of pressure off me. I think it makes us play a lot more relaxed and free out there."

Postgame Notes

• Florida has won six straight elimination games in the SEC Tournament dating back to last year's tournament
• The Gators improved to 36-0 on the season when scoring at least five runs
• UF's 14 hits on Friday are the second most this season (20-Harvard, March 11)
• Florida plated a run in the first inning for the third straight game when JJ Schwarz doubled home Buddy Reed
• Schwarz (4-for-5, 4 RBI) extended his hitting streak to seven games
• Reed took over the leadoff spot on Thursday against Alabama and has reached base five times (2 hits, 3 walks) and scored five runs the past two games
• Reed stole his 23rd base of the season, tying Matt den Dekker (2010) for the most since 2008 when Avery Barnes had 26

Up Next

Florida will face either LSU on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. on SEC Network (or 30 minutes following the Ole Miss-Texas A&M game). Jeff Cardozo and Mick Hubert will have the call on the Gator IMG Sports Network for all SEC Tournament games.

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