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SEC Baseball: Weekend Recap

By Ryan Sweigart

Mar 12, 2017; Nashville, TN, USA; SEC logo on the goal post inside Bridgestone Arena prior to the championship game of the SEC Conference Tournament between the Kentucky Wildcats and the Arkansas Razorbacks. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 12, 2017; Nashville, TN, USA; SEC logo on the goal post inside Bridgestone Arena prior to the championship game of the SEC Conference Tournament between the Kentucky Wildcats and the Arkansas Razorbacks. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports /
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As the regular season begins to wind down, SEC baseball programs are battling for not only the conference title, but for seeding position in the NCAA tournament as well. We take a look at the matchups on the diamond from this weekend around the league. (Rankings reflect Baseball America’s Top 25).

SEC EAST

No. 6 Kentucky (31-14, 14-7), one of the hottest teams in the conference, won another series this weekend, their third in a row. They took two-out-of-three from South Carolina (25-17, 10-11), including a 19-1 victory on Friday. With help from Tristan Pompey (3rd in SEC in batting avg.), the ‘Cats are averaging 9 runs per game in their last two SEC series’, while only allowing 3.5; not a bad formula for success.

The other ranked team in the East, the no. 11 Florida Gators (30-13, 13-8), swept Georgia (17-28, 5-16) over the weekend, also their third series win in a row. On Friday, the Bulldogs allowed the Gators to plate 3 runs in the top of the 9th, leading to a 6-4 victory for Florida. The Gators then went on to win the Saturday and Sunday games 6-3, and 4-3, respectively.

Kentucky maintains a slight lead over Florida in the SEC East, with three weekends to go. Next weekend the Wildcats welcome Georgia to Lexington, as Florida will host Ole Miss (27-17, 11-10).

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SEC WEST

In a marquee top 10 matchup, the no. 4 Auburn Tigers (32-14, 14-7) took the series from no. 9 Mississippi State (30-16, 14-7), without the conference leader in ERA, Casey Mize. The Tigers dropped the first game on Friday, before sweeping the Saturday double header. The series win for the Tigers puts Auburn and Mississippi State in a tie for the SEC West.

No. 18 Arkansas (34-12, 13-8), no. 15 LSU (30-15, 13-8), and no. 16 Texas A&M (32-13, 13-8) are all right behind Auburn and Mississippi State. Arkansas was unable to do much offensively, scoring just one run in each of the first two games against Ole Miss. They took game three 7-4, but dropped two of three. Arkansas has now lost two straight series.

LSU bounced back from a series loss to Kentucky last weekend, as they swept Alabama (15-29, 2-19). Alex Lange, the conference leader in strikeouts, continued to dominate, striking out 10 batters on Thursday night against the Tide. Lastly, Texas A&M didn’t give Mizzou much of a chance this weekend, sweeping the Tigers, and outscoring them 25-4 over three games.

It was a fun weekend on the diamond in the SEC, and only three regular season weekends remain. The conference tournament begins May 23rd, in Hoover, AL.

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