SEC Baseball Weekend Recap Week 3: Sweeps, Sweeps, Sweeps, Sweeps

Image: UT Athletics

By Jon Reed

Week 3 in the SEC was a weekend of sweeps.

The four first place teams coming into the weekend all got sweeps, with Tennessee, Texas and Arkansas all doing it on the road. That means that there is still a four-way tie between Arkansas, Georgia, Texas and Tennessee.

The Bulldogs and Longhorns matchup next weekend in Austin, while the Vols host the 1-8 Aggies and Arkansas travels to 0-9 Missouri.

Before we move on to what’s coming, let’s look back at what happened this past weekend.

Tennessee Sweeps at South Carolina

Brooms out.

The fall for South Carolina baseball has been going on for a while, but it’s still always jarring to see. This is a team we watched win two titles in a row in 2010 and 2011. They then finished as runner-up in 2012. Ray Tanner retired, and they haven’t been back to Omaha since.

And it doesn’t look like that’s changing this season.

The Vols jumped out to a 9-2 lead through the first 4.5 innings of the series and didn’t really look back. Tennessee won game 1 11-7, Game 2 7-5, and completed the sweep with a 7-2 win.

The Sunday freshman pitching duo of Tegan Kuhns and Brayden Krenzel combined for a complete game 2 run performance.

Arkansas Wins All 3 at VanderbiLLLt

The Razorbacks kicked Tim Corbin’s club’s ass all weekend.

Arkansas ace Zach Root threw a gem in Game 1, shutting out Vandy on the way to a 9-0 victory.  Game 2 went to extras, but Vandy’s defense couldn’t hold up as Arkansas manufactured 3 runs for the 6-4 win.

Game 3 looked like it may go the Commodores way as they led 3-2 going into the eighth inning.

They left the inning down 7-3. And lost by the same score.

After being outscored 22-7 over the course of the weekend, Vanderbilt is left feeling smackdab stuck in the middle of the back, well behind the top tier teams in the conference.

LSU Sweeps Mississippi State

Much like South Carolina and Vandy, Mississippi State also leaves the weekend feeling like some of their conference rivals have left them behind.

LSU gets back on track after losing last weekend in Austin by winning three different types of games. Game 1 saw them have to make a big comeback after falling behind 6-2 halfway through the game before they exploded with 5 in the bottom of the fifth on their way to an 8-6 win.

Game 2 was a 2-1 pitching duel that they came out on top in. Game 3 was a weekend-ruining 17-8 blowout as LSU scored 8 in the first inning and never really looked back. State went from feeling like they probably had chances to win either of the first two games to feeling like they didn’t belong on the same field with LSU by the end of Sunday.

The Bulldogs drop to 1-8 in conference while the Tigers improved to 7-2.  

Georgia Stays Hot in 3 Wins Over Auburn

The Bulldogs kept pace with the top of the conference by disposing of the Tigers in a two-day domination.

Friday’s game 1 saw Georgia keep Auburn scoreless until the ninth inning, where the Tigers were able to score their first and only run on the way to a 4-1 loss.

Saturday was a doubleheader. The good news is that Auburn scored a combined 13 runs on the day; the bad news is that Georgia scored 20. Game 2 was an 11-7 win where the Bulldogs scored 6 runs in the fifth and 4 in the sixth innings to take complete control.

Game 3 was an extra-innings heartbreaker. The Tigers tied the game in the ninth and then struck with a two-run HR courtesy of Bub Terrell. Unfortunately for Bub, Auburn’s defense fell apart in the tenth and Dan Jackson’s three-run walk-off HR put the bow on a five run explosion for a 9-6 sweep.

Ole Miss Wins Series Vs Florida

The Good: Florida is no longer winless in conference play.

The Bad: Florida still lost the series.

The Ugly: They are 1-8 in SEC play.

Ole Miss took game 1 7-5 without ever really being tested. Game 2 was full of fireworks as the Gators led 4-1 early before Ole Miss took a 5-4 lead. The Gators responded with 5 runs I in late innings and held a 9-5 lead going into the bottom of the eighth. The Rebels scored 2 in the eighth and walked it off with a sac fly to cap off a three-run frame for a 10-9 series-clinching win.

Florida got their first conference win later that night as they scored 5 runs in the top of the ninth inning to avoid the sweep by the score of 11-8.

Maybe that will be a turning point for their season.

Alabama Wins Series Against Oklahoma

This was our most competitive series of the weekend.

The Crimson Tide responded to the two straight Ls from Tennessee by winning Game 1 8-6 after scoring 3 in the bottom of the eighth. Carson Ozmer threw a scoreless ninth for the win.

Oklahoma returned the favor in Game 2 by scoring the winning runs in the ninth and doing just enough to slam the door shut, earning a 6-5 win.

The deciding rubber match saw Alabama lead 8-1 after just four innings. Oklahoma tried to chip away but couldn’t make up the distance, losing Game 3 and the series 8-6.

Kentucky Runs the Clock Out and Wins Series at Texas A&M

Things were bleak in College Station as Kentucky fell behind 7-1 in the top of the fourth inning as the series began. The vibes changed with A&M finally getting their offense going on the way to a 9-7 Game 1 victory.

Texas A&M finally got their first conference win.

The turnaround proved to be a mirage as the Aggies pitching staff got shellacked over the next 17 innings.

Kentucky scored 14 in Saturday’s Game 2 14-11 slugfest. The Wildcats took the lead in the top of the eighth thanks to a pair of home runs. They then followed it up on Sunday with 10 more runs in an eight-inning 10-5 series-clinching victory.

Tensions ran high at the end of Game 3 as Kentucky’s coach Nick Mingione brought the game to a screeching halt with multiple time killing moves to try to take advantage of the SEC’s curfew rules. The rule states that no new inning can start after 4:30 p.m. local time of the final game of a series on a Sunday. The clock struck, uhhhh midnight(?) for the Aggies in the eighth inning meaning that they did not get a chance to bat in the ninth.

I’m not sure it really mattered as the score was 10-5. Either way, the Aggies melted down, led by their new coach Michael Earley. Yesterday was the first time I ever saw what he looked like. It felt fitting that it was during a temper tantrum as his team fell to 1-8. It feels possible he may get fired before the end of the season.

Texas Sweeps Missouri in Columbia

Every week Missouri just makes me sad.

This is another one of those weeks. Texas run-ruled the Tigers with a 15-4 rout in Game 1. Game 2 was closer. . . but was still a 7-4 loss. Game 3 was a lifeless 7-1 stinker in which they recorded only two hits.

Thanks again for not hiring Tony Vitello.

Upcoming Weekend Schedule

Texas A&M (1-8) @ Tennessee (8-1)
Georgia (8-1) @ Texas (8-1)
LSU (7-2) @ Oklahoma (5-4)
Vanderbilt (4-5) @ Florida (1-8)
Ole Miss (6-3) @ Kentucky (4-5)
Alabama (6-3) @ Auburn (4-5)
Missouri (0-9) @ Arkansas (8-1)
South Carolina (1-8) @ Mississippi State (1-8)