SEC Baseball Weekend Recap

Let’s take a look see at what happened this weekend on the diamond.

ARKANSAS SWEEPS MISSISSIPPI STATE

The biggest event of the weekend came in the form of a big sweep of the Mississippi State Bulldogs. The Arkansas Razorbacks were the ones doing the sweeping, as the 10th-ranked Hogs scored a major series win over the 2nd-ranked Bulldogs. The biggest star of the series was Casey Martin. Martin, who was named the SEC Player of the Week, picked up five hits and six RBI in the series. One of those hits was a grand slam on Friday night.

GEORGIA, TENNESSEE AND VANDY COLLECT SWEEPS AS WELL

Arkansas wasn’t the only team to pull off a sweep this weekend. Three other clubs flexed their muscles and dominated their opponents. Those three teams were the Georgia Bulldogs, Tennessee Volunteers and Vanderbilt Commodores.

Georgia uprooted Mizzou and pushed their win streak up to five games in the process. They outscored the Tigers 12-4 in the series, including a 3-0 shutout on Thursday evening. SEC Pitcher of the Week Emerson Hancock twirled an 8-inning gem on Thursday, striking out 11 Mizzou batters with no walks and just three hits allowed. LJ Talley and Tucker Maxwell each went deep once during the series.

Tennessee, meanwhile, swept Kentucky and achieved a milestone in the process. Before this weekend, the Volunteers had not racked up a sweep on the road since 2010. So this sweep of UK ended a long, nine-year drought in that department. They outscored the Wildcats 28-5, including a 16-1 rout on Friday. They brought out the lumber, as Pete Derkay, Alerick Soularie and Andre Lipcius all hit homers in the series. The pitching was pretty strong, as well. Garrett Stallings had the best outing of any Vol starter, as he struck out eight and walked none in a seven-inning performance in Friday’s blowout win.

Vandy, meanwhile, cruised to a sweep of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. The Commodores outscored the Crimson Tide 22-9 in the series, including a 13-5 win on Saturday and a 2-0 victory on Sunday to cap things off. JJ Bleday had a ridiculous series. He hit four homers over the three-game period, including two in the win on Saturday. He’s now up to 20 on the season after his awesome weekend at the dish.

AUBURN, LSU, TEXAS A&M EARN SERIES WINS

Lastly, the Auburn Tigers, LSU Tigers and Texas A&M Aggies were all winners over the weekend. Each team picked up series wins against Ole Miss, Florida and South Carolina respectively. Cole Henry stood out for LSU, as the SEC Co-Freshman of the Week (with Arkansas’ Connor Noland) struck out 12 win 5.1 innings on Friday against Florida.

LSU and A&M’s series wins, coupled with Mississippi State’s shortcomings, have brought them each above them in the standings. A&M is now 2nd in the SEC West while LSU is 3rd. Auburn, meanwhile, has worked their way into a 3-way tie for 4th with both Mississippi programs. Ole Miss obviously dropped to that spot after falling to Auburn, and meanwhile, Florida and South Carolina are now 5th and 6th in the SEC East. Both have sub-.500 records, with South Carolina nearly bottoming out at 5-13. They are just one game off last place, a spot held by Kentucky, who sits at 4-13.