SEC Baseball Tournament 2018: Friday Schedule and Bracket Predictions
Consecutive extra-inning games to kick off Thursday's action and thunderstorms in the forecast last night have thrown the SEC baseball tournament out of whack.
The day started with a thrilling 5-4 victory by Ole Miss over Georgia in an elimination game.
The Rebels held a 3-1 lead heading into the eighth inning in that one, but the Bulldogs tied things up in the eighth when reliever Parker Caracci fielded a comebacker and promptly overthrew the catcher with two outs and runners on second and third, rather than taking the force out at first base.
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After a scoreless ninth, Tim Rowe delivered the walk-off base hit for Ole Miss in the 10th, sending Georgia packing. That said, the Bulldogs still appear to be in good shape to host a regional.
The second game of the day featured another late-inning comeback, as South Carolina pushed across a run in the bottom of the ninth against LSU to send the game to extra innings.
Both teams were held scoreless through the first two innings of extras before LSU scored three in the top of the 12th. Daniel Cabrera had the go-ahead RBI single and reliever Todd Peterson padded the score with a two-run double.
In what turned out to be the final game of the day, Texas A&M continued its impressive run by upending Auburn and ace Casey Mize to advance on to Saturday's action.
Mize held the Aggies to just five hits and one run while striking out 13 in a win against them earlier this year.
The presumptive No. 1 overall pick in next month's MLB draft was not nearly as sharp this time around, though, surrendering eight hits and four earned runs in 7.2 innings of work.
Meanwhile, John Doxakis twirled one of the best starts of his career for Texas A&M, allowing just two hits and one earned run in 7.1 innings, walking none and striking out a career-high 10.
The No. 11-seeded Aggies have been the surprise of the tournament and they get a day off now thanks to a 3-0 start.
Friday Schedule and Bracket Predictions
| No. 1 Florida vs. No. 4 Arkansas | 11 a.m. | SEC Network | Arkansas |
| No. 2 Ole Miss vs. No. 7 Auburn | 4 p.m. | SEC Network | Ole Miss |
| No. 8 LSU vs. TBD | TBD | SEC Network | TBD |
Friday Game to Watch: No. 1 Florida vs. No. 4 Arkansas
The winner of this game will join Texas A&M in the semifinals on Saturday. The loser will be forced to turn around and play again in the late game on Friday.
That alone makes this a big game, and it already figured to be an exciting matchup with two of the top teams in the nation squaring off.
Florida has been the team to beat all season, and they currently sit atop the D1Baseball.com Top 25 poll with a 41-15 record.
Freshman Jack Leftwich (19 G, 8 GS, 4.80 ERA, 61 K, 60.0 IP) will get the start for the Gators, according to the team's Twitter page.
Florida turned to fellow freshman Tommy Mace in their first game of the tournament. That's the beauty of being the No. 1 team in the nation and a lock to host a regional—they can get weekend starters Brady Singer and Jackson Kowar some additional rest heading into the NCAA tournament.
Meanwhile, Arkansas checks in at No. 8 in the nation, and they'll be turning to ace Blaine Knight as they look to stay in the winner's bracket.
Knight went 9-0 with a 2.88 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 82 strikeouts in 81 innings during the regular season.
He was selected in the 29th round of the MLB draft last year as a draft-eligible sophomore, and he'll likely hear his name called within the first two rounds next month.
Knight outdueled Singer and quieted the potent Gators offense when he faced them back in March, allowing five hits and three earned runs while striking out 10 to earn the victory.
All stats courtesy of Baseball Cube, unless otherwise noted.
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