Much to the chagrin of some SEC teams, real baseball is now being played. We can say "much to the chagrin of some SEC teams," because two of them in particular took on difficult non-conference opponents. In neither case did this turn out well for the SEC team involved.
| No. 22 East Carolina defeats No. 10 South Carolina, 2-1 | ||
| Friday | South Carolina 6 | East Carolina 2 |
| Saturday | East Carolina 4 | South Carolina 3 |
| Sunday | East Carolina 4 | South Carolina 2 |
The Gamecocks weren't facing elimination from the NCAA tournament, as they were the last time they went to Greenville, and Jackie Bradley Jr. returned to the field. But aside from that and largely holding their own against a ranked opponent on the road, there's little good for South Carolina to take away from this trip. The pitching and the offense are both uneven right now.
| No. 25 Oregon State defeats Tennessee, 2-1 | ||
| Friday | Oregon State 17 | Tennessee 1 |
| Saturday | Tennessee 9 | Oregon State 2 |
| Sunday | Oregon State 1 | Tennessee 0 |
Speaking of uneven pitching and offense. Tennessee scored more in the eighth innning Saturday than they would the rest of the weekend. In fact, the Vols scored more than twice as many runs as they would the rest of the weekend. All four Tennessee pitchers got shellacked on Friday, as you might expect when the other team scores 17 runs (though only one of the three runs allowed by Adam Adkins in his inning of work was earned). Knoxville's optimism after the first weekend might have been premature.
| Vanderbilt on the West Coast, 2-1 | ||
| Friday | UCLA 9 | Vanderbilt 2 |
| Saturday | Vanderbilt 10 | Southern Cal 1 |
| Sunday | Vanderbilt 7 | Oklahoma State 6 |
The Commodores lost their only game against a ranked opponent, then-No. 23 UCLA, but are otherwise undefeated through the first two weeks of the season. I can think of a few SEC teams that would take that.
Most of the other series in the SEC were lower-profile meetings as the rest of the league took on easier foes.
| No. 2 LSU defeats William and Mary, 3-0 | ||
| Saturday | LSU 10 | William & Mary 9 |
| Sunday | LSU 9 | William & Mary 6 |
| Sunday | LSU 7 | William & Mary 4 |
The Tigers stay undefeated with the sweep. Matt Gaudet hit two home runs on Sunday alone, giving him four for the season so far.
| No. 17 Arkansas defeats Troy, 3-0 | ||
| Friday | Arkansas 10 | Troy 1 |
| Saturday | Arkansas 10 | Troy 8 |
| Sunday | Arkansas 7 | Troy 6 |
The Trojans might be well advised to try to win games without allowing the other team to score 10 runs.
| No. 24 Ole Miss defeats Oakland, 3-0 | ||
| Friday | Ole Miss 9 | Oakland 1 |
| Saturday | Ole Miss 10 | Oakland 2 |
| Sunday | Ole Miss 9 | Oakland 3 |
The best news for the Rebels was Drew Pomeranz's 15 strikeout performance Friday, assuring the faithful that his opening weekend outing was nothing to worry about.
| Georgia defeats Stetson, 3-0 | ||
| Friday | Georgia 12 | Stetson 2 |
| Saturday | Georgia 9 | Stetson 8 |
| Sunday | Georgia 7 | Stetson 5 |
Yes, there really is a school named Stetson, and, yes, they really do play baseball there. Not as well as Georgia, but they play.
| Kentucky defeats Bowling Green, 3-0 | ||
| Friday | Kentucky 6 | Bowling Green 4 |
| Saturday | Kentucky 4 | Bowling Green 3 |
| Sunday | Kentucky 10 | Bowling Green 4 |
Yeah, it's just Bowling Green, but Kentucky's already started 6-0 on the season and could put together a nice run here before facing No. 19 San Diego on Friday.
| Alabama defeats Illinois-Chicago, 3-0 | ||
| Friday | Alabama 9 | Illinois-Chicago 4 |
| Saturday (7 inn) | Alabama 25 | Illinois-Chicago 1 |
| Saturday | Alabama 4 | Illinois-Chicago 3 |
That's right -- 25 runs in seven innings. Only four of the Tide's 16 batters didn't have at least one hit. Three Alabama pitchers combined in that game for a one-hitter.
| Auburn at Auburn Classic, 2-1 | ||
| Friday (10 inn) | Auburn 6 | Boston College 5 |
| Saturday | Missouri 11 | Auburn 7 |
| Sunday | Auburn 17 | Florida Atlantic 4 |
Can anyone on Auburn besides Cole Nelson pitch?
| Southeastern Louisiana defeats Mississippi State, 3-0 | ||
| Friday | Southeastern Louisiana 4 | Mississippi State 1 |
| Saturday | Southeastern Louisiana 8 | Mississippi State 5 |
| Sunday | Southeastern Louisiana 6 | Mississippi State 5 |
I'm speechless. Five errors in the Saturday game, by the way.
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