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Tournament Round-Up: vs Kentucky

By drewmac20
Wade Rackley

Kentucky vs #17 Auburn

Tuesday: 4-3 W/11

Was that enough drama for ya?! Auburn got a performance of the season from Davis Daniel and end then end, got an RBI base hit from Edouard Julien in the bottom of the 11th to take Game 2 of the SEC tournament from the Kentucky Wildcats and advance to the double elimination portion of the tournament. Things started off quietly enough with both teams getting solo home runs and chasing the starters shortly their after. To be fair, except for 1 pitch that hit too much of the plate, Jack Owen did well in his 2.2 innings, but ran into trouble in the 3rd giving way to Davis Daniel, who was in a word superb. Daniel went 5.1 giving up 6 hits and 2 runs, the second of which was a pitch from Cody Greenhill in the 9th that ended up tying the game. On the offensive end for the Tigers, this looked destined to be a run away but Daniel Harper was lifted for Kentucky Ace Sean Hjelle (last year’s SEC pitcher of the year), who was magnificent, going 7.1, scattering 4 hits and not allowing a run and throwing 118 pitches. He was lifted in the 11th though for obvious reasons and the Tigers had their chance. Cody Greenhill was great in relief, going 3 innings and setting up the Tigers to take advantage of Zack Thompson when Hjelle could not return. Bret Wright singled followed by a walk to Venter and that led to Julien’s RBI base hit scoring pinch runner Cade Evans from 2nd for the 4-3 win.

The win is huge for Auburn who now gets new life in the double elimination portion of the SEC Tournament. Auburn plays Ole Miss tomorrow around 1 pm and will await the winner/loser of the Georgia-Texas A&M match up. For Kentucky, its tense times as selection Monday comes. Many sites have them as a last 4 in, and the committee will not be impressed with a 4 game skid to finish things. For Auburn, the hosting possibilities improved ever so slightly tonight. I think they may have done enough to clinch it tonight but another win would at least get Auburn a higher seed in the top 16 and you want to be 12 or higher this year with the top 4 looking as strong as ever. Auburn is at least assured of playing till Thursday, and a win tomorrow buys the Tigers even more baseball. And make no mistake, more baseball is a great thing.

Around Hoover
#25 Texas A&M vs Vanderbilt, Game 1, 3-1 A&M
Well that was unexpected. I had already sharpied in Vandy but there goes A&M again, doing the exact opposite of what I was expecting them to do. This is a massive win for A&M as they too were on the bubble but they get the extra chance to pull their feet from the fire. For Vandy, this doesn’t hurt that much, the sweep of Kentucky and going 5-1 down the stretch should be enough to lock them in to the tournament.

Mississippi State vs LSU, Game 3, 8-5 LSU
Monster win for the Fighting Tigers. LSU had to have a win in the tournament just to feel a little better about their chances in the big tournament and they get it here in comeback fashion. For State, I think they’ve done enough to be fine but it will be a long 5 days till Monday...

Missouri vs South Carolina, Game 4, 4-2 USC
No shock at all to this outcome, but Mizzou put up a good fight, holding a lead into the 7th inning. This pretty much ends the Tigers season as they needed to win the whole thing to get a bid, but for Carolina, their hosting chances are still alive for at least 2 more days.

2018 SEC Baseball Tournament Bracket - Current Logos - Updated

2018 SEC Baseball Tournament Bracket - Throwback Logos - Updated

Composite Top 25

1. Florida

2. Stanford

3. Oregon State

4. Georgia

5. North Carolina

6. Arkansas

7. Ole Miss

8. Clemson

9. Texas Tech

10. FSU

11. NC State

12. Stetson

13. Texas

14. Minnesota

15. Duke

16. East Carolina

17. Auburn

18. Southern Miss

19. Tennessee Tech

20. UCONN

21. Coastal Carolina

22. UCLA

23. Jacksonville

24. Texas A&M

25. Houston

On Deck

  • #25 Texas A&M vs #4 Georgia, Game 5
  • #17 Auburn vs #8 Ole Miss, Game 6
  • LSU vs #1 Florida, Game 7
  • South Carolina vs #6 Arkansas, Game 8

Well these will be fun to watch at work! Auburn will go with Tanner Burns on Wednesday to start so the freshman will get a chance for a re-do against the Rebels. Remember, Auburn played 2 of the 3 games close through till the very end before the Rebel crowd helped Ole Miss pull away. This would be a huge neutral site win against a team that is somewhat rocky away from Swayze Field. I expect Georgia to have little trouble with the Aggies, but they’ve proven me wrong before…

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