Florida Gators eliminated from SEC Tournament, What's Next?

The Florida Gators fell to Vanderbilt in the first round of the SEC Tournament. What does this do for their NCAA Tournament hopes?

Florida Gators star Jac Caglianone / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA

The Florida Gators' offense showed up when it needed to against the No. 9 Georgia Bulldogs. The Gators’ bats were scorching Saturday in the rubber match against the Bulldogs in Athens. The team scored 19 runs, securing a much-needed win and its first series win since March 31. 

BOX SCORE: Vanderbilt 6, Florida 3

And after a comeback win Friday, followed by the outburst Saturday, it looked as though the Gators offense had come alive at the right time. They had momentum. 

But on Tuesday, the bats were nowhere to be found. Despite getting nine hits and outhitting the Vanderbilt Commodores 9-6 in the first round of the SEC Tournament, the Gators left seven runners on base and a run didn’t cross the plate until the eighth inning. It was too late by then. 

Vanderbilt eliminated Florida from the SEC Tournament 6-3 in Hoover, Alabama, Tuesday evening. The Gators will now wait to see if they made an NCAA Regional. 

“I mean, bottom line is we got beat,” head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “Cunningham threw the ball good, and obviously the closer -- reliever came in and did a nice job. We just had a hard time manufacturing runs.”

Vanderbilt’s Bryce Cunningham kept Florida off of the scoreboard throughout his outing. He finished pitching six innings, giving up five hits and striking out six. 

Although Florida had chances, Cunningham made the pitches he needed to strand Gators runners on the base paths. 

“Well, he kind of located his stuff,” Cade Kurland said. “His fastball had some ride, and he threw a slider and changeup, and I felt like we didn't adjust to what he was doing, and we failed to execute.”

Pierce Coppola started on the mound for the Gators, and for the second straight outing, he gave up four runs. Vanderbilt scored to runs each in the second and fourth inning. A Matthew Polk groundout and Braden Holcomb sacrifice fly put the Commodores ahead 2-0 in the second. 

Then, in the fourth, Polk and Holcomb struck again. This time, both had RBI singles to increase the Commodores lead to 4-0. 

Coppola was pulled after 3 ⅔, and Jake Clemente and Fisher Jameson finished the outing. Clemente gave up two runs. In the fifth, Calvin Hewitt got ahold of a ball and sent it out for a solo home run. In the seventh, RJ Austin recorded an RBI single to extend Vanderbilt’s lead to 6-0. 

The inability to make some two-strike, two-out pitches with runners in scoring position cost us a couple runs,” O’Sullivan said. 

In the eighth, the Gators extended their scoring streak to 134 straight games after Colby Shelton grounded out. In the ninth, Michael Robertson blasted a two-run home run to cut the Commodores deficit to 6-3. Though, it was too little too late, as the Gators’ trip to Hoover was short-lived. 

What's next for Florida Gators baseball?

Monday, the latest DI Baseball field of 64 projections had Florida in the Tallahassee Regional (Florida State hosting), along with Southern Miss and Florida A&M. The Gators missed an opportunity to improve their regional status with a win, but now they’ll wait to see if they can sneak in. 

Right now it's an unknown,” Michael Robertson said. “All we can do is put our heads down and continue to work this coming week, and whatever happens, we’re ready to rock.” 

Florida is currently ranked 28th in RPI, a metric used to rank teams based on wins, losses and strength of schedule. 

The Gators faced a daunting conference schedule in the regular season, finishing 13-17 in the SEC. Over the final four weeks of the season, they faced four top-10 teams in Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas and Kentucky. 

Although they won only one of those series, they were able to win at least one game over the Volunteers, Wildcats and Razorbacks. 

But the early-season success may help boost Florida’s chances. The Gators earned a series win over now-No. 4 Texas A&M and now-No. 15 Mississippi State. UF also went on the road and took two-of-three against the LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge. 

“Yeah, so there's been some inconsistencies, but at the same time, we've proven that we can play with anybody in the country,” O’Sullivan said. “We've just had some inconsistencies along the way, like most of the teams that have 13 wins in our league. I think everybody would tell you the same thing.”

According to DI Baseball’s projections, six teams that Florida faced in SEC play could host a regional. Those teams include Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Georgia. UF went a combined 9-9 against those teams during the season which would help the Gators’ case in making a regional.