Here is your SEC Recap for March 17th.
LSU 10 Nicholls State 3
BATON ROUGE, La. – A three-run homer by designated hitter Matt Gaudet, along with six shutout innings by the Tigers’ pitching staff lifted No. 3 LSU to a 10-3 victory over Nicholls State Wednesday night in Alex Box Stadium.
The Tigers (14-2) will open conference play Friday when they host SEC rival Arkansas in a three-game series beginning at 7 p.m. in Alex Box Stadium. Friday’s game will be LSU’s first televised game of the season and will air on Cox Sports Television (Cox cable channel 37 in Baton Rouge). LSU defeated Arkansas four times last season, including twice in the College World Series.
LSU Recap
Nicholls State Recap
Vanderbilt 17 Western Kentucky 6
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Vanderbilt responded to a 17-2 defeat to WKU in a big way, scoring nine runs in the first inning and 14 runs through the first three innings en route to a 17-6 win over the Hilltoppers Wednesday afternoon at Nick Denes Field.
The Commodores improved to 15-2 overall and split the season series with WKU (13-5).
A day after scoring just two runs and recording nine hits, VU exploded for nine runs on nine hits in the first inning. The Dores batted around in the frame, pounding WKU starter Taylor Haydel throughout the lineup.
Vanderbilt Recap
Western Kentucky Recap
#20 Kentucky 11 Wright State 1
LEXINGTON, Ky. — In his first career start, Kentucky junior right-hander Kyle Jackson went five innings without allowing an earned run and the UK bullpen tossed four shutout frames in relief, as the 20th-ranked Wildcats posted a dominating 11-1 win over Wright State, on Wednesday night at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
Kentucky (14-3) got a hit from eight of nine position starters, with senior centerfielder Keenan Wiley and junior shortstop Taylor Black each contributing three RBI. Wiley went 2-for-3 with three RBI and a walk and Black added a 1-for-2, one walk, three-RBI outing. Senior Gunner Glad added a 2-for-4, two-RBI game, sophomore Braden Kapteyn went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and sophomore Chad Wright charted a 2-for-4 evening.
Kentucky Recap
Wright State Recap
#23 Alabama 9 Minnesota 4
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 21 University of Alabama baseball team scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to overcome a one-run deficit en route to a 9-4 win over the University of Minnesota at Sewell-Thomas Stadium on Wednesday night.
Alabama (14-1) scored the five runs on two hits and benefitted from three walks, one hit batter and two Minnesota errors to post its fourth come-from-behind win of the season and its second in as many nights.
The Crimson Tide trailed 4-3 entering the seventh inning when junior DH Brett Whitaker and junior right fielder John David Smelser drew back-to-backs walks against UM reliever Scott Fern. Cullen Sexton replaced Fern and struck out freshman left fielder Brett Booth before walking senior catcher Cody Trotter to load the bases.
#24 South Carolina 8 Davidson 3
Columbia, S.C. – Whit Merrifield and Scott Wingo had three hits apiece and six Gamecock pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts as South Carolina (13-4) earned an 8-3 win over Davidson (11-6) on Wednesday night at Carolina Stadium. The win is the seventh consecutive for the Gamecocks as they head into conference play on Friday night hosting Tennessee for a three-game series beginning at 7 p.m. All three games this weekend can be heard on the Gamecock Radio Network with live video broadcast available at GamecocksOnline.com.
Merrifield’s three hits included a pair of doubles, the third time in his career that he has tallied two doubles in one game. Wingo’s three hits also ties a career-high. They each scored two runs. Nick Ebert also was 2-for-5 at the plate with two RBI as the Gamecocks pounded out 11 hits on the evening.
South Carolina Recap
Davidson Recap
Auburn 18 Alabama A&M 0
AUBURN, Ala. – Slade Smith did not allow a hit for the first 5 1/3 innings of his first collegiate start and set the tone for one of the more dominating team pitching performances in recent Auburn history as Auburn posted an 18-0 shutout of Alabama A&M on Wednesday night at Plainsman Park. The Auburn staff combined to allow just two hits on the night while the offense took advantage of 15 hits and 13 walks to put up its most runs of the season and complete a two-game sweep of Alabama A&M.
"Slade did a good job today. He only had two balls go to the outfield, a ground ball through the left side and a fly ball to right, and he had what we call his turbo sinker working," Auburn Head Coach John Pawlowski said.
Auburn Recap
Alabama A&M Recap
Mississippi State 16 Mississippi Valley State 2
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Freshman second baseman Sam Frost doubled in a pair of runs during a five-run Bulldog burst Wednesday night as Mississippi State (11-6) topped Mississippi Valley State (4-14) 16-2 in college baseball at Dudy Noble Field.
Frost set season-bests for hits and RBI with a 4-for-5, 5-RBI plate performance.
Five MSU batters drew walks and another was struck by a pitch as the Bulldogs sent 10 batters to the plate in the opening frame. Ryan Collins singled in a pair of runs during a three-run State spree in the fifth and Frost added a second two-run double when the Bulldogs tacked on five more runs in the sixth.
Mississippi State Recap
Mississippi Valley State Recap
Tennessee 13 Morehead State 2
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – In its final tune-up before beginning the Southeastern Conference portion of its schedule, the University of Tennessee baseball team (10-7) scored early and often en route to a 13-2 triumph over Morehead State on St. Patrick’s Day at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The Volunteers scored 10 runs in the first two innings to put it out of reach in a hurry. The UT pitching staff did the rest, as six pitchers combined to allow just three hits and two runs all night.
"We played a pretty good game tonight," UT Head Coach Todd Raleigh said. "We pitched outstanding. All of our guys pitched really well. It was good to see Zach Osborne continue to swing a hot bat too. You can see that some of our other guys are definitely starting to swing the bat better. Even when you’re making outs, you can get closer and you can see that some of the guys are doing that. That doesn’t always show up in the box score."
Tennessee Recap
Morehead State Recap
