We’ve finally made it to the semifinal round of the 2021 SEC Baseball Tournament in Hoover, Ala. Who will make it to Sunday’s championship game?
In all honesty, for me at least, the luster of the SEC Tournament wears off after the first three or four days unless there is a Cinderella team in the mix.
All the teams there are Saturday are locks to make the regionals and host at least in the first round. But there were still some good moments from day five.
5. Tennessee pitching continues to dominate
I knew Tennessee had an impressive lineup coming into the SEC Tournament, and they do, but it’s the pitching that has impressed me the most.
They pitched a shutout against Florida on Saturday allowing just 4 hits with no walks and 7 strikeouts. Camden Sewell threw 6 shutout innings only giving up 2 hits with 6 strikeouts.
4. Florida offense went cold
The Gators came into the SEC Tournament smoking hot and you have to wonder if the off day on Friday killed that momentum as they couldn’t get anything going on Saturday.
Still, I was really impressed with what I saw from Florida in this tournament and they’re clicking at the right time. Unfortunately for them, Tennessee only had to win one game on Saturday despite Florida not having any losses coming in.
3. Jacob Gonzalez is the Freshman of the Year
I’m not sure if there is much debate, but Ole Miss freshman shortstop Jacob Gonzalez has to be the Freshman of the Year. To come in and bat third for a team like Ole Miss the way he has, it’s one of the most impressive performances I’ve seen as a freshman.
And he didn’t disappoint in this tournament. Even in their loss to Arkansas on Saturday he was 1-2 with 2 RBI and 2 walks. It was really fun getting to see him person and I can’t wait to see what he does in the rest of his collegiate career.
2. Arkansas wants it all
As I’ve said before, you always wonder what the motivation is for some of these top teams coming into the SEC Tournament. But it’s pretty clear Arkansas came here to win a championship.
They destroyed Georgia in their first game and then rallied to beat Vanderbilt and Kumar Rocker in their second game.
On Saturday, they were in a dogfight with Ole Miss but were able to break a 2-2 tie in the sixth.
And then Connor Noland, who has been good for Arkansas in the past as a starter, pitched the last 3 innings only allowing one baserunner and striking out four.
If they get him going again, what out.
1. Not Much Offense on Saturday
You sometimes see this on the weekend in the SEC Tournament for whatever reason, but there wasn’t a ton of offense on Saturday. Only nine combined runs in the two games.
Part of that is the teams are worn down because there is so much excitement and build in those first three days. I think after a while teams are ready for to move on to the NCAA Tournament.
The other part of it is, teams who used some of their best pitchers on Tuesday and Wednesday have them available again on Saturday. Either way, it led to some really good baseball games on Saturday.
