SEC Baseball Tournament 2019: Final Four Schedule and Bracket Predictions
As the old adage goes, defense wins championships. In baseball, that also includes pitching as a fellow component of run prevention. And because of that, Vanderbilt may be closing in on an SEC tournament championship.
The Commodores allowed only one run over their first two tournament games. Now, they will have to cool off an LSU lineup that scored 12 runs in its win over Mississippi State on Friday night. But Vandy has also had a big offensive showing this tournament, scoring 11 runs against Auburn on Wednesday.
For LSU, it's been an up-and-down tournament. The Tigers lost a 17-inning game to Mississippi State on Wednesday, then bounced back for a walk-off win over Auburn on Thursday and a revenge win over Mississippi State on Friday.
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Saturday's slate of semifinal matchups also features a contest between Georgia and Ole Miss. Both teams have played close, low-scoring games this tournament, and this will be the first time they have faced off this season.
Down to four teams, the double-elimination portion of the tournament is over. The winners of Saturday's games will progress to Sunday's championship game, and the losers will be going home.
Saturday Schedule, Picks
All times ET. Picks in bold.
No. 3 Georgia vs. No. 7 Ole Miss, 1 p.m., SEC Network
No. 1 Vanderbilt vs. No. 5 LSU, 4:30 p.m., SEC Network
Predictions
Georgia has scored just five runs over its first two tournament games, but its pitching has excelled, limiting its opponents to one run, which was scored by Arkansas on Thursday.
Since losing to Arkansas on Wednesday, Ole Miss has pulled out a pair of close wins, picking up one-run victories against Texas A&M and in its rematch with Arkansas. The Rebels haven't scored more than three runs in any of their three tournament games.
As teams in the D1Baseball.com Top 25 poll—Georgia is ranked seventh, while Ole Miss sits at No. 22—that have relied on pitching, expect another close, low-scoring game when they take the field Saturday. But with a berth in the SEC tournament championship game on the line, the Bulldogs, who have been the stronger team this season, are going to get the key hits they need to take down the Rebels.
That's exactly what Georgia did in its win over Arkansas, when Connor Tate had a pinch-hit, game-tying RBI double in the seventh inning and Patrick Sullivan hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the eighth.
"The pitcher had a lot of run on his ball, and I just had to find a way to find a hole, and it did," Sullivan said, according to Georgia Athletics (h/t SECSports.com). "When I hit it, I wasn't sure if he was going to get to it. I'll take it."
While that opening game should be competitive, the second semifinal has a better chance of turning into a one-sided contest.
LSU may be a strong team that overcame some adversity to reach the semifinals, but Vanderbilt is one of the best outfits in the country. If would be a substantial upset if the Tigers knocked off the Commodores on Saturday evening.
Vanderbilt is back in the SEC tournament semifinals for the first time since 2015, and it's poised to continue its run, having won 20 of its past 21 games. The Commodores haven't allowed a run in their past 13 innings, which goes back to their 11-1 win over Auburn on Wednesday.
But in order to win this tournament, Vanderbilt has some more tough competition to face.
"There is more pitching depth [in the SEC than previous years]," Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin said, according to The Tennessean's Adam Sparks. "There is more offensive depth. There are a lot of parts that are interchangeable, and so you get a lot of good baseball players."
But the Commodores are the best team in a strong conference, and they are going to win this tournament to build momentum ahead of the College World Series.
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