TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Not even three home runs by Florida could help the Gators take over sole possession of first place in the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division race Sunday afternoon.
Freshmen Austin Maddox and Mike Zunino and senior Matt den Dekker all went yard for No. 4 Florida, but Alabama junior Josh Rutledge also did while knocking in six runs as Alabama salvaged the final game of the series with a 10-8 victory before 4,317 fans at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The loss by Kevin O’Sullivan’s Gators ended a season-best seven-game winning streak.
Alabama (29-19, 10-14 SEC) snapped a 6-6 tie with three runs in the bottom of the fifth and then held off Florida (33-12, 17-7 SEC), which maintained a share of the Eastern Division lead because of Kentucky’s 9-3 victory over visiting South Carolina (36-11, 17-7).
After playing host to Florida Atlantic (31-17) of the Sun Belt Conference at McKethan Stadium Wednesday evening at 6:30, Florida welcomes Georgia (13-33, 3-19 SEC) for a three game series beginning Friday evening. The Gators and Gamecocks likely will determine the champion of the Eastern Division May 20-22 at Columbia, S.C.
Florida outhit Alabama 11-9 but the Crimson Tide opened up a 6-3 lead that eventually chased freshman left-handed starter Brian Johnson after 3.1 innings. Johnson surrendered six earned runs on five hits but the loss went to the first of five relievers, Anthony DeSciafani (2-3). The victory was credited to first-time starter Nathan Kilcrease (4-2), who went 6.1 innings and allowed seven runs (six earned) on nine hits. Jake Smith pitched the final 2.2 innings to earn his third save of the season.
Maddox, who went 3-for-5 and knocked in a pair of runs, gave Florida a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning when he sent an 0-1 pitch from Kilcrease out in right field. It was Maddox’s team-leading 15th home run of the season and 11th in the SEC, tops in the league.
Alabama made it 4-1 in the bottom of the second with Rutledge hitting his seventh home run of the season, a three-run job, to highlight the inning.
Florida added a run in the third when den Dekker hit a grounder to first that drove in Tyler Thompson, who had reached on an error, taken second on Zunino’s single that extended his hitting streak to 10 games and moved to third on Nolan Fontana’s sacrifice bunt.
The Gators cut the lead to 4-3 in the top of the fourth when Maddox opened with his team-leading 14th double and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Daniel Pigott.
But Rutledge had a two-run single in the fourth off DeSciafani for a 6-3 Alabama lead after the Crimson Tide had loaded the bases against Johnson.
Florida responded with three runs with two outs in the top of the fifth, two of them coming in on den Dekker’s eighth home run of the season. The other run followed shortly afterward when Preston Tucker walked and came home on Maddox’s second double of the game.
But the Tide came right back with three runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 9-6 lead. Junior David Kindred doubled to lead off the inning for Alabama. Sophomore Nick Maronde took over for DeSciafani and hit both Kelton and Miller to fill the bases. After a strikeout, Maronde walked Dugas to force in a run.
O’Sullivan then brought in Greg Larson to face Rutledge, and Rutledge, who made three errors himself, grounded the ball to third and Maddox made the second of his three errors to score the second run. Larson then hit Jones to bring across the third run.
Zunino hit his eighth home run of the season to begin the seventh and back-to-back singles by den Dekker and Tucker chased Kilcrease. Smith moved over from third base to relieve for Alabama and he got two long outs on the fly balls by Maddox and Johnson.
Rutledge, however, made it 10-7 in the bottom of the seventh with an infield hit. The Gators got the bases loaded in the eighth against Smith, but after allowing Fontana’s second sacrifice fly of the game, he struck out den Dekker. Smith then allowed a single by Johnson in the ninth but struck out Pigott looking to end the game.
BASEBALL
SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE
Eastern Division Conference Overall
(Rank) Team W-L Pct. GB W-L Pct.
(6) South Carolina 17-7 .708 — 36-11 .766
(5) Florida 17-7 .708 — 33-12 .733
(23) Vanderbilt 12-10 .545 4 35-13 .729
Tennessee 11-13 .458 6 27-21 .563
Kentucky 9-15 .375 8 26-21 .553
Georgia 3-19 .136 13 13-33 .283
Western Division Conference Overall
(Rank) Team W-L Pct. GB W-L Pct.
