SEC Baseball weekend recap

Alabama

Record: 7-1 / Weekend Record: 3-0

Friday: W vs. Wright State 8-4

Saturday: W vs. Wright State 8-7, W vs. Wright State 1-0

Alabama has still only been tagged once this season, as they sit 7-1 after a weekend’s sweep of Wright State. The Raiders played them close each time, but the Tide were able to net victories in all three games. ‘Bama walked off in the 11th inning in Saturday’s 8-7 win, off an RBI single by William Hamiter. Owen Diodati had a lengthy hit streak snapped in that 8-7 win as well, on a sourer note. Game 2’s 1-0 win was driven by a hit by Sam Praytor, and Dylan Smith struck out seven hitters, a career-best mark for the Tide hurler.

Arkansas

Record: 7-0 / Weekend Record: 4-0

Thursday: W vs. SEMO 6-5 (10)

Friday: W vs. SEMO 7-3

Saturday: W vs. SEMO 9-3

Sunday: W vs. SEMO 11-4 (5)

The now top-ranked Razorbacks swept Southeast Missouri State in their home opening series. Game one saw Razorbacks starter Caleb Borden only go .1 of a inning and allow three runs to the Redhawks offense. Patrick Wicklander came in and shut the door for four innings allowing the Razorbacks to stay in the game Christian Franklin and Brady Slavens’ made sure that effort didn’t go to waste as they each homered to cut the lead to one.

SEMO built the lead back up to three but Arkansas came back in the bottom of the ninth to tie it. Jalen Battles would then win it in the 10th on an infield single. Game 2 was another nail biter until the sixth. The Redhawks took a 2-0 lead in the 3rd only for Robert Moore to tie for Arkansas with a two run bomb. The Razorbacks broke through in the 6th, Cayden Wallace and Charlie Welch each added two run home runs of their own as the pitching staff kept the Redhawks at bay

Game 3 was an Arkansas rout. Immediately, the offense went to work putting up nine runs in the first four innings before coasting from there. Starting pitcher Peyton Pallete went five innings of three-hit ball and managed to fan eight SEMO hitters. Christian Franklin belted his third home run of the season and third of the series as he led the way for Arkansas with three RBI and four hits.

Game four was almost the same thing as the rain limited this game to only five innings. By the end of the fourth, Arkansas beat their previous day’s run total of nine by two going up 11-3 before SEMO added a run before the game was called. Cayden Wallace went deep for the second day in a row and Brady Slavens’ followed him up with his second bomb of the series to put the Hogs up right away. Matt Goodheart added another home run of his own in the six run fourth inning to put the game away. The Razorback offense was balanced as eight different hitters picked up base hits and six batters were able to drive runs in. The Razorbacks will look to continue their dominant start next weekend against Murray State.

Auburn

Record: 6-2 / Weekend Record: 1-2

Friday: L vs. Oklahoma 4-3

Saturday: L vs. Baylor 12-6

Sunday: W vs. Texas A&M 6-1

It was a rough weekend at the Round Rock Classic for the Tigers. A 1-2 performance against top tier competition after a breeze of a 5-0 start to the season. Tyler Miller had a phenomenal weekend with seven hits with one home run and four RBI. Auburn will try to get back on track on Tuesday against Jacksonville State.

Florida

Friday: W vs. Samford 8-4

Saturday: W vs. Samford 18-2

Sunday: W vs. Samford 10-2

The Gators kept rolling along with a sweep against Sanford over the weekend. Tommy Mace recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts in Friday night’s win, allowing just three hits over his six innings of work. All eight of Florida’s runs came in innings 2-5, as seven different Gators recorded RBIs, with Jordan Carrion plating two.Saturday’s game turned into a rout in a hurry, as the Gators turned a 4-2 sixth inning lead to a 17-2 lead by the end of the seventh. Freshman Nathan Hickey had six RBIs in the game, including a grand slam in the sixth to really open the floodgates for the Gators. Starting pitcher Jack Leftwich struck out six over 5.2 innings of work.Sunday’s game was far more of a back-and-forth affair, as Florida needed a walk-off single from Jacob Young to clinch the series sweep. Young had four hits in Sunday’s game, and pushed his hitting streak to 26 games, the first Gator to record a hit in 26 straight games since Brad Wilkerson in 1997.

Georgia

Record: 7-1 / Weekend Record: 3-0

Saturday: W 3-2 vs. Gardner-Webb, W vs. Gardner-Webb 5-1

Sunday: 17-3 W vs. Gardner-Webb

The Bulldogs extended their winning streak to seven games after the season opening loss to Evansville. This was a team effort all weekend for the Bulldogs, but two eye-opening performances at the plate on Sunday from Connor Tate and Garrett Blaylock led to a 17-run outburst.

