SEC Baseball Tournament 2017: Friday Schedule and Bracket Predictions
The 2017 SEC tournament has already featured plenty of rain, offensive fireworks, extra innings and timely pitching and is now drawing nearer to the Sunday championship game.
The top two seeds, Florida and LSU, are still alive and eyeing a title and favorable seeding for the NCAA tournament, but those looking for Cinderella stories in Hoover, Alabama, need search no further than the No. 11-seeded South Carolina Gamecocks.
With that in mind, here is a look at the Friday schedule and predictions for each game. The updated bracket and a full schedule for the tournament can be found on SECSports.com.
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Friday Schedule and Bracket Predictions
| Matchup | Time (ET) | TV | Predicted Winner |
| No. 1 Florida vs. No. 5 Mississippi State | 12 p.m. | SEC Network | Florida |
| No. 3 Kentucky vs. No. 11 South Carolina | 4 p.m. | SEC Network | Kentucky |
| No. 4 Arkansas vs. Loser of Florida/Mississippi State | TBD | SEC Network | Arkansas |
Game to Watch: Florida Gators vs. Mississippi State Bulldogs
There is natural intrigue whenever Florida takes the field considering it is the No. 1 seed in the tournament, but Mississippi State's quick turnaround also makes this the game to watch on Friday's slate.
The Bulldogs lost their final five SEC games entering the postseason and likely saw their hopes of hosting an NCAA regional slip away. However, they have responded in impressive fashion at the SEC tournament.
Ace Konnor Pilkington threw eight shutout innings in a single-elimination contest against the Georgia Bulldogs and preserved his team's chances at making a deep run at the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
Mississippi State then proved it can win with without its best hurler on the mound when it outlasted the Arkansas Razorbacks in a 4-3 thriller in its next game.
Starter Denver McQuary struggled and allowed three earned runs in four innings, but Peyton Plumlee threw four shutout innings before Riley Self locked down the save. As a result, the Bulldogs have plenty of momentum heading into their biggest test of the tournament to this point.
Florida has played just once in Hoover, and it survived a challenge from the Auburn Tigers. The Gators blew a 4-0 lead but earned the win when Christian Hicks worked a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the eighth, and Michael Byrne preserved the lead with a save.
Look for them to score more than five against Mississippi State since Pilkington will not be available.
Will Sammon of the Clarion-Ledger broke down the Bulldogs' concern heading into the contest:
"It's unclear who pitches Friday for MSU. [Head coach Andy] Cannizaro said it will likely be either Jacob Billingsley or Cole Gordon. Neither can be counted on as a reliable option, but that's the situation MSU is in with a depleted staff."
That will be a serious issue against Florida's powerful lineup, which is spearheaded by Nelson Maldonado (.325 batting average with six home runs), Ryan Larson (.318 batting average with five home runs) and JJ Schwartz (.291 batting average with a team-best nine home runs).
These teams didn't play during the regular season, but parallels can be drawn from Mississippi State's series against LSU since the Tigers and Gators finished with identical 21-9 marks during the SEC schedule.
LSU went on the road and swept the Bulldogs because Mississippi State couldn't contain the offense outside of Pilkington. The ace allowed just two earned runs in six innings in the opener of the series, but the Tigers exploded for 11 runs in each of the final two games.
Mississippi State can ride Pilkington in the NCAA tournament, but the secondary pitchers won't keep the Gators in check Friday.
Prediction: Florida 8, Mississippi State 3
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