The Florida Gators have been eliminated from the SEC Championship tournament.
The two-seeded Tennessee Volunteers shut out and shut down the sixth-seeded Gators Saturday afternoon in a 4-0 annihilation.
Florida had a difficult day in the batter's box and only recorded four hits. Tennessee starter Camden Sewell struck out four Gators before he surrendered his first hit, which didn’t come until the fourth inning.
Sewell authored six innings of work and allowed just two hits, earning his fourth win of the season as he had a stranglehold on Florida’s bats all afternoon. He struck out six batters and shut out Florida on the scoreboard.
Tennessee scratched out the first run in the third inning with an RBI single to left field from senior Evan Russell. Base runner Liam Spence began his trek to home plate after UF shortstop Josh Rivera missed a diving attempt for a ground ball.
The Volunteers piled on two more runs in the fourth when sophomore Jordan Beck smacked an RBI double to the outfield. Florida left fielder Jacob Young laid himself out but bobbled the ball in the dirt.
Beck made his way around the bases and eventually scored on a wild pitch from starting pitcher Brandon Sproat.
Volunteers center fielder Drew Gilbert dropped a cherry on top of the Tennessee victory with an insurance RBI in the seventh to pile on the shutout win.
Sproat started Saturday morning but only pitched 3.2 innings after the Volunteers’ four-run scoring brigade.
Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan relieved Sproat of his duties in the third and brought in right-hander Christian Scott. Scott threw for three full innings and retired two batters at the plate with only one hit and a single earned run.
Right-handed reliever Trey Van Der Weide clocked into the game in the middle of the seventh and attempted to steer the ship in the right direction. The Longwood, Florida, native ended his single inning tenure with back-to-back strikeouts.
In the final inning, Florida’s offensive luck seemed to change. Third baseman Nathan Hickey laid down an infield single after an untimely throw to first base. Center fielder Jud Fabian got lucky in the ninth when Volunteers right fielder Jordan Beck lost a pop-fly in the glare of the sun and missed a routine catch.
The luck was merely temporary, however. The Volunteers induced a ble-play a batter later. A flyout from first baseman Kendrick Calilao ended the game and Florida’s tournament.
Florida now prepares for the NCAA Regionals on June 4 after the elimination. The Gators will learn their seeding placements Monday during selection day. Until then, Florida will hit the batting cages to shake off a bad day at the plate.
Contact Jesse Richardson at jrichardson@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @JesseRich352
