Tuesday Recap

It was quite the busy day on the diamond on Tuesday. Nine teams (two played against each other!) from the SEC all took the field, hoping to come out of their midweek games with victories under their belt.

Things didn’t go too well for Missouri and LSU. The pair of Tigers both dropped games against in-state opponents as Mizzou fell to Missouri State 5-1 while the Bayou Bengals lost to Tulane 9-6. The losses sting, especially for Mizzou, who was in desperate need of a big nonconference victory after falling short last week to the Bears in their most recent go-around. LSU, meanwhile, should still be alright as they stand as the 11th-ranked team in the nation. But, a loss to Green Wave certainly hurts to some regard.

Auburn also felt the burn as the ninth-ranked Tigers lost 5-2 to Troy at home. They fell behind 1-0 early after the first inning and would soon see that lead balloon up to 4-0 after three runs were scored by the Trojans in the fifth. Auburn would find a way to bounce back for two int he fifth but let up one more run in the sixth and had no answer from there. It might not hurt them in the conference standings but it certainly hurts the overall record and in other areas as well as Troy had been ranked in the 100s in RPI.

Auburn was not the only team from their state to lose on Tuesday as Alabama took an 11-8 loss on the chin to Jacksonville State. It proved to be a bit of a back-and-forth affair that saw ‘Bama hold an 8-7 lead going into the seventh inning. It was there that Jacksonville State would take the lead for good as they put up a four-spot in the seventh to grab control of the game. ‘Bama couldn’t produce any runs in the final three innings and wound up taking a mighty bad loss in the process.

Arkansas, Georgia and Texas A&M meanwhile were able to avoid the loss bug. The aforementioned trio from the SEC took care of their business, defeating Kansas State, Georgia Tech and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Hogs and Aggies certainly have reasons to be pleased with themselves as they were the only ranked teams to win their nonconference matchups on Tuesday from the conference.

Speaking of ranked teams, 13th-ranked Mississippi State earned a season sweep of rival Ole Miss with their 4-2 victory. Brent Rooker went deep once again as the Bulldogs star hit his 16th homer of the season and 21st double to go along with that as well. Denver McQuary got the win despite having a ghoulish outing, allowing five walks in the contest and five hits as well. Ole Miss failed to capitalize on a number of occasions and wound up striking out (pun intended) on their opportunities.

Two games are on the docket on Wednesday as Tennessee battles ETSU while Kentucky squares off with Xavier. The Wildcats are now ranked seventh in the country and will be looking for a nonconference win over the Musketeers of the Big East. Xavier is 24-17 this season and ranked 108th in the RPI to this point but has struggled on the road. The Musketeers are just 8-12 this year away from Cincinnati which could prove pivotal for Kentucky who is a robust 19-3 in Lexington.

The Volunteers should be able to roll over their opponents from the Southern Conference. The Bucs are 19-19 this year and ranked 153rd in the RPI. Tennessee meanwhile may not have the strongest of records (20-17) but do find themselves within the Top 50, checking in at 48th. We’ll see if they can avoid what would be a costly loss on this Wednesday night.