SEC Baseball Tournament 2016: Wednesday Scores, Updated Bracket and Schedule

After an impressive opening day for four teams, the 2016 SEC tournament moved into the double-elimination games with each of the top four seeds getting its first taste of action.   

Mississippi State won the SEC regular-season title for the first time since 1989, though the Bulldogs have been more successful in conference play, with the most recent title coming in 2012.

The defending SEC tournament champion Florida Gators are seeking to win consecutive titles for the first time since 1981 and 1982. 

Here are scores from Wednesday's four games, as well as the latest SEC tournament bracket and upcoming schedule. 

Game	Matchup	Result/Start Time (ET)
5	No. 3 Texas A&M vs. No. 6 Vanderbilt	Vanderbilt 6, Texas A&M 5
6	No. 2 South Carolina vs. No. 7 Mississippi	Mississippi 10, South Carolina 4
7	No. 1 Mississippi State vs. No. 9 Alabama	Mississippi State 4, Alabama 1
8	No. 4 Florida vs. No. 5 LSU	LSU 5, Florida 3

SEC Tournament Bracket & Schedule (via SEC Network)

Mississippi State def. Alabama, 4-1

Mississippi State starter Zac Houston came within one out of a complete-game shutout, but instead had to settle for 8.2 innings of one-run, four-hit baseball in a 4-1 victory against Alabama to start the Bulldogs' SEC tournament off on the right foot. 

Houston was masterful in the game, only allowing two hits before back-to-back doubles in the ninth inning after he was well over the 100-pitch barrier knocked him out of the game.  Blake Smith relieved him and struck out Will Haynie to end the game. 

As this highlight from the SEC Network shows, Houston was bringing the fire with his heater on Wednesday night:

The right-hander had five strikeouts in the win. Gavin Collins, who was a perfect 4-for-4, opened the scoring for Mississippi State with an RBI single in the first inning. He later added a solo home run in the fourth inning to extend the lead to 2-0. 

For Whom the Cowbell Tolls heartily approved of Collins' huge game:

Alabama looked overmatched against the SEC's best team right out of the gate. The Crimson Tide offense never built any kind of rhythm before it was too late and starting pitcher Geoffrey Bramblett gave up nine hits and four runs in just 5.2 innings. 

Fortunately for the Crimson Tide, they won't have to play Mississippi State again until a potential matchup on Friday if they can stave off elimination tomorrow. 

Mississippi State entered the tournament on a roll with 11 straight wins to end the regular season. Wednesday was another excellent notch on the Bulldogs' belt. They have been on a mission, especially down the stretch, and show no signs of slowing down even with their spot in the College World Series secure.

Ole Miss def. South Carolina, 10-4

After jumping out to an early 5-0 lead, the Mississippi Rebels were able to power out a 10-4 victory over the South Carolina Gamecocks for their second straight SEC tournament win.

J.B. Woodman, who had three RBI against Georgia on Tuesday, continues to rake for the Rebels. He hit a two-run double in the top of the first inning to open the scoring and scored four runs.

Since Woodman’s offensive heroics apparently weren’t enough for him, he also got the flash the leather in center field to help out Ole Miss starter David Parkinson, via SEC Network:

Rebels catcher Henri Lartigue got his moment in the spotlight and ran with it. He provided the dagger with a three-run homer in the eighth inning that gave Mississippi a 10-4 advantage. The junior finished 4-for-5 with four RBI and three runs scored.

Michael Baumann of the Ringer also pointed out the obvious with Lartigue:

The duo of Woodman and Lartigue has been lethal all year for the Rebels. Both players are hitting over .330 with 17 combined home runs. In an era of college baseball where power is virtually impossible to find, having a center fielder and catcher with that kind of hit and power tool is a tremendous luxury.

South Carolina hurt its own cause in the game with five errors that led to three unearned runs for starter Clarke Schmidt. The right-hander did battle his command throughout the game, scattering seven hits and walking two, but he also struck out seven in 4.1 innings.

The Gamecocks did have moments where they tried to claw back into the game. Gene Cone and Alex Destino drove in all three of South Carolina’s RBI, with the fourth run coming as the result of an error by Mississippi third baseman Colby Bortles in the bottom of the seventh.

This was not a pretty game for either side, as the Rebels also committed two errors. Mississippi was able to keep bringing the pressure and capitalizing on those opportunities thanks to its star players like Woodman and Lartigue.

The defeat knocks South Carolina into the loser’s bracket against Texas A&M. The Aggies have already taken two out of three games against South Carolina in Columbia during the regular season, but the Gamecocks did salvage the finale with a 10-run outburst.

Mississippi’s win sets it up for a showdown against a Vanderbilt team that has also looked good through two games in the SEC tournament. The two teams did not play during the regular season, so this is an appropriate time for the two powerhouse programs to see which one is better.

