Columbia, Alabama Baseball Have Deep Ties

Alabama hosts Columbia this weekend in the final non-conference series of the year.

While this weekend is the first head-to-head meetings, the two teams share some rich baseball history.

The Crimson Tide and Lions have never met on the diamond, but two schools did play in the same NCAA Regional in Conway, SC in 2008.

Alabama is the alma mater of Hall of Famer Joe Sewell.

Columbia is the alma mater of Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig.

Both Gehrig and Sewell were teammates and roommates with the New York Yankees.

The duo helped the Yankees to the 1932 World Series championship with a four-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs.

The Cubs left fielder in that series was Riggs Stephenson, teammate and friend of Sewell at Alabama.

The 1932 WS is noted for the famous “called home run” by Babe Ruth.

Sewell. Stephenson and Gehrig were all there to see it up close.

SEC Players on Opening Day MLB Rosters

A total of 78 Southeastern Conference baseball alums were listed on the 60-man baseball rosters by Major League Baseball prior to Opening Day.

Every SEC university was represented on MLB Opening Day rosters, with each school boasting at least three former players on MLB squads. LSU and Vanderbilt led the way with nine players each on 30-man rosters.

In all, 143 SEC baseball alums were listed on the 60-man MLB rosters.

Florida Ballpark to Continue Alfred A. McKethan Tradition

Thanks to the continued generosity of the family of Alfred A. McKethan, the University Athletic Association will carry the namesake of McKethan Stadium, as the University of Florida Board of Trustees approved that from this day forward, Florida Ballpark’s playing surface will be known as Alfred A. McKethan Field.

“The McKethan family name has been synonymous with Gators Baseball for decades, and it is only fitting that the name will continue to have a presence at our new ballpark,” said Athletic Director Scott Stricklin. “We are very appreciative of their longtime generosity and support of the program, and we look forward to the next chapter of Gators Baseball.”

SEC Players of the Week (March 2)

The Southeastern Conference announced its Baseball Players of the Week on Monday.  Tucker Bradley, Cole Wilcox, Braden Forsyth and Peyton Wilson were honored for their accomplishments this week.

SEC Baseball Players of the Week

The Southeastern Conference announced the players of the week on Monday. Arkansas had the SEC Player of the Week and Pitcher of Week in the same week for the first time in school history. Alabama freshman Owen Diodati homered twice in his debut to earn SEC Freshman of the Week honors.

Vanderbilt Picked To Win 2020 SEC Baseball Championship

Vanderbilt University has been predicted to win the 2020 Southeastern Conference baseball championship as voted by the league’s 14 head coaches in the annual preseason poll released Thursday. The Preseason All-SEC First and Second Teams, as determined by the head coaches, were also announced.

Vanderbilt garnered eight first place votes, Florida had two, while Arkansas, Auburn, Georgia and Mississippi State each had one. The Commodores were predicted to win the SEC Eastern Division, while Arkansas was the favorite to win the SEC Western Division.

Since 1996, the SEC has name a regular season champion as well as a tournament champion. Prior to 1996, the tournament champion was considered the SEC champion.

Points were compiled on a descending basis for each division. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team, and each coach also voted for one team as an overall conference champion.

SEC Baseball TV Schedule Announced

ESPN will present more than 1,000 NCAA baseball games during the 2020 regular season across ESPN networks, with 17 college conferences highlighted in ESPN’s industry-leading coverage. During the postseason, on top of carrying the entire Southeastern Conference tournament, 153 games will be televised across ESPN Networks, including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, SEC Network, with all college baseball action available on the ESPN App.

Two-thirds of the games on ESPN networks include a team in the USA TODAY Coaches Preseason Top 25*, while 82 games feature the preseason top 10 and 48 games highlight at least one top five team. 23 of the preseason Top 25 teams will appear on ESPN networks during the season.

Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Unveils Preseason All-American Team

The 2020 Collegiate Baseball Pre-Season All-Americans, powered by Diamond Sports, feature a remarkable mix of talented NCAA Division I baseball players across the USA.

The Southeastern Conference was well represented on the 2020 preseason All-American squad with 15 total selections.

The SEC had five First-Team All-America selections, including three from Vanderbilt, the most of any school. Kumar Rocker (RHP), Mason Hickman (RHP) and Austin Martin (SS) all made the team for the Commodores. Texas A&M LHP Asa Lacy and Arkansas OF Heston Kjerstad also earned first-team accolades.

Eight SEC Teams Ranked in Preseason Baseball Poll

The Southeastern Conference has eight teams ranked in the Collegiate Baseball Preseason Top 40 Poll.

Five teams are in the top nine, the most of any league in the nation. They include No. 2 Vanderbilt, No. 6 Mississippi St., No. 7 Georgia, No. 8 Auburn and No. 9 Arkansas.

Other SEC teams ranked in the poll includes No. 11 LSU, No. 14 Florida and No. 21 Texas A&M.

The Collegiate Baseball newspaper poll is the oldest college baseball poll. Its birth took place during the 1959 college baseball season.

Texas A&M Announces 2020 Baseball Schedule

Texas A&M Aggies announced their final five SEC series of the 2020 baseball campaign Monday to complete a grueling slate.

The announced pack of games includes home series against Alabama (Apr. 17-19), LSU (May 1-3) and Tennessee (May 8-10) and road series against Mississippi State (Apr. 24-26) and Missouri (May 14-16).

Now finalized, the 2020 schedule includes 31 games against teams that played in the 2019 NCAA Baseball Championship, including nine games against College World Series opponents. The slate features 33 games at Blue Bell Park.