HOOVER, Ala. - Mike Mayers gave up one unearned run over 6 1/3 innings to lead Mississippi past Kentucky 4-1 on Tuesday in the opening round of the SEC Tournament at Metropolitan Stadium.
Mayers (5-5) scattered 6 hits and walked 1 while striking out 4. Tanner Bailey threw a scoreless ninth inning to earn his fourth save of the season.
“I don’t know if we have another guy who can do what Mike just did,” Ole Miss Coach Mike Bianco said. “It probably worked out better than we imagined. He was terrific today.
“He had the whole package. It could be as good as he’s pitched all year. He had his fastballs, he had both his change-up and slider. He had a great mix.”
Sixth-seeded Ole Miss (37-20) advances to play No. 3 seed Arkansas at 9:30 a.m. Central today in the second round. Ole Miss opened conference play by winning 2 of 3 against Arkansas on March 15-17 at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville.
Against Kentucky, Ole Miss jumped ahead 1-0 in the first inning on Andrew Mistone’s sacrifice fly that scored Austin Anderson. The Rebels broke open the game with two runs in the sixth inning after run-scoring singles by Auston Bousfield and Will Allen.
“We had some timely hits,” Bianco said. “It was nice to see the guys continue to swing after coming out of the last two games at LSU, where we didn’t swing very well. We just played well today.”
Jerad Grundy (6-6) took the loss, giving up four earned runs in 5 2/3 innings.
ALABAMA 6, AUBURN 3
Alabama (33-24) used a three-run rally in the eighth inning to eliminate Auburn (33-23).
The Tide trailed 3-1 after three innings but scored a run in the fourth and another in the sixth to tie the game. Chance Vincent hit a single to drive in Austen Smith for the go-ahead run in the eighth inning.
Alabama will face No. 2 seed LSU today in the second round.
Smith had three hits for Alabama, while Ben Moore and Brett Booth added two hits each. Jay Shaw (2-1) threw five innings of scoreless relief for the Tide.
Auburn scored all of its runs in the top of the third after lead off walks to Cullen Wacker and Garrett Cooper. A double down the left-field line by Patrick Savage scored Walker and a sacrifice fly by Dan Glevenyak brought in Cooper. Savage came around to score on a single by Jordan Ebert.
Reid Carter (1-2) took the loss for the Tigers, giving up one run in 2 1/3 innings. Hunter Kelley led Auburn with two hits. TEXAS A&M 6, FLORIDA 3
Hunter Melton hit a three-run home run and had an RBI single to help Texas A&M (31-25) defeat Florida (29-28) in the Aggies’ first appearance in the SEC Tournament.
A&M starter Daniel Mengden (8-3) overcame two balks and a wild pitch to go the distance, throwing 117 pitches.
The Aggies took a 3-2 lead in the fourth on Melton’s two-out home run off Florida starter Johnny Magliozzi (4-2). After Florida tied the game in the fifth, Melton gave A&M a 4-3 lead in the sixth on a single that scored Blake Allemand.
Sports, Pages 24 on 05/22/2013