SEC ROUNDUP

GEORGIA 5, SOUTH CAROLINA 3

Daniel Nichols hit a grand slam and Georgia clinched a series victory over South Carolina for the first time since 2008 on Sunday in Athens, Ga.

Nichols doubled and scored in the second to give the Bulldogs (23-23, 9-14-1) a 1-0 lead, then in the third, gave them a 5-0 lead with his grand slam. David Sosebee earned his first victory of the season after giving up 2 runs on 4 hits and striking out 4 in 6 innings.

All five of Georgia’s runs came off South Carolina starter Wil Crowe, who fell to 6-3. The Gamecocks (35-13, 13-11) scored two runs in the sixth and one in the ninth.

MISSISSIPPI STATE 12, AUBURN 1

An eight-run seventh inning broke Sunday’s game open and Mississippi State completed a series sweep in Starkville, Miss.

The Bulldogs (31-18, 14-10) led 3-0 heading into the seventh when they scored eight runs on nine hits to make it 11-0. The big hit came from Matthew Britton, whose three-run double made it 9-0. That came after RBI singles from Brett Pirtle, Cody Brown and Alex Detz.C.T. Bradford added a sacrifice fly and Pirtle added another RBI single for Mississippi State, which collected a season-high 19 hits.

Pirtle went 3 for 6 with 2 RBI, Gavin Collins went 3 for 3 with 2 runs scored, Reid Humphreys went 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored and Matthew Britton went 3 for 5 with 4 RBI for Mississippi State.

Auburn (25-23, 9-15) scored its only run in the seventh when Daniel Robert hit a home run.

VANDERBILT 3, MISSOURI 1

Vanderbilt built a three-run lead after the third inning and held Missouri to four hits in completing a sweep Sunday at Taylor Stadium in Columbia, Mo.

The Commodores (36-12, 14-10) scored a run in the first inning off Tigers starter Keatone Steele and added two in the third to take an early lead.

Dansby Swanson led off the game with a double and scored on a groundout to make it 1-0 in the first, then Xavier Turner hit a two-run double in the third. Missouri (20-27, 6-18) scored its only run in the fourth when Dillon Everett drew a bases loaded walks.

TEXAS A&M 4, LSU 3

Ronnie Gideon hit a home run to lead off the eighth inning that broke a tie game and Andrew Vinson pitched around a lead-off single in the ninth to win for the second consecutive day on Sunday in College Station, Texas.

LSU (35-13, 13-10-1) tied the game at 3-3 in the seventh when Conner Hale singled and scored on Christian Ibarra’s double.

But Ibarra was stranded on second base, the Tigers went down in order in the eighth and Chris Sciambra was caught stealing after starting the ninth with a pinch-hit single.

Gideon went 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored and 1 RBI for the Aggies (30-19, 12-12), while Nick Banks went 3 for 4 with 1 RBI.

FLORIDA 13, ALABAMA 3

Peter Alonso hit a two-run double, an RBI single and a home run to lead Florida to a series sweep of Alabama on Sunday in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Alonso’s double in the third capped a four-run inning that gave Florida (33-15, 18-6) a 5-0 lead.

His RBI single in the fifth gave the Gators a 6-1 lead and his third home run of the season in the seventh made it 7-1. The Gators added three runs in the eighth and the ninth while pulling away.

Alonso finished 3 for 4 with 4 RBI while Harrison Bader went 3 for 6 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored for Florida and Ryan Larson also had three hits.

Kyle Overstreet went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI for Alabama (30-18, 13-11).

Sports, Pages 19 on 05/05/2014

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