After a long season of rain delays, double headers and record breaking innings, the college baseball postseason has arrived. The six day SEC Tournament gets underway on Tuesday afternoon from Hoover, Alabama. Day one is single elimination, but from the second round on, the tournament will be double elimination.
Four teams earned a first round bye during the regular season. LSU, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M and Florida all have day one off, and will begin play Wednesday. It is the first time that the Aggies have earned a first round bye in the tournament.
The tournament begins with four games Tuesday beginning at 9:30 a.m. Game one of the day will be between six-seed Ole Miss and 11-seed Alabama. The winner of that game will take on the third-seed Texas A&M Wednesday morning.
Game two will feature seven-seed Missouri and 10-seed South Carolina, one of the hottest teams in the conference. Winner of game two earns the chance to take on the second-seeded Vanderbilt Commodores.
Eight-seed Kentucky and nine-seeded Auburn kick off game three of the day. The winner will gain a shot at top-seed, and the nation’s No. 1 overall team, the LSU Tigers.
The final game of the day pits the five-seed Arkansas Razorbacks and 12-seed Tennessee. The victor of game four will get move on to face fourth-seeded Florida on day two of the tournament.
Texas A&M (43-10, 18-10 SEC) comes into the postseason with one of the best records in the country, and one of the top offenses in the nation as well. A&M has 61 team home runs on the year, the most in the SEC. The third seed in the tournament is the highest finish A&M has had in SEC play since joining the conference.
Thursday, A&M will have a guaranteed second game against either Vanderbilt, Missouri, or South Carolina. A win on Tuesday against either Ole Miss or Alabama would have A&M playing at 4:30 p.m. Thursday. A loss Tuesday would put the Aggies in a 9:30 a.m. elimination game.
A lot is on the line in Hoover for A&M this week. The Aggies would likely lock up a top eight national seed in the NCAA Tournament with just one win. A national seed would mean that, not only would the Aggies be hosting an NCAA regional, but they would be hosting a Super Regional should they win their regional.
The Aggies are 2-3 all-time in the SEC Tournament, and they have never won the event. A&M will get the action started at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, when they will face off against either Ole Miss or Alabama.