2012 SEC BaSEB all M Edia Guid E - Southeastern Conference
2012 SEC BaSEB all M Edia Guid E - Southeastern Conference
2012 SEC BaSEB all M Edia Guid E - Southeastern Conference
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YEAR IN REVIEW<br />
ole miss • MISSISSIPPI STATE • SOUTH CAROLINA • TENNESSEE • VANDERBILT<br />
ALABAMA Crimson Tide<br />
The 2011 season for the Alabama baseb<strong>all</strong> team came to an end with an<br />
11-1 loss to the No. 6 ranked Florida State Seminoles in the championship<br />
game of the T<strong>all</strong>ahassee Regional from Mike Martin Field at Dick<br />
Howser Stadium on Monday. The Crimson Tide <strong>all</strong>owed a season-high 19<br />
hits to the top seeded team in the regional. Alabama (35-28) had five hits<br />
in the game, with the only run coming off the bat of Taylor Dugas when<br />
he hit a solo home run to lead-off the sixth inning. Dugas was 2-for-4 and hit his teamleading<br />
eighth home run of the season. Brett Booth, Andrew Miller and Brandt Hendricks<br />
also had a hit for the Tide. Alabama had four players selected to the T<strong>all</strong>ahassee Regional<br />
All-Tournament Team. Centerfielder Taylor Dugas and shortstop Jared Reaves were the<br />
two position players on the team, while pitchers Nathan Kilcrease and Jonathan Smart<br />
were <strong>all</strong>-tournament selections. Starting pitcher Adam Windsor took the loss to drop to<br />
3-3 on the year after <strong>all</strong>owing three runs in the second inning. Offici<strong>all</strong>y, Windsor threw<br />
1.0 innings, <strong>all</strong>owing three earned runs on three hits with two walks. Florida State (45-17)<br />
starter Mike McGee got the win to improve to 4-3 on the year, after throwing 5.0 innings,<br />
<strong>all</strong>owing one run on three hits. Scott Sitz threw the final 4.0 innings of scoreless relief, <strong>all</strong>owing<br />
two hits with two strikeouts to earn his first save of the season.<br />
ARKANSAS Razorbacks<br />
Arkansas closed the season last week going 2-2 at the Tempe Regional<br />
to finish second behind regional champion Arizona State …<br />
The Razorbacks finished the 2011 season with a 40-22 record …<br />
Arkansas finished with 40 wins for the 17th time in program history<br />
and for the third straight year … Arkansas hit .265 as a team at the Tempe Regional, while<br />
the pitching staff had a 3.50 ERA … DJ Baxendale, Jarrod McKinney and Ryne Stanek<br />
were each named to the All-Regional Team … As a team, Arkansas finished the 2011<br />
season with a .270 team batting average and a 3.20 team ERA … The 3.20 ERA is the<br />
lowest for a Razorback pitching staff since 1982 when Arkansas had a 3.00 team ERA ...<br />
The Razorbacks also swiped an <strong>SEC</strong>-leading 122 stolen bases, which is the sixth most in<br />
school history and the most since the 1999 team stole 136 bases. Junior Jarrod McKinney<br />
led Arkansas at the plate in the Tempe Regional, hitting .533 (8-for-15) with two RBI,<br />
three runs scored, three doubles and a triple … McKinney had at least one hit in each<br />
game of the regional and had three multi-hit games … Junior Bo Bigham went 5-for-16<br />
(.313) in the four games in Tempe, driving in three runs and scoring three times … Junior<br />
James McCann drove in a team-high five runs in the regional … Dominic Ficociello tied<br />
the Arkansas freshman record for hits in a season, finishing the year with 75 hits, which<br />
tied the record also held by Jeff King (1984) … After being hit by a pitch three times in the<br />
regional, junior Collin Kuhn set a new UA career record for hit by pitches with 53, besting<br />
the previous record of 52, held by Jack Welsh (1997-2000). Sophomore DJ Baxendale<br />
earned his 10th win of the season on Saturday against New Mexico, throwing eight shutout<br />
innings and <strong>all</strong>owing just four hits, while striking out seven … Baxendale became the<br />
first Razorback pitcher to record double-digit wins in a season since Nick Schmidt won<br />
11 games in 2007 … Freshman Ryne Stanek tossed his first collegiate complete game<br />
on Sunday against Charlotte, giving up three runs, two earned, on six hits, while tying a<br />
career-high with six strikeouts … Freshman Brandon Moore was excellent in relief in the<br />
