Florida Explodes for 11 runs in 8th to Stay Unbeaten in 2017 SEC Baseball Tournament

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The Florida offense scored 11 runs in the 8th inning and one in the ninth to beat Mississippi State 12-3. 

The Gator offense was silent for seven innings as Cole Gordon for Mississippi State pitched six scoreless innings to start the game. He came out for the seventh and gave up a leadoff single before being removed.

It was an innocent enough looking hit at the time, but that started an 11-run rally for Florida to take control of the game.

Jonathan India had the biggest at-bat in the game as he earned a bases loaded walk with two outs to bring across the go-ahead run.

After that at-bat that could have ended the Florida threat and kept the game tied, the Gators got a single, walk, walk, single, walk and double.

Deacon Liput, who started the inning with that single, capped the rally with a 3-RBI double. He finished the game 2-5 with a run and 4 RBI.

Jackson Kowar pitched pretty well in this game for Florida. He allowed just 3 runs (2 earned) over 7 innings on 9 hits and 1 walk with 4 strikeouts. But more importantly, he kept Florida in the game when it could have gotten away from them.

Hunter Vansau powered Mississippi State on offense driving in two of their three runs. He got the Bulldogs on the board first in the fourth inning and then added another in the sixth.

Mississippi State also scored a run in the fifth thanks to a wild pitch.

This began as a rough game for Florida as two players had to leave because of an injury. Ryan Larson was hit in the face by a 91 MPH fastball in the first inning, and his replacement, Nick Horvath, had a ball bounce off his face in the outfield.

Florida advances to the semi-finals, while Mississippi State turns around to play Arkansas in the nightcap on Friday.

 

NCAA Tournament Picture: It looked like Mississippi State was on their way to becoming a regional host, but this loss definitely hurts those chances. However, if they can beat Arkansas on Friday night I think they enter that discussion again. Florida solidified themselves as a national seed in my opinion.