SEC Baseball Tournament Day 1

Game 1: #4 Kentucky vs. #9 Ole Miss

In the opening game of the 2012 SEC baseball tournament the Kentucky Wildcats defeated the Ole Miss Rebels by a score of 2-0. The Wildcats were lead at the plate and on the mound by A.J. Reed. Reed struck out 3 over five and two-thirds innings and hit a solo home run in the 4^th inning. Reed would finish the game going 4-4 at the plate. Ole Miss pitcher Bobby Wahl did all he could do to keep the Rebels in the game and despite getting 7 hits including a 4-4 day by Matt Snyder the Rebels were unable to score. The Wildcats will play tomorrow afternoon, while the Rebels will play the early game again tomorrow for their tournament lives. 

Game 2: #6 Arkansas vs. #7 Mississippi State

Game 2 of the tournament saw the seventh seeded Mississippi State Bulldogs upset the sixth seeded Arkansas Razorbacks by a final score of 9-1. The Bulldogs took the lead early in the game when Wes Rea hit a three run home run over the left field wall. Arkansas would get on the board in the sixth inning when Matt Vinson would single in Bo Bigham. Mississippi State would put the game away in the top of the ninth inning scoring six runs on only 3 hits in the inning. Mississippi State will face tournament top seed LSU on Wednesday afternoon. Arkansas will play Ole Miss on Wednesday morning in the first elimination game of the tournament.

Game 3: #3 Florida vs. #10 Auburn

The first game of the evening session saw Auburn and Florida playing their fourth straight game after finish the regular season against each other. Just like over the weekend the Gators were too much for the Tigers winning by a final score of 6-1. The Gators were led by on offense by Justin Shafer who was 2-4 in the game with 3 RBI’s. Gators starting pitcher Jonathon Crawford kept the Tigers offense in check allowing only one unearned run in five and two-thirds inning while striking out a career high nine batters. The Gators will await the winner of the Wednesday’s winners bracket game between South Carolina and either Vanderbilt or Georgia. Auburn will play Wednesday afternoon in the second elimination game against the loser of the Vanderbilt-Georgia game. 

Game 4: #5 Vanderbilt vs. #8 Georgia

In the last game of day one the Vanderbilt Commodores defeated the Georgia Bulldogs by a score of 4-1. The Commodores where led offensively by Spencer Navin who had two hits on the evening including a two run single in the third inning that gave the Commodores the lead. The Bulldogs were first on the board when Levin Hyams scored on a RBI ground out by Colby May in the second inning. That would be all the Bulldogs would score as Commodores starting pitcher Drew VerHagen and the Vanderbilt bullpen would keep Georgia off the scoreboard. Vanderbilt will play Wednesday night against South Carolina in the winner’s bracket game, while Georgia will face rival Auburn in an elimination game.

Day 2 Preview:

Day two of the tournament will start with the first elimination game as the Arkansas Razorbacks will look to eliminate divisional foe the Ole Miss Rebels. Game two the day will see the top seeded LSU Tigers playing Mississippi State for the right to play the Kentucky Wildcats on Thursday. The evening session will start off with Georgia and Auburn playing for the right to stay alive in the tournament. The final game of day two will have second seeding South Carolina looking to get regular season revenge against the Vanderbilt Commodores.