Here is your 2011 SEC Tournament Day 2 Recap.
#18 Arkansas 7 Mississippi State 2
HOOVER, Ala. – Arkansas scored the first five runs of the game, including four in the first inning, and the top five batters in the Arkansas order combined to go 12-for-22 with six runs scored and four RBI as the Razorbacks cruised to a 7-2 win over Mississippi State in an elimination game at the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
“It was a lot better start for us today,” Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said. “I give credit to Bo Bigham in that first at-bat. He fouled off a lot of pitches and finally got a base hit. I think their starting pitcher threw 25 pitches before he got his first out. We did a good job going the other way, hitting some balls through the four hole and we weren’t trying to do too much. DJ (Baxendale) will tell you he didn’t have his best stuff. He was laboring out there, but now he’ll take seven or eight days off before getting ready for the next challenge.”
With the win, the Razorbacks improve to 37-19 overall and snap a four-game losing streak at the SEC Tournament. Mississippi State drops to 34-23 with the loss.
Arkansas Recap
Mississipi State Recap
HOOVER, ALA.—- Georgia sophomore Alex Wood pitched his first career complete game to lead the Bulldogs to a 3-2 win over Auburn Thursday in an SEC Tournament elimination game at Regions Park.
Wood (5-7) allowed two runs on seven hits with three walks and eight strikeouts in going the distance to keep Georgia’s season alive in front of a crowd of 4,570. The Bulldogs improved to 29-29 while the Tigers end the year at 29-29. Georgia will play again Friday night (time TBA) against the loser of the contest featuring top-ranked South Carolina and third-ranked Vanderbilt. The SEC co-champions will square off in the final game of the Thursday session.
Florida sophomore right-hander Hudson Randall (Atlanta, Ga.) tossed eight scoreless innings, junior Daniel Pigott (Ormond Beach, Fla.) was 4-for-4 and scored three runs and senior Bryson Smith (Watkinsville, Ga.) was 4-for-5 and tallied three RBI to lead the third-seeded Gators (43-15) past seventh-seeded Alabama (33-25), 6-0, in the first winner’s bracket game of the 2011 SEC Tournament on Thursday at Regions Park.
The Gators will now be off on Friday and will return to action on Saturday at around 1:30 p.m. ET in the semifinals that will be televised in Gainesville and Ocala on Sun Sports (Channels 48/1048 on the Cox Communications’ cable system) and heard on WRUF SportsRadio 850. The Crimson Tide will meet Arkansas (37-19) in an elimination game tomorrow at 4 p.m.
#3 Vanderbilt 7 #1 South Carolina 2
Hoover, Ala. – Vanderbilt improved to 2-0 in the Southeastern Conference Tournament with a 7-2 win over South Carolina Thursday night at Regions Park.
The Commodores took an early lead scoring two runs in the first and led 3-1 after three innings. However, the top-ranked Gamecocks cut the lead to one in the fourth inning and put runners in scoring position in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. The Vanderbilt bullpen kept South Carolina off the scoreboard and the Dores’ offense rewarded the team’s pitchers in the ninth with a four-run rally to blow the game open.
Anthony Gomez’s leadoff single and Aaron Westlake’s pop-up, bunt single put runners on first and third base with no outs before Mike Yastrzemski drove in Gomez with a safety squeeze. One batter later, Jason Esposito executed a hit-and-run to drive in Westlake. Conrad Gregor’s sacrifice bunt scored the third run of the rally and Riley Reynolds capped the inning with a single to left field scoring Esposito.
Vanderbilt Recap
South Carolina Recap
