HOOVER, Ala. (AP) — Buddy Reed had three hits Sunday night, and Florida beat Vanderbilt 7-3 in the rain-delayed Southeastern Conference tournament championship.
The Gators (44-16) scored five runs in the first three innings, which were interrupted by delays totaling 2 hours, 48 minutes. Both teams were awarded NCAA regional sites during the game that ended 6 1/2 hours after first pitch.
Harrison Bader started the game with a home run for Florida, which finished with 14 hits.
The defending national champion Commodores (42-19) are regulars in SEC title games but have gone 0-5 since last winning in 2007.
It is Florida's first title since 2011 after losing the championship game to LSU last season.
Reed also scored twice while tournament MVP JJ Schwarz had a pair of hits. Four relievers allowed just one run over the final 6 2/3 innings for the Gators, with Kirby Snead recording the final five outs. Danny Young (2-0) pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings for the win.
Karl Ellison had three hits and drove in a run for Vandy, which got consecutive two-out singles from Ellison and Bo Coleman in the ninth. Snead got Rhett Wiseman to ground out to first to end the game.
RAIN DELAYS
The game was delayed 34 minutes by rain in the top of the second inning and 2 hours, 14 minutes in the third. The crowd was considerably thinned out when play resumed after the second delay.
UP NEXT
Both teams start preparing to host NCAA regionals. Vanderbilt and Florida are also both candidates to receive national seeds when those are released on Monday.