Chris Lee, Alfred Ezman, and Graham Doty share their reaction to the biggest stories on opening day of SEC baseball, including great starting pitching, a heartbreaking/heartwarming situation at Auburn, a comeback story at Ole Miss, and much more.
Auburn 4, Holy Cross 1: Cade Belyeu homered after his mother died of cancer the same day. Cam Tilly 2 2/3 scoreless relief and Carson Myers, three scoreless also.
Ole Miss 2, Arizona 1: In his first effective outing since the 2022 College World Series, Hunter Elliott throws five scoreless innings and strikes out three to get a win. Louisville transfer Isaac Humphrey also homered in his first game as a Rebel.
Louisville 4, Texas 3: Louisville got two in each of the ninth and 10th to win. Freshman Adrian Rodriguez homered in his first collegiate game. Closer Ruger Riojas gives up two runs in 2 2/3. Will Mercer gives up the last two in an inning. Indiana State transfer Jared Spencer starts, striking out six and shutting Louisville out.
Texas A&M 4, Elon 2: Ryan Prager five shutout innings with eight strikeouts. Blake Binderup hit a late home run. A&M scored two runs on walks and another on a wild pitch.
Arkansas sweeps a doubleheader from Washington State, 2-1 and 14-2: To nobody’s surprise, the Razorbacks got great pitching from starters Gabe Gaeckle (five shutout innings, seven strikeouts) and Zach Root (five innings, one run, eight strikeouts). Star transfer Brett Iredale had three hits and drove in four runs in Game 2.
Vanderbilt 4, Grand Canyon 3: JD Thompson, Sawyer Hawks and Miler Green shine out of the bullpen. Vanderbilt has starters Mike Mancini and Brody Johnston out, which allowed newcomers Rustan Rigdon and Riley Nelson to play and play well.
Tennessee 15, Hofstra 0 in seven innings: Liam Doyle was electric (five innings, 11 strikeouts) while Dean Curley, Andrew Fischer and Hunter High homered. Tanner Franklin also struck out four.
LSU 14, Purdue Fort Wayne 0: Kade Anderson throws five shutout innings and strikes out eight while transfer Daniel Dickinson has three hits and drives in five.
Mississippi State 17, Manhattan 3: Starter Pico Kohn fans 11 over five scoreless innings and transfer shortstop Ace Reese homers in his Bulldog debut.
Kentucky spilts a doubleheader with Lipscomb: Columbia transfer Cole Hage has five hits and a homer over both games. Seventh-year South Dakota State transfer Nic McCay threw five scoreless with four strikeouts.
Florida 7, Air Force 0: Liam Peterson strikes out 11 over six innings and Brody Donay homered.
Georgia 9, Quinnipiac 1: Georgia’s Zach Harris and Paul Farley combined for nine innings of four-hit, six-strikeout baseball while Duke transfer Devin Obee homered and drove in three runs.
South Carolina 5, Sacred Heart 3: Dylan Eskew pitched five innings, gave up one run and struck out nine while Ethan Petry homered.
Alabama 10, Bradley 6: Justin Lebron has two hits and drives in five.
Oklahoma 11, Lehigh 3: Kyson Witherspoon strikes out nine and allows two earned runs while freshman shortstop Kyle Branch hits an inside-the-park home run. Jaxon Willits and Dayton Tockey also homered.
Penn State blanks Missouri, 10-0. The Tigers had just two hits and Brock Lucas struggled in relief.