Here is your SEC Tourney Recap for Day 1 of action from Hoover, Alabama.
#30 LSU 10 #4 Florida 6
HOOVER, Ala. – LSU exploded for 19 hits, including three apiece by shortstop Austin Nola and left fielder Mason Katz, and junior right-hander Anthony Ranaudo hurled an outstanding 7.2 innings as the eighth-seeded Tigers defeated the No.1-seed Florida Gators, 10-6, Wednesday in the opening round of the SEC Tournament in Regions Park.
The Tigers (37-20) will face the winner of Wednesday night’s matchup between the fifth-seeded Vanderbilt and fourth-seeded Arkansas on Thursday night at a time to be determined. Florida (40-14) will face the loser of the Vanderbilt-Arkansas game Thursday afternoon.
#25 Ole Miss 3 #10 South Carolina 0
HOOVER, Ala. – Junior left-hander Drew Pomeranz set the Ole Miss career-strikeout mark, working 7.0 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts and a walk as he helped lead No. 21 Ole Miss (37-20) to a 3-0 win over No. 7 South Carolina (43-14) in the opening day of action at the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
Pomeranz (8-2) now holds 339 strikeouts for his career, passing previous record holder Lance Lynn with a strikeout in the first inning of Wednesday’s game.
Brett Huber picked up his 11th save of the season as he worked the final 2.0 innings and held the Gamecocks to one hit with a walk and a strikeout. Huber is tied with Justin Huisman for second on the single-season save list at Ole Miss. He needs two more saves to tie Stephen Head’s record of 13 saves set in 2003.
Ole Miss Recap
South Carolina Recap
#19 Vanderbilt 2 #15 Arkansas 0
HOOVER — A trio of Vanderbilt pitchers led by ace right-hander Sonny Gray led the Commodores to a 2-0 win over Arkansas in the final game of the first day of the Southeastern Conference tournament Wednesday night at Regions Park.
Gray scattered seven hits over seven innings of work with eight strikeouts and a walk to improve to 9-4 on the season.
He was relieved in the eighth inning by Richie Goodenow with no outs and Bo Bigham at first base. Goodenow struck out the lone batter he faced in Andy Wilkins, while Andrew Giobbi then threw out Bo Bigham trying to steal second in a strikeout-throw-out double play.
Vanderbilt Recap
Arkansas Recap
Alabama 7 #16 Auburn 1
HOOVER, Ala. – Alabama head baseball coach Mitch Gaspard celebrated his 45th birthday on Wednesday at Regions Park, but it was junior right-hander Jimmy Nelson who took the cake.
The Niceville, Fla., native logged his third consecutive complete game, leading Alabama to a 7-1 win over No. 16 Auburn in the first round of the 2010 Southeastern Conference Tournament.
Nelson held the SEC’s top offensive team to one run on five hits to become the first UA pitcher since Wade LeBlanc (4 CG in 2004) to throw three straight complete games. He added six strikeouts and no walks and finished with 97 total pitches. He retired the last six AU hitters on 12 total pitches in the eighth and ninth innings, including a three-up, three-down ninth inning against the middle of the Tigers’ batting order – Brian Fletcher, Hunter Morris and Kevin Patterson.
