Two Florida Gators named to SEC All-Tournament team
HOOVER, Ala. — The Florida Gators fell short of winning the SEC Tournament but two earned individual honors. Florida catcher BT Riopelle and outfielder Wyatt Langford were both named to the SEC Tournament team on Sunday.
The Vanderbilt Commodores beat the Texas A&M Aggies to take the SEC Tournament Championship by a score of 10-4.
Florida went 2-1 as the No. 1 seed in the tournament. The Gators beat Alabama in walk-off fashion on Wednesday before beating Vanderbilt for the fourth time this season and the fifth time in a row. The Commodores would come out of the losers’ bracket and beat the Gators in the SEC Tournament semifinal on Saturday.
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BT Riopelle
BT Riopelle finished the week with a tournament-high 10 runs batted in. He hit .333 (3-9) with three home runs. Riopelle’s first home run was a walk-off, three-run home run in extra innings against Vanderbilt. The senior catcher was back at it again in Florida’s second win.
Riopelle smacked two more home runs during a Thursday win over Vanderbilt.
“It means the world to me, but it definitely means the world to our team. That was an ultimate team win. You look at the last inning, we’ve talked about before how your best players have to play the best to win,” Kevin O’Sullivan said. “And much like Sully said, Alabama is a very old team. I think they start one guy in the lineup that’s a freshman, the rest of them are juniors or above, so that’s a hard team to [beat]. But our best players in the last inning came up when it means the most, and ultimately, it’s a great win for our team, not just me individually.”
Wyatt Langford
The Golden Spikes semifinalist has been locked in at the plate. Langford hit .385 (5-13) for the Gators. He hit one home run, had two doubles, scored three runs, totaled 10 bases, and drove in two more runs. Langford also threw out a runner at home, continuing to play stellar defense in left field.
Complete SEC All-Tournament team
2023 SEC All-Tournament Team
P: Troy Wansing, Texas A&M
P: Justin Lamkin, Texas A&M
C: BT Riopelle, Florida
DH: Chris Maldonado, Vanderbilt
1B: Jack Moss, Texas A&M
2B: RJ Austin, Vanderbilt
3B: Bryson Ware, Auburn
SS: Cole Foster, Auburn
OF: Andrew Pinckney, Alabama
OF: Tommy Seidl, Alabama
OF: Wyatt Langford, Florida
Most Valuable Player: RJ Austin, Vanderbilt
