SEC Tournament Update
It is a yearly tradition for me to stay up late all this week watching the SEC Baseball Tourney in Hoover, Alabama as the best teams in the country do battle for a conference title and lots of pride. It is no secret I enjoy SEC Baseball. Apparently I am not the only person from the South who feels this way.
Last night, #12 Ole Miss and #3 Vandy played an instant classic late into the Alabama night. The game was a pitching dual through 5 innings (1-0 Vandy).
In the 6th, Ole Miss senior captain Tim Elko hit a 3 run home run with a torn ACL to give the Rebels a 3-1 lead! Elko was the best hitter in the country in March then injured his knee in a midweek game against North Alabama. He opted not to have surgery to try to come back to DH and help his teammates down the stretch.
Vandy fought back to tie the game at 3-3. Then in the top of the 8th, Elko comes back up and HITS ANOTHER ONE OUT OF THE PARK! I was in complete awe after he hit his 2nd home run with torn ACL and have never seen anything like it.
The 2nd homer by Elko gave the Rebels a 4-3 lead in the 8th but Vandy roared back in the bottom of the 9th with two runs to win 5-4 around 1am EST time. Phenomenal game and even in defeat I could not be upset at the Rebels after the historic effort by Elko.
Let’s recap the SEC Tourney so far. On Tuesday, Kentucky, South Carolina, LSU and Auburn were eliminated by #13 Florida, Alabama, Georgio and #12 Ole Miss respectively. The four winners moved on to Wednesday when the tournament became double elimination.
#8 Mississippi State went got blasted 13-2 by #13 Florida and then 12-2 by #4 Tennessee on Thursday morning to be eliminated. State was in the running for a top 8 national seed and now finds these hopes in jeopardy.
#4 Tennessee lost to Alabama 3-2 Wednesday after a very controversial interference call sent the tie game into extra innings. There was lots of chirping on Twitter after about Alabama getting calls in SEC games as always.
The Vols did bounce back by hammering Mississippi State and have a top 8 national seed locked up.
The #1 Arkansas Razorbacks hammered Georgia 11-2 last night which sets up a colossal showdown tonight with #3 Vanderbilt. Projected #1 overall pick Kumar Rocker of Vandy will be matched up with Arkansas Ace Patrick Wicklander in the late night game tonight. I will definitely be staying up late yet again to watch this one.
As I write this, Ole Miss is currently leading Georgia 4-0 in the 7th in the Losers Bracket as the Rebels try to stay alive to take on the loser of the Arkansas/Vandy showdown tomorrow. #13 Florida takes on Alabama in the other winners bracket match in the late afternoon. All of this SEC Tourney action is getting me amped for the NCAA Tourney starting next Friday!