SEC Baseball Championship 2012: Florida Will Avenge Loss to Vanderbilt

Florida will avenge its loss to Vanderbilt earlier in the SEC tournament with a statement victory on Saturday because they have the better team.

The Gators defeated Vanderbilt three-straight times by a combined score of 23-5 prior to their meeting on Thursday. They are head-and-shoulders better than Vanderbilt this season.

Vanderbilt, to their credit, played well and earned a 2-1 victory that sent Florida to the brink of elimination on Thursday.

That was simply a wake-up call for Florida.

South Carolina, the two-time defending national champions, was standing in their way, but they didn't blink. Florida went out onto the field and played a complete game in a 7-2 victory.

Now it's time for another shot at Vanderbilt. Florida will hit the ball much better this time around.

Four hits is all Florida could muster in their 2-1 defeat. It won't happen again.

They pounded out 11 hits in a victory over South Carolina. Nolan Fontana, Casey Turgeon, Josh Tobias and Preston Tucker each collected two hits.

Mike Zunino knocked in three RBIs.

These hitters, especially Zunino, Fontana and Tucker are going to be pests all game long. They have been consistent all season, and I don't expect them to stop now.


Prediction

This last game was a blip. Florida tops Vanderbilt 6-1 on Saturday. We will see a performance closer to their first three meetings rather than this last one.

Expect Florida to come out with a chip on their shoulder.