HOOVER, ALABAMA - Jonathan Tucker opened the 10th inning with a triple and scored on a wild pitch to lift Florida to a 5-4 victory over LSU Wednesday in the opening game of the Southeastern Conference tournament.
The sixth-seeded Gators (39-18) faces the Vanderbilt-Georgia winner on Thursday. LSU (41-16), the No. 3 seed, plays the loser.
Reliever Darren O'Day (8-1) allowed only a two-out single in the bottom of the 10th to secure the win. He pitched 2-2/3 scoreless innings, giving up two hits.
Tucker went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored. After his first-pitch triple to left, Jason Determann struck out Adam Davis and intentionally walked C.J. Smith.
Then, Jordan Faircloth replaced Determann and threw a wild pitch allowing Tucker to score.
``I just hit the ball squarely on the bat and started to run,'' Tucker said of his triple. ``I honestly thought the ball was caught, but I just kept running as hard as I could and I kept looking for Coach (Tom) Slater's signals on third base.''
Matt LaPorta hit a solo homer for the Gators, who were outhit 11-9 but had five extra-base hits.
Jon Zeringue went 2-for-5 with a pair of RBIs for the Tigers while Ryan Patterson was 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in a run. Patterson now has seven hits and six RBIs in his last two games.
Sunday
June 29th, 2025
12:59AM
