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SEC Baseball Tournament: Texas A&M and Tennessee surprise, Vanderbilt looks filthy
By Joe Cox
Published:
Thursday had its fair share of surprises in Hoover at the SEC Baseball Tournament.
Texas A&M had a tremendous win and a tremendous loss. Tennessee outlasted the top seed with a memorable relief effort. And then Vanderbilt’s pitching staff decided to get filthy.
Six teams are still fighting in Hoover, and here’s a rundown on what happened and what it all means:
What We Learned
First, Texas A&M seems serious about this not ending the season business. The Aggies managed just 4 hits in a well-pitched game by Auburn, but thanks to a 3-run homer from Kaeden Kent, made those 4 hits stand up. A&M is still outside the NCAA bracket, but could be getting within reach.
But the big story here is Jace LaViolette getting hit and coming out of the game with an apparent hand injury. LaViolette apparently broke his hand, which will likely finish his season and his Aggie career. In many ways, today was emblematic of the season for A&M. Even when something goes right, something else goes catastrophically wrong.
Auburn didn’t do anything to help its top-8 situation, but should still be secure.
Tennessee again showed serious intestinal fortitude, this time via the bullpen. Liam Doyle was ho-hum and Texas took a big early lead, but while Tennessee came roaring back, the Vols gave the ball to a reliever whose longest outing was 2 1/3 innings. Brandon Arvidson went 5 1/3 innings and gave up just a single unearned run. Needless to say, his 9 strikeouts were a career high.
Gavin Kilen twice gave the Vols an extra-inning lead, with the second one holding up. Tennessee is starting to look like the SEC’s best hope at a regional but not super-regional hosting squad (those #9 to #16 teams). Ole Miss could still be in that conversation as well, but tomorrow may change that narrative.
For Texas, this is just another disappointment. Three weeks ago, Texas was in great position. But down the stretch of the season, the bats haven’t held up their end of things. There’s reason to fear a lack of momentum in Texas’s situation.
Vanderbilt, meanwhile, looked absolutely untouchable. Holding Oklahoma to 2 singles was impressive. But racking up 17 strikeouts is just making it personal. Every Oklahoma starter had at least 1 strikeout. JD Thompson was outstanding, with 11 whiffs in 5 innings of his start. But by the 9th inning, Vandy could have laid the ball up there on a tee and Oklahoma night not have managed a hard foul ball.
The Sooners are in the field, but certainly aren’t going to be hosting. That’s not a surprise.
What to Watch on Friday
Only a pair of games, but both have some real intrigue. Ole Miss, like Tennessee, hasn’t given up on the possibility of hosting a regional, but it’ll depend on how sharp Arkansas is. The top 4 seeds are 1-1 so far, with Vanderbilt winning and Texas losing. It’s too early to say if the top seed helps or hurts, but the Rebels will have to win 3 more games in 3 days to pick up the league crown.
Meanwhile, Arkasnas feels like the best team nobody is talking about. Vandy’s pitching staff is going full Sandy Koufax and LSU is making noise. Every year seems to beg the question of whether this is going to finally be Dave Van Horn’s year. Maybe it is.
Texas A&M is seeking a third win so far in a battle with LSU. It’s a must-win for the Aggies to even entertain NCAA hopes. The Tigers are in good position to continue on their solid work to end the regular season. A&M held LSU to 7 runs over 3 games earlier this month, so that’s one thing LSU will certainly look to change.
What Does it All Mean?
UT and Ole Miss have those regional hosting dreams still alive. A&M had the most A&M day of the season, as even if the Aggies made the SEC Tournament final, a LaViolette-less Aggie team is even less intriguing to the NCAA. There are still 6 super regional teams here, and there might be a seventh SEC team ending up in that top 16.
Joe Cox is a columnist for Saturday Down South. He has also written or assisted in writing five books, and his most recent, Almost Perfect (a study of baseball pitchers’ near-miss attempts at perfect games), is available on Amazon or at many local bookstores.
