Tenth-seeded Texas A&M defeated seventh-seeded Tennessee 3-0 on Tuesday at the SEC Baseball Tournament to set up a matchup against second-seeded Arkansas on Wednesday in Hoover, Ala.
First pitch for the game between the Razorbacks and the Aggies will be thrown 30 minutes after the conclusion of a game between LSU and South Carolina, which is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m.
Arkansas defeated Texas A&M three times by a combined score of 25-16 at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville on April 27-29. The Aggies entered this week on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament, but helped their case Tuesday by defeating a potential regional host in Tennessee, and will have multiple chances to beat other highly ranked teams before the NCAA field is announced next Monday.
Wednesday begins the double-elimination round at the SEC Tournament. The winner of the Arkansas-Texas A&M game will play the winner of the LSU-South Carolina game in a non-elimination game Thursday, while the losers of Wednesday’s games will play Thursday morning in an elimination game.
The Aggies (33-23) got a strong 8-inning start from left-hander Troy Wansing, who allowed 1 hit and struck out 7 without issuing a walk. Wansing threw 66 of 95 pitches for strikes and might have been able to return for the ninth inning if not for a 2-hour, 6-minute rain delay with Texas A&M batting in the top of the ninth inning.
Left-hander Evan Aschenbeck retired all three Tennessee batters he faced in the ninth inning.
Texas A&M scored once in the third, fourth and sixth innings. Hunter Haas scored on a fielder’s choice RBI by Trevor Werner in the third and Austin Bost singled to score Jordan Thompson in the fourth against Tennessee starter Seth Halvorsen, who allowed 3 hits, 3 walks and struck out 6 in his 4-inning start.
Jace LaViolette homered against Tennessee reliever Camden Sewell in the sixth inning. LaViolette celebrated his home run with a ride through the dugout on a hotel luggage cart the Aggies brought to Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
Tennessee (38-19) broke up Wansing’s bid for a perfect game in the sixth inning when Christian Scott singled with one out. That was the Volunteers’ only base runner against him.
Tennessee became the second reigning champion of the tournament to be eliminated without a win, joining Arkansas, which lost both of its games in Hoover last season.