South Carolina, Vanderbilt see reversal of fortunes
HOOVER, Ala. – It was a reversal of fortunes of sorts for South Carolina and Vanderbilt on Tuesday afternoon to begin the 2017 Southeastern Conference Tournament.
The Hoover Met has not been kind to the Gamecocks over the year and the tournament as a whole hasn't returned much success for a program that has flourished elsewhere over the years. Coming into game one against the Commodores, USC was just 25-44 all-time in the SEC Tourney and had lost seven-straight games since the 2013 season.
On the other side of the coin, very few teams have been as successful over the years as coach Tim Corbin's Commodores. Vanderbilt was 45-32 alltime and 34-21 with Corbin at the helm. The Commodores had become mainstays at least into the Saturday semifinal round and had seen magic happen for them over the years. That was until they fell 7-4 Tuesday to South Carolina.
The battered lineup and pitching staff for the Gamecocks manufactured enough to keep its NCAA Tournament hopes alive hitting three home runs in the first three innings. The game went into extra innings playing into the 11th before the Gamecocks would win it and carried into the game two time slot with a 4-hour marathon beginning the never-ending first day.
Home runs story on the first day
After just six home runs were hit in all of last season's SEC tournament, Tuesday saw the baseball fly out of the yard.
Thanks in large part due to the weather blowing into Hoover, seven homers were belted in the three games played. It started with South Carolina and Vanderbilt when the Gamecocks launched three home runs in the first three innings. Vanderbilt followed with one of its own
to tie the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Missouri kept the big fly going in game two when the Tigers smashed three home runs of their own as Robbie Glendinning, Chris Cornelius and Matt Berler blasted shots. Glendinning's grand slam set the tone for the Tigers to win the game and eliminate the Texas A&M Aggies.
The grand slam was the first the tournament had seen since 2011.
Ole Miss and Auburn had one
home run each in the final game of the day.
Ole Miss shortstop out for the season
Freshman shortstop Grae Kessinger had his first season as an Ole Miss Rebel end unfortunately on Tuesday.
Kessinger was announced out for the rest of the season following an accident in team activity leading up to the game.
“This morning, Ole Miss shortstop Grae Kessinger suffered a foot injury
in a freak accident playing ping pong in the players' lounge at the SEC Tournament,” the University released in a statement. “X-Rays revealed that he suffered a fracture that will cause him to miss the remainder of the season.”
In his first season on campus, the Oxford native batted just .175 in 55 games making 53 starts at shortstop. He hit two home runs with 16 RBI and 27 hits, but was known for his ability defensively where he recorded just 10 errors in 206 chances and led the way for 19 double plays.
Junior Kyle Watson started at shortstop for the Rebels on Tuesday in Kessinger's absence.