Still has that new season smell. There were no major suprises in the SEC -- sure, a game here or there where an underdog might have won, but not really a series -- so we don't have that much to update from where things stood before the weekend. (Nationally is another question -- we'll get to that in a moment.) No one is going to look at South Carolina sweeping Duquesne -- a program that won't exist next year -- and say it's headed for the SEC championship. And no one is going to look at LSU having a perfect weekend against Centenary and draw any conclusions about whether it's more or less likely to win the College World Series this year. It will take at least a second weekend to start to draw any conclusions about trends, disappointments/suprises, etc.
Scoreboard. As the season gets a little further along, we'll recap the score of each game of each series and what it means. But for the first weekend, let's be content with an overall scoreboard. Because of length, you can find it after the jump.
Alabama defeats South Alabama, 2-0 | |
Saturday | Alabama 12, South Alabama 4 |
Sunday | Alabama 5, South Alabama 3 |
Auburn defeats Southeast Missouri, 2-1 | |
Friday | Southeast Missouri 13, Auburn 8 |
Saturday | Auburn 9, Southeast Missouri 8 (10) |
Sunday | Auburn 6, Southeast Missouri 1 |
Arkansas defeats Ball State, 2-1 | |
Friday | Arkansas 10, Ball State 2 |
Saturday | Ball State 5, Arkansas 2 |
Sunday | Arkansas 9, Ball State 3 |
Florida defeats USF, 3-0 | |
Friday | Florida 6, USF 2 |
Saturday | Florida 9, USF 1 |
Sunday | Florida 7, USF 6 (10) |
Georgia at QTI Apparel Opening Weekend Classic, 2-2 | |
Friday | Georgia 7, Baylor 5 |
Saturday | Duke 9, Georgia 5 |
Sunday, Game 1 | Georgia 10, Duke 5 |
Sunday, Game 2 | Baylor 5, Georgia 2 |
Kentucky at Caravelle Resort Tournament, 3-0 | |
Friday | Kentucky 15, Virginia Tech 6 |
Saturday | Kentucky 6, West Virginia 0 |
Sunday | Kentucky 3, Coastal Carolina 2 |
LSU defeats Centenary, 3-0 | |
Friday | LSU 5, Centenary 4 |
Saturday | LSU 25, Centenary 8 |
Sunday | LSU 4, Centenary 0 |
Ole Miss defeats Louisiana-Monroe, 2-1 | |
Friday | Louisiana-Monroe 6, Ole Miss 5 |
Saturday | Ole Miss 14, Louisiana-Monroe 0 |
Sunday | Ole Miss 13, Louisiana-Monroe 2 |
Mississippi State defeats Rhode Island, 3-0 | |
Friday | Mississippi State 9, Rhode Island 8 |
Saturday | Mississippi State 9, Rhode Island 0 |
Sunday | Mississippi State 12, Rhode Island 6 |
South Carolina defeats Duquesne, 3-0 | |
Friday | South Carolina 10, Duquesne 3 |
Saturday | South Carolina 13, Duquesne 3 |
Sunday | South Carolina 5, Duquesne 3 |
Tennessee defeats Xavier, 3-0 | |
Friday | Tennessee 16, Xavier 6 |
Saturday | Tennessee 7, Xavier 6 |
Sunday | Tennessee 17, Xavier 1 |
Vanderbilt defeats Niagara, 3-0 | |
Friday | Vanderbilt 9, Niagara 0 |
Saturday | Vanderbilt 16, Niagara 2 |
Sunday | Vanderbilt 21, Niagara 3 |
Overall: SEC 31-5 |
Hits and Outs. The best weekend might belong to Kentucky, which in addition to going 3-0 after being counted as an afterthought in the SEC East became just the third visiting team to win at Coastal Carolina in two years. Again, apply opening weekend grain of salt generously. Outs go to Auburn for losing to Southeast Missouri. On a weekend when no one lost to a single team more than once, you have to choose the worst loss.
The national picture. Texas fans have already surrendered the No. 1 place after the Burnt Orange lost its series to New Mexico, two games to one. No, New Mexico isn't a great team in college baseball. Not horrible, but they weren't exactly in the running for preseason No. 1. LSU is a likely replacement. We'll know for sure soon enough. No. 4 Cal State-Fullerton lost two of three in its opening tournament. In the only meeting of Baseball America Top 25 teams, No. 3 Virginia went 2-1 against No. 18 East Carolina.
Extra base. Cody Hawn was injured Friday night in Tennessee's demolition of Xavier, but the Vols are hopeful that he'll return soon.