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.

Josh Fields saved each of Georgia’s wins over the weekend to lead the Dawgs to 4-2 (10 innings) and 12-10 victories.  Georgia (33-17-1, 19-7-1 SEC) now has a 4 game lead over both LSU (35-16-1, 15-11-1 SEC) and Vanderbilt (37-15. 15-11 SEC) heading into the last weekend of SEC play. 

LSU swept struggling Mississippi State (20-32, 7-20) to run their winning streak to 12 games.  Meanwhile, South Carolina (34-18, 13-14 SEC) dropped three to Arkansas (31-21, 13-13 SEC).  The GameCocks collapse appears to have left Georgia as the only sure bet to host a regional.  LSU seems to be in good standing with respect to earning a regional host.  Vanderbilt and Florida (30-20, 14-13) may be playing this weekend for a chance to earn a third SEC host bid.  Kentucky (38-14, 14-13) and Alabama (30-22, 14-13) also harbor hosting hopes, with Alabama unranked but traveling to Georgia for a road set that could significantly improve their profile. 

Friday SEC Recap

Saturday SEC Recap

Sunday SEC Recap

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 »

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

Vanderbilt 8, Tennessee 5:
Ryan Flaherty launched a mammoth three run home run over the scoreboard in right center in the first inning, lifting Vanderbilt over Tennessee at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville.  The College Baseball Blog took in the action and provides this quick recap of the action.

Tim Corbin extended his dominance over arch rival to the east to a 13-5 record.  This was the first matchup between Corbin’s Dores against new Tennessee skipper Todd Raleigh.  The new coaching staff in orange has many ties to the Dores, with Corbin and Raleigh both Jack Leggett disciples.  Raleigh coached VU recruiting coordinator and first base coach Erik Bakich at East Carolina.  And while Corbin was an assistant at Clemson, both UT assistant Brad LeCroy and VU Director of Baseball Operations Mike Calitri were players (credit to Brandon Barca at VU for the research).  This has added a level of respect to a coaching staff rivalry where there was very quiet, but brutally clear animosity during the Rod Delmonico era.  If there are two teams in the SEC who have truly hated each other more than VU and UT over the last three years, I’m surprised a riot didn’t break out.  One can anticipate that the rivalry may turn more cordial in the future.  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 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 »

In a game that was filled with drama that seemingly wouldn’t end, Vanderbilt outlasted South Carolina 4-3 in 13 innings and 4 hours and 14 minutes.  Leading the way was All-American Shortstop Ryan “Flash” Flaherty (5-6, 2R, 2RBI, BB).  Flaherty singled in his first three at bats and launched a game tying home run to center with two outs in the bottom of the 9th.  In the bottom of the 13th, with the bases loaded and one out, Flaherty bounced a single through the right side for the win.  Read the rest of this entry »

Lance Lynn of Ole Miss picked upwhere David Price left off in 2007, representing the SEC as one of the nation’s most starters. Lynn struckout the first 8 batters en route to a 5IP, 2H, 12K performance in Ole Miss’ 8-1 win over Minnesota.

Meanwhile UGA won a slugfest over Arizona (raked #1 by some publications) after beating up preseason All-American Preston Guilmet. Josh Fields impressed with a HR and the big save. Fields is this correspondent’s 1st Team Preseason AA closer.

Read the rest of this entry »