Here is your SEC Recap for May 15th.
#6 Florida 4 Georgia 3
Sophomore Ben McMahan (Windermere, Fla.) led off the bottom of the ninth with a solo homer as No. 4 Florida (36-12/19-7 SEC) upended Georgia (14-35/3-21 SEC), 4-3, on Saturday afternoon in front of 4,932 fans at McKethan Stadium. The Bulldogs had tied the game in the top of the inning on a two-out RBI single before the Gators answered with their second-straight walk-off victory to clinch their seventh-consecutive league series.
With Florida holding a 3-2 lead, junior Kevin Chapman (Coral Springs, Fla.)registered the first two outs in the ninth before sophomore third basemanJerico Weitzel (Ridgway, Pa.) misplayed sophomore Carson Schilling’s grounder for an error. After sophomore Peter Verdin lined a single off Chapman’s leg for two runners aboard, sophomore Johnathan Taylor (3-for-5) tied the game with a clutch single into center field that plated Schilling. However, Verdin was caught in a run-down between second and third to end the inning.
#13 South Carolina 5 #10 Arkansas 0
Fayetteville, Ark. – South Carolina starting pitcher Sam Dyson pitched a six-hit complete game shutout with the offense backed by a two-run homer by Brady Thomas as the Gamecocks defeated Arkansas 5-0 on Saturday afternoon to clinch a three-game SEC baseball series at Baum Stadium. The Gamecocks are now 40-11 and 19-7 in the SEC while the loss drops Arkansas to 38-13 and 16-10 in conference play. With the win, it marks the 11th straight season that South Carolina has won 40 or more games dating back to 2000. The two teams will meet in the series finale set for 2:05 p.m. ET on Sunday and will be televised live on Cox Sports as well as a tape delay broadcast on CSS and ESPN3.com. The game can also be heard on the Gamecock Radio Network and at GamecocksOnline.com.
Dyson had a tremendous outing as he limited the Razorbacks to just six hits and walked only two on the afternoon. He struck out eight batters and went to only three three-ball counts in the game. He is now 5-4 on the year. This is his second complete game shutout of the season and the third by a Gamecock pitcher. Dyson hurled a seven-inning complete game shutout in a win over Georgia and Blake Cooper had a complete game shutout in a win over Ole Miss. Arkansas starting pitcher Mike Bolsinger suffered the loss and is now 5-3 on the year. He worked 7.2 innings and allowed five runs, four earned, on five hits with six strikeouts and two walks.
South Carolina Recap
Arkansas Recap
#17 Vanderbilt 13 Mississippi State 7
STARKVILLE, Miss. — For the second time in three games Vanderbilt trailed by two runs in the top of the ninth and rallied to tie the game and win it in extra innings, this time by a 13-7 score in 10 innings Saturday afternoon at Dudy Noble Field.
VU trailed 8-6 against No. 8 Louisville on Tuesday and rallied to tie the game and then won it in 17 innings by a 11-10 margin.
Vanderbilt Recap
Mississippi State Recap
Alabama 4 #18 Ole Miss 1
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama junior right-hander Jimmy Nelson tossed his first career complete game and matched his career high with 11 strikeouts, leading the Crimson Tide to a 4-1 win over No. 14 Mississippi at Sewell-Thomas Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Nelson (6-2) threw 127 pitches to record Alabama’s first complete game of the 2010 season and the first by a Crimson Tide pitcher since Del Howell beat No. 28 Vanderbilt on 7-3 on April 18, 2009 in Nashville.
Kentucky 9 #20 LSU 4
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Freshman Jordan Cooper tossed a career-high seven innings in his fourth career conference start and Taylor Black, Chris Bisson and Luke Maile each hit home runs, leading the Kentucky baseball team to a series-clinching 9-4 win over No. 20 LSU, the defending national champions, Saturday afternoon at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
Kentucky (28-23, 11-15 Southeastern Conference) got another strong outing from Cooper (4-4), the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week. The native of Shelbyville, Tenn., tossed a career-high seven innings, allowing eight hits and four runs, walking one and striking out a career-best five. Last weekend, Cooper helped lead UK to a series-evening win over No. 4 South Carolina, going 6.2 innings and allowing only one run in the winning effort.
#23 Auburn 18 Tennessee 0
AUBURN, Ala. – No. 18 Auburn is going back to the SEC Tournament for the first time since the 2003 season. Auburn scored five times in the first en route to an 18-0 blanking of Tennessee, riding the arm of Cole Nelson all the way. Nelson threw Auburn’s first complete-game shutout since 2005 and its first in SEC play since 2002 as Auburn improved to 34-17 overall, 16-10 in the SEC, moving into a three-way tie with Arkansas and Ole Miss atop the SEC West with four league games remaining.
"We talked all season and all preseason that our number one priority was to find a way to get into the SEC Tournament and we did that," Auburn Head Coach John Pawlowski said. "I am especially proud of Ryan Jenkins, Michael Hurst and Austin Hubbard, those guys that have been here. We can enjoy this but now we have to move onto our next goal of winning the West. We certainly are in a position of where you want to be down the home stretch."