Vanderbilt def. Texas A&M, 6-5

A great back-and-forth battle went the way of Vanderbilt thanks to Walker Grisanti's pinch-hit home run in the ninth inning to start Wednesday's SEC tournament action, as the Commodores knocked off Texas A&M. 

Here's a look at Grisanti's heroics, via the SEC Network:

Grisanti, a freshman who had not hit a home run all season, blasted a solo shot to right field to break a 5-5 tie. It came against Texas A&M reliever Mark Ecker, who came into the game with a 0.25 ERA and no homers allowed in 36.2 innings before stepping on the bump Wednesday. 

This game was a perfect illustration of responding to an opponent's momentum. The Aggies exploded for three runs in the bottom of the second on a two-run double by Jonathan Moroney and an RBI triple by Austin Homan to grab a 3-0 lead. 

The Commodores immediately answered in the top of the third inning with three runs of their own. An error from Homan loaded the bases before Will Toffey and Connor Kaiser delivered back-to-back singles that tied the game. 

Mark Etheridge of D1Baseball.com believes that Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin should try his hot hand in another field:

The Aggies once again took a lead with two runs in the bottom of the sixth, knocking Vanderbilt starter John Kilichowski out of the game. That would be it for Texas A&M's offense, though, as Vandy's Matt Ruppenthal tossed 3.1 shutout innings. 

This wasn't a typical season for the Commodores in SEC play, as 12 of their 15 losses came against conference opponents, but they are turning things on at the right time. They knocked off Missouri in the opener on Tuesday and followed it with a terrific come-from-behind win over Texas A&M. 

The Aggies will be frustrated with this performance, but the sky is hardly falling. They will await the loser of South Carolina vs. Mississippi. Texas A&M won four out of six games against those two teams during the regular season, so there won't be any kind of intimidation. 

This was just a bad day for Texas A&M and an excellent one for Vanderbilt. Both teams will be in the College World Series, with Vanderbilt building momentum for the short-series format.

LSU def. Florida, 5-3

LSU couldn’t find an answer for Florida's A.J. Puk for most of Wednesday night, but the cardiac kids who came back from 4-0 down against Tennessee on Tuesday night came from behind again on Wednesday in dramatic fashion.

The Tigers overcame an early deficit with a rally in the eighth inning and then broke through in the 14th inning with the winning runs in a marathon game. Jordan Romero and Cole Freeman delivered with two-out RBIs in that final inning to give LSU the victory.

Despite his team’s loss, the left-handed Puk went 7.1 innings and allowed two runs on six hits and struck out seven on the night.  

Florida provided early support for Puk in the bottom of the first after an RBI double from JJ Schwarz was followed by a triple from Buddy Reed, who stuck to his tradition after a big hit, via the SEC Network:

Puk was simply untouchable to start after the Gators scored those first two runs. He retired 10 of 11 batters through his first five innings, much to the delight of Florida Baseball:

Although he received an early lead, he was still entrenched in a pitchers’ duel with LSU's Alex Lange, who was just as difficult to break down after his slow start.  

After he surrendered his runs in the bottom of the first, Lange went through a stretch where he struck out eight of 12 batters, as the SEC Network showed what kind of stuff he was bringing:

He struck out 11 on the night, as he allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings of work.

LSU finally got to Puk in the eighth inning with one out after Antoine Duplantis scored from second base on a single from Jake Fraley and a Gator throwing error. 

The Florida miscues allowed Fraley to advance to third. That was all for Puk, who was pulled for closer Shaun Anderson, who ultimately couldn't hold the lead.  

A chopper from Kramer Robertson gave Florida a chance to pin Fraley at the plate. He appeared to have been tagged out before he touched home, but he was called safe to tie the game.  GatorCountry.com's Nick de la Torre showed the replay:

Robertson stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Bryce Jordan's single up the middle. Just like that, it was 3-2 in LSU’s favor.

Florida managed to find an answer in the bottom of the ninth. A fly ball off the bat of Reed that was dropped by Brennan Breaux in left field was originally deemed foul, but it was later overturned and Reed was awarded second with no outs. 

Mike Rivera laid down a sacrifice bunt to get Reed to third with one out, but Nelson Maldonado struck out to ramp the pressure up even more. True freshman Deacon Liput shrugged off that pressure though and singled in Reed to tie things up at three and force extras.

The Gators almost won the game in the 11th when Schwarz worked a walk to start things off. Florida used Blake Reese as a pinch runner, and he advanced to second on a throwing error and eventually made his way to third when the Gators loaded the bases with nobody out. However, Maldonado popped out to second and Liput lined into a double play on the hot corner to end the inning.

Florida again threatened in the 13th when Maldonado reached on an infield single and moved to third on Liput’s hit. He was stranded there on a Christian Hicks fly out.

The Tigers made Florida pay for the missed chances in the 14th when Romero laced a pitch into right field with two outs to score Chris Reid. Freeman then added some insurance with an RBI bloop hit right over shortstop to make it 5-3 in LSU’s favor, which stood as the final score.