It’s finals season, and while that cuts into the schedule this week – particularly in the ACC – there was still plenty of action on the diamond, especially in the SEC.
Here are 15 takeaways from around the country on the weekend that was in college baseball.
1. This weekend provided a showdown between the SEC’s two division leaders, as Arkansas travelled to Kentucky. Beyond the obvious intrigue of seeing the two teams atop the league standings in early May face off, this was a big weekend for the Wildcats. After starting conference play 15-1, they had lost four of their last five games to Tennessee and South Carolina. The rest of the schedule – Arkansas, at Florida, Vanderbilt – looked challenging. This weekend stood as an opportunity to prove the momentum from their strong start to conference play hadn’t dissipated entirely.
The series started poorly for Kentucky, as Arkansas surged to a 10-3 victory in Friday’s opener behind ace Hagen Smith. The Razorbacks took an early lead Saturday, scoring twice in the second inning. But the Wildcats responded with three runs of their own in the bottom of the inning and didn’t look back the rest of the weekend. Kentucky rolled to an 11-4 victory Saturday and controlled Sunday’s rubber game from start to finish for a 7-4 victory. The series win was Kentucky’s first against Arkansas since 2012.
Kentucky’s offense did an impressive job in the two victories. Its 11 runs Saturday were the most Arkansas has allowed in a game this season and the Wildcats pounded out 20 hits over the last two games of the series. They played some small ball – stealing a couple bases, dropping down a couple bunts – but, more than anything, they were just relentless at the plate. Emilien Pitre went 4-for-7 with three doubles in the two wins and Nick Lopez also added four hits.
The Wildcats (35-10, 18-6) hold a one-game edge in the SEC standings on both Arkansas (40-9, 17-7) and Tennessee (39-9, 17-7), while Texas A&M (40-8, 16-8) is two games back. Kentucky has won the SEC just once in program history (2006). Holding on to this slim lead for the next two weeks won’t be easy, but it’s earned its spot in the driver’s seat. It also can firmly take aim at the program record for SEC wins, which was set at 20 by the 2006 team.
2. It was a tough weekend for Arkansas, which suffered from some familiar problems. Smith was excellent Friday night, as he struck out 14 batters in six innings and held Kentucky to one run…