Championship day is finally here! The Conference Championship game will be between #2 Tennessee and #1 Arkansas, and the winner will automatically host a regional in the College World Series (CWS.) Both of these teams could make a deep run in the CWS, but a win today would be a huge advantage heading into that tournament. With the selection show tomorrow, we will see how many SEC teams get into the CWS. Since the SEC is arguably the best conference this year, I believe they should get the most representatives out of all the conferences.Â
Championship game: #2 Tennessee Volunteers vs #1 Arkansas Razorbacks
Tennessee started this tournament with a close loss to Alabama, but the Volunteers have been on fire ever since that defeat. They had back to back double digit victories and handily defeated the Florida Gators yesterday, 4-0. The Gators never really threatened a run against Tennessee until the 9th inning, but the Volunteers quickly ended that sliver of hope with a double play. Meanwhile, Arkansas had a battle yesterday with Ole Miss in order to acquire a spot in the championship. The Razorbacks snagged a 3-2 win over the Rebels, despite some questionable pitching changes that led to Ole Miss acquiring two runs in the 5th inning. Arkansas had a two run homerun in the first inning, and had the eventual game winning hit in the 6th from their last hitter in the order, Jalen Battles. The Razorbacks have quite a few bats to rely on, and they have plenty of pitchers in the bullpen that can get the job done this afternoon. Although Tennessee might have more firepower with its bats, I think Arkansas will win this matchup in a close one, 5-4.
This matchup will be a heated one as the last regular season matchup between these two teams had some animosity following the Razorbacks’ win at Tennessee. The managers of both teams had some words to say after the game was over, and I expect that same energy to carry over into this game with even higher stakes. This is certainly a must watch game, and it should be a great game of baseball between two capable teams.