Tate went 5-5 with five RBI while Blaylock added two hits, both home runs, and six RBI. They travel to Kennesaw State Tuesday before North Florida comes to visit Athens over the weekend.

Kentucky

Friday: W vs. Milwaukee 10-0

Saturday: W vs. Milwaukee 9-3, W vs. Milwaukee 4-2

The Wildcats made short work of the Panthers, breaking out for 10 runs in the first game of the series Friday night as Reuben Church drove in four on two hits and a sac fly.. Kentucky’s three pitchers combined for ten strikeouts, one walk, and seven hits allowed in the dominating performance.Saturday saw the teams meet for a doubleheader, and it was more of the same. John Rhodes got the Wildcats going with a three-run home run in the first inning, and Kentucky keep peppering on more runs as the game went on. Starting pitcher Zach Lee had seven strikeouts in 5.2 innings of workKentucky closed out the doubleheader with a tidy 4-2 victory. Church continued his strong series with a solo home run, and Mason Hazelwood struck out six over four innings of work.

LSU

Friday: Win vs. Youngstown State 6-2

Saturday: W vs. Youngstown State 5-3, W vs. Nicholls 14-0

LSU had the longball working for them in Friday’s win, as Cade Doughty, Cade Beloso, Zach Arnold, and Gavin Dugas each connected with home runs. This was more than enough for Jaden Hill, who threw six innings of one-hit baseball, striking out four and allowing no walks.The big story of Saturday’s game against Youngstown State was also the home run, except this time it was just one in particular. Cade Doughty hit a two-run walk-off homer to seal the game for the Tigers and lead them into the nightcap against Nicholls, which ended up being a romp. LSU won that one 14-0, as the Tigers socked four more home runs and Landon Marceaux notched ten strikeouts in six innings of work

Missouri

Record: 3-5 / Weekend Record: 2-2

Friday: W vs. Omaha 12-10

Saturday: L vs. Omaha 17-11, W vs.. Omaha 10-1

Sunday: L vs. Omaha 9-3

Aye-yi-yi, not a good start to the season for the Tigers. They are now 3-5 after splitting a home series with the Mavericks. The alarming thing is the pitching. Frankly, it got shellacked.

Mark Vierling and Joshua Day both had good weekends, with Day racking up five hits and four RBIs while scoring four runs. Vierling cranked his first home run while also collecting five hits. Vierling added six RBIs.

It doesn’t get any easier for Mizzou, heading down to the Frisco College Classic this weekend to face Dallas Baptist twice, Oklahoma, and Arizona. The SEC is a gauntlet every year, and right now it looks like the Tigers may be in for a rough campaign.

Ole Miss

Record: 5-2 / Weekend Record: 1-2

Friday: L vs. UCF 3-2

Saturday: W vs. UCF 6-5, L vs. UCF 7-2

The fourth-ranked Rebels dropped their home opening series to Central Florida. A 4-0 start that included wins over three ranked teams has kept this team high in the rankings despite the disappointment in Oxford over the weekend. Friday night the Rebels appeared to be in good hands as starter Doug Nikhazy went 6.1 innings with nine strikeouts and limited UCF to two runs. However the Rebel offense fell silent to Knights starter Colton Gordon who got the win as they took game one. Game two involved another Ole Miss starter performing extremely well.

Gunnar Hogland took the mound for the Rebels and finished with seven innings including ten strikeouts and matching Nikhazy in only allowing two runs. After he was pulled the Knights offense went to work. A couple long balls saw the Rebels go from up 3-2 to down 5-3. The Rebels battled back though. Trey Lafleur went deep to cut the lead in half and the game was eventually won on a Tim Elko single into right and the series was tied. Game of the series was all UCF. The Knights were up 4-0 in the 6th before a Justin Bench home run as the Rebels tried getting back in it. Unfortunately for the Rebels they couldn’t limit the UCF offense and lost the series.