(12) Arkansas 16-8 .667 — 37-11 .771
(14) Mississippi 15-9 .625 1 34-15 .694
(23) Auburn 15-9 .625 1 33-15 .688
(20) Louisiana State 12-12 .500 4 34-15 .694
Alabama 10-14 .417 6 29-19 .604
Mississippi State 5-19 .208 11 20-28 .417
(Rank) Ranking in the GatorCountry.com Top 30
RESULTS
SUNDAY / May 9
Alabama 10, Florida 8
Kentucky 9, South Carolina 3
Vanderbilt 4, Louisiana State 3
Arkansas 7, Mississippi 0
Tennessee 14, Georgia 11
Auburn 11, Mississippi State 8
FRIDAY / May 7
Florida 9, Alabama 3
Arkansas 11, Mississippi 4
South Carolina 13, Kentucky 9
Louisiana State 16, Vanderbilt 15 (10 innings)
Auburn 9, Mississippi State 6
Tennessee 4, Georgia 1
SATURDAY / May 8
Florida 14, Alabama 8
Kentucky 2, South Carolina 1
Tennessee 25, Georgia 5
Auburn 16, Mississippi State 14
Vanderbilt 6, Louisiana State 2
Mississippi 3, Arkansas 2
SCHEDULE
TUESDAY / May 11
Kentucky at Indiana, 4 p.m.
Georgia State at Georgia, 6:30 p.m.
Auburn at South Alabama, 6:30 p.m.
Wofford at South Carolina, 7 p.m.
Louisville at Vanderbilt, 7 p.m.
WEDNESDAY / May 12
Florida Atlantic at Florida, 6:30 p.m.
Lipscomb at Kentucky, 6:30 p.m.
Charleston Southern at South Carolina, 7 p.m.
Middle Tennessee State at Tennessee, 7 p.m.
Alabama at Samford, 7:30 p.m.
Mississippi at Arkansas State, 7:30 p.m.
Northwestern State at Mississippi State, 7:30 p.m.
FRIDAY / May 14
Georgia at Florida, 8 p.m. (ESPNU)
Louisiana State at Kentucky, 6:30 p.m.
Tennessee at Auburn, 7:30 p.m.
Vanderbilt at Mississippi State, 7:30 p.m.
South Carolina at Arkansas, 7:35 p.m.
Mississippi at Alabama, 7:35 p.m.
SATURDAY / May 15
Georgia at Florida, 1 p.m. (CSS)
Louisiana State at Kentucky, 3 p.m.
Vanderbilt at Mississippi State, 3 p.m.
South Carolina at Arkansas, 3:05 p.m.
Tennessee at Auburn, 4 p.m.
Mississippi at Alabama, 4:05 p.m.
SUNDAY / May 16
Georgia at Florida, 1 p.m.
Louisiana State at Kentucky, 1 p.m.
South Carolina at Arkansas, 2:05 p.m.
Tennessee at Auburn, 2 p.m.
Vanderbilt at Mississippi State, 2:30 p.m.
Mississippi at Alabama, 3:05 p.m.
RANKINGS
GATOR COUNTRY.com TOP 30
How the Top 30 teams in the Gator Country.com college baseball rankings fared Saturday. The Gator Country.com Top 30 ranking is determined by combining four polls of USA Today / ESPN Coaches, Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association:
