Tennessee knocks Gators out of SEC Tournament in shutout fashion
The fantastic offense that was present for Florida during its 3-0 start to the SEC Tournament was nowhere to be found in the semifinal round against two-seeded Tennessee. The sixth-seeded Gators only managed four hits for the game, and they couldn’t crack the code against the Volunteers pitchers.
A 4-0 shutout win for UT knocked UF out of the tournament on Saturday, and the Vols will advance to take on either Arkansas or Ole Miss in the championship game tomorrow.
Brandon Sproat made just his second start of the season for Florida, and it was a bit rough early on. He gave up a leadoff single to Tennessee’s Liam Spence, and though he forced a flyout after that, another single from Jake Rucker put two on with one out for the Vols. But after a flyout and a swinging strikeout, Sproat kept UT off the board.
Tennessee starter Camden Sewell had no such issues in the bottom of the first. He retired Florida’s side in order to start the game, including a strikeout against Nate Hickey. Sproat took notes from Sewell, notching a 1-2-3 top of the second with two strikeouts.
But Tennessee’s starter wasn’t to be outdone. UF once again couldn’t get anyone on in the bottom of the second as Sewell struck out the side. At the top of the third, the Vols threatened Sproat. A single and a walk put two runners on, and a sacrifice groundout advanced them both to scoring position.
Florida threw out Tennessee’s Connor Pavolony at home to save a run, but after an intentional walk, the bases were loaded with two outs. Evan Russell singled, bringing the first run of the game across, but an excellent throw home from Jacob Young got Rucker out to end the inning with just a 1-0 deficit.
Sewell remained phenomenal, allowing no one to reach base in the third, and Tennessee added to its lead in the top of the fourth. Sproat gave up a leadoff walk, and a deep double bounced out of the glove of the diving Young, allowing the Vols to get a second run across. A strikeout put two away, but Sproat couldn’t contain the damage there, as a wild pitch brought a second run across for the inning. Sproat walked Spence after that, and it brought his day to an end after 3 2/3 innings in which he allowed five hits and three runs while striking out four.
Christian Scott came in for his first appearance of the tournament, and a strikeout against Max Ferguson got UF out of the inning. Florida finally got a runner on in the bottom of the fourth as Young led off with a single, and he advanced to second on a wild pitch. Nothing came of it though, and Sewell preserved a 3-0 lead.
Scott didn’t allow any hits in the fifth or sixth innings, but he allowed a single to Spence in the seventh. After Spence advanced to second, Scott was pulled for Trey Van Der Weide with two outs. He couldn’t get out of it, though, allowing an RBI single on his second pitch to give Tennessee its fourth run.
Sewell’s day finally came to an end in the seventh after he hit a batter with a pitch. In six innings, he gave up two hits and no runs while striking out six. Redmond Walsh took over, and he put the next three batters away.
Van Der Weide gave up a leadoff single in the eighth, and though he struck out the next two batters, he was still pulled for Jack Leftwich, who finished off the inning.
The Gators got a bit of a rally going in the bottom of the ninth when Hickey and Jud Fabian led off with singles, putting two on with no outs. However, a 5-3 double-play on a ball hit to third by Kris Armstrong put two outs on the board, and a popout from Kendrick Calilao ended the game.
Despite the loss, Florida almost certainly did enough this week to secure a top-16 national seed and should host an NCAA regional in Gainesville. However, it seems unlikely that UF will be able to host a super regional at this point.
We’ll have the answers to all these questions (and more) on Sunday when the NCAA officially announces the NCAA Tournament regional assignments.