Mississippi State Bulldogs

Record: 5-2 / Weekend Record: 2-1

Friday: L vs. Tulane 7-3

Saturday: W vs. Tulane 9-5

Sunday: W vs. Tulane 5-4

The Bulldogs opened their home slate with a weekend series against the Tulane Green Wave. Mississippi State, now ranked 3rd in the country, was able to take the series but it was closer than some thought. Game 1 went to the Green Wave in dominant fashion. After the Bulldogs were able to put one run up in their half of the first the Green Wave scored six unanswered runs. Tulane starter Braden Olthoff went 8.0 innings only allowing two runs. The Mississippi State defense was extremely porous committing four errors. Of the seven runs allowed by the Bulldogs only two were earned. Game 2 was a back and forth battle that came down to the last at bat. Down 5-3 entering the bottom of the 9th, the Bulldogs got some guys on base for cleanup hitter Logan Tanner.

Tanner came through with a game tying single. A little later in the 9th Luke Hancock ended things with a grand slam to even the series. Landon Sims came on in relief to be the pitching star of the day. Sims struck out ten Tulane hitters in just 3.2 innings to keep the game in reach for the Bulldogs in the middle innings. Keeping in line with this series Tulane made things as hard as possible for the Bulldogs.

Skipping once again in the 9th inning, down 4-3, Tulane catcher Luis Aviles launched a two-run shot to give the Green Wave a 5-4 lead. It was the third home run of the game for Tulane. Once again it came down to the final at-bat for the Bulldogs and once again they came through. With two outs and runners on 2nd and 3rd, Tanner Allen came through with a single into center, scoring both and winning the game and series for the Bulldogs. Now for Mississippi State they hope for much easier games as they have a midweek game against Southern Miss before a weekend series with Tennessee Tech.

South Carolina Gamecocks

Record: 6-0 / Weekend Record: 2-0

Saturday: W vs. Clemson, 3-2

Sunday: W vs. Clemson, 8-7

South Carolina took two from rival Clemson over the weekend. The Gamecocks won 3-2 on Saturday and then 8-7 on Sunday, sending their rivals home unhappy. Andrew Eyster hit two walk-offs in the series; Saturday’s a walk-off double, Sunday’s a walk-off single. But Eysters dramatics were not enough to take attention away from Wes Clarke. Clarke picked up Co-Player of the Week honors again, as he hit two bombs in the Sunday victory. Clarke hit five homers throughout the week, as he’s gotten of to a white-hot start at the dish.

Texas A&M

Friday: W vs. Baylor 12-4

Saturday: W vs. Oklahoma 8-1

Sunday: L vs. Auburn 6-1

The Round Rock Classic went fairly well for A&M, as they opened the festivities with a 12-4 win over Baylor. Three different Aggies, Will Frizzell, Zane Schmidt, and Kalae Harrison each drove in two runs and starting pitcher Dustin Saenz struck out six over 5.2 innings of work.Saturday was even easier for the Aggies, as they plated seven runs in the bottom of the first inning and cruised along to the 8-1 win.

Five Aggies recorded at least one RBI, and starting pitcher Bryce Miller struck out five over five innings in the winning effortSunday saw A&M’s fortunes sour, though, as Auburn handed the Aggies a 6-1 loss. Auburn combined to score four runs in the seventh and eighth innings, making the final score not necessarily reflective of what was a fairly close game for most of the afternoon. Jonathan Childress pitched well, lasting six innings and allowing four hits and a run.

Tennessee

Record: 7-2 / Weekend Record: 2-2

Friday: W vs. Indiana State 4-3

Saturday: L vs. Indiana State 3-1, L vs. Indiana State 7-5

Sunday: W vs. Indiana State 6-5 (11 inn.)

Tennessee was tripped up slightly over the weekend, splitting a series with Indiana State. The Vols, 7-2 on the season, lost both legs of a Saturday doubleheader, but sandwiched those losses with wins on Friday and Sunday. Sunday’s win was a walk-off in 11 innings, when Jake Rucker reached base on a fielder’s choice. An error led to Luc Lipcius racing in to score the game-winning run to salvage the series. Jordan Beck cranked a home run in the first game of the series, their 4-3 win over the Sycamores.

Vanderbilt

Record: 6-1 / Weekend Record: 3-1

Friday: L vs. Georgia State 4-2

Saturday: W vs. Georgia State 5-4

Sunday: W vs. Georgia State 17-6, W vs. Georgia State 12-2

Vandy took three of four from Georgia State, extending their record out to 6-1 through their first seven games of action. After eating a 4-2 defeat to the Panthers on Friday, they won Saturday and capped the series off with a doubleheader sweep on Sunday. They outscored their adversaries 29-8 in the final two games, this after edging them 5-4 on Saturday. Dominic Keegan stood out, earning Co-Player of the Week honors after his impressive showings. Keegan scattered eight RBI through the doubleheader on Sunday, shining as the driving force for their victories.