AUBURN 4, KENTUCKY 3 (11)
HOOVER, Ala. — Edouard Julien singled home the winning run in the 11th inning as No. 7 seed Auburn beat Kentucky to eliminate the 10th-seeded Wildcats.
Auburn (38-19) advances to the double-elimination portion of the tournament and faces No. 2 seed Mississippi (42-14) today.
Julien’s one-out single to center field off Zack Thompson (2-1) scored pinch runner Cade Evans from second base. Brett Wright singled and Brendan Venter walked to start the winning rally.
Kentucky (34-22) wasted a brilliant performance from Sean Hjelle, who struck out nine and allowed just four hits in 7 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Kole Cottam hit a solo homer for Kentucky and had a game-tying RBI double with two outs in the ninth inning.
Auburn’s Will Holland had a solo shot and scored twice. Freshman Cody Greenhill (4-2) allowed Cottam’s game-tying double but pitched three innings of scoreless relief.
TEXAS A&M 3, VANDERBILT 1
HOOVER, Ala. — Kaylor Chafin and Nolan Hoffman combined to scatter eight hits as 11th-seeded Texas A&M eliminated No. 6 seed Vanderbilt.
Texas A&M withstood an hour-long rain delay to advance to the double-elimination portion of the tournament. The Aggies (37-19) face No. 3 seed Georgia (37-17) today.
Chafin (5-0) struck out 5 and allowed 6 hits, 1 run and 1 walk in 6 innings. Hoffman yielded two hits in three innings of shutout relief for his 13th save. Vanderbilt (31-25) led 1-0 before Texas A&M scored twice in the fifth inning. Cole Bedford singled home Allonte Win-gate to tie the game and later scored an unearned run.
Michael Helman’s two-out bunt single brought home George Janca for an insurance run in the seventh.
Vanderbilt’s Tyler Brown (1-4) allowed 5 hits and 2 runs — 1 earned — in 5 innings.
LSU 8, MISSISSIPPI ST. 5
HOOVER, Ala. — Antoine Duplantis had three hits and two RBI to lead LSU over Mississippi State in the first round of the SEC tournament.
The defending champion Tigers (34-23), who have won a league-best 12 tournament titles, face top-seeded Florida today when the format moves to double elimination. The Bulldogs (31-25) await their NCAA regional fate. LSU rallied from a 3-0 deficit with two runs in three consecutive innings. The Tigers took the lead in the seventh when Jake Slaughter was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Nick Coomes delivered a sacrifice fly.
Devin Fontenot (2-0) got the victory. Mississippi State had two hits in the ninth but couldn’t produce a run against reliever Todd Peterson, who got the save. The Bulldogs’ Tanner Allen and Josh Hatcher each drove in two runs.
At a glance
SEC BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
at Hoover (Ala.) Metropolitan Stadium
All times Central
NOTE All games will be broadcast on SEC Network, except the championship game, which will be on ESPN2. Tuesday’s games are single elimination, while today’s-Saturday’s games are double elimination.
TUESDAY’S GAMES
(11) Texas A&M 3, (6) Vanderbilt 1
(7) Auburn 4, (10) Kentucky 3 (11)
(8) LSU 8, (9) Mississippi State 5
GAME 4 (5) South Carolina vs. (12) Missouri, (n)
TODAY’S GAMES
GAME 5 (3) Georgia vs. (11) Texas A&M, 9:30 a.m.
GAME 6 (2) Mississippi vs. (7) Auburn, 30 minutes after Game 5 ends
GAME 7 (1) Florida vs. (8) LSU, 4:30 p.m. GAME 8 (4) Arkansas vs. Game 4 winner, 30 minutes after Game 7 ends