It was a crazy day of upsets in the SEC Tournament on Day 2 along with a dominant performance by the number one team in the nation.
Here are my 5 biggest takeaways from Day 2 at the Hoover Met and the SEC Baseball Tournament:
5. Heartbreaking moment for young Vanderbilt pitcher
Christian Little, a young right-handed pitcher for the Vanderbilt Commodores, was rolling against a very good Ole Miss lineup pitching on the biggest stage of his career before an injury in the sixth.
You could see little crying and getting emotional on the field knowing how hard he’s worked for that moment and then to have an injury cut it short.
Hopefully it’s nothing serious as that young man has a bright future ahead of him. Praying for the best.
Vanderbilt was able to come back in the bottom of the ninth with two runs to defeat Ole Miss 5-4. You can check out the winning hit below.
4. Hogs Show Depth of Lineup in Blowout Win
If you wanted some more evidence in this SEC Tournament why the Arkansas Razorbacks are such a dangerous team and why they’ve been ranked number one pretty much all season, they gave it to you on Wednesday.
Their 1-5 hitters were a combined 1-17 in this game against Georgia. But no worries, the bottom of the lineup combined to go 7-14 with 6 runs and 4 RBI.
The Bulldogs helped the Razorbacks out a ton with 14 walks (yes, 14!), but still, you could see the depth of this lineup and how scary it is for opposing pitchers.
3. Alabama Strengthens Case For Regionals
Maybe the most exciting storyline left in the SEC Tournament is Alabama’s chances of earning a regional spot. They were on the bubble coming in and have picked up two wins against ranked teams.
Their RPI went up six spots with the win over Tennessee on Wednesday as they now have eight wins against Q1 teams. I think they’re in, but one more win should certainly do the trick.
2. Florida Has Come to Hoover Motivated
One of the biggest questions coming into the SEC Tournament every year is how will the top teams approach it. Will they go all out and try to win the tournament, or do they just try to get their guys some work.
In the past, Florida has been a team that just came to Hoover looking to tune-up for the NCAA Tournament. That is not the case this year.
They threw their ace, Tommy Mace, in Game 1 and then beefed up the lineup in Game 2 looking for more offense against Mississippi State who wasn’t throwing their best pitcher — and they got it done with 13 runs and a mercy rule.
1. Controversy in Alabama-Tennessee Game
The finish to the Alabama-Tennessee game was one of the wildest in recent memory. The Volunteers had runners on the corners with one out in the bottom of the 9th in a tie game.
The Bama second baseman dropped a liner and sent everything into confusion, but the result was one out with runners still on the corners.
Alabama played the middle infielders back for a double-play and got the groundball up the middle, but it deflected off the pitcher and they weren’t able to get the runner at first.
However…
Max Ferguson, the runner going into second, reached out to make contact with the second baseman and the umpire called interference, making both runners out and keeping the Crimson Tide alive.
It’s certainly a controversial play, but the umpires got it right. However, if I’m a Tennessee fan I’m livid.
Alabama takes advantage and ends up winning in the 11th, keeping their regional hopes alive. What a crazy game.
Note: Brian Foley contributed to this report
