FROM CBB NEWS SOURCES

South Carolina 11 Florida 3

Hoover, Ala. - South Carolina scored five runs in both the second and eighth innings and behind a solid seven inning effort from senior right-hander Nick Godwin earned an 11-3 win over Florida on day two of the SEC Tournament in an elimination game. Carolina junior first baseman became the seventh player in SEC history to record 60 or more career homers and also set a South Carolina career record for RBI with 200 in his three seasons with the Garnet & Black. Carolina improves to 38-20 on the year with the loss dropping Florida to 34-22 this season. The Gamecocks will meet the loser of the LSU-Vanderbilt game on Friday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 4 pm ET and the game broadcast live on FSN South and the Gamecock Radio Network. Read the rest of this entry »

Game 1: LSU 5, USC 4

LSU rallied for 4 runs in the ninth and Blake Dean hit a walk off shot in the 10th as LSU stunned USC with a major come from behind win in the SEC tournament opener.

Game 2: Vandy 7, UF 3

Vanderbilt avenged a Florida sweep last weekend that knocked VU completely out of the NCAA hosting picture by sending Florida to the loser’s bracket behind 14 singles and steady, if imperfect relief pitching by Drew Hayes, Richie Goodenow and Russell Brewer.

Game 3: Ole Miss 4, UGA 1

Is UGA mailing in the tournament? A presumptive national seed, Georgia fell to Ole Miss 4-1 in their first game in the SEC tourney. But the #1 seed had the unenviable task of facing pre-season all-American Lance Lynn, who struck out 12 of the 27 batters he faced. Fuller Smith and Jordan Henry had 3 hits apiece for the Rebs.

Game 4: Kentucky 9 Alabama 3

Making his first career start senior Aaron Lovett tossed a complete-game and senior outfielder Sawyer Carroll set the school record for RBI in a season, as the No. 19 Kentucky Wildcats pounded No. 29 Alabama 9-3, in front of 11,967 fans during the first round of the 2008 Southeastern Conference Tournament at Regions Park.

Full SEC recaps of the day’s action.

The SEC Conference Tourney starts up tomorrow with a double elimination tournament taking place in Hoover Alabama. The University of South Carolina will take on LSU at 10 am, Vanderbilt against Florida at 1 pm, Ole Miss against Georgia at 5 pm, and the nightcap will be Alabama playing Kentucky at 8 pm. Read the rest of this entry »

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Georgia junior shortstop Gordon Beckham was selected 2008 SEC Baseball Player of the Year, fellow senior closer Joshua Fields was named SEC Pitcher of the Year and Auburn first basemen Hunter Morris was named SEC Freshman of the Year by a vote of the league’s 12 head baseball coaches. The coaches also tabbed Georgia skipper David Perno as SEC Coach of the Year. Beckham was also named SEC Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Read the rest of this entry »

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCES

Wednesday, May 21
Game 1 10:00 a.m. #7 South Carolina vs. #2 LSU [CSS HD] (XM 199)
Game 2 1:00 p.m. #6 Vanderbilt vs. #3 Florida [CSS HD] (XM 199)
Game 3 5:00 p.m. #8 Ole Miss vs. #1 Georgia [CSS HD]
Game 4 8:00 p.m. #5 Alabama vs. #4 Kentucky [CSS HD] Read the rest of this entry »

Vandy Takes Game One from UGA

Despite a big 4 run inning from UGA in which they took a one run lead at 7-6, Georgia starter Trevor Holder and the UGA bullpen could not hold down Vanderbilt’s bats.  Dominic de la Osa (pictured)  and David Macias hit 2 run homeruns and every Vandy player rapped out a hit in a 13-7 shellacking.

Holder, who entered the game with a 2.84 ERA, gave up 10 ER in 6 innings and saw his ERA baloon one run to 3.84.  The strike zone was tight, often frustrating Vanderbilt’s Mikie Minor, who allowed 3 runs on a surprising 9 hits in just 5.1 innings.  There was question as to whether any pitcher would be able to get consistent outs in the game.

Vandy’s Russell Brewer (a swingman who shares closing duties with Brett Jacobsen) came in and answered that question, striking out 7 of the 10 batters he faced to pick up his 4th win.

On the day, Rich Poythress and Lyle Allen of UGA had 4 hits apiece.  Joey Lewis had three RBI, including 2 on a fifth inning homerun.  For Vanderbilt, the top three in the order (Macias, de la Osa and Alvarez, combined for 7 runs and 10 RBI on 6 hits, 2 walks and 2 HBP). 

