SOUTH CAROLINA 7, VANDERBILT 4 (11)
South Carolina (33-23), the SEC Tournament's No. 11 seed, broke an eight-game tournament losing streak and gave Coach Chad Holbrook his first career tournament victory in Tuesday's 7-4, 11-inning victory over No. 6 seed Vanderbilt (33-22-1).
"It's nice to get a win under our belt here," said Gamecocks reliever Tyler Johnson, who earned his first victory this season after allowing 1 hit with 8 strikeouts over the final 4⅓ innings. "The team gets to stay here a little bit longer. That's all we wanted out of the day, and we made it happen."
"This gives us a chance to take a deep breath," said Holbrook, who lost his first seven SEC Tournament games before Tuesday's victory. "Now we're in the double-elimination part of it. We're going to be one of eight teams playing and everybody is going to be 0-0."
Both teams struggled early, allowing a combined 7 runs off 7 hits in the first 3 innings. Commodores pitcher Matt Ruppenthal allowed three home runs in the first three innings, one each from Justin Row, Carlos Cortes and Jonah Bride. South Carolina's Reed Scott loaded the bases in the bottom of the second before Vanderbilt third baseman Will Toffey's bases-clearing double tied the game 3-3.
Row's second home run gave the Gamecocks a 4-3 lead before Connor Kaiser hit his first career home run to tie the game at 4-4. South Carolina loaded the bases in the 11th inning on a double by Row and two walks. Vanderbilt's Reed Hays (0-2) walked South Carolina freshman Riley Hogan, who went 0 for 4, for the go-ahead run. Junior Alex Destino followed that with a two-run double to put the Gamecocks ahead 7-4.
This is only the second time in the past 10 seasons Vanderbilt, which allowed 10 walks, has lost its tournament opener and the first time since 2003 that the Commodores were eliminated without a tournament victory.
South Carolina advances to face No. 3 seed Kentucky.
MISSOURI 12, TEXAS A&M 7
Missouri second baseman Robbie Glendinning's go-ahead grand slam in the fourth inning propelled the Tigers to a victory over defending tournament champion Texas A&M in a game that featured four lead changes in the first four innings before a 1:46 rain delay.
Glendinning's grand slam was the 14th in SEC Tournament history and the first since Florida's Brian Johnson hit one against Mississippi State in 2011.
"First couple of at-bats didn't feel too comfortable," Glendinning said. "I just told myself to relax and just hit and trust myself. I got a pitch over the plate and put a good swing on it."
The 19 combined runs are the most in any opening-day tournament game since 2001.
The Aggies are the fourth defending tournament champion to go winless in their next tournament appearance.
The victory moves the Tigers to 36-21 this season, the most victories for a Missouri team since 2008. They'll face No. 2 seed LSU today.
AUBURN 5, MISSISSIPPI 4
Auburn (35-22) took the lead with a three-run fourth inning, then added insurance runs in the sixth and eighth innings to get a victory over Mississippi (32-25) in Tuesday's final game.
The Rebels took a 2-0 lead on Nick Fortes' RBI double to left field in the first inning and Kyle Watson's RBI single in the second before the Tigers rallied in the fourth. Blake Logan hit a two-out double to cut the lead to 2-1, and after an Ole Miss pitching change, Jonah Todd hit a two-run triple to center field to give Auburn a 3-2 lead.
The Rebels tied the game at 3-3 in the sixth inning on a Fortes sacrifice, but Logan gave the Tigers the lead for good on his third home run of the season in the bottom of the sixth. The lead grew to 5-3 in the bottom of the eighth when Luke Jarvis scored on a wild pitch from Ole Miss reliever Dallas Woolfolk. Ryan Olenek hit a one-out home run, his third of the season, for the Rebels in the top of the ninth.
Conor Davis finished 2 for 4 and Todd was 2 for 5 with 2 RBI to lead the Tigers, who finished with 11 hits and advance to face top-seeded Florida. Will Golsan was 2 for 3 with 2 runs scored for the Rebels, who finished with 7 hits and 3 errors.
At a glance
SEC BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
at Hoover (Ala.) Metropolitan Stadium
TUESDAY’S GAMES
South Carolina 7, Vanderbilt 4 (11) Missouri 12, Texas A&M 7 Auburn 5, Mississippi 4 Mississippi State vs. Georgia, ppd.
TODAY’S GAMES
All times Central
Mississippi State vs. Georgia, 9:30 a.m. Kentucky vs. South Carolina, 12:30 p.m. LSU vs. Missouri, 4:30 p.m. Florida vs. Auburn, 7:30 p.m.
THURSDAY’S GAME
Arkansas vs. Miss. St./Georgia winner, 9:30 a.m.
Sports on 05/24/2017