Florida edges LSU in SEC Tourney Semifinal

Florida catcher Mike Rivera launched a ninth-inning homer to break a 1-1 tie Saturday, and reliever Taylor Lewis fired 4.1 shutout innings as the fourth-seeded Gators edged top-seeded LSU, 2-1, in the semifinal round of the SEC Tournament.
The Gators would win the SEC Championship Sunday with a 7-3 win against Vandebilt.
LSU (48-10), the SEC regular-season champion, will look forward to next weekend’s NCAA Regional at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field. The entire 64-team bracket was revealed at 11 a.m. today on ESPNU.
The NCAA Baton Rouge Regional will begin Friday with game times to be determined today.
With Saturday’s loss, LSU saw its nine-game SEC Tournament winning streak snapped as the Tigers were bidding to win their third straight tournament title. LSU has won five SEC Tournament titles in the past eight seasons.
Rivera opened the top of the ninth inning with a homer — his third dinger of the year and the first allowed this season by LSU reliever Jesse Stallings — to give Florida a 2-1 lead.
Lewis (6-1) retired the side in the bottom of the ninth to secure the win for Florida. Lewis worked the final 4.1 innings and retired 12 consecutive LSU hitters to finish the game. He allowed one hit with no walks and one strikeout.
Stallings (1-2) was charged with the loss as he worked the ninth inning, retiring the next three Florida batters in order after the Rivera home run.
LSU starter Alex Lange fired seven shutout innings for the Tigers, limiting Florida to five singles with six walks and seven strikeouts.
“It was an exciting ball game,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said in a news release. “Lange was terrific all the way through, just like he always is. He was put in some big situations and made some big pitches. We had nine hits but only one run; that means we didn’t come through in clutch situations. It was a tough loss for us because we came here to win this tournament. We wanted to win it for the third time in a row, but we just didn’t quite play well enough today.
“We’ll regroup, watch the NCAA Selection Show on Monday and get ready for the NCAA Tournament,” Mainieri said. “This is what you play for all year, a chance to play for the national championship.”
LSU took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning as catcher Kade Scivicque led off with a double and later scored on second baseman Jared Foster’s single.
Florida finally tied the game in the top of the eighth when third baseman Josh Tobias singled against LSU reliever Zac Person, moved to second on a walk to first baseman Peter Alonso and scored when designated hitter JJ Schwarz doubled off right-hander Hunter Newman.