Things can change quickly in the SEC as the conference remains as deep as ever.
That was on full display this past weekend, particularly with Vanderbilt and Alabama who both had big series wins to begin SEC play only to get swept this past weekend.
While South Carolina lost its first SEC series of the year, they handed it to the Commodores this past weekend winning 8-4, 8-3, and and 10-2.
Eli Jones was great on the mound for the Gamecocks in game one allowing just 1 hit over 6.1 innings. On the other side, Carter Holton struck out 10 in 6 innings.
But this misplay in center led to a huge 7th inning for South Carolina.
Ethan Petry hit a pair of homers in the second game of the series, and then in the finale, Tyler Pitzer tossed 6.1 innings without allowing an earned run while striking out nine.
Georgia’s Charlie Condon should be the talk of college baseball. He’s already hitting .517 with 17 home runs this year, and he led the Bulldogs to a home sweep over Alabama this past weekend with 6 hits and 3 home runs, including this go-ahead nuke on Saturday.
In the first two games particularly, the Georgia pitching staff did a much better job of limiting the walks, which plagued them the previous weekend.
Still, the Crimson Tide had plenty of chances but just couldn’t get that big hit.
The series of the weekend between Florida and LSU lived up to the hype – aided by record-setting crowds at Alex Box Stadium to see a rematch of last year’s College World Series finale.
After a rough outing to begin SEC play this year, LSU ace Luke Holman bounced back to strike out a career-high 13 Florida batters in 6 innings while only allowing 1 run in a 6-1 LSU win on Friday night.
The two teams went to extra innings on Saturday after Florida scored single runs in the eighth and ninth to tie it up. Then Jac Caglianone hit this rocket in the 11th to give Florida the win.
Cags turned around and tossed 7 innings on Sunday allowing just 1 earned run on 3 hits. The Gators bats started to wake up as well, hitting 6 combined home runs in a 12-2 (8) win to take the series.
It’s early, but Arkansas’ Hagen Smith, Condon, and Caglianone have started to form the trifecta we saw in the SEC last year with Paul Skenes, Dylan Crews, and Wyatt Langford.
After tossing 6 shutout innings against Auburn on Thursday night with 12 strikeouts, Smith is now 4-0 on the year with a 1.24 ERA in 29 innings allowing 11 hits and 10 walks with 62 strikeouts.
The dominant pitching was needed as the Razorbacks' only run came on a home run from Wehiwa Aloy in a 1-0 win.
It was another close one in game two as Arkansas came back late to win 6-5. Pinch-hitter Ryder Helfrick came on the ninth to deliver the final blow.
In the finale, it was a 6-run sixth inning that helped Auburn escape with a win at home. Cooper McMurray’s 3-run shot gave the Tigers the lead for good.
One of the biggest surprises early on is Kentucky’s 5-1 start to conference play. After sweeping Georgia at home last weekend, they went to Missouri this past weekend and won a close series.
Trey Pooser allowed just 1 earned run on 3 hits and 2 walks over 6 innings with 7 strikeouts for Kentucky on Friday in a 9-4 win.
Missouri’s Javyn Pimental and Bryce Mayer combined to allow just 1 earned run on 5 hits and 1 walk with 9 strikeouts in game two as they evened the series with a 2-1 victory.
These two teams played another close one on Sunday that almost saw Missouri come back in the bottom of the ninth, but the Cats held on for the 7-6 win.
Tennessee picked up a pair of run-rule wins over Ole Miss at home this past weekend 15-3 and 15-4.
In the first of those games, Christian Moore hit a pair of home runs, Kavares Tears had 3 hits and 4 runs, and Robin Villeneuve drove in four.
Moore added another homer in Sunday’s big win, while Billy Amick drove in five – four of them coming on a grand slam.
In between those two games, Ole Miss did pick up an 8-5 win. Liam Doyle struck out 10 Tennessee hitters in 6 innings, while Andrew Fischer led the Ole Miss charge on offense with 3 runs scored, 2 home runs, and 2 walks.
It was a 4-run ninth inning that lifted them to victory. This hit by Ethan Groff gave them the lead.
Gavin Grahovac got the weekend party started early for Texas A&M on Thursday night with this grand slam to give the Aggies the lead over Mississippi State and ultimately a 6-3 win. That was after hitting a solo shot in the first.
Ryan Prager was good on the mound for Texas A&M in that one tossing 6.1 innings without allowing an earned run and striking out 8.
The Bulldogs would bounce back on Friday with a 5-1 win thanks to a 3-run homer by Hunter Hines and a great performance on the mound by Khal Stephen (6.2 IP, 5 H, 3 BB, 1 ER, 5 Ks).
It was the Braden Montgomery show in the finale as he blasted a pair of home runs and drove in 3. That was plenty for Texas A&M starter, Justin Lamkin, who allowed just 1 earned run on 2 hits and 1 walk over 7.1 innings with 12 strikeouts in the 6-1 win.
SEC Power Rankings
Tier 1
Arkansas
Florida
Texas A&M
Tier 2
LSU
Vanderbilt
South Carolina
Tennessee
Tier 3
Mississippi State
Alabama
Georgia
Kentucky
Ole Miss
Auburn
Tier 4
Missouri
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