We are seven weeks into the baseball season, three into the conference slate. The SEC standings have little movement from the weekend. Some teams are back on track while others continue to flounder. We’ll break down the weekend below.
SEC Standings
This weekend of SEC baseball resulted in a lot less sweeps compared to last week. Only Kentucky and LSU were swept. Kentucky dropped all three in Starkville to Mississippi State who bounced back in a big way after being swept by Arkansas. LSU was swept as well now in consecutive weeks.
Missouri also got a big series win against Texas A&M. It was the Tigers second series win of the year and the first in the SEC. The Aggies themselves were coming off a huge win against in-state rival No.4 Texas.
There were few shuffles in the standings. South Carolina jumped Kentucky for third place in the East. Ole Miss and Arkansas now share the lead in the SEC West. And LSU and Auburn now tie for last place in the conference with each having a 1-8 start.
Florida had just come off a disappointing showing against South Carolina the week before in a three-game sweep. Head coach Kevin O’Sullivan decided to change things up for Ole Miss coming to town. The Gators used an opener style strategy in the opening two games using both Tommy Mace and Jack Leftwich out of the bullpen.
The strategy worked to perfection in game one. Franco Aleman and Mace combined to allow just four hits and one earned run in a 4-1 win. Game two was less successful. Leftwich cruised in his first two innings of relief but ended up allowing six runs in the final two frames to let the game get away in an 8-2 loss.
The Gators got all over Ole Miss starter Derek Diamond in game three and took a 6-2 lead. Jordan Carrion’s first homerun as a Gator in the fifth inning proved to be very important by game’s end. The Rebels fought back but fell short in the 6-5 Florida win. Carrion also pitched 1.2 scoreless innings.
Vanderbilt dominated in the series sweep against LSU. The Commodores have now won eight in row including six in SEC play. Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter were once again near perfect combining for 12 innings, 2 earned runs, 7 hits and 20 strikeouts.
LSU meanwhile might be nearing panic mode. The Tigers are now 1-8 and have lost four of their last five series. The SEC West’s top two teams still remain on the schedule as well as a very good South Carolina team. The manner in which they got drummed by Vanderbilt is also alarming, losing 13-1 in game one and 11-2 in game two.
Game three was at least competitive and something they could potentially build on. The Tigers held a 3-3 tie into the 7th before Vanderbilt scored two and eventually won 5-4. They’ll travel to Lexington next weekend to face a Kentucky team who just got swept themselves.
You can ‘Like’ The Game Haus on Facebook and ‘Follow’ us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles from other great TGH writers along with Kyle!
“From Our Haus to Yours”
Players must be 21 years of age or older or reach the minimum age for gambling in their respective state and located in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal. Please play responsibly. Bet with your head, not over it. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, and wants help, call or visit: (a) the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey at 1-800-Gambler or www.800gambler.org; or (b) Gamblers Anonymous at 855-2-CALL-GA or www.gamblersanonymous.org.
