Day Three of the SEC Tournament was pretty straightforward: If you were from the West, you won.
Arkansas took an early lead on Florida and briefly gave it back before breaking out and staying in front for the rest of the game. The Hogs' 10-7 victory included a massive, sign-shattering home-run by Zack Cox that keyed a huge fourth inning.
Cox's long ball had many in the crowd gasping in disbelief and the television announcers who have 14 years of experience calling the SEC Tournament called it the "longest home run they had seen in Hoover." The home run broke the facing on the sign which came tumbling to the ground as Cox rounded the bases.
Cox later added on two scoreless innings of relief and a save for good measure.
LSU, meanwhile, capitalized on a disastrous eighth inning for the Gamecocks to turn a 2-0 game into a fairly noncompetitive 4-1 win. To an extent, the Bengals should be embarrassed that they only scored twice in an inning that featured an error, two walks, a wild pitch and a passed ball. But the damage was apparently done to South Carolina's psyche and a near-rally in the ninth inning produced no runs for the Gamecocks.
On to Saturday, where we have at least two games and maybe four.
No. 7 Arkansas vs. No. 8 Vanderbilt
Game 1: 11 a.m. ET, FSN, XM 199
Game 2, if necessary: 6 p.m., secsports.com, XM 199
Arkansas and LSU have the same problem today: They have to win two, where their opponents only have to win one. Vanderbilt can take half the games to be played Saturday. C&F's pick: Vanderbilt
No. 1 LSU vs. No. 6 Georgia
Game 1: 2:30 p.m. ET, FSN, XM 199
Game 2: 9:30 p.m. ET, secsports.com, XM 199
The Dawgs have proven me wrong every time I've picked against them, but I have a rule against choosing someone else while my tournament winner selection is still in the mix. So I cautiously remain with the Bengals for a pair of wins. C&F's pick: LSU
The championship game is Sunday at 4 p.m. ET on FSN.