1 day ago
Isaiah Houde | SEC Network
HOOVER, Alabama — For the second night in a row, BT Riopelle was everything Florida needed and more.
The 1-seeded Gators beat the 4-seeded Commodores in a solid game with a 6-3 victory in Thursday’s SEC Tournament at the Hoover Met.
Florida has become the only program to reach the SEC Tournament semifinals in each of the past three seasons.
Despite the final score, the Commodores recorded 10 hits and still fought.
Enrique Bradfield Jr.’s speed has been the key element of Vanderbilt’s tournament so far. The center fielder started the night for the Dores with a triple to left field and was driven home with the stick that followed – after his performance the night before with two scores.
That lead didn’t last long as Luke Heyman sent a 421-foot bomb to center field and tied the game at one. With the homer, Heyman became the sixth Florida player to reach 10 on the year, which is a program record.
Florida continued its solo home run streak with a Riopelle dinger. The catcher sent a bomb 435 feet to right field with an exit speed of 107 MPH off the start on David Horn’s first inning on the mound.
Vandy continued to fight back and scored on a Davis Diaz single – he drove in four of the Commodores’ eight points in the tournament at that time.
Brandon Sproat was on fire for the Gators and kept a low-scoring game for six innings with just two runs allowed and six strikeouts. He was replaced by Cade Fisher at the start of the seventh.
The Gators’ pitching staff allowed nine hits in those innings, but they set up the moment perfectly for Riopelle to build on his immaculate SEC run.
With two outs and the bases loaded, Riopelle drilled the 424-foot Grand Slam that created the needed separation in the game.
The last two multi-home games of the SEC tournament have been hitters from Florida, with Wyatt Langford having accomplished that last year. It also marked the ninth Grand Slam for the Gators this season – the most in the SEC.
Vandy tried to recover as Jonathan Vastine hit his fourth homer of the year and brought the game within three runs.
But that wasn’t enough to overturn Riopelle’s heroism and the resilient defense Florida deployed.
HOW DID IT HAPPEN
T1 | Bradfield tripled to left field. Diaz retired and Bradfield Jr. scored. Vanderbilt 1, Florida 0.
B2 | Heyman hit in the center of the field. Vanderbilt 1, Florida 1.
B4 | Riopelle hit to right field. Florida 2, Vanderbilt 1.
T5 | Vastine chose the medium. Diaz picked left side, RBI (2-2 BBKK); Vastine scored. Florida 2, Vanderbilt 2.
B7 | Kurland has been traveled. Caglianone was hit by the throw, Kurland went second. Rivera was walked, Caglianone placed second and Kurland placed third. Riopelle struck through left center to score Kurland, Caglianone and Rivera. Florida 6, Vanderbilt 2.
T8 | Vastine hits a solo home run. Florida 6, Vanderbilt 3.
FOLLOWING
Florida (43-13) advances to the semifinals to face the winner of Game 14. The first pitch is scheduled to begin 30 minutes after the 1 p.m. ET game in a contest that will be televised on SEC Network.
Vanderbilt (38-17) will face 9th-seeded Alabama in the fourth round. The first pitch is scheduled to begin 30 minutes after the 4 p.m. ET Texas A&M-LSU game in a contest that will be televised on SEC Network.