TEXAS A&M 7, GEORGIA 0

-- by Jess Leslie (@jessbleslie)

The Texas A&M Aggies began the day with a 7-0 victory over the Georgia Bulldogs. The victory advances A&M in the bracket to face either the Auburn Tigers or the Ole Miss Rebels.

The Aggies never fell behind in this one. It took three innings and a rain delay, but the A&M bats eventually warmed up. In the top of the 4th, Logan Foster delivered an RBI single that scored Chris Andritsos to give the Aggies a 1-0 lead. Allonte Wingate was the next man up, and he cranked out another RBI single that brought Hunter Coleman home for the score.

The lead remained 2-0 in favor of A&M until the 7th inning. That’s when Andritsos opened things up with a three-run home run. Fast forward to the 9th, when Andritsos hit his second dinger of the game to give the Aggies a comfortable 6-0 lead. Their final run came on another RBI single from Wingate, which brought Foster home for the score.

Chris Andritsos had a career day, going 3-for-5 with four RBI. Freshman pitcher Asa Lacy earned the win after six solid innings of work. He struck out eight batters, gave up just three hits and allowed zero runs on the day.

AUBURN 9, OLE MISS 3

-- by Erik Mauro (@mauro_erik)

Pitching has carried Auburn all year, and Wednesday was no different. Freshman Tanner Burns worked into the eighth inning against Ole Miss, keeping Auburn in it long enough for the bats to come around. They did just that, putting up nine runs in the final three innings, as they picked up a 9-3 victory.

The Rebels struck first in the third inning, as Ryan Olenek hit a groundball to short, leading to an errant that gave the Rebs a 2-0 lead. The score would stay that way until the top of the 7th. Back-to-back one out singles and a walk loaded the bases. Conor Davis tied the game with a double, and the go-ahead run scored on a passed ball, giving the Tigers a 3-2 lead, a lead they would not relinquish.

The Tigers would tack on two more in the 8th and the final nail in the coffin was a grand slam from Super Freshman Edouard Julien. Julien now has 15 dingers on the season.

The Tigers now go on to face Texas A&M on Thursday. A&M is just as hot as the Tigers are, having defeated Georgia in the first game Wednesday. First pitch is set for approximately 5:30.

FLORIDA 4, LSU 3

-- by Robert O’Neill (@RobertONeill31)

The top-seeded Gators opened their SEC Tournament with a one-run victory over the LSU Tigers in Hoover. Ma’Khail Hilliard surrendered all four runs, giving up seven hits and walking three in four and two thirds innings of work.

LSU tagged Tommy Mace for three runs in the first three innings, but the Florida starter settled in after, lasting seven innings in the winning effort. Florida’s big inning came in the third when they tied the game with three runs, as they took advantage of an inning opening walk and single to get the runners in.

Austin Langworthy provided the final blow with an RBI single in the fifth inning.

LSU will drop to the consolation bracket to face the loser of the Arkansas/South Carolina game. Florida, meanwhile, will face the winner of that game.

ARKANSAS 13, SOUTH CAROLINA 8

-- by Zach Remelius (@psychoZ_50)

A slugfest went to the Arkansas Razorbacks, as they defeated the South Carolina Gamecocks 13-8 in Hoover, Alabama to send the Gamecocks to the losers bracket.

Arkansas got their scoring started early in the bottom of the 1st. Gamecock starter Logan Chapman got two quick outs but then walked Heston Kjerstad and Luke Bonfield. Then he fell behind in the count 3-1 to Razorback center fielder Dominic Fletcher, who proceeded to put the 3-1 offering over the fence for a three-run homer. The bottom of the 2nd wasn’t any better for Chapman, as after a walk and two singles, another run came across for the Razorbacks and his day was done after pitching just 1.1 innings. He allowed six earned runs, as TJ Shook allowed the two baserunners to score on a sac fly and another single.

South Carolina tried to start a rally later on. Jacob Olson got on after an error by Arkansas starter Kacey Murphy and a wild pitch got him to third. An error by Arkansas third baseman Casey Martin gave an RBI to Matt Williams but that was all the Gamecocks would muster. Hunter Lomas, who came in for Shook the previous inning, would allow two runs in the bottom of the 3rd off a single by Jack Kenley and a sac fly by Carson Shaddy.

Another two runs in the bottom of the fourth, and it looked like this game might end early as the Razorbacks were up 10-1 and just needed one more to hold down the Gamecocks until 7th. That didn’t happen though, as South Carolina made things interesting in the top of the 6th, putting up a 5-spot, with shortstop LT Tolbert providing the big blow as he hit a grand slam to right to cut the score to 10-6. That was the closest the Gamecocks would get though as Arkansas tacked on three more runs to extend their lead back to seven. Two runs in the top of the 9th weren’t enough for South Carolina, and the game ended on a nicely turned double play by Arkansas.

Arkansas will play Florida Thursday night in the winners bracket, the two teams played back in late March with Florida winning 2 of three. South Carolina’s tourney run isn’t over yet, as the go on to play LSU in the losers bracket, a team they swept a month ago.