SEC Baseball Tournament Championship Game

Before the seventh largest crowd in championship game history the Mississippi State Bulldogs defeated the Vanderbilt Commodores by a score of 3-0. Led by tournament MVP Adam Fraizer the Bulldogs claimed their first SEC Tournament Championship since 2005. Frazier who finished the SEC Tournament with 12 hits scored the first run in the third inning on a wild pitch from Vanderbilt starter Tyler Beede. Frazier would also account for the second run of the game when he would walk with the bases loaded in the fourth.  Mississippi State Head Coach John Cohen becomes the first coach to win a SEC Tournament title as a player and a coach. He won it as a player in 1989.

SEC Baseball Tournament Day 5

Game 15 #4 Kentucky vs. #7 Mississippi State

The run for SEC Tournament Championship number seven continues for Mississippi State as they advanced to the championship game on Sunday with a 2-1 win over the Kentucky Wildcats. Adam Fraizer continues to lead the Bulldogs on offense picking up another two hits today to extend his tournament lead to 11. Frazier who singled in the third inning would score the go ahead run on a RBI single from Trey Porter. Mississippi State used four pitchers to hold the Wildcats to one run on nine hits with John Holder closing the door in the ninth for his second save of the Tournament. Mississippi State will play the winner of Florida-Vanderbilt on Sunday afternoon at 2:30. 

Game 16 #3 Florida vs. #5 Vanderbilt

The Vanderbilt Commodores trailing 4-3 going into the top of the ninth inning literally stole the game from the Florida Gators on Saturday evening. Vanderbilt won the game 8-6 scoring five runs in the top of the ninth. The Commodores tied a SEC Tournament record with 6 stolen bases in the top of the ninth including a triple steal with a steal of home.  Vanderbilt also had five hits to go with the six stolen bases.  The Gators would not go quietly scoring three times in the bottom of the ninth before Drew VerHagen would come in and get the one out save with the bases loaded to preserve the comeback win for the Commodores. Not to be lost in the Vanderbilt comeback was Florida’s Friday night pitching hero Brian Johnson. Johnson was 4-5 at the plate today with four runs batted in.

Championship Game Preview

The 2012 SEC Baseball Tournament Championship game will see two of the hottest teams in the nation playing for the title as the Mississippi State Bulldogs will play the Vanderbilt Commodores. The Bulldogs come in winners of seven of their last eight games while the Commodores are on an eight game winning streak. Vanderbilt will be looking for their second title in six years while Mississippi State will be looking for their first in 11 seasons.

SEC Baseball Tournament Day 4

Game 13 #1 LSU vs. #7 Mississippi State (Elimination Game 5)

For the second time in three days the Mississippi State Bulldogs defeated the top seeded LSU Tigers this time by a score of 4-3 in 10 innings. The Tigers started the scoring in this game in the top of the first inning when Ty Ross would single off the pitcher scoring two runs and giving LSU a 2-0 lead after one inning. The Tigers would add a third run in the top of the second inning when JaCoby Jones would score on a RBI ground out from Austin Nola. LSU would remain in control of the game until the eighth inning when the Bulldogs would start working on a comeback. A pair of walks to start the inning would prove costly for the Tigers as Mississippi State would finally get on the board when Hunter Renfroe would single up the middle scoring Adam Frazier. Adam Fraizer wasn’t done with his heroics as he would single in the bottom of the ninth scoring Matthew Britton who was pinch-running for Wes Rea who led off the inning with a double. A sacrifice fly from Luis Pollorena would tie the game at three sending the game into extra innings. The Bulldogs would complete their comeback in the tenth as Mitch Slaughter would double to with one out and score on a game winning single from Matthew Britton. The Bulldogs will play Kentucky on Saturday for a berth in the championship game on Sunday. LSU will go back to Baton Rouge to begin preparations for the NCAA tournament that will begin next weekend. 

Game 14 #2 South Carolina vs. #3 Florida (Elimination Game 6)

The Florida Gators would claim the final spot in the semi-finals with a convincing 7-2 win over the South Carolina Gamecocks. Gators starting pitcher Brian Johnson would go the distance allowing only five hits while striking out five. Mike Zunino led way on offense for Florida going 1-3 at the plate with that one hit being a two run home run down the left field line.  Chase Vergason was the lone bright spot for the Gamecocks going 2-3 with a pair of singles. The Gators will take a shot at payback against the Vanderbilt Commodores for the right to play for the SEC tournament championship. South Carolina will head back to Columbia to prepare for a shot at a third straight National Championship.

