SEC Baseball roundup: Kentucky continues their torrid start

Nick Mingione’s club hit the road this weekend to Houston and came away with a sweep. Mississippi State and Vanderbilt also made the trip to the Shriners College Classic and enjoyed success there as well. The rest of the SEC seemed to enjoy their weekends as well.

Except for Tennessee. Sheesh.

The Good

The Wildcats look the part. And they’re playing the part now, too. Kentucky dominated the field that included Houston, Sam Houston State, and ULL. They improved to 11-1 and outscored their opponents, 31-8. It’s way too early to name contenders but Kentucky looks like they could be poised for a run to Nebraska later this year in June.

The Wildcats’ offense was paced by T.J. Collett and Luke Heyer. Heyer was 8-for-11 with two doubles and three home runs and was named tournament MVP, while Collett went 7-for-12 with two doubles and two home runs. Seems okay, right?

The Rebs won’t face Kentucky until Hoover at the SEC Baseball Tournament. Me thinks Ryan Rolison and the rest of the arms Mike Bianco has will be a fun match up for Mingione’s lineup.

The Bad

The aforementioned Commodores were in Houston as well, taking in the College Classic, but their weekend wasn’t as great as Kentucky’s or Mississippi State’s. Tim Corbin’s crew dropped back-to-back games at Minute Maid Park to Sam Houston State and ULL. The loss to the Bearkats was a one-run game, but the Ragin’ Cajuns blanked the Dores, surprising virtually everyone.

The same week that Corbin broke the all-time wins record at Vanderbilt, they were shut out for the first time since a loss to Clemson last season in the NCAA Regionals. The Dores fell three spots in the D1Baseball rankings and are looking to rebound after such a poor showing. The starting pitching wasn’t what it normally is per Vandy standards and the bats struggled as well against a less-than-stellar Louisiana team.

The Ugly

You might be the assistant to the conference champion in basketball, but my God, baseball is another story. The Volunteers lost to East Tennessee State 10-9 on Friday, beat Memphis by one run on Saturday, but then dropped the Sunday finale to Middle Tennessee State 7-5. Tennessee, ironically enough, is now 7-5 on the season and are still trying to make gray uniforms happen.

Ole Miss did the same thing against Long Beach State. It just needs to stop, y’all.

Other SEC baseball results from the week

Alabama - 3-2

Arkansas - 4-1

Auburn - 4-0

Florida - 5-0

Georgia - 1-3

LSU - 4-1

Mississippi State - 3-1

Missouri - 5-0

South Carolina - 1-3

Texas A&M - 4-1