Here is your SEC Recap for Feb. 27th.
#1 LSU 10 William and Mary 9
BATON ROUGE- After trailing 8-0 in the middle of the sixth inning, No.1 LSU came back to score eight runs in the bottom of the sixth and two more in the seventh to defeat William and Mary, 10-9, Saturday afternoon in Alex Box Stadium.
The Tigers (5-0) notched their largest comeback victory since April 10, 1988 when they trailed Ole Miss, 13-3, through six innings and came back to win, 15-13. The loss was William and Mary’s first of the season, dropping the Tribe to 3-1.
LSU Recap
William and Mary Recap
#16 Arkansas 10 Troy 8
FAYETTEVILLE – The No.16 University of Arkansas baseball team totaled three home runs for the second time in as many games to come away with a 10-8 win Saturday afternoon over Troy. Andy Wilkins and Brett Eibner went deep for the second consecutive game, while Zack Cox added his first home run of the season in the victory. Cox equaled his career high with four RBI. Arkansas (4-1) built a six-run lead after the fourth inning but saw its lead cut to two before closing out the game.
"We had some big hits," head coach Dave Van Horn said. "We had a two-run homer and a three-run home run in our big five-run inning. We’re going to win some games that way and we’re going to put up some numbers that way, but we still have to do the little things. I’m disappointed we couldn’t get that run across in the bottom of the eighth. That could have been a big run."
#21 East Carolina 4 #18 South Carolina 3
GREENVILLE, N.C. – Trent Whitehead’s RBI single to right field in the bottom of the ninth inning completed No. 13 East Carolina’s comeback as the Pirates knotted the series at one with a 4-3 win over No. 10 South Carolina Saturday afternoon at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium. With the win the Pirates improve to 3-3, while the Gamecocks fell to 4-1.
Trailing 3-2 and down to their last out in ninth, Corey Thompson tied the game at three on a seeing-eye single to left that was just out of the reach of shortstop Bobby Haney plating Bryan Bass from second. Bass entered the game as a pinch runner for Austin Homan who drew a leadoff walk before Thompson’s two-out hit. Whitehead followed with his third base knock of the game pushing across pinch runner Chris Gosik for the winning run.
East Carolina Recap
South Carolina Recap
Tennessee 9 #20 Oregon State 2
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Behind a dominant performance on the mound by sophomore Steven Gruver, the University of Tennessee baseball team was able to even its series with No. 10 Oregon State on Saturday, defeating the Beavers, 9-2, in impressive fashion at Goss Stadium in Corvallis, Ore. A 6-1 left-hander, Gruver twirled seven scoreless innings, striking out a career-high nine while allowing just three hits and walking one.
"I thought yesterday was an aberration," UT Head Coach Todd Raleigh said. "We’re a much better team than we showed yesterday and I thought we turned around and played probably our most complete game of the year today. Obviously, (Steven) Gruver was unbelievable. To do what he did really set the tone and we played outstanding defense and got some timely hits. We just battled. It was a lot closer than what the final score might indicate, but I was really pleased with how we played today."
Tennessee Recap
Oregon State Recap
#24 Ole Miss 10 Oakland 2
OXFORD, Miss. – Michael Snyder and Zach Miller both hit home runs to help pace the Rebel offense, while a pair of Rebel pitchers again combined for a dominant performance, to help No. 17 Ole Miss (5-1) pick up a 10-2 win over Oakland (0-2) on Saturday.
The win clinched the series for the Rebels, who will go for the series sweep tomorrow at noon at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field.
Miller hit his first home run of the season and drove in four runs, while Snyder came up with his first home run of the season in the Rebel win. Matt Smith was 2-for-4 at the plate with three runs scored and an RBI, while Matt Snyder was 1-for-2 with two walks.
#29 Kentucky 4 Bowling Green 3
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Sophomore leftfielder Chad Wright collected two hits, added two RBI and stole a base and freshman southpaw Taylor Rogers tossed six innings with only one run allowed, as the No. 29 Kentucky Wildcats posted a series-clinching 4-3 win over Bowling Green, Saturday afternoon at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
Kentucky (5-0) picked up its fifth consecutive win to open the season, riding the arm of Rogers (2-0) in just his second collegiate start. The 6-foot-3, 170-pound native of Littleton, Colo., was again splendid on the mound, going six innings, allowing just six hits and one run, walking two and striking out three. The reigning Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week, Rogers tossed first-pitch strikes to 16-of-25 hitters and has now thrown first-pitch strikes to 41-of-54 hitters faced this season. With two wins in his first two starts, Rogers has tossed 13.2 innings, allowing only one run and totaling a sparkling 0.66 ERA.
Kentucky Recap
Bowling Green Recap
#30 Vanderbilt 10 Southern California 1
FULL RECAP COMING SOON
Game 1: Alabama 25 Illinois-Chicago 1 (7 innings)
Game 2: Alabama 4 Illinois-Chicago 3
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – After posting a lopsided 25-1 win in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, the University of Alabama baseball team needed a safety squeeze bunt in the bottom of the ninth inning off the bat of junior left fielder John David Smelser to post a 4-3 win over the University of Illinois Chicago in the nightcap at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
The Crimson Tide scored 29 runs and collected 30 hits in Saturday’s doubleheader sweep. Junior catcher Brock Bennett and junior shortstop Josh Rutledge had four hits and scored five runs each. Smelser had three hits and drove in the winning run in the nightcap.
Alabama Recap
Illinois-Chicago Recap
Missouri 11 Auburn 7
AUBURN, Ala.- – The first five players in the Missouri batting order recorded multiple-hit games and senior Aaron Senne hit two home runs as Mizzou defeated Auburn, 11-7, on Saturday at the Auburn Classic. The win was the fourth-straight for the Tigers. The top five spots in the MU lineup accounted for 13 of Mizzou’s 14 hits in the game.
Senne became the first Tiger to record a multi-home run game since Greg Folgia hit two home runs against Kansas in May of last season. Senne finished the game 3-for-5 with two home runs and four RBI. He leads the team with three home runs on the year.
Southeastern Louisiana 8 Mississippi State 5
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Southeastern Louisiana extended its winning streak to six games and guaranteed a series victory at Mississippi State, beating the Bulldogs 8-5 Saturday afternoon. The Lions will go for a sweep Sunday at Dudy Noble Field.
Starting pitcher Brandon Efferson (2-0) earned the win by scattering nine hits and three earned runs over six innings of work. He struck out nine and walked only two. Justin Schneider earned his first save, coming on to induce the final out.
Southeastern Louisiana Recap
Mississippi State Recap
Georgia 9 Stetson 8
ATHENS – Georgia used a pair of runs in the eighth inning to rally past Stetson 9-8 Saturday in front of a season-high crowd of 3,148 at Foley Field.
Georgia improved to 5-2, scoring its first seven runs on the day with two outs. Meanwhile, the Hatters dropped to 3-3 despite getting three home runs from second baseman Roberts Crews. The Hatters grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first courtesy of a two-run home run by Crews (4-for-5, 4 RBI). Georgia got a run back in the bottom of the inning as sophomore Colby May singled and scored on a base hit by centerfielder Zach Cone (2-for-5, 2 R. In the third, Crews added a solo shot for his second home run of the year for a 3-1 advantage.
