HOOVER, Ala. — Thursday’s SEC Baseball Tournament quarterfinals at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium have been adjusted due to expected inclement weather in the Hoover area. Game 9 between No. 8 seed Mississippi State and No. 1 seed Georgia, originally scheduled for 4 p.m. ET, will now begin at 1 p.m. ET (12 p.m. CT) on the SEC Network. Game 10 between No. 5 seed Florida and No. 4 seed Alabama will begin approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of Game 9.
The schedule adjustment was announced by the SEC Wednesday night following the conclusion of the second round. No other tournament games have been rescheduled.
Thursday quarterfinals at a glance
Game 9: No. 8 Mississippi State vs. No. 1 Georgia
Time: 1 p.m. ET (12 p.m. CT) — moved up from 4 p.m. ET
TV: SEC Network
Streaming: ESPN+ / SEC Network app (with cable login)
Series context: Georgia swept Mississippi State 3-0 in a series in Starkville earlier this season
Game 10: No. 5 Florida vs. No. 4 Alabama
Time: TBD (approximately 30 minutes after Game 9 concludes; SEC Network has Game 10 slotted around 4:30 p.m. ET on the bracket)
TV: SEC Network
Streaming: ESPN+ / SEC Network app (with cable login)
Series context: Alabama swept Florida 3-0 in Tuscaloosa earlier this season. Thursday will be the fourth matchup between the teams in 2026.
Mississippi State vs. Georgia: the storyline
The No. 8 seed Mississippi State Bulldogs come into Thursday’s quarterfinal off a 12-2 run-rule win over No. 16 seed Missouri in Wednesday’s second round. The Bulldogs — ranked No. 16 in the D1Baseball Top 25 at 40-16 — got six innings and eight strikeouts from sophomore right-hander Tomas Valincius and a historic two-home-run sixth inning from his brother Vytas, who became the first player in SEC Tournament history to homer twice in the same inning.
The team Mississippi State faces Thursday won the SEC regular-season championship outright. The No. 1 seed Georgia Bulldogs finished 43-12 overall and 23-7 in conference play under third-year head coach Wes Johnson — who was named 2026 SEC Coach of the Year on Monday. Georgia is ranked No. 4 in the D1Baseball Top 25.
Georgia’s lineup is anchored by 2026 SEC Player of the Year Daniel Jackson, the junior catcher who is batting .394 with 27 home runs, 77 RBI, and 25 stolen bases — making him just the sixth player in Division I history to record a 25-25 season, and the first catcher to do so. He has been named SEC Player of the Week three times this season and was named a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award.
Behind Jackson, Georgia’s offense features All-SEC First Team third baseman Tre Phelps (also a 2026 SEC All-Defensive Team selection) and All-SEC First Team outfielder Rylan Lujo. The Bulldogs’ pitching, while not the conference’s deepest, has been steady all season.
The teams played a three-game series in Starkville earlier this season; Georgia won all three. Brian O’Connor, in his first year leading Mississippi State, addressed the matchup at his Wednesday postgame:
“They’re good. They clearly won the toughest league in the country, and they’re obviously incredibly offensive and have a good pitching staff as well,” O’Connor said. “The three ball games in Starkville were all great games. Unfortunately, State came out on the wrong end of all of them. But they were great baseball games and two really great teams, and I expect the same thing tomorrow. We’re going to have to pitch really good and certainly we’re going to have to drive runs in, because they clearly have an offensive ball club that is extremely talented.”
Florida vs. Alabama: the rematch (the fourth time)
Game 10 is a rematch — the fourth time Florida and Alabama meet in 2026. The first three came in Tuscaloosa earlier this season, where Alabama swept the series 3-0. Thursday is the elimination-mode rematch.
The No. 5 seed Florida Gators come off an 8-3 win over No. 12 seed Vanderbilt in Wednesday’s second round, with sophomore Blake Cyr leading a three-headed monster offensive day — his first career four-hit game, including a tie-breaking two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth. Lawson and Hayden Yost each also went a triple shy of the cycle, and the Florida bullpen — Jackson Barberi, Ernesto “Everyday Ernie” Lugo-Canchola, and Luke McNeillie — combined for 4.1 scoreless innings.
