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Tennessee, Alabama's sweeps highlight opening weekend of SEC baseball action

hunterby:Hunter Shelton•about 21 hours•

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Alabama INF/OF Will Hodo
Alabama INF Will Hodo (Gary Cosby Jr. / Imagn Images)

Of the eight SEC series that kicked off conference play over the weekend, two headlined the docket as Alabama headed to Texas A&M and Florida made its way to Knoxville to take on Tennessee.

Both ended in sweeps. Alabama continued its scorching start to the season, coming up big in clutch moments all weekend in College Station as the Aggies floundered. Tennessee remains the lone undefeated team in the nation, rolling past the Gators behind some lights-out pitching.

The results leave each team on different trajectories. Tennessee jumped LSU for the No. 1 spot in the latest D1Baseball Top 25 on Monday morning. Texas A&M, the preseason No. 1 team, is now out of the rankings just five weeks into the season. Alabama moved up to No. 12, while Florida dropped to No. 13.

Miscues continue to bury Texas A&M

Game 1: Alabama 6, Texas A&M 4
Game 2: Alabama 6, Texas A&M 2
Game 3: Alabama 2, Texas A&M 0

It still felt a little too early to sound the alarms on preseason No. 1 Texas A&M coming into the weekend. Not anymore.

Self-combustion has propelled the Aggies to their 10-9 (0-3 SEC) record. No team in the conference has committed more errors all season and no team scored less runs over the weekend. It’s a nasty combination that’ll result in anything but winning baseball games in the best conference in the league.

Tied 2-2 in the top of the ninth inning in game one on Friday night, fresh off a game-tying home run from Hayden Schott, A&M head coach Michael Earley made a questionable pitching move with two outs, bringing in right-hander Brad Rudis in relief of left-hander Kaiden Wilson, who had just come into the game and gotten the second out of the inning.

Trying to play the matchup game, A&M quickly found itself down two runs as Rudis served up back-to-back home runs to Bama second baseman Brennen Norton and left fielder Kade Snell. The Tide then slammed the door to swipe game one.

The Aggies then committed three errors in game two, the third of which began a Bama rally that led to a ninth-inning grand slam for first baseman Will Hodo. On Sunday, the bats were simply silenced by righty Bobby Alcock, who fired seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits while striking out eight. A&M struck out 23 times over the weekend and did not record an extra-base hit on Saturday or Sunday.

The starting pitching has been about the only good thing for A&M, as the left-handed trio of Ryan Prager, Justin Lamkin and Myles Patton combined for 17-and-two-thirds innings, allowing six runs, striking out 18. Each continue to give their team a chance to win, but winning is a rather hard thing for the Aggies to do at the moment.

A&M’s nightmare start can be erased with a big run in SEC play, but it remains to be seen if it’ll find the sauce that had everyone convinced it would be back in Omaha this summer. The Aggies head to Nashville next to play Vanderbilt in a must-win series.

Alabama’s stock soars after College Station sweep

As for Alabama, Rob Vaughn’s crew, now 20-1 (3-0), continues to look like the real deal. A&M’s struggles will grab the headlines, but the Crimson Tide have the make-up of an elite SEC program. There’s a certain toughness about this Bama group that continues to shine in close games.

The Tide hit seven home runs in the series, all of which were undoubtedly crucial. Hodo’s stunning grand slam on Saturday silenced Blue Bell Park, causing a mass exodus in the process. He’s now hitting .395 on the season following a four-hit, six-RBI weekend.

Star shortstop Justin Lebron left at the end of Friday’s night game feeling under the weather, but he still put together a three-hit game the next day, including his 12th home run of the season. The sophomore has already driven in 45 runs, the most in the nation.

Alabama took advantage of A&M’s miscues and was also balanced by some stout pitching. Alcock’s outing on Sunday was the eye-catcher, even as righty Riley Quick, who continues to get better in his return from Tommy John surgery, looked the part on Saturday, allowing just one hit and no runs in five innings. Braylon Myers sealed the sweep with a perfect six-out save in relief of Alcock.

Now slashing .329/.460/.587 as a team, the Tide have six everyday players hitting over .300. Snell is up to .408 and now leads the team in hits with 31. The pitching staff also continues to impress, as it lowered its team ERA to 3.13, the fourth-best mark in the conference. Opponents are hitting just .205 through 21 games.

It’s time to treat Alabama as a perennial contender moving forward. That point could be emphasized this coming weekend, as new No. 1 Tennessee heads to Tuscaloosa for another heavyweight matchup.

Tennessee continues dominant start

Game 1: Tennessee 5, Florida 3
Game 2: Tennessee 10, Florida 0
Game 3: Tennessee 7, Florida 4

Tennessee continues to look just as good, if not better than the 2024 team that won the College World Series last summer. Plain and simple.

This was not a direct bludgeoning of Florida, but it always felt like the Volunteers, now 20-0 (3-0), had the momentum. There was always an answer for Tennessee in the box and on the mound. It’s the pitching that comes out of the weekend looking golden, though, as it held a top-notch UF offense to seven total runs.

Ace lefty Liam Doyle had to grind through his four-and-two-thirds innings on Friday, allowing just one run on three hits, throwing 105 pitches. Righty Marcus Phillips was superb on Saturday, throwing seven scoreless, allowing five hits and a walk while fanning seven. The combo of LHP Dylan Loy and RHP Nate Snead was elite on Friday and Sunday, as the two each appeared twice, combining for nine innings of work, allowing four hits and no runs.

The Vols, who had slugged their way to glory thus far, hit just four home runs over the weekend and at times struggled with Florida’s rock-solid pitching staff, though they did hit .400 (10-25) with runners in scoring position. The most impressive sequence of the weekend came on Saturday, as following six innings of one-run ball from Florida starter Aidan King, Tennessee immediately pounced on three different UF relievers for a nine-run inning.

A three-run double from Dean Curley, RBI-knock from Hunter Ensley, two-run single from Andrew Fischer and walk-off three-run homer from Reese Chapman quickly landed Tennessee a 10-0 run-rule victory and a knockout blow to win the series.

Tennessee’s offense is capable of ending games in a flash, thanks a team slugging percentage that now sits at .662, still the top mark in the nation. No lead is ever safe, especially in Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The Vols will be on center stage once again this coming weekend as they head to No. 12 Alabama.

The Gators couldn’t keep momentum in Knoxville

Florida, now 16-5 (0-3), looked far from overmatched, but it just couldn’t keep the Vols from chugging along behind their home crowd. Shortstop Colby Shelton had a five-hit series, but the offense struggled to get into high gear on Saturday and Sunday.

The Gators had just four lead-off hits over the weekend and struggled to put things together against the Vols’ left-handed arms, going 5-30 against Doyle, Loy and Brandon Arvidson.

UF righty Liam Peterson also labored on Friday night, allowing six hits and four runs in four innings, striking out eight and walking three. He was piggybacked by RHP Luke McNeillie, who fired four innings of one-hit, one-run ball.

King’s start on Saturday was sensational, despite things quickly going haywire for the UF bullpen right after he exited. King, who’s taken a spot in the rotation as lefty Pierce Coppola gets back to full strength, gave up just four hits and one run in six stellar innings. He’s now allowed just three earned runs in 28-and-a-third innings this season.

While Florida headed back to Gainesville empty-handed, it’s a series that can easily be washed by getting right back on the horse. A couple of bigger innings could’ve turned things in UF’s favor, but Kevin O’Sullivan’s team still looks dangerous and now gears up for a home series against another power-heavy team in No. 4 Georgia this weekend.