Jared Poche pitched 6 2/3 strong innings and Michael Papierski drove in three runs Friday as LSU snapped Mississippi State’s 12-game winning streak by beating the Bulldogs 6-2 in the Southeastern Conference Tournament. “A pitch here, a play here, an at-bat here”.
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“Obviously that was a hard game for us with the obvious short turnaround from last night”, UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan said.
Florida built a 5-1 lead with its four-run second inning.
The Tigers opened the scoring in the third when centerfielder Jake Fraley delivered an RBI single against Hudson. After Gilbert struck out JJ Schwarz and got Mike Rivera to ground out to second base. The only run came in the sixth when Dalton Guthrie reached on an infield single and scored on Jonathan India’s two-out double.
Gilbert, who allowed five hits and the one run with three walks and three strikeouts in falling to 4-4, was supposed to throw a fastball toward the outside. “We swung it well today and hope it translates to tomorrow”. For Florida, it was a needed bridge to a third consecutive SEC Tournament final, in which the Gators will face likely national seed Texas A&M (3 p.m., ESPN2 or WatchESPN) with Shore on the hill – and a third straight win after losses in three of their previous four outings, all to LSU. State loaded the bases in the first and had two on with no one out in the second getting nothing out of it. The Tigers did not finish their 14-inning game Wednesday until almost 2 a.m. Thursday. The Tigers went on to win, 10-9, in 10 innings, T-shirts and toy stuffed possum were being sold by the next morning, and the rest is marsupial mascot history.
More pressure in the fourth extended LSU’s lead. LSU then beat the Gators again, 5-3, after trailing 2-0 in the seventh late in a 14-inning classic on Wednesday night in this tournament. The Tigers will have the benefit/curse of trying to do it against possibly the best team in the nation as Florida sent SEC Champion Miss St home last night with a whuppin.
Florida undeniably swooned a bit over the last three weeks, after Alonso’s fractured hand.
“We won the Southeastern Conference, but that means nothing”, Cohen said. “Next time we will”. The first was a 1-0 loss to Georgia in 2004.
No. 3 Mississippi State went up against No. 7 LSU in a contest that pitted two of the hottest teams in the country against one another int he SEC Tournament, but unfortunately for Mississippi State, LSU remained hotter and pulled off a 6-2 third-round victory at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. Currently No. 6 in the nation in the Ratings Percentage Index, the Tigers are a lock to host that round.
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MSU is expected to be a national seed and will have a chance to host a regional and a super regional before the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
