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SEC Baseball Tournament 2021: Tuesday Schedule and Bracket Predictions
May 25, 2021
The SEC baseball tournament begins on Tuesday in Hoover, Alabma, with four single-elimination contests.
Two Top 25 teams headline the action, which begins with the No. 13 Florida Gators facing the Kentucky Wildcats. The Ole Miss Rebels, who are No. 12 in the national poll, close out the set of games against the Auburn Tigers.
Florida and Ole Miss are the best teams in action, but they do not have the most to play for. Kentucky and the Alabama Crimson Tide need wins to stay alive in the NCAA tournament hunt.
According to D1Baseball.com, Alabama is one of the first five out teams. Kentucky needs to stay alive as long as possible in Hoover to have a chance at the field of 64.
SEC Tournament Tuesday Schedule
All Times ET.
No. 6 Florida vs. No. 11 Kentucky (10:30 a.m., SEC Network)
No. 7 South Carolina vs. No. 10 Alabama (2 p.m., SEC Network)
No. 8 Georgia vs. No. 9 LSU (5:30 p.m., SEC Network)
No. 5 Ole Miss vs. No. 12 Auburn (9 p.m., SEC Network)
Predictions
South Carolina Ends Alabama's NCAA Tournament Push
Alabama has been trending in the wrong direction over the last few weeks.
The Crimson Tide were swept by the Mississippi State Bulldogs in their final regular-season series and dropped two of three versus the LSU Tigers the week prior.
Alabama has not won consecutive games since May 1 and 2 against the Missouri Tigers, which is why it is in a precarious spot on the wrong side of the NCAA tournament bubble.
South Carolina is 5-2 in its last seven games. The two defeats in that span came to SEC East champion Tennessee, the second of which was by one run.
The Gamecocks boast the 29th-best staff ERA in the nation at 3.87, and they allowed two runs or fewer in three of their last four wins.
That total is the fourth-best ERA in the SEC behind Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Mississippi State, all of whom feature in the top four seeds.
Alabama's pitchers allowed 31 runs in the last four games, and the team was outscored 18-5 in its series loss to Mississippi State.
Unless the Crimson Tide reverse their poor offensive form of late, there is no clear path to victory for the bubble team.
If Alabama loses, it would be forced to play a long waiting game to find out its NCAA tournament fate. Based off the latest projections, it could be a painful few days that would be full of rooting for other bubble teams to lose to have a chance.
LSU Advances To Face Top Seed Arkansas
The No. 8-versus-No. 9 matchup features two sides going in different directions.
LSU won all three of its SEC series in May to land the No. 9 seed, while Georgia lost six of its last eight games.
The Bulldogs were dealt a brutal draw to close the regular season against Florida, Georgia Tech and Ole Miss. They were competitive in most of the losses, but their failure to score hurt them the most.
Georgia produced more than three runs on two occasions in those six defeats, and it could face a tough time keeping up with LSU's hot bats.
The Tigers finished the regular season by lighting up the Texas A&M pitching staff for 20 runs in two games, and they had a double-digit run total in three of their last five wins.
To make a run in Hoover, LSU may need its bats to continue the hot streak, especially if it runs into No. 1 seed Arkansas on Wednesday.
LSU third baseman Cade Doughty could be the difference-maker on Tuesday and beyond. He enters Hoover off a 5-for-11 spell in two wins over Texas A&M in which he drove in six runs.
Statistics obtained from NCAA.com.