Here is your SEC Recap for March 13th.
#1 LSU 4 Kansas 2
BATON ROUGE – LSU first baseman Blake Dean went 3-for-3, including a game-winning two-run home run in the seventh inning to power the top-ranked Tigers past the Kansas Jayhawks, 4-2, in Saturday afternoon in Alex Box Stadium.
With the win, the Tigers (13-1) even up the series at one game apiece and will face Kansas (10-4) in the rubber-match Sunday at 1 p.m. in Alex Box Stadium.
#3 Arizona State 16 Auburn 7
TEMPE, Ariz. – The No. 2 Arizona State University baseball team again showed their comeback ability on Saturday, rallying from an early deficit to defeat Auburn 16-7 at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark. A season-high 3,920 fans saw the Sun Devils improve to 14-0 on the year with the victory.
Auburn jumped on top right away, scoring three runs in the first inning, but ASU rallied in the bottom half. Kole Calhoun drove in a run with a groundout, Matt Newman had an RBI double and Zach Wilson followed with a two-run double to give the Sun Devils a 4-3 lead. The Tigers answered in the second, as first baseman Hunter Morris hit a three-run homer to right that put Auburn on top 6-4.
Arizona State Recap
Auburn Recap
#7 Florida 16 Charleston Southern 10
No. 6 Florida (11-2) used a six-run sixth inning to power past Charleston Southern (5-10), 16-10, and clinch the teams’ weekend series on a blustery Saturday afternoon at McKethan Stadium. Sophomore Preston Tucker (Tampa, Fla.) (3-for-6, two runs) tallied a season-high five RBI, freshmanAustin Maddox (Jacksonville, Fla.) was 4-for-6 and freshman Mike Zunino (Cape Coral, Fla.) drove in a career-high four runs to lift the Gators to their fifth-straight win. Sophomore Justin Poovey (Granite Falls, N.C.) (1-0) permitted one run over 2.1 innings to earn his first victory since March 25, 2009, against North Florida, and senior Jeff Barfield (Perry, Ga.) threw two scoreless innings to collect his first save.
"Preston (Tucker) has been swinging the bat well for a week now, but it may not show in his number of extra-base hits and RBI,” head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. He’s been seeing the ball really good and I think it was just a matter of time before he had a big day. The more (Austin) Maddox swings it the way he is swinging it, the more other teams are going to have to pitch to Preston."
Florida Recap
Charleston Southern Recap
#20 Ole Miss 8 #10 Louisville 3
OXFORD, Miss. – Aaron Barrett struck out a career-high nine batters in the longest outing of his career to help lead No. 17 Ole Miss (12-3) to an 8-3 win over No. 8 Louisville on Saturday, evening the weekend series at a game each.
Barrett (4-0) picked up the win in 6.2 innings of work, holding the eighth-ranked Cardinals to three runs on six hits with four walks and nine strikeouts. Barrett left the game in the seventh inning with a man on and two outs and Ole Miss holding to an 8-2 lead. Eric Callender then worked the final 2.1 innings to close out the win for the Rebels.
Ole Miss Recap
Louisville Recap
#14 Arkansas 7 Wisconsin-Milwaukee 0
FAYETTEVILLE – Razorback sophomore Drew Smyly tallied a season-high 11 strikeouts Saturday afternoon as the No. 14 University of Arkansas baseball team blanked Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 7-0. In addition to his strikeout total, Smyly pitched a season-high seven innings, surrendering just four hits and two walks. Smyly’s 11-strikeout performance is one short of his career high.
"(Smyly) did good today," head coach Dave Van Horn said. "He came out and was pretty much all around the zone as far as throwing the ball where he wanted to. He got into a couple jams but he’s pretty good with getting out of them. I think he threw right around 100 pitches in seven innings and that’s a good tune up. That’s where we wanted him to go today."
Collin Kuhn and Andy Wilkins each homered in the game and drove in two runs in the victory. With his home run Saturday, the 33rd of his career, Wilkins moves into a tie for eighth place on Arkansas’ all-time list. He shares the spot with former Razorback standouts Kevin McReynolds (1979-81) and Ryan Fox (2001-03).
Arkansas Recap
Wisconsin-Milwaukee Recap
#16 UCLA 5 Mississippi State 2
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Right-hander Trevor Bauer (3-0) recorded a career-high 15 strikeouts, allowing two runs and three hits through eight-plus innings, to lead the No. 15 UCLA baseball team past Mississippi State, 5-2, on Saturday evening in the Whataburger College Classic at Whataburger Field.
Bauer duplicated right-hander Gerrit Cole’s 15-strikeout effort from the night before in UCLA’s 11-3 victory over Texas A&M Corpus Christi. The sophomore from Valencia, Calif., walked two batters did not allow any runs until the ninth inning. Bauer improved to 9-0 as a starting pitcher (career).
UCLA Recap
Mississippi State Recap
#21 Vanderbilt 7 Ohio 4
NASHVILLE — Freshman Connor Harrell’s three-run double down by a run in the bottom of the eighth inning propelled Vanderbilt to a 7-4 comeback win over Ohio Saturday afternoon at Hawkins Field.
The Commodores won their ninth straight game to improve to 13-1, while the Bobcats fell to 2-10.
