Auburn kept Florida from winning the Southeastern Conference regular season title, but the Gators didn't let the Tigers block their path to the SEC Tourney final.
Third-seeded UF (41-16) defeated No. 10 seed Auburn (30-27) 6-1 on Tuesday in Hoover, Ala. The Gators racked up double-digit hits against the Tigers for the fourth consecutive game.
Justin Schafer led Florida's offensive charge, recording a game-high three RBI. In the bottom of the second, Schafer hit a two-out, two-run single, scoring Daniel Pigott and Brian Johnson. Schafer's RBI hit put UF up 2-0 early.
Four innings later, Florida was nursing a 2-1 lead against Auburn thanks to a stellar 5.2-inning outing from starter Jonathon Crawford. After a leadoff strikeout by Mike Zunino, back-to-back singles by Pigott and Johnson put runners on first and second.
Casey Turgeon stepped up to the plate and smacked a double to the right-center field gap, extending the Gators' lead to three. After a Vickash Ramjit groundout to third, Schafer added to his RBI total with a single, bringing Turgeon home.
Zunino plated UF's final run on an RBI double, driving in Nolan Fontana, who reached base on a one-out single in the seventh.
Florida will play the winner of the South Carolina-Vanderbilt matchup Thursday at 9 p.m.
