SEC Baseball Tournament Day 3

Game 9: #1 LSU vs. #9 Ole Miss (Elimination Game 3)

Behind the strong pitching of Kevin Gausman, the LSU Tigers avoided being the latest top seed to go two games and done at the SEC Tournament with a lopsided 11-2 win over the Ole Miss Rebels. The Tigers pounded out a tournament high 17 hits including seven in the eighth inning. Leading 4-2 going into the eighth inning the Tigers blew the game wide open scoring seven runs over the next two innings.  Austin Bousfield was the lone bright spot for the Rebels offense going 3-4 with two doubles. The LSU Tigers will play the loser of Kentucky-Mississippi State while Ole Miss will begin preparations for the NCAA Tournament next week.

Game 10: #4 Kentucky vs. #7 Mississippi State

The Kentucky Wildcats are the first team to advance to the SEC Tournament semi-finals with a 5-1 win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs.  Wildcats starting pitcher Jerad Grundy held the Bulldogs offense in check allowing one run on four hits while striking out nine in six innings pitched. Kentucky was led on offense by third baseman Thomas McCarthy who was 4-5 on the day with three runs scored. The win was a bit of revenge for the Wildcats who were swept last weekend by Mississippi State preventing them from winning the SEC regular season. The Bulldogs scored the first run of the game when Adam Fraizer scored on a RBI single from Trey Porter. Kentucky would take the lead in the third inning when Luke Maile scored on a sacrifice fly from J.T. Riddle. Kentucky will await the winner of the elimination game between LSU and Mississippi State on Friday. 

Game 11: #2 South Carolina vs. #10 Auburn (Elimination Game 4)

In the first game of the Thursday evening session the South Carolina Gamecocks eliminated the Auburn Tigers by a score of 5-3. The Gamecocks would pound out 13 hits in route to the win lead by Adam Matthews who was 3-4 with 2 RBI’s and a run scored. South Carolina starting pitcher Michael Roth would keep the Tigers in check allowing only two runs on seven hits while striking out five. The Gamecocks will play the loser of Florida-Vanderbilt while the Auburn heads home to wait on the selection show on Monday. 

Game 12: #3 Florida vs. #5 Vanderbilt

The Vanderbilt Commodores claimed the second spot in the SEC Baseball Tournament semi-finals with a 2-1 win over the Florida Gators. The Commodores were led by starting pitcher Sam Selman who held the Gators too only two hits in six innings while striking out seven. Vanderbilt would score first, when designated hitter Riley Reynolds would triple to right centerfield scoring a pair of Commodore’s. Florida would cut the lead in half on a sacrifice fly from Preston Tucker in the top of the seventh inning.  Vanderbilt will await the winner of the Florida-South Carolina game tomorrow afternoon. 

Day 4 Preview

Day four of the SEC Tournament will see a pair of elimination games, as the teams try to advance to semi-finals on Saturday. Game one will have a pair of Western Division teams playing as the LSU Tigers will try to avenge an earlier tournament loss to the hands of Mississippi State. The final game of the day will see Eastern Division rivals the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Florida Gators play for the final spot in the semi-finals.