Here is your SEC Recap for April 10th.
#1 Vanderbilt 11 #24 Alabama 6
Nashville, Tenn, – Top-ranked Vanderbilt finished a series sweep of Alabama with an 11-6 win Sunday afternoon at Hawkins Field but it was not easy.
The Commodores scored six runs in the seventh inning with Curt Casali and Bryan Johns each hitting home runs in the rally to take a commanding 10-3 lead into the eighth inning. However, the Crimson Tide rallied for three runs before Tony Kemp’s diving catch on the warning track with the bases loaded ended the three-run rally. Navery Moore then worked a scoreless ninth inning to send the Commodores to 30-3 overall and 10-2 in the Southeastern Conference.
Vanderbilt Recap
Alabama Recap
#4 Florida 3 Mississippi State 1
Junior Preston Tucker (Tampa, Fla.) delivered a two-out, two-run single to snap a 1-1 tie in the seventh to lift No. 4 Florida (26-7/9-3 SEC) past Mississippi State (21-11/5-7 SEC), 3-1, in the rubber match of the teams’ weekend series on Sunday afternoon in front of 6,453 fans at Dudy Noble Field. The Bulldogs loaded the bases with one down in the ninth but sophomore Austin Maddox (Jacksonville, Fla.) took over on the mound and retired the final two batters to collect his first career save. The Gators’ 9-3 start to SEC play matches the squad’s best since 1996.
With MSU down to its final three outs, junior Anthony DeSclafani (Freehold, N.J.) entered the ballgame and issued a leadoff single to senior Nick Vickerson before whiffing senior Jonathan Ogden. Freshman Adam Frazier hit a comebacker to the mound that DeSclafani threw away while trying to get the lead runner at second base, resulting in a couple of runners aboard. Senior Jaron Shepherd poked a single into left field to fill the bags and prompt a pitching change. Senior Wes Thigpen greeted Maddox with a liner into right field and sophomore Kamm Washington (Boynton Beach, Fla.) made a tremendous sprawling catch for the out and managed to hold the runners. Facing freshman C.T. Bradford, Maddox was ahead in the count 0-2 and induced a pop-up in foul territory that freshman third baseman Zack Powers (Seffner, Fla.) snagged up against the netting to complete the game.
Florida Recap
Mississippi State Recap
AYETTEVILLE – For the second straight game, Arkansas won in walk-off fashion as Kyle Robinson drove in Bo Bigham on a sacrifice fly to center field to lift the Razorbacks to a 5-4 win over No. 17 LSU and complete a three-game sweep of the Tigers on Sunday afternoon at Baum Stadium.
Arkansas is now 23-8 overall and moves back to .500 in Southeastern Conference play, improving to 6-6. LSU drops to 21-11 and 3-9 in conference play. The Razorbacks swept the Tigers for the third time since entering the Southeastern Conference in 1992 and the first time since the 2004 season when Arkansas won all three games in Baton Rouge.
The victory also moves Arkansas into second place in the SEC West, just a game behind division leader, Alabama.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the third straight day Auburn saved its big scoring innings for the later part of the game as it scored six times in the seventh and eighth innings combined to complete its first sweep of Kentucky since 2003 with an 8-2 win on Sunday at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
For the weekend, Auburn (18-14, 5-7 SEC) scored 35 runs on 48 hits, with 26 of its runs coming from the sixth through ninth innings.
“Our offense is confident; guys are seeing the ball real well right now,” Auburn Head Coach John Pawlowski said. “It’s amazing one week to the next in this league. It’s an absolute roller coaster ride. I thought the kids did a real good job of keeping our heads above water and going out and playing hard.”
OXFORD, Miss. – The Rebels turned in one of their best offensive performances of the season on Sunday, pounding out 18 hits on the way to a victory as Ole Miss (20-13, 5-7 SEC) downed Georgia (18-15, 8-4 SEC) 12-7 in the series finale.
Taylor Hightower went 4-for-5 at the plate and was one of six Rebels to notch multiple hits in the game in the win. Alex Yarbrough and Matt Tracy both drove in three runs to help pace the Rebel offense.
Austin Wright (4-3) picked up the win as he allowed three runs on nine hits with a walk and nine strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work. The nine strikeouts tied a season-high for the left-hander set against Lipscomb.
