The SEC Baseball Tournament can feel like a war of offensive attrition.
As if the last long fly ball that can be tracked down for a team of arm-dragging pitchers facing softball scores will control the day. Wednesday flew in the face of that thinking. More specifically, Day 2 in Hoover was “Bring Your Ace to Work” day, and Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Ole Miss obliged.
Then Tennessee dropped in a 15-10 slugfest to remind us that the world hadn’t turned entirely upside down. Here’s the latest on the hardball.
What We Learned
Suffice it to say that the SEC’s pitching masters showed up on Wednesday. The challenge is deciding whose game was best. Here are the options:
Kyson Witherspoon, Oklahoma
The Oklahoma hurler was masterful. He worked into the 8th inning and held the potent Georgia offense to a sacrifice fly and a solo shot. Witherspoon looked like the high MLB Draft pick he’s about to be. Witherspoon made Skip Johnson look like a genius for not burning him against Kentucky, but instead saving him to stifle the SEC’s top power offense.
Final line: 7 2/3 IP, 5 hits, 2 runs, 2 earned runs, 0 walks, 8 strikeouts (W)
Ryan Prager, Texas A&M
A preseason All-American candidate, Prager has been up and down, but lately mostly down. Maybe he’s just ready to make a meaningful statement on behalf of a woefully underachieving team. Or maybe a 6-run 2nd inning left him relax and pitch with no worries. Prager had been historically bad in his last start, giving up 7 earned runs to Georgia in 2 2/3 innings a week ago. It looked like ancient history on Wednesday, as he rolled over Mississippi State.
Final line: 5 1/3 IP, 4 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts (W)
Hunter Elliott, Ole Miss
Elliott faced one of the hottest teams in college baseball and looked extremely unconcerned. He worked around 3 Rebels errors and looked supremely confident even with runners on base. Florida had a chance in nearly every inning to put up a crooked number of runs, but Elliott held the Gators to a single unearned tally.
Final line: 5 1/3 IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 0 earned runs, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts (W)
Obviously, the only correct answer for who was best is (D) all of the above.
Meanwhile, Tennessee looked primed to fall on its face in the manner most consistent with recent Tennessee. The Vols have lost 5-straight SEC series matchups, and being dead last in the league in defense and in stolen bases allowed plays a not small part. The Vols have been shooting themselves in the foot consistently. Wednesday, they had a 5-1 lead on Alabama into the fifth inning. Then, a painfully Tennessee inning. A couple walks, a passed ball, a horrific error on defense, and Alabama led 6-5.
But a funny thing happened on the way to writing off Tennessee. The Vols blasted their way to a 15-10 victory. That might be what it takes for UT. The small ball mistakes suggest a team not prepared to squeak out a 3-1 win or a 3-2 win as 2 of the other SEC victors did on Wednesday. And of course, Texas is the best pitching team in the league… so Thursday will present a test.
What to watch for on Thursday
First, we get 3 games due to the late rainout on Tuesday. The game which would have been Wednesday’s finale, Texas A&M vs. Auburn, will open up Thursday. Mercifully, no 9:30 a.m. start time will be needed. The Aggies get another shot at rebirth. Jace LaViolette socked a homer and Ryan Prager looked like his old self on Wednesday. But Auburn on Thursday doesn’t look like a particularly favorable matchup. Given the way Auburn swings the bat, another shutout is certainly unlikely.
Then, Tennessee and Texas renew the rivalry for the color orange and the UT initials. Tennessee’s 15 runs on Wednesday were certainly interesting, but the Texas pitching staff is likely to bring the Vols back to Earth. That said, under the new format, it’s time to decide if the top-4 seeds have an advantage on Thursday. The guess here is “not really.” The high seeds probably have more depth issues and fatigues issues in games 4 or 5 than in game 3. Whatever edge the best seeds have would seem to kick in later, once a team like, say, Oklahoma for example, has burned through most of its pitching staff. But Tennessee should still have some fuel in the tank for Texas.
Oklahoma will move on to play Vandy. Unless the Aggies pull another upset, OU will be the last double-digit seed remaining. Should be plenty of small ball in this one and could be a fun finish to another day in Hoover.
What did it all mean?
Alabama and Florida are more or less officially out of the regional hosting discussion. In theory, Tennessee and Ole Miss are still alive on that front, but they both probably have significantly more work to do. A&M’s upset was impressive, but it would take a run to the SEC title game to even need to start talking about NCAA Tournament possibilities for the Aggies.
On the other hand, the loss doesn’t hurt UGA, which will still be in line for a super regional hosting setup. Auburn is the SEC squad on the list of 6 such teams (the others being Georgia, Texas, Arkansas, LSU, Vandy) that could be a bit vulnerable, but the Tigers are pretty well locked in and can basically cinch it by taking care of business against the Aggies.
SEC Baseball Tournament: Bring your ace to work Wednesday in Hoover Saturday Down South.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( SEC Baseball Tournament: Bring your ace to work Wednesday in Hoover )
Also on site :