Big Ten and SEC Baseball Tournament Saturday Recap + Notes

 General view of the SEC It Just Means More display. (Photo by Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Big Ten Conference  

 

No. 8 Penn State 7, No. 4 Michigan 6 

 

Penn State clinched a spot in the 2024 Big Ten championship game with their win over Michigan on Saturday. Sunday’s game will be the second time in program history the Nittany Lions will play in the Big Ten championship.  

With the game tied at five in the top of the 10th inning, a leadoff single from J.T. Marr and a two-run blast from Adam Cecere put Penn State ahead 7-5. Michigan’s Mitch Voit responded with a solo home run in the bottom half of the 10th, but the Wolverines fell short of a comeback.  

 Neither pitching staff was on lockdown except for Penn State’s Matt Morash, who relieved starter Frankie Sanchez, throwing four scoreless innings with three strikeouts.  

Penn State will play No. 2 Nebraska in the Big Ten championship game at 3 p.m. EDT on Sunday.  

 

No. 2 Nebraska 10, No. 3 Indiana 4 

 

Nebraska clinched a spot in the 2024 Big Ten championship game with its win over Indiana on Saturday. Nebraska also defeated Indiana on Friday, winning 4-2 at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska.   

Indiana fell behind 4-1 after three innings, and a two-run home run from Nebraska’s Gabe Swansen extended the lead to five in the bottom of the fifth. Nebraska starting pitcher Drew Christo struck out five and allowed only one earned run in five innings.  

Indiana never found a rhythm on offense, leaving 12 runners on base. The Hoosiers last won the Big Ten Conference Tournament championship in 2014.   

Nebraska will play No. 8 Penn State in the Big Ten championship game at 3 p.m. EDT on Sunday. They won their last conference tournament championship in 2005 while members of the Big 12 Conference.  

 

Southeastern Conference (SEC)  

 

No. 11 LSU 12, No. 10 South Carolina 11   

 

LSU continued its excellent display of hitting on Saturday, scoring 12 runs to narrowly squeak by South Carolina and advance to the SEC Baseball Tournament championship on Sunday.  

Down 11-10 in the bottom of the tenth, LSU second baseman Steven Milam launched a two-run walk-off home run to send Tiger nation into a frenzy. Miraculously, LSU trailed South Carolina 8-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning. LSU scored six runs in the fourth and tied the game in the bottom of the ninth, leading to Milam’s heroics in the 10th.  

 LSU began the SEC Tournament as the No. 11 seed but is one of the hotter teams in Division I college baseball right now. The Tigers will play No. 1 Tennessee in the SEC Baseball Tournament championship at 3 p.m. EDT on Sunday.  

 

No. 1 Tennessee 6, No. 8 Vanderbilt 4  

 

Tennessee defeated Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament semifinals on Saturday, advancing to the title game for the third time in the past four seasons.  

Tennessee starting pitcher Zander Sechrist allowed two runs on four hits in six innings and struck out five. Even more important than his stat line, Sechrist may have saved the depth of Tennessee’s bullpen for the championship game. Holding a one-run lead in the top of the sixth, Christian Moore demolished a two-run home run to pad Tennessee’s lead.  

Vanderbilt scored one run in the eighth and one in the ninth, but Tennessee reliever Marcus Phillips escaped a bases-loaded jam in the eighth and recorded the save in the ninth.   

Tennessee will play No. 11 LSU in the SEC Baseball Tournament championship at 3 p.m. EDT on Sunday.

 

The tournaments can be watched on the BigTen Network and WatchESPN. Sunday’s SEC Baseball Tournament championship game will air on ESPN2.