Here is your SEC Recap for April 1st.
#1 Vanderbilt 11 #30 Auburn 6
Auburn, Ala. – Top-ranked Vanderbilt posted a season-high 20 hits in an 11-6 win over Auburn Friday night at Plainsman Park.
The Commodores wasted no time scoring single runs in the second, third and fourth innings to take a three-run lead. However, the Dores stranded nine men on base through the first four innings, including the bases loaded twice. Auburn battled back to within a single run scoring two runs in the fifth. The VU offense then exploded in the sixth and seventh innings putting three runs on the board in the sixth and four more in the seventh to put the game away.
#3 South Carolina 3 Kentucky 1
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina junior left-hander Michael Roth allowed just one run on three hits in eight innings of work and Carolina scored two runs in the first inning on its way to a 3-1 victory over Kentucky in SEC baseball action on Friday evening at Carolina Stadium. The Gamecocks are now 20-5 on the year and 5-2 in the SEC while the loss drops Kentucky to 15-12 and 2-5 in league play. Game two of the series is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and can be seen on SportSouth and heard on the Gamecock Radio Network.
Roth improved to 6-1 on the year with the victory. He struck out six batters and walked just one. Sophomore right-hander Matt Pricepitched a scoreless inning of relief with just one hit allowed to pick up his seventh save of the year. Kentucky starting pitcher Alex Meyer went the distance for Kentucky and allowed three runs on six hits in eight innings with eight strikeouts and five walks.
Carolina broke ahead 2-0 in the bottom of the first inning taking advantage of Meyer, who was slightly erratic to open the game. Peter Mooney drew a leadoff walk and Scott Wingo was hit by a pitch to give the Gamecocks a pair of runners with no outs. Jackie Bradley Jr. would drive in the first run as he delivered a RBI single to left-center scoring Mooney. With runners on the corners, Wingo scored on a RBI fielder’s choice courtesy of Christian Walker.
South Carolina Recap
Kentucky Recap
#4 Florida 3 Tennessee 0
Sophomore Hudson Randall (Atlanta, Ga.) threw a complete-game, four-hit shutout on 74 pitches as No. 3 Florida (22-5/5-2 SEC) defeated Tennessee (19-7/2-5 SEC), 3-0, in the series opener between the Eastern Division rivals on Friday night in front of 4,222 fans at McKethan Stadium.
In becoming the first Gator pitcher to notch back-to-back complete games since Tommy Boss accomplished the feat against North Carolina and Florida State on June 4 & 10, 2005, Randall was the first UF pitcher to register a complete-game shutout since Boss held UCLA scoreless at the NCAA Oklahoma City Regional on June 6, 2004.
In improving his season ledger to 5-0, Randall gave up four singles and had four strikeouts while lowering his SEC-leading earned run average to 0.54. He has not surrendered an earned run in 30.1 innings dating back to the second inning against Rhode Island on March 12. Randall yielded an unearned run in the second inning to defending national champion South Carolina last Saturday night in a 2-1 victory and has now totaled 16.2 consecutive scoreless innings. Over three conference starts against No. 5 LSU, No. 4 South Carolina and Tennessee, the righty is 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA, 10 strikeouts and zero walks in 24.2 IP.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 21-ranked Alabama baseball team (20-8, 6-1 SEC) defeated the No. 13-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks (18-7, 2-5 SEC) in Southeastern Conference play by a final of 5-3 on the back of Austen Smith, Friday night at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
“Austen Smith was big tonight, obviously the triple in the first to clear off the bases and get us up 3-0,” UA head coach Mitch Gaspard said. “Tonight, it was Austen Smith who delivered big for us offensively, but I thought we got pretty good pressure.”
Smith excelled at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a triple, knocking in four of the Crimson Tide’s five runs.Taylor Dugas continued to swing a consistent stick, going 3-for-4 with one walk and two runs to raise his on-base percentage to a whopping .512.
BATON ROUGE — LSU center fielder Mikie Mahtook batted 4-for-4 and launched a pair of home runs to spearhead the 16th-ranked Tigers to a 7-6 victory over Ole Miss (18-9, 3-4 SEC) in Game 1 of the weekend series Friday night at Alex Box Stadium.
LSU (19-7, 2-5 SEC) gave Ole Miss ace Matt Crouse (6-1) his first loss of the season as the Tigers touched up the Rebels’ starter for seven runs (six earned) off 10 hits. The junior had only surrendered six earned runs on the entire season prior to the outing.
Game 2 of the series will begin Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CDT. Live video, audio and stats of the game may be accessed in the Geaux Zone at www.LSUsports.net/live, and can also be heard on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network.
Georgia 4 Mississippi State 1
ATHENS, Ga. – A three-run sixth inning was the difference as the 24th-ranked Mississippi State baseball team dropped a 4-1 decision to Georgia in a Southeastern Conference baseball game played Friday night at UGA’s Foley Field.
With the defeat, the Maroon and White saw a four-game win streak in league play snapped. MSU fell to 19-7 overall and 4-3 in conference play, while Georgia improved to 12-14 and 4-3. Despite some inconsistencies, the homestanding Bulldogs have actually won two of three Friday nights in the early stages of league play.
In the UGA sixth inning, Levi Hyams began the inning with a single. That hit ended the night for MSU starter Devin Jones. After a strikeout and balk call on MSU reliever Chad Girodo, Kyle Famer hit a two-run home run breaking a 1-1 tie. Zach Cone then reached on a one-out single. Andrew Busby followed Girodo to the mound. After a walk, balk and wild pitch, Kevin Ruiz closed the game’s scoring with a sacrifice-fly.
Georgia Recap
Mississippi State Recap
