SEC Saturday baseball recap: Vols set record, Florida takes series at Arkansas, more

Tennessee's historic win streak and Florida's surprising series win vs. Arkansas highlight Saturday baseball action in the SEC.

Josh Rivera photo courtesy of the University of Florida

Beck's slam leads Vols to historic SEC mark

Tennessee's Jordan Beck hit a grand slam to put his team ahead for good, as the Vols beat Missouri, 11-4, to set a record for most consecutive wins to start league play. Trey Lipscomb, Evan Russell and Jorel Ortega also homered for Tennessee.

Volunteer starter Chase Dollander had more trouble than usual, allowing four earned runs in 6 2/3 innings, though striking out 10. He allowed home runs to Luke Mann and Torin Montgomery but picked up the win as the bullpen shut the Tigers out the rest of the way. 

Florida beats Arkansas, snaps Razorbacks' series streak

Wyatt Langford and BT Riopelle homered, as Florida scored two runs in the eighth to break open a tie game and beat Arkansas, 9-7, in Gainesville, snapping the Razorbacks' string of 13 consecutive series wins in league play, which dated back to 2019.

Deric Fabian's sacrifice fly in the ninth put the Gators ahead, and Jud Fabian's single added an insurance run. Blake Purnell added 1 2/3 scoreless innings to pick up a win. 

Florida blasted Arkansas starter Jaxon Wiggins for seven earned runs in four innings. Zach Gregory homered and doubled and knocked in four for the Razorbacks. 

Vanderbilt doubles down on Auburn

Vanderbilt finally cured its offensive struggles, blasting a school-record 10 doubles in a 19-4 shellacking of Auburn on Saturday. Dominic Keegan had three of those doubles, with Parker Noland, Jack Bulger and Enrique Bradfield Jr. each adding two. 

Noland, Spencer Jones, Troy LaNeve and Javier Vaz also homered for Vanderbilt, which had a season high in runs and hits (23). Bryce Cunningham got the win as he allowed no earned runs in 3 2/3 innings. 

Sonny DiChara and Nate LaRue each homered for Auburn. Starting pitcher Trace Bright allowed six runs, all earned, in 3 1/3 innings. 

LSU edges Mississippi State in Starkville

LSU's mastery over Mississippi State continues, as the Tigers went on the road and won their ninth-straight series over MSU with a 4-3 win on Saturday. LSU shortstop Jordan Thompson launched a sixth-inning solo home run to break a 3-all tie and the Tigers hung on from there. 

Jacob Berry hit his 10th homer of the season for LSU, while Paul Gervase got a second-straight save with 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.

RJ Yeager homered for the Bulldogs, who got six innings of one-run relief from Brandon Smith. MSU starter Parker Stinnett struggled again, allowing three earned runs in two-thirds of an inning. 

Alabama wins slugfest over Ole Miss

Zane Denton's two-run homer broke a tie and led Alabama to a 12-10 win over Ole Miss on Saturday, as Alabama clinched the series.

That erased a phenomenal three-homer, six-RBI day from Ole Miss shortstop Jacob Gonzalez. The Rebels also got home runs from Tim Elko, Reagan Burford and Peyton Chataginer. 

Alabama's Drew Williamson homered as part of a three-hit, five-RBI afternoon. Dylan Ray picked up the win with 2 1/3 innings of one-run baseball.

Burgess leads Carolina past Georgia

Catcher Colin Burgess homered and drove in four, as South Carolina evened the series with Georgia by a 13-7 score on Saturday in Columbia. 

The Gamecocks walked a season-high 11 times on Saturday and got 6 1/3 innings of nine-strikeout, three-run baseball from starter Will Sanders. 

Connor Tate, Parks Harber and Ben Anderson all homered for Georgia, but the Bulldogs pitching struggles prevented them from capitalizing. Four of Georgia's five pitchers allowed earned runs, with starter Garrett Brown yielding five in 3 1/3 innings.

Texas A&M whacks Kentucky

Dylan Rock and Ryan Targac combined for six hits, seven runs and nine RBI's, as Texas A&M clobbered Kentucky, 17-3, at Blue Bell Park in College Station.

A&M starting pitcher Micah Dallas went seven innings while allowing three earned runs with five strikeouts. 

Kentucky used seven pitchers, six of whom allowed runs. Starter Tyler Bosma allowed seven runs (three earned) in 3 2/3 innings. Jacob Plastiak homered for the Wildcats.