The teams square off again today at 3 p.m. Eastern.  Vanderbilt is currently 2 games behind Georgia atop the SEC standings and can take over 1st place by percentage points with a clean sweep. Read the rest of this entry »

Here are the SEC Weekend Pitching Matchups which is the courtesy of the SEC Media Relations Department. Read the rest of this entry »

Junior/SP/Ole Miss

Say it with me in a Donald Trump impression - “he’s huuuuuge”
To the tune of 6′5 - 260 as listed on the Ole Miss web site. I don’t know that he is 6′5, but 260 does not surprise me.

Lynn is underrated based on where I see him on preseason draft lists: Baseball America did not even project him going in the first round. Mymlbdraft.com does not project him going in the first round. MLBdraftsite.com has him going 44th. Read the rest of this entry »

Vanderbilt sweeps Tennessee:

Knoxville - Dominic de la Osa (pictured) became Vanderbilt’s all-time hits and doubles leader with a pair of doubles on Sunday.  Vanderbilt swept the weekend despite a major home run surge by the Vols all weekend.  VU had solid pitching outings by Mikie Minor and Caleb Cotham, while Kentrell Davis impressed for Tennessee with a triple and two homers on Sunday.

• Friday - VU 8, UT 5
• Saturday - VU 9, UT 2
• Sunday - VU 10, UT 8

Georgia takes 2 of 3 from Ole Miss:

Athens - Georgia gave up a late Saturday lead to drop game two to Ole Miss; however, they stormed back on Sunday with a convincing 11-4 win behind home runs from Gordon Beckham, Lyle Allen, Matt Cerione and Michael Demperio. 

• Friday - UGA 5, OM 4
• Saturday - OM 9, UGA 4
• Sunday - UGA 11, OM 4

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, SEC Recap, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt

By Willie Nicklaus
The highly regarded Class of 2007 was touted as one of the best in recent years by the scouting community, major baseball publications, and all experts alike. Those that opted for college baseball are making the impact predicted by many, including our own Brian Foley, the head man here at the College Baseball Blog. We previewed the position players last week and that article is available by clicking here. Read the rest of this entry »

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCES

Game 1: Mississippi State 6 Kentucky 5
Game 2: Kentucky 13 Mississippi State 4

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Mississippi State and Kentucky split a Southeastern Conference baseball doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Cliff Hagan Stadium on the UK campus. The Bulldogs rallied from a four-run deficit to take a 6-5 victory in the opener. The Wildcats cruised to a 13-4 victory in the second game. The two teams play the rubber game of the weekend three games series at noon CT Sunday.

MSU saw a three-game win streak snapped in the second game. The Bulldogs are now 14-16 overall and 3-8 in conference play. Kentucky, who lost at home in for the first time this year Saturday, is now 24-5 and 6-5. The 10th-ranked Wildcats are now 19-1 at home this season. Read the rest of this entry »

FROM ALABAMA MEDIA RELATIONS
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – In typical Friday night fashion in the Southeastern Conference, the University of Alabama baseball team bested No. 15 Ole Miss, 6-5, in a game that was not decided until the final pitch.

Alabama senior first baseman Matt Bentley clubbed two home runs and senior right-hander Josh Copeland wriggled out of jams in each of the last three innings to lead the Tide to the series-opening win. Read the rest of this entry »

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCES

Alabama 10 Vanderbilt 3

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Junior right-hander Robert Phares, making his first career Southeastern Conference start, turned in a dazzling performance Sunday afternoon, pitching the University of Alabama baseball team to a 10-3 series-clinching win over No. 4 Vanderbilt at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Read the rest of this entry »

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCES

Alabama 9 Vanderbilt 7

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - University of Alabama baseball team scored in six of the eight innings to snap a season-high six-game losing streak with a 9-7 win over fourth-ranked Vanderbilt at Sewell-Thomas Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Alabama tallied 14 hits in the win, including two by No. 9 hitter Jeff Texada, who also belted his first career Southeastern Conference home run in the sixth inning. Freshman shortstop Josh Rutledge, freshman second baseman Ross Wilson, sophomore left fielder Brandon May and Texada all had two hits each for Alabama. Read the rest of this entry »

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCES

Vanderbilt 2 Alabama 1

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Sophomore southpaw Mike Minor struck out a career-high batters in a complete game 2-1 win over Alabama Friday night at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

Vanderbilt improved to 14-4 overall and 3-1 in the SEC, while Alabama dropped to 9-11 and 0-4 in league play.

Minor (3-1) struck out a career best 12 batters while allowing just an unearned run on eight hits in his second complete game of the season. Read the rest of this entry »