College World Series Recaps

Michigan, Florida State, Vanderbilt and Miss. State all picked up opening round wins in the 2019 College World Series.

Michigan won its first CWS game since 1983 with a 5-3 win over No. 8 Texas Tech in the opening game on Saturday. Jimmy Kerr, a third-generation Michigan player, had a two-run triple in the third inning. Kerr’s grandfather, John (1960-62), was a member of the Wolverines 1962 CWS national championship team. His father, Derek, (1983-86), played on Michigan’s CWS teams in 1983 and 1984.  Drew Parrish and J.C. Flowers combined on a 5-hit shutout in the 1-0 win over No. 5 Arkansas. Flowers scored the winning run on sac fly in the ninth inning and then closed the game with his 13^th save of the year.

Austin Martin belted two home runs to lead No. 2 Vanderbilt to a 3-1 win over No. 7 Louisville in the opening game on Sunday afternoon. Martin homered in the first pitch in the bottom of the first inning and then added the go-ahead 2-run homer in the seventh.  No. 6 Miss. State scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth to knock off Auburn 5-4 in the final game of the first round. MSU posted its 28^th come-from-behind win this season, when the inning was extended with a two-out throwing error by AU third baseman Edouard Julien. Marshall Gilbert then delivered the walk-off single.

Here are the CWS recaps and updated schedule.

Vanderbilt Wins SEC Tournament

Vanderbilt designated hitter Philip Clarke delivered a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Commodores capped an epic comeback with an 11-10 win over Ole Miss to win the 2019 SEC Baseball Tournament championship a the Hoover Met.
(Photo courtesy: Vaanderbilt Athletics)

Clarke’s game-winning hit gave came after three straight two-out walks by Ole Miss reliever Austin Miller to load the bases. Prior to the three walks, Miller had struck out six straight Vanderbilt batters. Clarke smacked reliever Ryan Olenek’s first pitch into center field to score Austin Martin from third base with the winning run.

Vanderbilt 6-0 and 9-1 before posting one of the greatest comebacks in championship game lore.

Vanderbilt has won three SEC Tournament titles in its history. The Commodores defeated Auburn in 1980, Arkansas in 2007 and Ole Miss in 2019.

With the win over Ole Miss, Vanderbilt one at least one game against all 13 SEC teams this season.

Here is Sunday’s SEC Tournament recap:

SEC Tournament Recaps (May 21)

The highest seeded team won all four games on the opening day of the 2019 SEC Tournament at the Hoover Met. No. 5 LSU, No. 6 Texas A&M, No. 7 Ole Miss and No. 8 Auburn all advanced to the double-elimination portion of the six-day, 17-game event.

Johnathan Ducoff delivered a walk-off single in the 10^th inning to lead the Texas A&M Aggies to a 8-7 win over Florida. Ducoff also hit a 3-run home run in the eighth inning to put the Aggies in front 7-5. Ole Miss got stellar pitching from Will Ethridge, Tyler Myers and Ryan Olenek in a 2-1 win over Missouri. Ethridge allowed one run one seven hits with six strikeouts and no walks in seven inning for the win. Auburn left fielder Judd Ward knocked in three runs, including a 2-run home run in the seventh inning in the Tigers 5-2 win over Tennessee. Ward had a safety squeeze bunt that plated the go-ahead run in the fifth inning. LSU overcame a 5-1 deficit to knock off South Carolina 8-6. Cade Beloso had three hits and three RBIs for the Tigers.

Here are Tuesday’s SEC Tournament recaps:

SEC Baseball Recaps (Thursday, April 18)

The second half of the SEC baseball season kicked off on Thursday night, with six of the seven weekend series getting underway on this Easter weekend. Arkansas defeated Miss. State 5-3 in the pitcher’s duel in Fayetteville. Isaiah Campbell (7.2 IP, 10 K) out-dueled Ethan Small (6 IP, 9 K). Casey Martin had a go-ahead two-run double in the sixth and Dominic Fletcher added some insurance with a two-run home run in the eighth.

Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Texas A&M all won their series openers on Thursday.

Updated SEC Baseball Standings

Here are Thursday’s SEC baseball recaps.