AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
After Florida and Arkansas clinched spots in the 2021 SEC baseball tournament semifinal on Thursday, four teams were in action on Friday looking to join them.
Alabama has been the Cinderella of the SEC tournament thus far. The No. 10 seed won its first two games before finally stubbing its toe against Florida in the third round.
The Crimson Tide will take on No. 2 Tennessee looking to advance to the next round.
In the marquee game of the day, Jack Leiter, the potential No. 1 pick in the 2021 MLB draft, takes the mound for his first appearance of the tournament looking to keep Vanderbilt alive against Mississippi.
2021 SEC Tournament Results:Fourth Round
No. 2 Tennessee def. No. 10 Alabama, 11-0 (F/7)
No. 5 Mississippi def. No. 4 Vanderbilt, 4-1
2021 SEC Tournament Schedule:Semifinals (May 29)
No. 6 Florida vs. No. 2 Tennessee (1 p.m. ET)
No. 5 Mississippi vs. No. 1 Arkansas (4:30 p.m. ET)
No. 5 Mississippi 4, No. 4 Vanderbilt 1
While most of the attention was on Leiter, it was Tyler Myers who stole the show on the mound in Ole Miss' 4-1 victory over Vanderbilt.
Myers gave up one run on five hits with six strikeouts in seven innings. He got off to a rocky start, allowing back-to-back singles in the bottom of the first before retiring the next three hitters to keep the Commodores off the board.
Vanderbilt didn't put together another serious threat until the bottom of the eighth. The bases were loaded with no outs after a Javier Vaz double, Enrique Bradfield Jr. walk and Isaiah Thomas single.
Rebels reliever Brandon Johnson erased the threat by getting Dominic Keegan to ground into a double play. After Jack Bulger was hit by a pitch, C.J. Rodriguez grounded out to third base to end the inning.
Leiter's final stat line was three earned runs allowed, three hits, two walks and eight strikeouts in 6.2 innings. The right-hander really only struggled in the second inning when Mississippi got two runs against him.
Ole Miss' first four hitters reached base in the top of the second, including Peyton Chatagnier on a walk with the bases loaded.
The Rebels added runs in the seventh and eighth. Kevin Graham delivered the knockout blow with a solo homer in the top of the eighth.
Vanderbilt's loss ensures there will be a new SEC tournament champion. Mississippi needs two more wins for its fourth conference tournament title and an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.
Ole Miss will play Arkansas in the semifinal Saturday. These two teams played one series during the regular season, with the Razorbacks taking two out of three games, including an 18-14 slugfest in the finale April 11.
No. 2 Tennessee 11, No. 10 Alabama 0
Two days after Alabama upset Tennessee 3-2 in the second round, the Volunteers got revenge with an 11-0 statement win on Friday.
Tennessee ended things after seven innings via the 10-run rule.
After a scoreless first inning for both teams, the Vols got on the board in the top of the second thanks toLuc Lipcius' two-run homer off of Landon Green.
The floodgates opened in the top of the third when Tennessee pushed five runs across the plate with five hits, a hit by pitch and a fielding error by Alabama second baseman Peyton Wilson.
Six of the top seven hitters in Tennessee's lineup all drove in at least one run. Lipicus, Max Ferguson and Evan Russell combined to go 7-for-12 with three homers, two doubles and seven RBI.
Spence and Ferguson hit back-to-back homers to lead off the sixth that put Tennessee up 11-0.
While the offense was doing its part, Blade Tidwell had the best start of his college career. The Vols freshman allowed just two singles to Sam Praytor in six shutout innings of work.
Kirby Connell came on in the seventh inning to close out the win.
Alabama's tournament run came to an end with this loss, but victories over South Carolina and Tennessee this week may have boosted its resume leading up to selection Monday for the NCAA tournament.
Tennessee is in the SEC tournament semifinal for the first time since 2005. The Volunteers are two victories away from their first conference tournament title since winning three straight from 1993-95.
