HOOVER, Ala. – Third-ranked Florida shut out fourth-ranked Vanderbilt 5-0 Sunday afternoon in the Championship game of the Southeastern Conference Tournament at Regions Park to claim the SEC Tournament title.
Four Florida pitchers combined to shut out the Commodores for the first time since May 6 at Kentucky. Gators’ starter Alex Panteliodis turned in 5.1 innings to earn the win. The Florida bullpen finished off the shutout allowing four hits over the final 3.2 innings. Vanderbilt starter Taylor Hill pitched well in the loss, his first of the year, allowing three runs, one earned, on seven hits with a season-best eight strikeouts across seven innings.
A pair of Vanderbilt errors in the second inning led to two Florida runs. Anthony Gomez’s error on a base hit allowed Vickash Ramjit to reach third and Aaron Westlake’s error on a sacrifice bunt set up the Gators’ second run of the inning on a groundout. Florida tacked on a single run in the seventh and two more in the eighth to set the final score.
The Commodores’ offense struggled all day with runners in scoring position, going 1-for-14 as a team stranding 10 runners on base including eight in scoring position. Jason Esposito and Anthony Gomez each had two hits to lead the Dores. Cody Dent drove in two runs to pace Florida.
Vanderbilt placed five players on the 13-man SEC All-Tournament Team with Sonny Gray, Aaron Westlake, Riley Reynolds, Esposito and Conrad Gregor earning honors.
For just the second time in school history Hawkins Field will host a NCAA Regional Tournament beginning Friday, June 3. The Commodores will welcome three teams to West End for the tournament with the 64-team field being revealed tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. on ESPN. Vanderbilt is hosting a selection show watch party beginning at 11 a.m. at the Commodore Grille inside the Holiday Inn-Vanderbilt. Coaches and players will be in attendance.
For regional ticket information visit vucommodores.com or call 615.322.GOLD beginning tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. All fans that have already made reservations the method of payment will be processed tomorrow and those tickets will be available beginning Tuesday at 8:30 a.m.
