LSU’s Jesse Stallings had not allowed a home run all season
Along came Mike Rivera.
In the top of the ninth inning, Rivera blasted a home run to left field to give the Gators a one-run lead and send them to the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship.
“It was a heck of a ballgame,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said in a release. “We battled all the way until the end.”
No. 4-seed Florida (43-16) came from behind to upset No. 1-seed LSU (48-10) 2-1 on Saturday, and will play Vanderbilt in the SEC tournament final.
Florida was limited on offense for most of the game, but got hits when it mattered the most. Its first run came in the eighth inning when JJ Schwarz scored Josh Tobias with an RBI double, and its second came off the bat of Rivera with no outs to start the ninth inning.
LSU scored one run in the second after a Jared Foster single scored a runner from third, but the Tigers were held scoreless for the remainder of the game.
Right-hander Alex Faedo started the game well, but was pulled for Kirby Snead after giving up six hits in 2.2 innings. Snead threw two scoreless innings while striking out three batters and was relieved by Taylor Lewis (6-1), who allowed just one hit in the final four innings.
Schwarz and Harrison Bader were the only Gators to finish with more than one hit, as UF finished with a .290 batting average and limited LSU to .250.
Florida will face No. 2-seed Vanderbilt at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday.
“To win a game like that it should help us moving forward with our confidence and dealing with some adversity,” O’Sullivan said. “...It was a great ballgame all the way around by both clubs.”
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UF's Mike Rivera throws a ball back to pitcher Bobby Poyner (not pictured) during Florida's 14-3 win against the South Carolina Gamecocks on April 11, 2015 at McKethan Stadium.
