On day one of the 2010 SEC Baseball Tournament, all four games on the day’s slate were won by the lower seed, including number 4 seed Arkansas Razorbacks losing to the number 5 seed Vanderbilt Commedores, 2-0, on Wednesday night. The Hogs were led by outfielder Bo Bigham, who went 3 for 4, his ninth game of the season with at least three hits. On the mound, Arkansas got a great performance from starting pitcher Jeremy Heatley, pitching five shutout innings, but it was the bullpen that let across the two runs that decided the game. Vandy also got an equal if not better performance from their starter, Sonny Gray. Gray pitched seven strong innings, giving up only seven hits, one walk, and eight strikeouts.
Heatley, who was making his first career start as a Razorbacks, ran into a little bit of trouble early in the first after the Commedores loaded the bases with one out. Heatley then settled down and got Curt Casali to strike out and Andrew Giobbi to line out, getting out of the inning. The final line for Heatley was very solid, five innings pitched, giving up only three hits, and a career high seven strikeouts.
Overall the pitching was very good for the Hogs. After losing Drew Smyly and Brett Eibner to injuries, the pitching staff looked to be in its worst position all season. However, the difference in the game was one wild pitch from Sam Murphy and one homerun given up by D.J. Baxendale.
The Hogs performance at the plate was a different story as they left seven runners on base in the middle innings and only scratched across seven hits for the game.
Now the Razorbacks are one loss away from being eliminated from the tournament, but face a familiar foe in the Florida Gators. Florida, the one seed in this year’s tournament, lost at the hands of the eight seed, LSU Tigers. The Razorbacks do have something going for them as they single-handedly eliminated the Gators in last year’s tournament.
Mike Bolsinger will be going to the mound for the Hogs in this second game and will try to keep the Hogs in Hoover. Be sure to follow our brand-new sports twitter feed, @UATVsports, for all games in this year’s tournament, including the Hogs game against Florida today. First pitch is slated for approximately 1:30 p.m.