Rich Poythress hit two homeruns to lead #1 Georgia to victory over Tennessee. (AP Photo)
Here is your SEC recap for Saturday, March 28. Arkansas and Mississippi State resumed their suspended game from Friday night, but they were unable to play the regularly scheduled Saturday contest due to field conditions. All of the other games in the conference proceeded as planned.
#1 Georgia 11, Tennessee 9
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.—–Rich Poythress hit two home runs for the second straight game and Georgia clinched its first series win at Tennessee since 2001 with an 11-9 victory over the Vols Saturday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Poythress, who went 4-for-4 with two home runs and two doubles on Friday, went 2-3 Saturday with two homers, two walks, five RBI and three runs. He has five home runs in the last three games and has hit safely in the last 14 games. The Grovetown, Ga., native is batting .462 this season and has 13 home runs and 46 RBI. In 10 plate appearances against Tennessee this weekend, Poythress has four home runs, two doubles and three walks. He has reached in 13 of his last 15 plate appearances with five home runs and 13 RBI.
Georgia led 11-3 late, but Tennessee scored six runs in the eighth and had the tying run on in the ninth, but the Bulldogs held on for their sixth straight SEC win.
#7 LSU 6, #14 Ole Miss 5
BATON ROUGE — LSU starter Louis Coleman’s career-high 10 strikeouts and designated hitter Blake Dean’s four RBI led second-ranked LSU to a 6-5 victory over No. 11 Ole Miss on a chilly Saturday afternoon in Alex Box Stadium.
The Tigers (20-6, 5-3) will go for their seventh straight SEC series victory, dating back to last season, in the series finale Sunday at 1 p.m. The Rebels (16-7, 5-3) look to capture their third straight SEC series win of the season.
Coleman (6-1) threw a brilliant seven innings allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits while striking out ten. Coleman leads the SEC in wins with six.
#16 Arkansas 20, Mississippi State 9 (Resumption of Suspended Game)
FAYETTEVILLE – The No. 9 Arkansas baseball team completed its suspended game with Mississippi State from Friday night on Saturday and continued where it left off with hits in bunches and a lopsided 20-9 final score. Field conditions and dropping temperatures halted play after game one was complete and the two sides will meet on Sunday afternoon beginning at noon for a doubleheader.
Arkansas (18-4, 7-0 SEC) remains undefeated in conference play and tallied 20 runs against an SEC opponent for the first time since March 17, 2001, when it defeated Georgia in Fayetteville 20-3. Mississippi State (14-11, 2-5 SEC) came storming back with six runs on five hits in the ninth inning but their deficit was too large to overcome.
#23 Florida 9, #27 Alabama 8
Florida freshman Daniel Pigott’s (Ormond Beach, Fla.) drag bunt single with two down in the bottom of the ninth scored classmate Jerico Weitzel (Ridgway, Pa.) from third base with the winning run as the No. 23 Gators (17-8/5-3 SEC) capped off a remarkable comeback to post an 9-8 triumph over Alabama (16-9/3-5 SEC) on Saturday afternoon at McKethan Stadium in front of 3,173 stunned fans. After trailing 7-0 in the seventh and 8-2 entering the final frame, UF sent 11 batters to the plate and scored five runs with two outs to clinch the series victory in dramatic fashion. Florida tallied seven runs on five hits and capitalized on three Tide errors in the decisive stanza.
South Carolina 20, Kentucky 19
Lexington, Ky. – It was wild and crazy in the series opener at Cliff Hagan Stadium as South Carolina jumped out to a double-digit lead behind a season-high 25 hits and held off a late Kentucky rally to hold on for a 20-19 victory in game one of a doubleheader. The nightcap for the doubleheader is set for 5 p.m. The win bumps up Carolina’s record to 17-6 and 3-4 in the SEC while the loss drops Kentucky to 15-8 and 3-4 in league play.
South Carolina’s 25 hits ties for the fifth highest total in a game under head coach Ray Tanner and is the most since Carolina recorded 25 at Mississippi State on March 23, 2007. It was a career day for several Gamecock hitters with personal bests set. Jackie Bradley, Jr. Whit Merrifield and Justin Dalles all had four hits for career highs. Bradley, Jr. also tied his season-high with three RBI. Andrew Crisp also had four hits for a season-high and tallied two homers, the second multi-homer game of his career and the second by a Gamecock player this year. Seven of the nine Gamecock position starters had at least two hits. Bobby Haney tied a season-high with three with Parker Bangs and Scott Wingo also finishing with two apiece. Wingo and Bangs both drove in three runs.
Kentucky 5, South Carolina 4
LEXINGTON, Ky. — With Kentucky trailing No. 28 South Carolina 4-3 with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, freshman infielder Andy Burns connected on the first pitch he saw on the weekend, belting a two-run, walk-off home run over the right-field fence, lifting UK to a series-evening 5-4 win over the Gamecocks, on Saturday evening at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
Burns, a Fort Collins, Colo., native and 2008 Aflac All-American at Rocky Mountain High School, strolled to the plate with shortstop Chris Wade on first base after getting hit by a pitch and UK trailing 4-3 with one out. Burns, a 6-foot-2, 185-pounder, got a first-pitch offering from USC closer Alex Farrotto and sent it high into right field, sneaking over the fence and past the glove of South Carolina’s leaping right-fielder Jackie Bradley, Jr.
Auburn 5, Vanderbilt 3
AUBURN, Ala. – Jon Luke Jacobs allowed just three runs on eight hits while throwing into the seventh inning and earned the win thanks to two-run home runs off of the bats of Brian Fletcher and Ben Jones as Auburn evened its Southeastern Conference series at a game apiece with a 5-3 win on Saturday afternoon at Plainsman Park. Both teams go into Sunday’s rubber game with identical 17-9, 3-5 SEC records.
