Tide down Bulldogs, face Hogs today
HOOVER, Ala. — Freshman Ben Hess struck out seven straight batters in relief after a two-hour rain delay and No. 11 seed Alabama beat sixth-seeded Georgia 5-3 on Tuesday to open the SEC Tournament at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
Alabama (33-26) advances to face No. 3 seed Arkansas today in the double-elimination portion of the tournament. The Crimson Tide won a three-game series against the Razorbacks to end the regular season, including an 18-5 result in the finale.
Hess (3-1) took over for Alabama ace Garrett McMillan after the rain delay and struck out a season-high 10 in 41/3 scoreless innings. Dylan Ray earned his seventh save after two strikeouts in the ninth.
The teams combined for 28 strikeouts to set a tournament record for a nine-inning game. Every batter in the Georgia lineup struck out at least once.
Zane Denton hit an RBI single with two outs in the first inning to give Alabama a 3-0 lead. The Crimson Tide added two runs in the second on a wild pitch and sacrifice fly.
Sophomore Luke Wagner (5-2) allowed five earned runs in 1 1 /3 innings in his third start of the season for Georgia (3127). Jaden Woods had seven strikeouts in four innings. FLORIDA 2,
SOUTH CAROLINA 1 (10)
HOOVER, Ala. — Colby Halter drove in Ty Evans with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th inning as No. 7 seed Florida rallied last in a victory over 10th-seeded South Carolina.
Florida (36-20) advanced to play No. 2 seed Texas A&M today when the tourney turns to a double-elimination format.
Brandon Smoat got the start and didn’t surrender a hit to the Gamecocks (27-28) until there was one out in the seventh inning. Josiah Sightler singled to break up the no-hitter and moved to second on a groundout. Michael Braswell followed with a single, but Wyatt Langford threw out Sightler at home to end the inning.
Smoat left with one out in the top of the ninth after surrendering back-to-back singles to Braylen Wimmer and Sightler. Ryan Slater (5-3) entered and allowed Andrew Eyster’s RBI fielder’s choice to tie the game before striking out Braswell to end the inning.
Florida took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth. Josh Rivera doubled with two outs and scored on a throwing error by Braswell on Jac Caglianone’s infield single.