Things are really picking up in the SEC Tournament and the field is narrowing after some big teams were eliminated on Thursday. Here are the biggest takeaways from Day 3.
5. A Glorious Pitching Matchup Gone Wrong
All day I was looking forward to the big pitching matchup between Vanderbilt’s Kumar Rocker and Arkansas’ Patrick Wicklander.
But sometimes great matchups like that don’t go as expected, and that was the case in this one. Neither starter made it past the fourth inning.
Rocker took the loss giving up 5 earned runs, while Wicklander allowed 3 earned runs on 5 hits and 3 walks with 3.2 innings.
It still ended up being a great game, but the pitching duel was a letdown.
4. Kevin Kopps is Unreal
Not that anyone didn’t already know, but Arkansas closer Kevin Kopps might be the most dominant pitcher in all of baseball. He came on in the seventh inning with the Razorbacks up two and a runner on base.
He mowed down nine straight Vandy hitters striking out five of them to end the game — and that was without throwing a single fastball. Like I said … unreal.
3. Mississippi State Laid an Egg in Hoover
Mississippi State might go on to win the College World Series — no one would be surprised — but this was the worst performance I’ve ever seen by any team at Hoover.
They were run-ruled in both of their games and outscored 25-3 in those losses.
2. Drew McDaniel and Franco Aleman Deliver on the Mound
You always see a couple of unexpected great starts in the SEC Tournament. Both Ole Miss and Florida got one on Thursday from Drew McDaniel and Franco Aleman respectively.
Mcdaniel went 6.2 innings scoreless innings allowing just 4 hits and 2 walks with 11 strikeouts as Ole Miss beat Georgia 4-0.
Aleman pitched 7 scoreless innings giving up 5 hits and 1 walk with 4 strikeouts.
1. Florida Trying to Steal a National Seed from Mississippi State
The Bulldogs came into the SEC Tournament as a pretty solid bet to be a top eight national seed. But with their poor performance highlighted above, they could be losing a grip on that spot.
With the way Florida has played, if they go on to win the SEC Tournament they could easily steal that spot from Mississippi State. The Gators have been very impressive in this tournament outscoring their opponents 24-4 in three games.
