The entertaining SEC Tournament in Hoover, Alabama culminates today with what should be a lively battle between Arkansas and Tennessee.
The game is set for 3 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on ESPN2.
The matchup is a quick turnaround from the teams’ meeting earlier this month in Knoxville when all three games were decided by one run, as Arkansas won two of three, and coaches Dave Van Horn and Tony Vitello got into a spirited post-game jawing session.
The Razorbacks arrive in the championship game after Cullen Smith hit his eighth home run of the season on Saturday as the Hogs knocked off Ole Miss 3-2 in the SEC Tournament semifinals. The Razorbacks (45-10) seek their first SEC Tournament championship.
The Volunteers (45-15) are in championship game for the first time since 1995. They beat Florida on Saturday 4-0 which was aided by pitcher Camden Sewell’s performance when he allowed two hits and set career highs with six innings and six strikeouts.
Seven different players had a hit for Tennessee, led by a 2-for-3 performance by leadoff man Liam Spence, who also walked twice and scored a pair of runs. Evan Russell, Jordan Beck and Drew Gilbert each drove in a run.
Arkansas is trying to become the third team since the conference expanded in 2012 to win the SEC regular-season championship and tournament championship in the same season. LSU did so in 2017, and Vanderbilt won both in 2019.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
