Recapping Day 2 of the SEC tournament
Day 2 of the SEC tournament was full of drama, other than Game 1. LSU took care of business in its first game of the tournament as it dispatched South Carolina 10-3. Thatcher Hurd and Nate Ackenhausen put on a show.
The drama began in game two as Texas A&M went to war with Arkansas. A&M had a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning until Arkansas hit a grand slam to take its first lead of the game. Texas A&M hit a solo homer in the ninth to tie it and send it into extra innings, and Arkansas ended it with a walk-off homer in the 11th.
Florida and Alabama followed that same kind of script except Alabama scored 3 runs in the top of the 11th to give them a 6-3 lead. Just when many thought the Gators may be done, they hit an RBI single to cut the lead to 6-4 before BT Riopelle hit a walk-off three-run homer to win 7-6.
Auburn put up a fight against Vandy but the Commodores came out on top in the end 6-4.
Here’s a full recap of Wednesday’s action in Hoover, Alabama.
Game 1: No. 3 LSU 10, No. 6 South Carolina 3
Hurd got the start on the mound for LSU as the Tigers looked to get started hot in the SEC tournament. The Tigers did exactly that as the offense scored 10 runs and held South Carolina to only three runs. Hurd instilled confidence with coach Jay Johnson as he went 5.1 innings and gave up three runs. Ackenhausen had a great day out of the bullpen, as well.
Game 2: No. 2 Arkansas 6, No. 10 Texas A&M 5
It seems like Game 1 was the only game today that wasn’t going to have any drama. The rest of the day was full of it. Texas A&M had a 4-1 lead on Arkansas in the bottom of the seventh inning when Wegner hit a grand slam to give the Hogs their first lead of the game.
With its backs against the wall in the ninth inning, Texas A&M hit a solo homer to tie the game and we headed to extras. In the bottom of the 11th, Diggs hit a walk-off homer to send Arkansas to the winners’ bracket and to a meeting with LSU on Thursday.
Game 3: No. 1 Florida 7, No. 9 Alabama 6
The drama from game two carried on into Game 3 as the Gators and Crimson Tide played an instant classic. The Gators took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, but Alabama didn’t back down. The Tide plated a run in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings to give them a 3-2 lead on the No. 1 seed Gators.
The score would remain that way until the bottom of the eighth inning when a run scored on a throwing error to tie the game. The game wound up going into extra innings. In the top of the 11th inning, Alabama scored three runs on a bases-loaded double by Seidi to put the Tide up 6-3. Just when a lot of people thought the Gators were out of it, they weren’t.
An RBI single by Josh Rivera scored a run to cut the lead to 6-4 and then Riopelle stepped into the box and ended the game with a three-run bomb to carry the Gators to a 7-6 victory.
Game 4: No. 4 Vanderbilt, No. 5 Auburn
Both teams started this game off hot as Auburn plated a run on a solo homer and Vandy answered in the bottom of the inning with two runs of their own to take a 2-1 lead after one. Auburn tied the game in the top of the third inning when Stanfield hit a solo shot to make it 2-2.
The score would remain that way until the Vandy boys plated four runs from the sixth through the eighth inning to make it 6-2 Vandy as we headed to the ninth inning. Bryson Ware hit a two-run shot to cut the lead to 6-4 with no outs.
Auburn couldn’t score any more runs, though, as Vandy won 6-4.
Day 3 Schedule (Times CT)
9:30 a.m.: (10) Texas A&M vs (6) South Carolina (Elimination game)
30 minutes after Game 1 is over: (9) Alabama vs (5) Auburn (Elimination game)
4:30 p.m..: (3) LSU vs (2) Arkansas
30 minutes after Game 3: (4) Vanderbilt vs (1) Florida
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