In a wild Friday night in the SEC that had stormy weather postpone games and loom over those that did play, Kentucky baseball earned arguably their most important win to-date. Going on the road in league play is always a challenge, but picking up a 4-2 win in Nashville against Tyler Beede and Vanderbilt was a huge way for the Wildcats to start the weekend. Two-way star AJ Reed, who for my money is right there in the discussion for SEC POTY right now, did it again on the mound. Reed went 8 strong innings, allowing just 2 earned runs on 9 hits to get the win. The things Reed does at the plate in the middle of the Kentucky lineup are remarkable, but his pitching has been even better. Tonight he improved to 3-0 in 3 starts against top-five competition this season, a huge reason why the Wildcats are right in the thick of things early on in the SEC.
A wild one in Tuscaloosa saw Alabama secure a 7-6 win over Ole Miss thanks to Spencer Turnbull and Thomas Burrows locking down the final 5 innings. Despite what most anticipated to be a pitcher’s duel as is often the case on SEC Friday nights, runs came in bunches for both teams in the first 4 innings. After that, however, Alabama shut down the Rebel offense for the remaining 5 innings of the game. Turnbull handed it off to talented freshman Thomas Burrows out of the bullpen and the young lefty showed serious poise holding off a tough Ole Miss team to get the save and give the Tide the series-opening victory.
Looking around the rest of the league, South Carolina and Tennessee were deadlocked 2-2 in the 12th inning when play had to be suspended until Saturday due to rain. Georgia got a 3-2 win over Texas A&M they desperately needed to try to get things back on track, and Mizzou baseball turned some heads when they picked up their second win in two nights at Auburn to clinch the series. Auburn previously was as hot as any team in the league, so this could potentially be a real turning point for Mizzou if they can keep the momentum going.
Mississippi State/Arkansas and Florida/LSU both had their games postponed until Saturday and will be playing makeup doubleheaders.
