Florida had just over 11 hours to rest for Wednesday's elimination game against Alabama after losing to LSU 5-3 in a game that went 14 innings and ended at 1:48 a.m. Central.
Apparently, that was all the Gators needed.
Florida (45-12) improved to 35-0 this season when scoring at least 5 runs and 8-5 in games decided by 1 run, while getting a strong pitching performance from right-hander Brady Singer to beat Alabama 5-4 at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Ala.
Singer held Alabama (32-26) to 1 hit in 5 of the 6 innings he pitched before Coach Kevin O'Sullivan utilized 5 relievers in the final 3 innings. Nick Horvath (2-1) earned his second victory of the season.
MISSISSIPPI 12, VANDERBILT 9
Mississippi (43-16) got its third consecutive victory of the tournament after stopping a late rally by Vanderbilt (43-16).
The Rebels took a 4-0 lead in the second inning. J.B. Woodman hit his SEC-leading 14th home run in the third inning for the Rebels, who added four more runs in the fifth. Lartigue allowed a run to score on his fielder's choice, then Bortles hit a three-run double for a 9-0 lead. Robinson scored on a wild pitch to increase the lead to 10-0.
Vanderbilt began to come back when it scored four runs in the sixth inning. Bryan Reynolds hit his 13th home run of the season, second-most in the conference behind Woodman. An Ole Miss error allowed two more runs to score and Jason Delay's RBI groundout cut the lead to 10-4.
Michael Fitzsimmons hit an RBI single in the seventh to give the Rebels an 11-4 lead, but the Commodores got that run back with an RBI single of their own. Will Golsan scored on a throwing error in the eighth to give Mississippi a 12-5 lead.
Vanderbilt rallied in the bottom of the ninth. After loading the bases for the third consecutive inning, Jeren Kendall hit a three-run triple to cut the lead to 12-8. Kendall scored on Reynolds' RBI single, then Alonzo Jones grounded into a fielder's choice to end the game.
TEXAS A&M 4, SOUTH CAROLINA 1
Texas A&M sophomore Brigham Hill allowed 1 run on 5 hits with 8 strikeouts over 7 innings to lead the Aggies (42-14-1) over South Carolina (42-15), handing the Gamecocks their eighth consecutive SEC Tournament loss and eliminating them from this year's tournament.
Hill's lone rough patch came in the third inning, when he allowed South Carolina's only run on one hit and two Texas A&M errors. Hill (8-1) recovered, holding the Gamecocks scoreless over the next four innings.
The bottom four batters in the Aggies' lineup, who have accounted for 14 of their 17 hits in the SEC Tournament, went 7 for 15 Wednesday with 3 runs scored and 4 RBI.
Sports on 05/27/2016