SEC Baseball Monday Recap: Baums Away

Conference play has arrived in SEC baseball and things got off to a hot start. Especially at Baum Stadium where Arkansas turned the ballpark into a launching pad all weekend. The Hogs and Vanderbilt were the only teams to get sweeps in the opening weekend, and are at the top spot of the divisions already. Here’s what went down across the conference in case you missed it.

Arkansas Sweeps Kentucky

13 home runs, 39 runs, and three wins. Arkansas made a statement and jumped to 4th in most major national polls. The Hogs jumped on last year’s SEC Pitcher of the Year Sean Hjelle on Friday and that set the tone for the whole weekend. Jax Biggers was named SEC Player of the Week after hitting .588 and plating seven RBI’s. Casey Martin won Freshman of the Week and extended his hitting streak to 13 games.

Auburn Wins Series vs. Texas A&M

Probably the second most important series of the weekend. SEC Pitcher of the Week Casey Mize led Auburn to a series opening win with 13 K’s in 7 ¹⁄₃ innings of work. After winning the second game 11-5 they dropped the series finale to A&M. It’s still early but the Tigers currently have the top RPI in the country.

Vandy Sweeps Miss State

Vandy’s pitching cloning machine is still fully functional in case you were wondering. Vanderbilt only allowed four runs against the Bulldogs, including a 5-0 shutout on Friday. Mississippi State looks like they could be in for rough times this year without Andy Cannizaro.

LSU Wins Series vs. Mizzou

After splitting the first two games against LSU, Mizzou had a chance to smash and grab a series win out of Baton Rouge. After taking a 2-0 lead in the first, they gave up seven runs in a row and their rally in the ninth fell short.

Florida Wins Series at South Carolina

Last year’s national champs still look like the team to beat in the conference. They got a solid test from the Gamecocks but came out on top. Their 3-2 win on Sunday clinched the series thanks to four hitless innings from their bullpen.

Georgia Wins Series at Alabama

This series had razor thin margins all weekend. The Bulldogs lost the series opener in 13 innings, and then responded with a pair of 6-5 wins for a nice series win on the road. Those are the kinds of wins Georgia has to gut out to compete in a stacked SEC East.

Ole Miss Wins Series vs. Tennessee

The Rebels lost the series opener but cruised in the next to games to take the series. Their impressive 19-2 record has them sitting with a top-5 RPI after this weekend.

SEC Standings

EAST

1. Vanderbilt (15-5, 3-0)
2. Florida (18-4, 2-1)
3. Georgia (14-6, 2-1)
4. Missouri (15-5, 1-2)
5. S Carolina (13-7, 1-2)
6. Tennessee (13-8, 1-2)
7. Kentucky (14-6, 0-3)

WEST

1. Arkansas (16-4, 3-0)
2. Ole Miss (19-2, 2-1)
3. Auburn (19-2, 2-1)
4. LSU (14-7, 2-1)
5. Texas A&M (17-4, 1-2)
6. Alabama (16-5, 1-2)
7. Mississippi State (10-10, 0-3)