As a part of the US$2.5 Billion, 15-year all-sports television package announced today, ESPN and the Southeastern Conference announced that college baseball will become a regular feature on the world’s largest and most influential sports network.  The official press release gave some pause, as only the SEC tournament appears to be guaranteed air time.  Additionally, at least 3 softball or baseball games will air on the main channels (ESPN and ESPN2); however, Kendall Rogers of Rivals.com has revealed that it is intended that ESPNU will air several regular season games.  All SEC tournament games will appear on the network. 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.

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 »