regional opener against Charlotte, throwing 5.1 scoreless innings, surrendering three hits<br />
and striking out three … Cade Lynch and Nolan Sanburn each turned in a scoreless outing<br />
out of the bullpen on Sunday night against Arizona State … Lynch threw 1.1 shutout<br />
innings, while Sanburn pitched a scoreless ninth inning.<br />
AUBURN Tigers<br />
Auburn finished the 2011 season 29-29, advancing to the <strong>SEC</strong> Tournament<br />
for a second consecutive season ... It marked the first time Auburn<br />
has advanced to back-to-back <strong>SEC</strong> Tournaments since going to seven<br />
straight from 1997-2003 ... Auburn’s 34 <strong>SEC</strong> Wins over the last two seasons<br />
is most over a two-year period for the program since it won 35 in<br />
®<br />
1999 (18) and 2000 (17), coach Hal Baird’s final two seasons at Auburn ... The only other<br />
time Auburn has won 34-or-more <strong>SEC</strong> games in back-to-back years was in 1998 (16)<br />
and 1999 (18) ... Junior shortstop Casey McElory was named First Team All-<strong>SEC</strong>, his first<br />
All-<strong>SEC</strong> honor ... McElroy finished the year leading the team in average (.372), runs (46),<br />
hits (87), doubles 18), home runs (nine), RBI (53) and sluging (.564) ... Senior catcher Tony<br />
Caldwell was named Second Team All-<strong>SEC</strong>, his first All-<strong>SEC</strong> honor ... Caldwell finished his<br />
career throwing out 58 runners trying to steal a base, an Auburn record, and he is one of<br />
13 semifinalists for the Johnny Bench Award as the nation’s top catcher.<br />
FLORIDA Gators<br />
University of Florida head baseb<strong>all</strong> coach Kevin O’Sullivan earned<br />
2011 College Coach of the Year honors from Baseb<strong>all</strong> America on<br />
Thursday. O’Sullivan just completed his fourth year and guided the<br />
Gators to a runner-up finish at the NCAA College World Series with a<br />
school-record 53 victories and an over<strong>all</strong> mark of 53-19. He is the first<br />
baseb<strong>all</strong> coach from UF to collect the publication’s yearly accolade. Under O’Sullivan’s tutelage,<br />
Florida earned a trip to Omaha in consecutive seasons for the first time and made<br />
Team-By-Team Notes<br />
the CWS for the seventh time in school history (1988, 1991, 1996, 1998, 2005, 2010,<br />
2011). Although UF fell in the CWS Championship Finals to South Carolina, it notched a<br />
second-place showing for the second time in school history (2005). The Gators secured the<br />
All-<strong>SEC</strong> final round by downing Texas (8-4) and then knocking off league rival Vanderbilt<br />
twice (3-1, 6-4). Florida had been the second national seed in the NCAA Tournament,<br />
its third-straight year within the Top-8 seeds. The Gators swept the NCAA Gainesville<br />
Regional with victories over Manhattan (17-3) and Miami (Fla.) (5-4, 11-4) and then defeated<br />
Mississippi State twice (11-1, 3-4, 8-6) in a classic Gainesville Super Regional to<br />
advance to the College World Series. O’Sullivan joined Joe Arnold (1988, 1991) and Andy<br />
Lopez (1996, 1998) as Gator head coaches who have made multiple trips to Omaha. This<br />
season marked the 10th time that McKethan Stadium has hosted NCAA Regional action<br />
and the third-straight year for the first time in school history. The Gators have now gone on<br />
to the College World Series from Gainesville on six occasions: 1991, 1996, 1998, 2005,<br />
2010 and 2011. Florida is 35-10 (.778) on its own turf during NCAA play and claimed<br />
five of the six outings on its own turf this season. O’Sullivan is 13-3 (.813) in NCAA play<br />
at home, 9-0 (1.000) in Regionals and 4-3 (.571) in Super Regionals.<br />
GEORGIA Bulldogs<br />
The 16th-ranked Oregon State Beavers posted a 6-4 win over Georgia<br />
Sunday to capture the NCAA Corv<strong>all</strong>is Regional in front of 3,032 at<br />
Goss Stadium. The Bulldogs saw their impressive post-season run end<br />
that included battling to the NCAA Regional final here after dropping<br />
their opening game. On Saturday, they beat Arkansas-Little Rock and<br />
on Sunday r<strong>all</strong>ied past No. 25 Creighton 5-4 in 11 innings and then battled OSU. Also<br />
last week, they reached the <strong>SEC</strong> Tournament semifinal after losing their opening game in<br />
