SEC Sunday baseball recap: Beam leads Vols to sweep, LSU salvages series, MSU hammers Georgia, more

Here's a recap of what happened in SEC baseball on Sunday. 

Drew Beam photo courtesy of Tennessee athletics.

Beam leads Vols to sweep of South Carolina

Tennessee (19-1, 3-0 Southeaster Conference) freshman Drew Beam wasn't overpowering (three strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings) but he was effective, not allowing a base runner until the first hitter of the seventh in the Vols' 10-0 win over South Carolina. Meanwhile, the Vols' home-run barrage--Tennessee has an astonishing 56 of them, 15 more than the SEC's second-best team (Florida)--continued, as Evan Russell hit two more and Christian Moore and Trey Lipscomb each added one. (Lipscomb leads the league with nine.)

Four Carolina (10-9, 0-3) pitchers each allowed at least one run, though starter Matthew Becker (5 IP, 2 ER, 7 Ks) threw well.

State trounces Georgia in finale

Mississippi State (12-9, 1-2) pounded out 18 hits in a 20-3 win over Georgia in Game Three in Athens. Kam James and Brad Cumbest each had four-hit days while RJ Yeager blasted his fourth HR of the week and freshman Hunter Hines added a grand slam. Cade Smith, one of State’s lone bright spots on the mound, posted another solid outing in the Sunday slot of the rotation going six innings with five strikeouts and three earned runs. Another bright glimmer for the Bulldogs was talented sophomore Jackson Fristoe logging a sharp relief inning striking out all three he faced. With the depth issues on the mound, he’s an important piece MSU needs to get going. 

On the other side, Georgia (16-4, 2-1) trotted out eight arms on the day, none of which had sustained success. Chaney Rogers and Corey Acton each had multi hit games. 

LSU salvages Game Three in comeback

After trailing 6-2 in the middle of the fifth, LSU (15-5 1-2) scored five unanswered to earn Jay Johnson’s first career SEC victory with a 7-6 win. Ma’Khail Hilliard labored through four innings allowing five runs, while the LSU bullpen only allowed one in the remaining five. The top four in the order (Cade Doughty, Tre' Morgan, Dylan Crews and Jacob Berry) combined for eight hits and five RBI, which proved to be the difference. 

The Aggies (12-7, 2-1) notched 17 hits including thee long balls (Brett Minnich, Dylan Rock and Logan Britt) but only managed the six runs, stranding 14. 

Denton leads the way in Tide walk-off comeback

Florida’s three-run eighth put it in position to complete the sweep but the Crimson Tide (13-8, 1-2) gutted out a comeback to win the final game of the set by an 8-7 score. Zane Denton blasted a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth to cut the deficit in half before ultimately delivering the walk-off single threw a drawn-in, five-man infield in the ninth. Owen Diodati added a pair of hits including a home run as well. 

For the Gators (15-5, 2-1), the trio of Sterlin Thompson, Jud Fabian, and Wyatt Langford remain red hot as all three homered on the day. Langford had his second consecutive three-hit day, four of the six going for extra base hits. Starter Timmy Manning had a short leash and he allowed only one run and exited during a second-inning jam. 

Arkansas completes sweep of Kentucky

Braydon Webb homered and drove in two for Arkansas (16-3, 3-0) as the Razorbacks got eight strikeouts over six shutout innings from starter Jaxon Wiggins in a 3-1 victory over visiting Kentucky. ( finished with two scoreless innings for the save. 

Kentucky (14-7, 0-3) got 5 1/3 innings of one-run relief between Darren Williams and Sean Harney, but it wasn't enough. 

Longball leads Vanderbilt to sweep of Missouri

Vanderbilt trained Missouri heading into the seventh, but a four-run inning vaulted the Commodores to a 7-4 win and a sweep of visiting Missouri. Dominic Keegan, Spencer Jones, Tate Kolwyck and Carter Young all homered for Vandy (17-2, 3-0), which has won 16 straight.

Missouri (12-5, 0-3) left-handed reliever Nathan Landry looked good, retiring the first eight hitters he faced until Kolwyck and Young led off the seventh with home runs.