Here is your SEC Recap for April 2nd.
#1 Vanderbilt 11 #30 Auburn 2
Auburn, Ala. – Top-ranked Vanderbilt led by one run in the eighth inning with two outs when the Commodores’ offense exploded for eight runs to send VU to an 11-2 victory Saturday night over Auburn at Plainsman Park.
With two outs and two on, Mike Yastrzemski’s two-run single gave the Dores a three-run cushion. However, the Vandy offense was not done sending 12 men to the plate in the inning to set season-highs with eight runs on six hits. The Commodores used three doubles, three singles, two walks and a hit batter to inflict the damage. The rally came after Vanderbilt had scored two runs in the sixth to reclaim the lead when Anthony Gomez scored from second on an infield fielder’s choice. Auburn held the lead briefly when the Tigers scored an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Vanderbilt scored nine two-out runs in the game and has 11 in the first two games of the series.
#3 South Carolina 4 Kentucky 3
COLUMBIA, S.C. – A Brady Thomas RBI single that knocked past Kentucky second baseman J.T. Riddle scored Adrian Morales as third ranked South Carolina defeated Kentucky 4-3 in 10 innings on Saturday afternoon at Carolina Stadium. This afternoon’s attendance was 8,242, the fourth sellout of the year. The Gamecocks are 21-5 and 6-2 in the SEC while the loss drops Kentucky to 15-13 and 2-6 in league play. Carolina goes for the sweep on Sunday afternoon with first pitch at 1:30 p.m. The game will be televised live on SportSouth and can be heard on the Gamecock Radio Network and at GamecocksOnline.com.
Carolina trailed 3-2 before tying the game in the eighth inning. With one out, Jackie Bradley Jr. was hit by a pitch by Kentucky reliever Mike Kaczmarek. With the UK reliever still in the game Christian Walker doubled down the left field line to put a pair of runners in scoring position. After a walk to Adrian Morales loaded the bases, Carolina tied it at 3-3 on Jake Williams’ RBI single to center field.
South Carolina Recap
Kentucky Recap
#4 Florida 11 Tennessee 2
Sophomore Nolan Fontana (Winter Garden, Fla.) went 3-for-4 and matched his career high by driving in six runs as No. 3 Florida (23-5/6-2 SEC) clinched its weekend series with an 11-2 victory over Tennessee (19-8/2-6 SEC) on Saturday afternoon in front of 3,726 fans at McKethan Stadium. Fontana opened the scoring in the fourth with an RBI single, snapped a 2-2 tie with a two-run single in the sixth and had a bases-clearing triple to highlight a seven-run seventh for the Gators, who took the series from the Vols for the third-straight year.
Junior Anthony DeSclafani (Freehold, N.J.) retired all seven batters he faced over 2.2 innings to improve to 4-0 after taking over for sophomore starter Brian Johnson (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) with two runners on base and a 2-2 score in the sixth. DeSclafani induced an inning-ending double play and then set down the Vols in order in both the seventh and eight h innings before freshman Keenan Kish (Worcester, Pa.) closed the game with a perfect ninth. After totaling 10 hits in Friday’s opener, the Orange and Blue had 13 more hits and limited Tennessee to its season-low total of four hits for the second day in a row.
#24 Alabama 5 #13 Arkansas 3
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – A standout start from junior lefty Adam Morgan helped secure the 5-3 victory for the No. 21 Alabama baseball team (21-8, 7-1 SEC) over the 13th-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks (18-8, 2-6 SEC), Saturday afternoon at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
“Morgan had a quality start and it’s just been the same formula that it’s been,” UA head coach Mitch Gaspard said. “He took us deep into the game and Smart’s been able to come in and close them out.”
Morgan (4-1) won his second conference game of the season to improve his record to 2-0 in SEC play, after going 8.0 innings, allowing only two runs on six hits, while walking two and striking out a season-high seven batters. Morgan has now struck out five or more batters in each of this three SEC starts (6 vs. Mississippi, 5 vs. Kentucky).
Ole Miss 16 #16 LSU 3
ATON ROUGE, La. – It was a reversal of fortunes for the Rebels on Saturday night as David Goforth handcuffed the Tigers all night and Ole Miss (19-9, 4-4 SEC) exploded for nine runs in the seventh inning to down No. 17 LSU (19-8, 2-6 SEC) by a score of 16-3 at Alex Box Stadium.
The win evened the weekend series at a game each heading into Sunday’s rubber match. The final game of the series is set for a 1 p.m. first pitch.
David Goforth (1-4) picked up the win as he worked 6.0 innings and allowed two runs on seven hits with two walks and six strikeouts.
Georgia 4 Mississippi State 3
ATHENS, Ga. — Junior Michael Palazzone provided 8.2 strong innings and the Bulldogs hit a pair of home runs to post a 4-3 win over 24th-ranked Mississippi State here Saturday to clinch another Southeastern Conference series.
Georgia (13-14, 5-3) has won four straight SEC games and improved to 8-9 against ranked teams this season. Last week, they took a series from ninth-ranked LSU. MSU fell to 19-8 overall, 4-4 in the SEC.
It was a pitcher’s duel until two outs in the fifth when State pushed across a run off of Palazzone. Designated hitter Trey Johnson smacked a double and shortstop Jonathan Ogden followed with a base hit up the middle to make it 1-0. MSU right-hander Chris Stratton had allowed just two hits with one walk and five strikeouts up to that point.
Georgia Recap
Mississippi State Recap
