Here is your SEC Recap for April 16th
#1 Vanderbilt 6 #3 South Carolina 4
Columbia, S.C. – Top-ranked Vanderbilt held off third-ranked South Carolina 6-4 Saturday night at a sold-out Carolina Stadium to even the series at one game apiece.
The Commodores jumped out to an early lead scoring one run in each of the first two innings before the Gamecocks put three runs on the board in the bottom of the second to grab the lead. Jason Esposito’s solo home run to right field tied the game in the fourth inning and the Dores took control of the game in the fifth pushing three runs across. RBI-singles from Anthony Gomez and Aaron Westlake scored the first two runs with Mike Yastrzemski’s bases loaded walk scoring the third run.
Vanderbilt Recap
South Carolina Recap
ATHENS, Ga. — Brett DeLoach earned a shaving cream pie to the face during his ESPNU post-game interview after recording four RBI to lead Georgia to a 7-2 win over fourth-ranked Florida Saturday.
A season-high crowd of 3,011 saw Bulldog junior Michael Palazzone register his third win over a top 10 foe this year, tossing eight innings and allowing one run on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts. Palazzone’s 6-1 record this year now includes wins over No. 4 Florida, No. 5 Florida State and No. 9 LSU. On Saturday, he carried a shutout to the eighth before allowing a one-out, solo home run to Bryson Smith. It tied the game and then Georgia responded with a six-run outburst in the bottom of the frame.
#13 Arkansas 6 Mississippi State 1
FAYETTEVILLE – Eight of the nine Arkansas starters had at least one hit and Arkansas reliever Barrett Astin struck out all 10 batters he retired as the Razorbacks defeated Mississippi State, 6-1, on Saturday night at Baum Stadium.
With the win, Arkansas clinches its second-straight series win, runs its winning streak to eight straight games and improves its record to 26-8 overall and 8-6 in Southeastern Conference play. Mississippi State is now 21-14 and 5-9 in league play. With the victory and a pair of losses by Alabama to Tennessee on Saturday, Arkansas moves into first place in the Western Division, a half game ahead of the Crimson Tide.
The third-largest crowd in Baum Stadium history saw the contest as 10,784 fans were on hand to see the Razorbacks clinch the series. Over the last five home games, Arkansas has drawn three of the eight largest crowds in Baum Stadium history. Last weekend against LSU, the eighth-largest crowd in stadium history saw the Friday night game, while Saturday’s attendance of 11,103 was the largest attendance in the Baum Stadium annals.
Arkansas Recap
Mississippi State Recap
BATON ROUGE, La. – Auburn found itself locked into an old-fashioned pitcher’s duel on Saturday night at Alex Box Stadium before a ninth-inning two-run home run off the bat of Casey McElroy into the bleachers in right sent Auburn (20-14, 7-7 SEC) to a 3-1, series-clinching win at No. 21 LSU (22-14, 3-11 SEC).
“What a game. We didn’t have much going for us offensively and we thought it was going to come down to one play, one swing, one pitch and it certainly did today. Casey squared that ball pretty good,” Auburn Head Coach John Pawlowski said. “Cory Luckie went out tonight and pitched out of trouble. He had some big situations and he made big pitches when he needed to.”
Deadlocked at 1-1 heading to the ninth, Cullen Wacker laced a pinch-hit single into right to get the decisive inning started. It was the second straight night that Wacker came off the bench to deliver a big hit in a crucial spot. Following a Justin Fradejas (0-for-2) sac bunt that put Wacker in scoring position, McElroy (1-for-3, 2R) crushed a 3-2 Kevin Gausman (2-4) offering for his sixth home run of the season to give Auburn the two-run cushion.
OXFORD, Miss. – For the second time in as many games, freshman right-hander Bobby Wahl came in and saved the game for the Rebels as Ole Miss (22-14, 7-7 SEC) defeated Kentucky (17-19, 2-12 SEC) by a score of 12-10 in a wild game that featured 28 hits and seven errors.
The Rebels scored in each of the first six innings, highlighted by three runs in the first inning and four runs in the fourth inning to take a 12-3 lead on the Wildcats. But Kentucky chipped away at the lead, pushing four runs across in the seventh and three in the eighth for the final 12-10 margin of victory.
With the win, the Rebels claimed the series with the Wildcats.
Game 1: Tennessee 2 Alabama 1 (7 innings)
Game 2: Tennessee 1 Alabama 0 (7 innings)
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Behind its second dominant pitching performance of the day, the Tennessee baseball team picked up just its third series win ever in Tuscaloosa, downing No. 24 Alabama, 1-0, to sweep Saturday’s doubleheader and claim its first SEC series win of the season at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
“Both of our starting pitchers were outstanding today,” UT Head Coach Todd Raleigh. “Steven Gruver really set the tone for us (in game one) and pitched great. He got in a few jams and walked a few more than he usually does, but he was able to make the pitches when he had to. His off-speed was as good today as it has been all year. Nick Blount in the second game was just unbelievable. Groundball city. We got a long of groundballs today as a staff.