Rk School Record Sunday’s result; Next game
1. Texas (41-8) W, 6-5 at No. 25 Kansas State; Sunday vs. Louisiana Tech (2)
2. Virginia (40-9) Did not play; Friday vs. North Carolina
3. Arizona State (39-5) Did not play; Monday vs. Brigham Young
4. Coastal Carolina (41-9) W, 11-7 Winthrop; Monday vs. Winthrop
5. Florida (33-12) L, 10-8 at Alabama; Wednesday vs. Florida Atlantic
6. South Carolina (36-11) L, 9-3 at Kentucky; Tuesday vs. Wofford
7. Florida State (36-12) W, 6-4, 11-6 at Boston College; Wednesday at Stetson
8. Texas Christian (36-10) W, 26-4 at New Mexico; Wednesday at Texas State
9. Georgia Tech (39-9) W, 5-2 vs. Illinois-Chicago; Friday vs. No. 11 Miami, Fla.
10. Louisville (40-8) W, 10-3 at Georgetown; Tuesday at No. 23 Vanderbilt
11. Miami, Fla. (36-11) Did not play; Friday at No. 9 Georgia Tech
12. Arkansas (37-11) W, 7-0 at No. 14 Mississippi; Tuesday vs. Louisiana Tech at North Little Rock, Ark.
13. UCLA (34-10) W, 7-6 at Washington; Tuesday at No. 29 UC Irvine
14. Mississippi (34-15) L, 7-0 vs. No. 12 Arkansas; Wednesday at Arkansas State
15. Cal State Fullerton (30-14) W, 9-1, 6-0 vs. UC Riverside; Wednesday at Pepperdine
16. Oklahoma (35-13) W, 6-0 vs. Oklahoma State; Friday vs. Memphis
17. Oregon (30-18) L, 6-5 at Oregon State; Tuesday vs. No. 26 San Diego
18. Virginia Tech (34-15) W, 7-0 vs. Savannah State; Friday vs. Duke
19. Connecticut (36-10) L, 3-2 vs. Cincinnati; Monday at Boston College
20. Louisiana State (34-15) L, 4-3 vs. No. 23 Vanderbilt; Friday at Kentucky
21. Arizona (30-17) L, 22-5 vs. Cal State Bakersfield; Saturday vs. No. 3 Arizona State
22. California (27-17) L, 11-9 at Washington State; Monday at Washington State
23. Vanderbilt (35-13) W, 4-3 at Louisiana State; Tuesday vs. No. 10 Louisville
23. Auburn (33-15) W, 11-8 vs. Mississippi State; Tuesday at South Alabama
25. Kansas State (32-15) L, 6-5 vs. No. 1 Texas; Friday at Kansas
26. Rice (30-17) W, 14-4 at Marshall; Wednesday at Oklahoma State
26. San Diego (30-16) W, 9-2 at Portland; Monday at Oregon State
28. Clemson (31-17) W, 7-5 at Maryland; Tuesday at Furman
29. UC Irvine (29-16) W, 18-13 at Cal Poly; Tuesday vs. UCLA
29. Pittsburgh (34-12) Did not play; Tuesday vs. Ohio
USA TODAY/ESPN COACHES
1. Texas (38-7); 2. Arizona State (38-5); 3. Virginia (39-9); 4. Coastal Carolina (39-6); 5. Georgia Tech (36-9); 6. Florida (31-11); 7. South Carolina (34-9); 8. Texas Christian (34-9); 9. Florida State (33-11); 10. Arkansas (35-10); 11. Louisville (36-7); 12. UCLA (30-10); 13. Miami, Fla. (34-11); 14. Mississippi (33-13); 15. Louisiana State (32-13); 16. Cal State Fullerton (27-14); 17. Oklahoma (32-12); 18. Vanderbilt (33-12); 19. Oregon (30-14); 20. Kansas State (30-12); 21. Connecticut (35-9); 22. Arizona (29-13); 23. Virginia Tech (32-14); 24. Clemson (27-17); 25. Rice (26-16).
BASEBALL AMERICA
1. Virginia (39-9); 2. Texas (38-7); 3. Arizona State (38-5); 4. Florida (31-11); 5. Florida State (33-11); 6. South Carolina (34-9); 7. Coastal Carolina (39-6); 8. Texas Christian (34-9); 9. Louisville (36-7); 10. Cal State Fullerton (27-14); 11. Mississippi (33-13); 12. UCLA (30-10); 13. Miami, Fla. (34-11); 14. Arkansas (35-10); 15. Oregon (30-14); 16. Virginia Tech (32-14); 17. Georgia Tech (36-9); 18. Oklahoma (32-13); 19. Auburn (21-17); 20. Connecticut (35-9); 21. California (26-15); 22. San Diego (26-16); 23. Arizona (29-13); 24. Louisiana State (32-13); 25. Rice (26-16).
COLLEGIATE BASEBALL
1. Texas (38-7); 2. Arizona State (38-5); 3. Virginia (39-9); 4. South Carolina (34-9); 5. Coastal Carolina (39-6); 6. Florida (31-11); 7. Miami, Fla. (34-11); 8. Florida State (33-11); 9. Georgia Tech (36-9); 10. Louisville (36-7); 11. Texas Christian (34-9); 12. Cal State Fullerton (27-14); 13. Mississippi (33-13); 14. Arkansas (35-10); 15. UCLA (30-10); 16. Connecticut (35-9); 17. Oklahoma (32-12); 18. California (26-15); 19. Oregon (30-14); 20. Pittsburgh (31-11); 21. Virginia Tech (32-14); 22. Portland (30-9); 23. San Diego (26-16); 24. Auburn (30-15); 25. New Mexico State (35-12-1); 26. Arizona (29-13); 27. Kansas State (30-12); 28. Rice (26-16); 29. Texas State (28-14); 30. UC Irvine (27-14).
NATIONAL COLLEGE BASEBALL WRITERS ASSOCIATION
1. Texas (38-7); 2. Virginia (39-9); 3. Arizona State (38-5); 4. Texas Christian (34-9); 5. Coastal Carolina (39-6); 6. Florida (31-11); 7. Georgia Tech (36-9); 8. Florida State (33-11); 9. Louisville (36-7); 10. Arkansas (35-10); 11. South Carolina (34-9); 12. Miami, Fla. (34-11); 13. UCLA (30-10); 14. Oklahoma (32-12); 15. Mississippi (33-13); 16. Cal State Fullerton (27-14); 17. Louisiana State (32-13); 18. Virginia Tech (32-14); 19. Vanderbilt (33-12); 20. Arizona (29-13); 21. Oregon (30-14); 22. Clemson (27-17); 23. Connecticut (35-9); 24. North Carolina (27-17); 25. UC Irvine (27-14); 26. Kansas State (30-12); 27. Rice (26-16); 28. Auburn (30-15); 29. California (26-15); 30. Stanford (21-17).