VU trailed 4-3 heading into the bottom of the eighth when Aaron Westlake and Andrew Giobbi walked and Jason Esposito reached on a bunt single to third to load the bases. Harrell then roped a double into the gap in left-center to score all three runners, putting the Commodores up 6-4. He advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a fielding error by OU’s second baseman to complete the rally.
#24 Kentucky 11 IUPU-Fort Wayne 2
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Freshman southpaw Taylor Rogers struck out a career-high eight in seven shutout innings and outfielders Cory Farris and Chad Wright each contributed three RBI, as the No. 22 Kentucky Wildcats posted a series-clinching 11-2 win over IPFW, on Saturday afternoon at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
Rogers, a 6-foot-3, 170-pound freshman, tossed seven shutout innings in his fourth career start, allowing only four hits and striking out a career-best eight, issuing just two walks. A Littleton, Colo., native, Rogers tossed first-pitch strikes to 19-of-26 hitters faced, throwing 96 total pitches in the game, with 65 going for strikes. In his four starts this season, Rogers (3-0) owns a 4.30 ERA in 23 innings.
Kentucky Recap
IUPU-Fort Wayne Recap
Game 1: #27 Alabama 5 Stony Brook 0
Game 2: #27 Alabama 13 Stony Brook 6
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama baseball team got strong outings from starting pitchers Jimmy Nelson and Taylor Wolfe en route to a doubleheader sweep of Stony Brook on a cool and windy Saturday afternoon at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
Alabama (11-1) posted its second shutout of the season with a 5-0 win in the opener and then hit three home runs for a 13-6 victory in the nightcap. Stony Brook (2-5) has now lost five straight games.
“Overall a good day offensively,” Alabama head coach Mitch Gaspard said. “I thought their pitcher (Nick Tropeano) in game one did a really nice job and kept us off-balance and we found a way to scratch a few runs to build a lead. Nelson was good again. We worked out of jam in the fourth inning when they had runners at first and second with nobody out and pitched really well right there. (David) Head came in and did a really nice job to close out game one. Wolfe made his second start and pitched pretty well again, so he is certainly moving up the chain.”
Alabama Recap
Stony Brook Recap
Game 1: #28 South Carolina 8 Brown 4
Columbia, S.C. – Parker Bangs homered and drove in a career-high four RBI and starting pitcher Blake Cooper worked six innings to earn his third win of the year as South Carolina defeated Brown 8-4 in game one of a doubleheader. Game two of the doubleheader is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. ET.
Cooper worked six innings and allowed two runs on two hits with six strikeouts and four walks to earn the victory. He is 3-0 on the year. Brown starting pitcher Mark Gormley lasted only three-plus innings and allowed eight runs on eight hits with four walks and a strikeout. He is 0-1 for the season.
South Carolina Recap
Brown Recap
Game 2: #28 South Carolina 10 Brown 7
Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina scored seven runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and senior reliever Jay Brown allowed just one run in 4.1 innings of relief work to earn his first victory of the year as the Gamecocks defeated Brown 10-7 game two of a college baseball doubleheader at Carolina Stadium. The Gamecocks swept the doubleheader against the Bears and are now 10-4 on the season with Brown 1-5 on the year. The series finale is set for 1:30 p.m. on Sunday and will be broadcast live on GamecocksOnline.com and the Gamecock Radio Network.
Trailing 6-2 entering the bottom of the fourth inning, the Gamecocks sent 10 batters to the plate and broke ahead with seven runs to take a 9-6 lead. Brady Thomas singled to open the inning and scored on Adam Matthews’ RBI double. That was followed up by another RBI hit as Robert Beary roped a triple to left center for the second run of the inning. Christian Walker kept the momentum going as he drove in Beary with RBI sacrifice fly. Scott Wingo would walk with one out followed by a single by Whit Merrifield and a RBI base hit from Adrian Morales. Pinch hitter Jeffery Jones added a two-run single and Nick Ebert closed out the scoring with RBI sacrifice fly that saw Whit Merrifield score all the way from second base, as Ebert just missed a home run to deep left centerfield.
South Carolina Recap
Brown Recap
Tennessee 3 UConn 2
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Behind seven shutout innings of one-hit ball by junior southpaw Bryan Morgado, the University of Tennessee baseball team (8-6) won for the fourth time in five games, defeating Connecticut (6-3), 3-2, Saturday afternoon in the second game of the Arby’s Classic at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
"I thought we pitched and fielded the ball extremely well today," UT Head Coach Todd Raleigh said. "Obviously, Bryan was unbelievable. He really set the tone and was the difference in the game, there’s no doubt about that. It was good to see Cody Hawn have a good day too. His power is definitely starting to come around."
Georgia 12 Siena 7
ATHENS, GA.— Freshman first baseman Robert Shipman hit two home runs and had a career-high four RBI to lead Georgia to a 12-7 win over Siena Saturday at Foley Field.
The Saints took a 2-0 lead in the first without the benefit of a hit. Siena loaded the bases on a hit batter and a couple of walks. Then, catcher Gary DerHagopian (1-for-4, 3 RBI) hit a ground ball to shortstop that Levi Hyams misplayed, allowing two runs to score. Shipman (2-for-2, 4 RBI) trimmed the deficit in half in the bottom of the frame with a blast to centerfield for his first career home run. Georgia (8-7) tied it up in the second as sophomore catcher Christian Glisson drew a leadoff walk and eventually scored on a base hit by freshman second baseman Todd Hankins (3-for-5, 1 RBI).
