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It was the final weekend of non-conference play in the SEC. With conference play on the horizon, let’s see how the SEC did this week. Georgia and Florida took their Ivy League opponents to the woodshed and Vanderbilt swept a solid Xavier group. Justin Lebron and Alabama keep rolling, Tennessee stays unbeaten and Missouri again shows why it will be the worst team in the SEC this season.
This week on the WRUF baseball beat weekly roundup, it is week five SEC rankings and Florida Gators MVP of the Month.
SEC Top 5
Hunter DeLauder
Top 5 Stays Put
Starting is Tennessee (16-0) staying at No.1. What a week it was for the Volunteers, they hit three grand slams in their midweek win versus Radford. The Volunteers have now hit eight grand slams in 16 games. That was followed by a combined no-hitter on Friday vs St. Bonaventure. Liam Doyle was marvelous again. His 5 2/3 of hitless baseball got the ball rolling before the bullpen finished it. Doyle racked up another 13 strikeouts Friday, making that 47 on the season.
LSU (16-1) stays at No.2 after a solid 5-0 week. The Tigers survived a scare from North Dakota State in game one of their two-game midweek series. LSU trailed 7-2 before clawing their way back and taking the lead in the eighth on a Steven Milam two-run double to make it 11-9. It was much smoother sailing the next day, winning 13-3. Following the midweek, LSU busted out the brooms and swept North Alabama.
Georgia (18-1) is on fire at the moment. The Bulldogs are on a 15-game winning streak, which is the program’s longest win streak since 1908. While starting pitching is still a concern, it was not as bad this week, which could be a good sign moving forward. What is present is the offense. Hot, scorching and blazing are all words that would fit this team right now.
Georgia hit 18 home runs as a team last week, which puts them at 45 on the year. Only Tennessee has more (49). Ryland Zaborowski was named SEC C0-Player of the Week after leaving a trail of destruction against Georgia Southern and Columbia. Zaborowski had seven hits, six home runs (10), 18 RBIs and is now hitting .447.
Florida Not Far Off from Top 3
Florida (15-2) was embarrassed by UCF last Tuesday. Responded nicely with wins over FAU and a sweep of Harvard. At this point, the one-two punch of Liam Peterson and Aidan King on the mound needs to start getting more attention. Peterson dominated again on Friday, tying his career-high in strikeouts with 11. While King made his first career start on Saturday and threw six shutout innings and stuck out eight.
A massive week on deck for Florida. The team hits the road to visit the No.5 Florida State Seminoles and open SEC play-up in Knoxville versus No.2 Tennessee starting Friday. Florida State and Tennessee are the last two undefeated teams in college baseball.
Arkansas (15-1) looked rather impressive last week. They annihilated UL Monroe in back-to-back days. Followed that up with a sweep of Portland, where they outscored the Pilots 35-6. INF Wehiwa Aloy carried the Razorbacks with his 12 hits last week. Aloy hit three home runs against Portland and was named SEC Extra’s Player of the Week.
Jacob Fedora
- Tennessee
- LSU
- Georgia
- Arkansas
- Florida
The SEC teams ranked this week fall just outside of the D1Baseball rankings. LSU and Tennessee traded places simply because LSU had a loss and Tennessee does not. Tennessee leads D1 baseball in ERA and is second in total scoring. Tennessee also hit three grand slams in the same game, making it eight on the season. The D1 record is 14 in a season.
UGA and Arkansas swapped places because UGA has one of the best bullpens in America. They have been able to score too, averaging 9.7 runs per game. Florida’s confidence has seemed to bounce back in their 22-6 win over Harvard. But the real test will start for them this week when they take on the last two undefeated teams- Florida State on Tuesday and Tennessee this weekend.
Brooke Park
The SEC top five of the week looks very similar to the last. Tennessee continues to dominate as they are still undefeated. The Volunteers’ first SEC series against Florida will depict how Tennessee looks against a top-ranked SEC team. LSU and Georgia stayed in the same spot because they continued to look consistent. Both teams are on 10+ game-winning streaks.
Arkansas and Florida switched in the top five as the Razorbacks have had a more difficult schedule than Florida. The Gators swept Harvard, but the Crimson were 0-6 before the series.
Florida Gators MVP of the Month
Hunter DeLauder
The MVP for Florida this month is RHP Liam Peterson. Peterson has done a fabulous job asserting himself as the top dog on the pitching staff. In his four starts this season, Peterson has neutralized every hitter he has faced. His fastball has so much life on it and his slider, which he just got comfortable throwing this year has been lights-out. In his 21 innings, Peterson has a .86 ERA, giving up just two runs, 12 hits and 34 strikeouts.
He faces his biggest test on Friday when he takes on Tennessee in what should be a fantastic matchup between him and Liam Doyle.
Jacob Fedora
The MVP move for the month would go to Bobby Boser. Part of this is recency bias, but since the Miami series, Boser has been the best player for Florida. He leads the team in RBIs with 24 and runs scored with 24. He is also second on the team with seven homers and 22 hits. Boser has been batting in the two-hole and although it’s not a stat on paper, he led many of Gators’ scoring streaks.
Brody Donay finished a close second to Boser. Donay and Boser have gone back and forth all year in just about every stat category.
Brooke Park
The MVP of the month goes to freshman Brendan Lawson. His collegiate debut was a memorable one so far, as he already received SEC Freshman of the Week. Lawson has been a game-changer at bat, hitting a grand slam as his first home run as a Gator.
He also has 20 hits, 19 RBIs and four homers on the season. Lawson has moved around on defense, playing both first and second base and has put 99 outs with an average fielding percentage of 0.990. By passing the MLB Draft, Lawson will continue to lead the Gators during SEC play.
Hunter DeLauder, Jacob Fedora and Brooke Park all contributed.
