By The Associated Press
HOOVER, Ala. — Pinch-hitter Walker Pennington hit a three-run, go-ahead homer in the eighth inning and Texas A&M beat Mississippi 12-8 on Saturday to advance to the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship game.
The Aggies (44-14) are seeking their first SEC Tournament title. They’ll face Florida (47-12) at 2 p.m. today for the title.
Texas A&M scored five runs in the eighth and two in the ninth to erase an 8-5 deficit. Pennington hit his fourth home run of the season to left field off closer Wyatt Short.
Errol Robinson had four hits and four RBIs for the Rebels.
Texas A&M closer Mark Ecker worked two scoreless innings for his sixth save, leaving two runners on in the ninth.
Short, who had allowed only seven earned runs this season, gave up six in two-thirds of an inning.
n Florida 1, LSU 0: Scott Moss pitched six scoreless innings and Florida advanced to the Southeastern Conference tournament championship game.
The only run came in the sixth when Dalton Guthrie reached on an infield single and scored on Jonathan India’s two-out double.
It’s only the second time LSU (42-18) has been shut out in an SEC tournament game.
The first was a 1-0 loss to Georgia in 2004.
Moss (3-0) allowed just three hits against LSU, which had won 14 of 15 games and prevailed in a five-hour, 14-inning marathon with the Gators on Wednesday night.
n Florida 12, Mississippi State 2 (Friday): JJ Schwarz was 4 for 5 with four RBIs runs to lead Florida to a seven-inning victory over regular-season champion Mississippi State in a Southeastern Conference Tournament elimination game.
The defending champion Gators (46-12) won by the 10-run mercy rule.
Schwarz doubled and tripled for Florida, which also got two RBIs from Danny Reyes. Nelson Maldonado and Deacon Liput each scored three runs.
Alex Faedo (12-1) went the distance on the mound for the Gators, allowing seven hits.
Mississippi State (41-16) was led by Nick Lowe, who had two hits and drove in a run.
Florida had two four-run innings and ended it with a run in the seventh.
MSU won 12 straight before back-to-back losses here.
n Texas A&M 13, Vanderbilt 3 (Friday): Kyle Simonds pitched another strong game against Vanderbilt and Texas A&M scored seven runs in the first inning to advance in the Southeastern Conference tournament.
The game ended on the 10-run rule in the seventh inning when the Aggies (43-14) capitalized on three errors by Vanderbilt (43-17) to score twice.
Simonds (9-3) had pitched a no-hitter against Vandy on May 7. He allowed three runs, one earned, in seven innings while striking out 10 and not walking a batter.
J.B. Moss hit a sacrifice fly to score Walker Pennington for the final run, and left fielder Ro Coleman misplayed the ball.
Michael Barash was 3 for 4 with a pair of RBIs and Austin Homan drove in three runs.
Nick Banks homered for Vanderbilt.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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