The Southeastern Conference opened up league play last weekend, with five of the eight opening series being decided in a rubber match on Sunday. Our power rankings had some shifting going on in the middle, with the Florida Gators taking a huge hit.
SEC baseball power rankings
Top 5
Tennessee and Arkansas both remained at the top of the list after the fifth week of the season, at first and second, respectively.
The Volunteers are the only undefeated team in college baseball at 20-0. They started off the week by defeating West Georgia at home, 4-2, on Tuesday before sweeping Florida to open up SEC play. This included a 10-0 run-rule victory on Saturday and a gritty 7-4 win on Sunday to send the Gators limping home.
The Razorbacks extended their winning streak to 12 games in a row with a 9-2 win on Tuesday over the Central Arkansas Bears at Baum-Walker Stadium before traveling to Oxford, MS. The Hogs dropped the first game of the SEC opener to Ole Miss, 10-6, before rallying back on Saturday with a 12-3 victory, led by an eight-run fifth.
The Rebels were up 9-8, going into the top of the ninth inning on Sunday in a back-and-forth affair. Arkansas tied the game up down to their final out an RBI single by Charles Davalan and Wehiwa Aloy handed the Razorbacks the lead with a three-run bomb to right for his second home run of the game. The Hogs closed it out, 12-9, to pick up their eighth straight SEC opening series victory.
Texas, Georgia and LSU each moved up a spot to crack inside the top five at third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
The Longhorns started out their week on Tuesday with a 7-4 comeback win over UT-Arlington at UFCU Disch-Falk Field before traveling to Starkville, MS., to open up SEC play against Mississippi State. Texas took the series opener on Friday with another come-from-behind victory, thanks to a five-run seventh inning rally, 8-7, and swept the series on Sunday in a doubleheader. Both games were seven innings, with Texas having to grind out each win 5-3 and 4-1. The Longhorns are now on a 17-game winning streak since losing the season opener to Louisville on Feb. 14.
The Bulldogs started by grinding out an 8-6 victory over ETSU on Tuesday at Foley Field before welcoming in the Kentucky Wildcats. Both teams traded blows, with Georgia picking up a win on Friday and Kentucky edging out a victory on Saturday. Sunday’s rubber match featured an offensive battle with the Bulldogs coming out victorious, 17-10, to take the series.
The Tigers took care of business on Tuesday with an 18-4 run-rule win over Xavier at home before opening up SEC play against another Tiger team, Missouri. LSU swept the series while only having a little on Saturday, but ended up picking up the win, 7-6, to take the series.
Middle of the pack
Alabama and Oklahoma also moved up a spot in the power rankings to sixth and seventh, respectively, while continuing their amazing starts to the season.
The Crimson Tide took an hour drive to Birmingham, Ala., to defeat the UAB Blazers, 6-3, but not without putting up three runs in the top of the ninth to take home the win. Alabama then traveled west to College Station, Texas, to take on a struggling Texas A&M team. Alabama won on Friday, 6-4, with Brennen Norton and Kade Snell hitting back-to-back solo shots in the top of the ninth to secure the series opener.
The Crimson Tide defeated the Aggies again on Saturday, 6-2, on a grand slam by Will Hodo to take the series. Alabama only needed two runs on Sunday to take a 2-0 win over Texas A&M and sweep the series.
The Sooners started out with a 9-5 win over Louisiana Tech at home on Tuesday before traveling to Columbia, S.C. Both Oklahoma and South Carolina took one game from each other on Friday and Saturday to lead to a rubber match on Sunday. Going into the top of the ninth, the Sooners were down 5-3 until they scored two runs to tie the game and force extra innings. Jason Walk hit a solo shot to left center to give Oklahoma the lead and the win, 6-5, to take the series.
Florida fell five spots in our rankings to eighth place after being swept by Tennessee. Beyond the sweep, the Gators did defeat the Florida State Seminoles on Tuesday, 7-2, in an in-state rivalry matchup in Tallahassee, FL.
Auburn and Vanderbilt switched places at ninth and 10th, respectively. The Tigers started out with a 6-1 victory on Tuesday over UT-Martin in Madison, Ala., at Toyota Field, and the Commodores ran Valparaiso out of town with a 12-0 run-rule victory in Nashville, Tenn. Both teams met in Auburn’s ballpark at Plainsman Park for a three-game series and each picked up a win against each other on Friday and Saturday.
Vanderbilt had a 6-3 lead going into the bottom of the eighth until Auburn’s Cade Riley hit a grand slam with two outs to take the lead. RHP Ryan Hetzler struck out all three batters in the top of the ninth to give the Tigers the win, 7-6, and the series.
Bottom of the barrel
Ole Miss climbed two spots in the rankings to 11th place. The Rebels had a rough start to the week after getting upset by the South Alabama Cougars on the road, 14-5, on Tuesday. Ole Miss did pick up a win over Arkansas on Friday, 10-6, to open up SEC play, but dropped the series, as previously mentioned.
South Carolina and Kentucky both dropped a spot each at 13th and 14th, respectively. The Gamecocks defeated Georgia State on Wednesday at home in Founders Park, 7-1, before dropping two out of three to Oklahoma, as previously mentioned. The Wildcats began the week with a 9-2 win at home over Northern Illinois before making their way to Athens, Ga., where they dropped two outs of three to Georgia.
Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Missouri remain at the bottom of the list at 14th, 15th and 16th, respectively, after getting swept by their opponents over the weekend. The Aggies picked up a 14-0 run-rule victory on Tuesday at home against Prairie View A&M. The Bulldogs took two midweek wins on Tuesday against Old Dominion, 9-4, and on Wednesday against Nicholls, 2-1, at Kessler Federal Park in the Hancock Whitney Classic.
Razorbackers SEC Baseball Power Rankings after Week 5:
- Tennessee (20-0, 3-0)
- Arkansas (18-2, 2-1)
- Texas (17-1, 3-0) ⬆1
- Georgia (21-2, 2-1) ⬆1
- LSU (20-1, 3-0) ⬆1
- Alabama (20-1, 3-0) ⬆1
- Oklahoma (17-2, 2-1) ⬆1
- Florida (16-5, 0-3) ⬇5
- Auburn (16-4, 2-1) ⬆1
- Vanderbilt (15-5, 1-2) ⬇1
- Ole Miss (15-4, 1-2) ⬆2
- South Carolina (16-5, 1-2) ⬇1
- Kentucky (14-4, 1-2) ⬇1
- Texas A&M (10-9, 0-3)
- Mississippi State (13-7, 0-3)
- Missouri (8-11, 0-3)