FROM CBB NEWS SOURCES
Alabama 10 Vanderbilt 3
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Junior right-hander Robert Phares, making his first career Southeastern Conference start, turned in a dazzling performance Sunday afternoon, pitching the University of Alabama baseball team to a 10-3 series-clinching win over No. 4 Vanderbilt at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
After allowing a two-out home run in the first inning to shortstop Ryan Flaherty, Phares retired the next 13 Commodore batters en route to his first collegiate win. The Tuscaloosa native and product of Shelton State Community College faced one over the minimum through six innings as the Tide won its first SEC series of the season.
Alabama improved to 11-11 overall and 2-4 in SEC play and moved to within one game of first place in the SEC Western Division. Vanderbilt fell to 14-6 overall and 3-3 in league play with their first two-game losing streak of the season. The Tide snapped Vandy’s streak of nine straight SEC series wins dating back to last season. The Commodores have won 10 of 12 SEC series over the last two years.
South Carolina 10 Mississippi State 3
Columbia, S.C. – Blake Cooper worked a season-high eight innings and Phil Disher tallied a grand slam home run in the third inning as South Carolina defeated Mississippi State 10-3 to sweep a three-game SEC baseball series. The Gamecocks improve to 15-5 and 4-2 in the SEC while the loss drops Mississippi State to 9-12 and 1-5 in the conference. Carolina returns to action on Tuesday night hosting Furman with first pitch set for 7 pm at Sarge Frye Field.
Cooper limited the Bulldogs to three runs on 10 hits while striking out three and walking two to pick up the win. He is 3-2 on the year. Craig Thomas pitched a perfect ninth inning and struck out a pair of batters to close out the game for Carolina. Mississippi State starter Ricky Bowen suffered the loss and is 2-3 on the year. He went four innings and allowed eight runs on eight hits with two strikeouts and three walks.
South Carolina Recap
MSU Recap
Kentucky 9 Auburn 8
AUBURN, Ala. — After watching a seven-run lead evaporate in the late innings, the No. 2 Kentucky baseball team got timely pitching and key defensive plays late in the game, holding on and secure a series-salvaging win, 9-8, over the Auburn Tigers, on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in front of 2,030 fans at Plainsman Park.
Kentucky (20-2, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) owned a seven-run lead entering the seventh inning, but saw the Tigers put up five runs in the seventh and one run in the eighth to make the conclusion of the game dramatic. With the win, UK continues its streak of not getting swept in an SEC series since 2005, one of only two league schools to do so.
Florida 10 Ole Miss 2
Oxford, MS – Florida freshman right-hander Tommy Toledo (Tampa, Fla.) (4-0) limited eighth-ranked Ole Miss (15-8/3-3 SEC) to one run over a career-high seven innings and the Gator offense used a four-run second inning and a three-run homer by freshman Josh Adams (Jacksonville, Fla.) in the fifth to post a 10-2 victory on Sunday afternoon in the rubber game of the weekend series at Oxford-University Stadium at Swayze Field. Head coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s squad bounced back from a heartbreaking 5-4 setback on Friday night to take the final two contests from UM.
Florida (17-4/5-1 SEC) had not won a series in Oxford since taking two of three games over March 28-30, 1997, and has now captured its first two SEC series for the first time since 2004 and just the third time since the 1994 campaign. Toledo permitted six hits in working at least five innings for the fifth-straight start and lowered his earned run average to 1.93. The Orange and Blue banged out 14 hits, as senior Brandon McArthur (Seffner, Fla.) went 3-for-4 and scored twice and the quartet of Adams, sophomore Cole Figueroa (Tallahassee, Fla.), sophomore Buddy Munroe (Miami, Fla.) and senior Jon Townsend (London, Ky.) chipped in with two hits apiece.
LSU 4 Arkansas 2
BATON ROUGE — A strong performance by starting pitcher Ryan Verdugo helped LSU (14-7, 2-4 SEC) earn a 4-2 victory over Arkansas Sunday in Alex Box Stadium. The win gave the Tigers a 2-1 series victory over the Razorbacks and moved LSU into a tie for second place in the SEC Western Division, just one game behind Ole Miss.
Verdugo (4-1), a junior left-hander, worked seven innings, allowing just one run on three hits with five strikeouts.
Third baseman Michael Hollander led the way at the plate for the Tigers with three hits, a run and an RBI. Freshman DJ LeMahieu had two hits, one run and one RBI.
Tennessee 4 Georgia 3
ATHENS, Ga. – The Tennessee baseball team salvaged its weekend series at Georgia Sunday by battling its way to a 4-3 extra-inning win over Georgia at Foley Field. Senior Andy Simunic scored the winning run on an infield error in the top of the 10th, and junior pitcher Aaron Everett worked a pair of masterful innings out of the UT bullpen as the Volunteers improved to 14-7 (4-2 SEC) on the year.
Everett ran his season record to 2-2 and brought a halt to the Bulldogs’ six-game win streak by sitting down all six batters he faced through the final two innings, with three strikeouts. Vols sophomore Yan Gomes enjoyed a 3-for-5 day at the plate with a run and two RBI.
