Friday Recap

A light but busy slate went down on Friday with five games going down. Seven ranked teams were in action with four of them going against one another in intra-conference matchups.

The lead story was Florida maintaining their status as the top team in the SEC by defeating Tennessee 5-0. After going up 1-0 in the first inning thanks to a home run by Kayli Kvistad, the Gators added four runs in the fifth inning. Amanda Lorenz hit a 2-run triple and would then score on a wild pitch.

Then, Kvistad stood up to bat and homered again, another of the solo variety, to put the Gators up 5-0. That lead would be maintained throughout thanks in large to the pitching of Kelly Barnhill. Barnhill pitched a complete game, two-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts and two walks, showcasing why she’s one of the top pitchers in the country (Her ERA is freaking 0.17).

The Texas A&M Aggies had to stay pace with Florida near the top of the standings with their win, and the Aggies did just that. A&M defeated Kentucky in Lexington 4-2 to move to 15-3 in conference play. Kaitlyn Alderink got things started by bringing Blake-Ann Fritsch home after reaching on a fielder’s choice in the second inning. In the next inning, Samantha Show hit a 2-run double that was followed up by an RBI single by Keeli Milligan. Their 4-0 lead would then be tested after UK scored once in the third and then one more time in the sixth, but the Ags were able to hold firm to that lead and come away with a win.

10th-ranked had to overcome a 2-0 deficit in the third inning to Mississippi State, but did so and then some. The Tigers won 4-2 over State on Friday night to earn themselves a big conference win. Carlee Wallace picked up her 42nd RBI of the season after drawing a bases loaded walk in the third inning. Victoria Draper, the team’s leading hitter, netted an RBI in the victory as well off a single in the fourth inning. The other runs would come on the heels of errors committed by State. One of the lone bright spots for the Bulldogs on Friday was Caroline Seitz, who hit her seventh home run of the year, a 2-run blast.

18th-ranked LSU had to also overcome a 2-0 deficit and skated by Mizzou 3-2 in the process. Sahvanna Jaquish hit a game-tying 2-run homer in the third inning and then Allie Walljasper put the Tigers ahead for good with a single. She helped her own cause as she was the one in the circle for LSU. She stood tall for all seven innings, allowing six hits, one earned run, struck out four and walked just one. Kolby Romaine and Braxton Burnside were the Mizzou hitters credited with driving in the first two runs of the game.

Finally, Georgia was unable to avoid the upset bug as South Carolina defeated the Bulldogs 7-5. A four-run fifth inning manufactured by the Gamecocks helped them pull ahead with some insurance tacked on in the sixth. Kaylea Snaer got things started with a 2-run double and then Alyssa VanDerveer put the other runs on the board with a 2-run single. The insurance was tacked on after Mackenzie Boesel reached on an error to score Kennedy Clark.

SEC softball action’s already under way. Arkansas currently leads Notre Dame in the first of two they’ll play today by the score of 3-0 in the bottom of the 1st as of writing.

We have quite a few doubleheaders today between Arkansas-ND, Alabama-Ole Miss and Missouri-LSU. The latter will be given to a broad audience Saturday night as the Tigers and Tigers face each other on ESPN2 and ESPN. SEC Network gets Texas A&M-Kentucky, which should prove to be a fun one between the fourth- and 19th-ranked teams in the country.

And, of course, Florida-Tennessee likely remains the best game of the day, and you’ll be able to find that at 2 p.m. on SEC Network+.