SEC Baseball Friday recap: Vols remain unbeaten in SEC; aces dominate

Here's what happened in Southeastern Conference baseball on Friday night, as Tennessee improved to 7-0 and several key starting pitchers had terrific performances on Friday evening. 

Seth Stephenson photo courtesy of the University of Tennessee. 

Vols top Vandy, improve to 7-0

Tennessee's Luc Lipcius hit a two-run homer and starter Chase Burns (6-0) pitched 5 2/3 innings of two-run, seven-strikeout baseball as the Vols (25-1, 7-0 Southeastern Conference) beat host Vanderbilt (20-5, 4-3) by a 6-2 score on Friday. Camden Sewell finished the night with 1 2/3 scoreless innings. 

Vanderbilt starter Chris McElvain pitched better than the numbers (4 2/3 IP, 6 ER, 8 Ks) indicated. Vanderbilt installed a new lighting system just before the series, and perhaps not coincidentally, Commodore outfielders lost two fly balls in the sky that led to runs.

Tennessee's Jordan Beck hit an early home run that was disallowed because the bat Beck used did not have the proper inspection sticker from the pre-series bat checks. This marks the second-consecutive weekend in the SEC that a hitter's been ruled out under this rule. Beck later added a two-RBI double with a different bat. 

Georgia's Cannon dominates Gators

Georgia's Jonathan Cannon threw six shutout innings of three-strikeout baseball, and Jack Gowen added a three-inning save, as the Bulldogs took the series from Florida by a 6-1 score in Athens. 

Parks Harber had two hits and three RBIs for the Bulldogs (20-6, 5-3). 

Razorbacks handle Bulldogs with ease

Arkansas (20-4, 6-1) flipped the switch early with a 6 run second inning featuring a Jalen Battles HR and a Robert Moore 2 RBI triple. Battles would add a second HR in the following inning. Preston Johnson suffered a tough day only lasting 4 innings and surrendering 7 runs for Mississippi State (16-11, 3-4). Connor Noland had one of his best outings of the year going 7 innings with 6 strikeouts and only 1 run.

Rebels win road pitching duel in Lexington

Skipper Mike Bianco shook up the Rebels (18-7, 3-4) rotation this weekend and through game 1 it’s paid off. Dylan DeLucia turned in an incredible line in his first start, 6.1 innings and only 1 unearned run allowed against a potent Kentucky offense. The Wildcats (17-10, 2-5) had a strong pitching performance of their own as four different arms limited the Ole Miss offense to five hits, but the 2 runs proved to be enough. A 9th inning leadoff triple by TJ McCants was later pushed across by a 2-out Hayden Leatherwood single. Earlier in the game, a UK run was wiped off the board after a runner’s interference call which proved to be monumental.

LSU evens series against Auburn in battle of Tigers

The LSU (19-8, 4-4) offense came alive plating 9 runs, but the big story was another promising outing from Ma’Khail Hilliard who went 5.1 innings against Auburn (18-9, 4-4) with 7 strikeouts, surrendering 0 runs. His second straight productive outing in league play. Dylan Crews hit is 7th home run of the season as part of a 2-hit, 2-RBI night. 

Carolina outlasts Missouri behind stellar pitching 

The Gamecocks (13-12, 3-4) topped Missouri (15-8, 1-6) by a score of 4-1 in the opening game of the series. Carolina’s Noah Hall was sharp going 7 and allowing just 1 while his counterpart Spencer Miles allowed 4 over 7.2. The player of the day was undoubtedly Gamecock RF, Josiah Sighlter, who notched a 3-hit day including 2 HR. All 5 of Missouri’s hits came from SS Josh Day and 1B Torin Montgomery. 

Aggies hold on in a tight one at Alabama

Two strong performances on the mound were the story in Tuscaloosa Friday night. For Texas A&M (16-9, 4-3), Nathan Dettmer spun 6.1 sharp innings allowing 1 and striking out 7. In the home dugout, Garrett McMillan countered with 6 innings of his own, allowing 3 and retiring 9 via the strikeout for Alabama (15-12, 2-5). At the plate, the story was RF Brett Minnich who drove in all 3 runs for the Aggies, 1 via a 4th inning double, and the other two on a 6th inning home run.