Florida is ranked No. 18 in the D1Baseball Top 25 at 38-18 (18-12 SEC). The Gators feature SEC Pitcher of the Year Aidan King, who started Wednesday and threw 75 pitches over 4.2 innings.
Alabama enters Thursday on five days’ rest after a first-round bye. The No. 4 seed Crimson Tide finished 37-18 (17-13 SEC) and are ranked No. 15 in the D1Baseball Top 25. Junior right-hander Tyler Fay (9-3, 4.43 ERA) — named to the 2026 All-SEC Second Team as a starting pitcher — gets the ball Thursday.
The Florida-Alabama pitching matchup features Florida junior right-hander Liam Peterson (2-5, 4.00 ERA) opposite Fay. Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan was asked Wednesday about facing Alabama for the fourth time this season.
“I forgot about the Alabama series. I’ve somehow put it in the back of my mind and kind of moved on,” O’Sullivan said. “I mean, they’ve had a great year. And obviously we’re facing their number one. We’ve got Liam going, and Josh didn’t throw today, and Ernie only threw 10 pitches. I would expect it to be a very competitive game.”
The grind
Thursday is the first day of the 2026 SEC Tournament with only two games. The single-elimination quarterfinals reduce the slate from four games per day (Tuesday, Wednesday) to two per day (Thursday, Friday), then two semifinals on Saturday, and one championship game Sunday.
For the Hoover Met crowd, Thursday represents a noticeable shift. The first two days have been compressed marathons — four games each, the same field, the same vendors, the same weather, the same grounds crew working in shifts. Day 3 brings something the fans haven’t seen yet: a normal pace. A 1 p.m. ET start (12 p.m. CT, moved up due to the weather forecast) and approximately 5-6 hours of baseball, then nothing until Friday.
The weather adjustment is the SEC’s response to a forecast that includes potential thunderstorms in the Hoover area Thursday afternoon. By moving Game 9 from 4 p.m. ET to 1 p.m. ET, the conference creates extra buffer time to start and finish both games before any inclement weather arrives. Game 10’s TBD start time reflects the same flexibility.
The bracket from here
The four quarterfinal winners advance to Saturday’s semifinals. The bracket from this point:
Thursday, May 21 — Quarterfinals (SEC Network)
Game 9: No. 8 Mississippi State vs. No. 1 Georgia — 1 p.m. ET (moved from 4 p.m. ET)
Game 10: No. 5 Florida vs. No. 4 Alabama — TBD (approx. 30 min after Game 9)
Friday, May 22 — Quarterfinals (SEC Network)
Game 11: No. 7 Arkansas vs. No. 2 Texas — 4 p.m. ET
Game 12: No. 6 Auburn vs. No. 3 Texas A&M — TBD (approx. 30 min after Game 11)
Saturday, May 23 — Semifinals (SEC Network)
Game 13: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10 — 1 p.m. ET
Game 14: Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 12 — TBD (approx. 30 min after Game 13)
Sunday, May 24 — Championship (ABC)
Game 15: Winner Game 13 vs. Winner Game 14 — 2 p.m. ET
How to watch from home
Both Thursday games air on the SEC Network, which is available on most major cable and satellite providers. The full SEC Tournament — including Sunday’s championship — is also available through:
- SEC Network app (with cable login)
- ESPN+ (subscription required)
- Fubo (free trial available)
- YouTube TV, Hulu Live, DirecTV Stream, Sling TV (all carry SEC Network)
Sunday’s championship game on ABC airs at 2 p.m. ET and is available over the air via local ABC affiliates and through ABC.com / ESPN+ for cord-cutters.
For more on the 2026 SEC Tournament
- Game 8 Recap: Auburn 3, LSU 1
- Game 7 Recap: Arkansas 8, Tennessee 4
- Game 6 Recap: Florida 8, Vanderbilt 3
- Game 5 Recap: Mississippi State 12, Missouri 2 (7 inn.)
- Game 4 Recap: LSU 6, Oklahoma 2
- Game 3 Recap: Tennessee 11, South Carolina 6
- Game 2 Recap: Vanderbilt 8, Kentucky 5
- Game 1 Recap: Missouri 10, Ole Miss 8
- How to Watch: Original Tournament Preview
