The sixth week of the NCAA DI baseball season is in the books after another exciting week of action all over the country. The top teams in the Southeastern Conference are dominating the competition, but the Florida Gators are beginning to struggle as of late.
SEC Baseball power rankings
Top 5
Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, Georgia and LSU all remain in the top five of our power rankings at first, second, third, fourth and fifth place, respectively.
The Volunteers were stunned on Tuesday at home in a 7-6 10-inning upset to the East Tennessee State Buccaneers at home in Lindsey Nelson Stadium for their first loss of the season. ETSU would not go away and was trailing, 6-4, going into the top of the ninth inning. CF Jamie Palmese hit a two-run home run to tie the game and force extras while 3B Grant Gallagher broke the tie with a solo shot in the top of the tenth.
The loss took a toll on Tennessee as it traveled to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to take on a red-hot Alabama team. The Crimson Tide took the series opener on Thursday in a nail-biting 6-5 win thanks to some great defensive plays. The Volunteers locked in and took the series with back-to-back wins on Friday, 10-7, and Saturday, 9-2.
The Razorbacks swept a two-game midweek series over the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles from Tuesday to Wednesday at Baum-Walker Stadium and stayed home to welcome the South Carolina Gamecocks. Arkansas dominated in the first two games while putting on an amazing offensive display.
The Hogs found themselves in a tense game in Sunday’s series finale with both teams trading blows. Going into the bottom of the eighth with the game tied, 4-4, Arkansas broke out with a seven-run rally to blow past South Carolina and pick up the sweep. The Razorbacks are 23-2 this year, which is the best 25-game start in program history.
The Longhorns were shocked on Tuesday at home by the UTSA Roadrunners in an 8-7, 12-inning upset. C Andrew Stucky hit a solo shot in the top of the 12th inning out of the nine-hole to lift UTSA to a giant win over Texas. LSU, on the other hand, enjoyed a seven-inning run-rule victory over New Orleans, 11-1, the same day at Alex Box Stadium.
Both the Tigers and the Longhorns met at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Texas, for a three-game series. LSU took the series opener on Friday, 8-2, thanks to some dominant pitching. Texas rallied and took the series with a huge 11-7 victory on Saturday and a 6-2 win on Sunday.
The Bulldogs did not play a midweek game and rested up to travel to Gainesville, Fla., to take on the Florida Gators. Georgia was in a back-and-forth matchup in Friday’s series opener and found itself down 7-6 going into the top of the ninth. DH Ryland Zaborowski crushed a two-run homer to left center to give the Bulldogs the lead, and RHP Kolten Smith blanked the Gators in the bottom half of the ninth to take an 8-7 win. This victory gave Georgia a lot of momentum for the rest of the week as the team blew out Florida, 17-2, on Saturday. The Bulldogs finished off the sweep with a 15-4 run-rule victory on Sunday over the Gators.
Middle of the pack
Alabama and Oklahoma both remained at sixth and seventh, respectively. The Crimson Tide was in a dogfight at home on Tuesday against the South Alabama Jaguars until LF Kade Snell hit a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the 10th to lift the team to a 6-5, extra-inning win. Alabama dropped two out of three to Tennessee over the weekend, as previously mentioned.
The Sooners had a similar start to the week in which they had to battle the UT Arlington Mavericks at home until the end. In the bottom of the ninth inning with the game tied, 6-6, DH Easton Carmichael blasted a walk-off solo home run to lift Oklahoma to a 7-6 victory. The Sooners welcomed the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Friday and were upset, 2-1. Oklahoma regrouped on Saturday and took the second game of the three-game series in a shootout, 13-11, where Mississippi State committed five errors. The Sooners won the series on Sunday, 7-3, to get themselves back on track.
Auburn, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, South Carolina and Kentucky each moved up a spot in our rankings at eighth, ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th, respectively.
The Tigers won a shootout over the Alabama State Hornets on Tuesday, 13-9, at home at Plainsman Park before traveling to Lexington, Ky., to take on the Kentucky Wildcats. That same Tuesday, Kentucky had a 5-4 loss at the hands of Murray State. Auburn took the first game of the series on Friday, 8-7, in comeback fashion.
The Tigers were trailing, 7-6, going into the top of the ninth inning before rallying for two runs to take the lead. Auburn took the series on Saturday in 11 innings by the same exact score, 8-7. RF Ike Irish cranked a solo shot down the right field line in the top of the 11th to hand the Tigers the victory while finishing up a 5-for-6 night at the plate. Kentucky salvaged the series finale on Sunday in a shutout, 6-0, to keep the ship afloat at Kentucky Proud Park.
The Commodores started out the week on a high note with a 13-2 run-rule victory over Belmont on Tuesday at Charles Hawkins Field. Vanderbilt stayed home to welcome a struggling Texas A&M team. The Commodores swept the Aggies to improve to 4-2 in SEC play and won five of their last six games.
The Rebels traveled two and a half hours to Pearl, Ms., for a midweek game against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles on Tuesday at Pete Taylor Park. Ole Miss was soundly defeated, 6-2, and limped to Columbia, Mo., to take on Missouri in a three-game weekend series. The Rebels had a surge in their bats and swept the Tigers to improve to 4-2 in conference play and 18-5 overall. Saturday’s game included a 17-10 shootout victory in which Ole Miss hit six home runs.
The Gamecocks began their week on Tuesday by edging out the College of Charleston Cougars, 4-3, in a neutral site game at Segra Park. Trailing 3-1, South Carolina had to rally in the bottom of the seventh inning with three runs to take the midweek victory. The Gamecocks traveled to Fayetteville, Ark., to take on the Razorbacks, where they were swept over the weekend, as previously mentioned.
Bottom of the barrel
Florida tumbled five spots for the second straight week to 13th in our power rankings. The Gators began the week with a 16-4 run-rule victory over the Jacksonville Dolphins on Tuesday at home and a 14-4 run-rule win over Florida A&M at Condron Family Ballpark. However, Florida was swept by Georgia at home, as previously mentioned.
Mississippi State and Texas A&M switched places at 14th and 15th, respectively. The Bulldogs started their week with a dominant 16-3 win over Jackson State at home on Tuesday before traveling to Norman, Okla., to face the Sooners.
As previously mentioned, Mississippi State took the first game of the three-game series but dropped the next two. The struggling Aggies began their week with a 17-7 run-rule victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Tuesday before heading to Nashville, Tenn. Texas A&M was swept by Vanderbilt, holds a losing record at 11-12, and is winless in conference play at 0-6.
Missouri remains at the bottom of the list for the sixth straight week this season. The Tigers were swept by Ole Miss to be one of two teams this season to not have a win in SEC play with Texas A&M and are on a seven-game losing streak.
Razorbackers SEC Baseball Power Rankings after Week 5:
- Tennessee (22-2, 5-1)
- Arkansas (23-2, 5-1)
- Texas (19-3, 5-1)
- Georgia (24-2, 5-1)
- LSU (22-3, 4-2)
- Alabama (22-3, 4-2)
- Oklahoma (20-3, 4-2)
- Auburn (19-5, 4-2) ⬆1
- Vanderbilt (19-5, 4-2) ⬆1
- Ole Miss (18-5, 4-2) ⬆1
- South Carolina (17-8, 1-5) ⬆1
- Kentucky (15-7, 2-4) ⬆1
- Florida (18-8, 0-6) ⬇5
- Mississippi State (15-9, 1-5) ⬆1
- Texas A&M (11-12, 0-6) ⬇1
- Missouri (8-14, 0-6)