Hoover, Ala. They needed three straight wins to qualify for the postseason and knocked<br />
off Auburn, top-ranked South Carolina and third-ranked Florida. The Beavers improved<br />
to 41-17 and advance to an NCAA Super Regional where they will play second-ranked<br />
Vanderbilt in Nashville as the Commodores are a national seed. Against the Beavers,<br />
Georgia (33-32) struck for a run in the bottom of the first to take a 1-0 lead. Junior second<br />
baseman Levi Hyams, who was named to the NCAA All-Regional team, continued his<br />
torrid hitting with a single. After an 0-4 for start to the regional Friday, this latest base hit<br />
made him 7-for-his-last 10. A wild pitch by OSU left-hander Josh Osich moved him to second<br />
and a fly b<strong>all</strong> by Curt Powell <strong>all</strong>owed him to get to third. Then, sophomore shortstop<br />
Kyle Farmer notched his team-leading 56th RBI with a groundout to score Hyams. OSU<br />
answered with one out in the second when first baseman Parker Berberet connected for a<br />
home run off sophomore left-hander Blake Dieterich to tie it at 1-1.University of Georgia<br />
junior outfielder Zach Cone was selected by the Texas Rangers with the 37th over<strong>all</strong> pick of<br />
the Major League Baseb<strong>all</strong> Draft Monday. The Bulldogs are en route back to Athens after<br />
reaching the NCAA Corv<strong>all</strong>is Regional final on the campus of Oregon State. Cone learned<br />
he had been drafted while on a plane in Des Moines, Iowa. The team left Eugene, Oregon<br />
Monday afternoon and made a stop in Iowa before heading to Atlanta and ultimately<br />
returning to Athens. Cone and his teammates were watching and listening to the draft<br />
as they boarded the charter plane. When the Rangers announced their selection on MLB.<br />
com., everyone on the plane started clapping and cheering for Cone.<br />
KENTUCKY Wildcats<br />
The Kentucky baseb<strong>all</strong> team wrapped up its 2011 season with three<br />
games at No. 4 Florida, posting one win in the second game of the<br />
series. UK fell in the opener, 9-6, before posting the largest win over<br />
UF in program history, 14-1 on Friday night. In the rubber match,<br />
with Florida playing for the <strong>Southeastern</strong> <strong>Conference</strong> regular-season<br />
championship, the Gators clinched the league with a 19-3 win. Kentucky (25-30, 8-22<br />
<strong>SEC</strong>) rode the arm of ace righty Alex Meyer to a win on Friday night, posting a 13-run advantage,<br />
the largest win over the Gators in program annals. Meyer went seven innings for<br />
his seventh win on the year and UK got a breakout offensive performance, including the<br />
blistering-hot bat of Thomas McCarthy. UK fell shy of winning its first series in Gainesville<br />
since the 1999 season after the rubber match loss on Saturday. Meyer (7-5, 2.94 ERA)<br />
finished leading UK in nearly every pitching category, ranking first in the <strong>SEC</strong> in strikeouts<br />
(110), first in complete games (four), first in complete-game shutouts (two), ranking second<br />
in innings pitched (101). Meyer’s 110 strikeouts rank ninth in single-season history<br />
and his 253 career strikeouts checks in sixth in UK annals. The 6-foot-9, 220-pounder<br />
tossed 10 quality starts in 14 outings, including seven consecutive quality starts to end the<br />
season. Offensively, McCarthy finished on a 10-game hitting streak and finished just shy<br />
of a pair of <strong>SEC</strong> batting titles, batting .371 over<strong>all</strong> and .411 in <strong>SEC</strong> play. McCarthy totaled<br />
19 doubles, two triples, seven homers and 39 RBI, stealing eight bases. In <strong>SEC</strong> play, Mc-<br />
Carthy hit .411 with five homers and 24 RBI, totaling a .652 slugging mark in <strong>SEC</strong> play.<br />
Outfielder Chad Wright totaled a .359 average in 2011, with 16 doubles, six homers and<br />
40 RBI. Senior shortstop Taylor Black added a .319 mark with 16 doubles, four homers<br />
and 38 RBI. Braden Kapteyn led UK with 42 RBI and UK’s catching tandem of Luke Maile<br />
and Michael Williams combined for 16 homers and 59 RBI.<br />
lsu • kentucky • georgia • florida • auburn • arkansas • alabama<br />
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