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Arkansas tops Tennessee to win SEC Tournament championship
By Andrew Olson
Published:
The winner of the 2021 SEC regular-season title is now also the conference tournament champion. No. 1 seed Arkansas topped No. 2 seed Tennessee 7-2 in Sunday’s tournament championship game in Hoover, Alabama.
The Volunteers struck first, taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first but momentum swung the Razorbacks way in the fifth when Arkansas scored three runs to go up 3-1. UT managed a rare run off of the dominant Kevin Kopps with Pete Derkay’s solo homer in the bottom of the seventh, cutting it to 4-2, but the SEC Pitcher of the Year managed to finish off the Vols.
Jaxon Wiggins got the start for Arkansas. He tossed 3.2 innings, allowing the first-running off of a Drew Gilbert RBI single that plated Jake Rucker.
And. Just. Like. That.
Drew Gilbert puts @Vol_Baseball on the board 🍊 pic.twitter.com/KDtz13V3Q8
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) May 30, 2021
Will Heflin started for Tennessee. He ran into trouble in the fifth inning when Arkansas scored three runs, all earned. Jalen Battles and Zack Gregory notched RBI singles while Matt Goodheart brought Battles home on a sac fly. Battles picked up another RBI with a solo home run off of Kirby Connell in the seventh inning, making it 4-1.
Jalen Battles is GOING OFF 💥 @RazorbackBSB pic.twitter.com/xM5mzZ6kFg
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) May 30, 2021
Battles also made a key highlight play in the field.
Add this to the Jalen Battles highlight reel 🎥 🔥@RazorbackBSB #SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/WmyyyqW0hZ
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) May 30, 2021
Arkansas piled on insurance runs in the eighth inning against Sean Hunley. Cayden Wallace scored on an RBI fielder’s choice for Robert Moore. Cullen Smith hit his third homer of the SEC Tournament, a two-run shot that plated Moore, making it 7-2, the game’s final score.
THEY’RE CALLING THE HOGS IN HOOVER! @RazorbackBSB 🔊🔊🔊 pic.twitter.com/6oQAw5cx6u
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) May 30, 2021
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
