SEC Baseball Tournament 2019: Championship Schedule and Predictions

Last year, Ole Miss was the No. 2 seed in the SEC tournament. So when the Rebels went on to win the SEC championship and secure an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, it wasn't too surprising.

This year is a little more surprising.

No. 7-seeded Ole Miss staved off elimination with a 1-0 win over No. 6 Texas A&M on Thursday. Then it notched victories over No. 5 LSU and No. 2 Arkansas over the next two days to advance to Sunday's championship game, where it will play the top-seeded Vanderbilt.

The Rebels will look to become the first team to win back-to-back SEC tournament champions since LSU won in 2013 and 2014. They will also be looking to win their fourth tourney title.

Vanderbilt will look to win its third tournament championship after previously winning in 1980 and 2007. Since the Commodores last won the SEC tournament, they have reached the championship game five times. Their most recent appearance was in 2015, when they lost to Florida.

SEC Tournament Championship Game Info

Date: Sunday, May 26

Time: 3 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN2

Predictions

Vanderbilt has played well in the tournament, showing why D1Baseball.com has it as the No. 2 team in the country.

The Commodores scored 11 runs in a win over Auburn on Wednesday, won a 1-0 game over Mississippi State on Thursday and broke out offensively again with 13 runs in Saturday's win over LSU.

That's why although Ole Miss is having an impressive showing, it will be Vanderbilt winning this year's SEC tournament.

The Commodores don't need the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, as they would receive an at-large bid and will be a contender to win the College World Series without it. But they are the best all-around team in the SEC, and they will be looking to be the first school to win the conference's regular-season and tournament championships in the same season since they did it in 2007.

"We will ready ourselves to play a very good game," Vandy coach Tim Corbin said, according to The Tennessean's Adam Sparks. "It's very simple. There's nothing more, nothing less. We are going to do exactly what we've done in the course of the year. We will center ourselves on playing well."

Vanderbilt should continue to rake when it faces Ole Miss' pitchers, and it starts with outfielder JJ Bleday, who hit his national-leading 26th home run on Saturday. Bleday has 20 homers in his past 35 games and MLB Pipeline ranks him No. 5 in the 2019 MLB draft class.

The Commodores have won 21 of their past 22 games, which includes 13 victories in May. And in addition to their strong offense, their pitching should help them take down the Rebels. Vanderbilt has allowed only five runs over its three SEC tournament wins.

Vandy is going to be a favorite to win this year's College World Series, and winning the SEC tournament championship will help build some momentum toward that.