Blake Dean's 3 RBIs lifted LSU to a 6-2 victory over Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament Championship. (ESPN Photo)

After losing their first game of the tournament, LSU battled back to reach the championship game of the SEC Tournament.  The Tigers were seeking a conference tournament championship to go along with their regular season co-championship.  Vanderbilt was a perfect 3-0 in the SEC Tournament heading into the championship game.  Here is your SEC Tournament Championship recap for Sunday, May 24.

#2 LSU 6, Vanderbilt 2

HOOVER, Ala. — Blake Dean’s three RBI and a solid pitching performance by senior left-hander Ryan Byrd led No.2 LSU to a 6-2 victory over Vanderbilt to capture the 2009 SEC tournament championship Sunday afternoon at Regions Park. Read the rest of this entry »

Caleb Cotham allowed only one run in seven innings as Vanderbilt run-ruled Arkansas. (Vanderbilt Media Relations Photo)

The semi-finals of the SEC championship are underway today.  Here is your SEC recap for Saturday, May 23.

Updated May 24th, 1:55 A.M ET

Vanderbilt 11, #20 Arkansas 1 (7 innings)

HOOVER, Ala. ­­— Caleb Cotham continued Vanderbilt’s strong run of starting pitcher at the Southeastern Conference tournament, pitching seven innings of five-hit ball to lead Vanderbilt to an 11-1 win over No. 20 Arkansas Saturday morning at Regions Park.

The game was called in the seventh due to the 10-run rule instituted by the conference during tournament play. Read the rest of this entry »

Louis Coleman hurled eight strong innings as LSU defeated South Carolina 4-1. (USA Today Photo)

The SEC Tournament was in elimination mode on Friday, as Florida faced off against Arkansas and LSU battled South Carolina in win or go home games.  Here is your SEC Tournament recap for Friday, May 22.

#2 LSU 4, #26 South Carolina 1

HOOVER, Ala. — A brilliant eight-inning performance by LSU right-hander Louis Coleman and timely base hits for the Tigers were enough to lift top seeded LSU past fifth-seeded South Carolina 4-1 Friday night in the SEC tournament at Regions Park. Read the rest of this entry »

Matt Cerione scored the game winning run as Georgia topped Arkansas 2-1 in 10 innings. (CSTV Photo)

The SEC Tournament had an interesting first day with all four lower seeds winning their opening round games.  Here is your recap for Thursday’s games.

#2 LSU 9, #21 Alabama 6

HOOVER, Ala. — LSU pinch hitter Derek Helenihi blasted a three-run homer and starter Anthony Ranaudo pitched a solid 7.1 innings as the top-seeded Tigers eliminated fourth-seed Alabama from the SEC Tournament, 9-6, on Thursday afternoon at Regions Park. Read the rest of this entry »

Scott Bittle pitched Ole Miss to a Sunday victory and series win over Georgia, striking out eleven and only allowing one run over seven innings. (Rivals Photo)

Just when it started to look like the only interesting division race would be in the SEC West, Florida sent a message to the Georgia Bulldogs that they would not go down without a fight.  Georgia hit the road for a series at Ole Miss, and the Rebels rallied to a two games to one series victory after dropping the Friday night game.  Florida took advantage of the Georgia series loss, sweeping South Carolina to get within one game of the SEC East lead.  LSU sits alone on top of the SEC West after a sweep of Auburn at home.  Read the rest of this entry »

Matt Cerione (left) collected two ninth inning game-winning hits to lift Georgia to a series victory over Arkansas. (ESPN Photo)

With a weekend full of exciting baseball and some surprises, the SEC conference provided plenty of entertainment.  The spotlight series of the weekend was Arkansas at Georgia, and the two teams played three hard-fought games, with all three games decided by a total of four runs.  LSU entered the weekend with what looked like an easy weekend opponent in Tennessee, but the Volunteers marched into the new Alex Box Stadium and took two of three from the Bayou Bengals.  Read the rest of this entry »

Scott Bittle struck out 13 in a complete-game shutout of Kentucky. (Scout.com Photo)

All eyes were on Athens, with the LSU Tigers making the trip to play the Georgia Bulldogs in a battle of top-five teams.  The series was as competitive as everyone thought it would be, and LSU came out on top with a 2-1 series victory to improve to 8-4 in conference play.  Georgia is also now 8-4 in SEC play and leads Florida, who lost two of three at Vanderbilt last weekend, by one game in the standings.  Arkansas is still on top of the SEC West and overall standings with a 10-2 conference mark after taking two of three on the road at South Carolina.  Ole Miss dominated Kentucky at home in a three-game sweep to improve to 8-4 in league play and put themselves in a tie with LSU for second in the SEC West.  Auburn improved their SEC record to 6-6 by taking two of three from Mississippi State in Starksville.  Alabama swept Tennessee to get back to .500 in league play, while the Volunteers fell to a lowly 1-11 in SEC play.

Read the rest of this entry »

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE

LSU 8 Ole Miss 2

HOOVER, Ala. — Designated hitter Blake Dean’s two-run homer Sunday highlighted a five-run LSU fifth inning, and right-hander Louis Coleman fired six scoreless relief innings to lead the eighth-ranked Tigers to an 8-2 victory over Ole Miss in the SEC Tournament championship game at Regions Park.

LSU (43-16-1) won its 20th straight game, establishing a school record. The previous mark of 19 consecutive wins was set by the 1997 club. The Tigers, who trailed 2-1 entering the bottom of the fifth inning, won for the 16th time during the 20-game streak after facing a deficit. Read the rest of this entry »

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCES

Vanderbilt 7 Ole Miss 4

HOOVER, Ala. (AP) — David Macias opened the game with a homer and Vanderbilt scored five runs in the third to beat Mississippi 7-4 and stay alive in the Southeastern Conference tournament.

That set up a rematch later Saturday for a berth in the title game. Ole Miss had won its first two games in the double-elimination tournament. Read the rest of this entry »

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCES

Vanderbilt 7 South Carolina 5

HOOVER, Ala. — Nick Christiani allowed just one run on five hits in 6.1 innings and Vanderbilt used two two-run homers to power past South Carolina 7-5 Friday afternoon at the SEC Tournament at Regions Park.

VU improved to 39-19 and eliminated the Gamecocks who fell to 38-21 on the year. The Commodores will face tourney nemesis Ole Miss tomorrow at 10 a.m. in the semifinal round and will have to beat the Rebels twice in order to advance to the conference championship game for the third straight year. It will mark the fourth time the two schools have met in the tourney since 2006. Read the rest of this entry »

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.