Semi-Final Games Preview

On Saturday for the first time the 2012 SEC Baseball Tournament semi-finals bracket will go from double-elimination to single-elimination. Game one of the day will have tournament Cinderella, the Mississippi State playing the Kentucky Wildcats. The Wildcats defeated the Bulldogs on Thursday by a score 5-1. Game two will also see a rematch as the Florida Gators will play the Vanderbilt Commodores. With a win on Saturday the Gators can advance to their second straight SEC tournament championship game, while the Commodores will be looking to advance to the championship game for the first time since 2009.

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.

SEC Baseball Tournament Day 2

Game 5: #6 Arkansas vs. #9 Ole Miss (Elimination Game 1)

Led by the dominate pitching of starter Mike Mayers, the Ole Miss Rebels eliminated the Arkansas Razorbacks today by a score of 2-0. Mayers went seven innings allowing five hits while striking out eight. The Rebels scored their first run of the tournament on a RBI ground out from Sikes Orvis. The Rebels will face the loser of the LSU-Mississippi State game, while the Razorbacks will return home to Fayetteville to await selection Monday.

Game 6: #1 LSU vs. #7 Mississippi State

The Mississippi State Bulldogs stepped forward as the 2012 SEC Tournament Cinderella in game two of the morning session defeating top seeded LSU by a score of 3-2. Mississippi State would start the scoring in the third inning scoring twice off LSU reliever Brent Bonvillain who came in to relieve LSU starter Aaron Nola to start the inning. LSU would tie the game on a Mason Katz two run single in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Bulldogs would take the lead again in the top of the sixth inning on a RBI single from DeMarcus Henderson.  Mississippi State relievers Caleb Reed and Jonathan Stratton would keep the Tigers in check the rest of the way. Mississippi State will play Kentucky on Thursday for the right to advance to Saturday for single elimination part of the tournament. LSU will play Ole Miss in the early game on Thursday in hopes to not become the latest number one seed to go 0-2 in the SEC Tournament. 

Game 7: #8 Georgia vs. #10 Auburn (Elimination Game 2)                                        

The Auburn Tigers avoided being the second team to go home from the SEC Tournament with a 3-2 win over rival Georgia. Auburn took the lead in the top of the first inning on a RBI single by Patrick Savage giving the Tigers a 1-0 lead. The Tigers would add to their lead in the top of the third inning scoring on a RBI ground out by Creede Simpson and a solo home run from Justin Bryant. Georgia would not go home quietly however as they would score twice in the bottom of the eighth inning on a pair of two out RBI base hits from pinch hitter Nelson Ward and Connor Welton. The Bulldogs would rally one more time in the bottom of the ninth loading the bases off Tigers reliever Justin Bryant, but were unable to score. The Auburn Tigers will face the loser of the Vanderbilt-South Carolina game at 4:30 on Thursday afternoon while the Georgia Bulldogs will await the fate of the NCAA Selection Committee.  

Game 8 #2 South Carolina vs. #5 Vanderbilt

The Vanderbilt Commodores sent the second seeded South Carolina Gamecocks into the loser’s bracket tonight with a 3-2 win. Trailing 2-0 after two innings the Commodores scored single runs in the fifth, sixth and eighth innings. Mike Yastrzemski gave the Commodores the lead in the eight with a RBI squeeze bunt scoring Vince Conde. The Gamecocks were lead on offense by Tanner English who finished the game 2-4 with 2 RBI’s. The Commodores will play Florida on Thursday evening while South Carolina will play the Auburn Tigers in a win or go home game on Thursday afternoon.

SEC Tournament Day 3 Preview:

Day 3 of the 2012 SEC tournament will see the top two seed both playing for their tournament lives. The top seeded LSU Tigers will start the day against the Ole Miss Rebels. The second seeded South Carolina Gamecocks will try and stave off elimination when they play home state team the Auburn Tigers in the first game of the evening session. Seventh seeded Mississippi State will look to continue their run of upsets as they will play fourth seeded Kentucky in the first winner’s bracket game. The last game of the day will see the Vanderbilt Commodores play Eastern division foe Florida for the right to advance to the tournament semi-finals on Saturday.