2018 Southeastern Conference baseball tournament

The 2018 Southeastern Conference baseball tournament was held from May 22 through 27 at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama. The annual tournament determined the tournament champion of the Division I Southeastern Conference in college baseball. The tournament champion earned the conference's automatic bid to the 2018 NCAA Division I baseball tournament^[1]

2018 Southeastern Conference
baseball tournament

Teams	12
Format	See below
Finals site	Hoover Metropolitan Stadium Hoover, AL
Champions	Ole Miss (3rd title)
Winning coach	Mike Bianco (2nd title)
MVP	Nick Fortes (Ole Miss)
Television	SEC Network, ESPN (championship game)
← 2017 SEC baseball tournament 2019 →

2018 Southeastern Conference baseball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East Division
No. 3 Florida  x‍†‍‍y	20	–	10		.667			49	–	21		.700
No. 20 Georgia  ‍‍‍y	18	–	12		.600			39	–	21		.650
No. 12 South Carolina ‍‍‍y	17	–	13		.567			37	–	26		.587
No. 16 Vanderbilt  ‍‍‍y	16	–	14		.533			35	–	27		.565
Kentucky  ‍‍‍	13	–	17		.433			34	–	22		.607
Missouri  ‍‍‍	12	–	18		.400			34	–	22		.607
Tennessee  ‍‍‍	12	–	18		.400			29	–	27		.518
West Division
No. 19 Ole Miss  x‍‍‡‍y	18	–	12		.600			48	–	18		.727
No. 2 Arkansas  x‍‍‍y	18	–	12		.600			48	–	21		.696
No. 15 Auburn  ‍‍‍y	15	–	15		.500			43	–	23		.652
LSU  ‍‍‍y	15	–	15		.500			39	–	27		.591
No. 4 Mississippi State  ‍‍‍y	15	–	15		.500			39	–	29		.574
Texas A&M  ‍‍‍y	13	–	17		.433			40	–	22		.645
Alabama  ‍‍‍	8	–	22		.267			27	–	29		.482
x – Division champion † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

The tournament has been held every year since 1977, with LSU claiming twelve championships, the most of any school. Original members Georgia and Kentucky along with 1992 addition Arkansas have never won the tournament. This is the twentieth consecutive year and twenty-second overall that the event has been held at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, known from 2007 through 2012 as Regions Park. Texas A&M joined in 2013, and won its first title in 2016. Missouri, which also joined in 2013, has yet to win the event.

Format and seeding

The regular season division winners claimed the top two seeds and the next ten teams by conference winning percentage, regardless of division, claimed the remaining berths in the tournament. The bottom eight teams played a single-elimination opening round, followed by a double-elimination format until the semifinals, when the format reverted to single elimination through the championship game. This was the sixth year of this format.^[2][3]

Team	W–L	Pct	GB #1	Seed
Eastern Division
Florida	20–10	.667	–	1
Georgia	18–12	.600	2	3
South Carolina	17–13	.567	3	5
Vanderbilt	16–14	.533	4	6
Kentucky	13–17	.433	7	10
Missouri	12–18	.400	8	12
Tennessee	12–18	.400	8	–

Team	W–L	Pct	GB #1	Seed
Western Division
Ole Miss	18–12	.600	2	2
Arkansas	18–12	.600	2	4
Auburn	15–15	.500	5	7
LSU	15–15	.500	5	8
Mississippi State	15–15	.500	5	9
Texas A&M	13–17	.433	7	11
Alabama	8–22	.267	12	–

Bracket

	First round SECN					Second round SECN					Third round SECN					Semifinals SECN					Final ESPN2
						3	Georgia	0
	6	Vanderbilt	1			11	Texas A&M	7
	11	Texas A&M	3								11	Texas A&M	4
											7	Auburn	2
						2	Ole Miss	3
	7	Auburn	4			7	Auburn	9
	10	Kentucky	311													11	Texas A&M	1
																2	Ole Miss	2
						3	Georgia	4
						2	Ole Miss	510
											2	Ole Miss	7
											7	Auburn	0
																					2	Ole Miss	9
																					8	LSU	1
						1	Florida	4
	8	LSU	8			8	LSU	3
	9	Mississippi State	5								1	Florida	2
											4	Arkansas	8
						4	Arkansas	13
	5	South Carolina	4			5	South Carolina	8
	12	Missouri	2													4	Arkansas	1
																8	LSU	2
						8	LSU	6
						5	South Carolina	412
											8	LSU	11
											1	Florida	07

Schedule

Game	Time*	Matchup#	Television	Attendance
Tuesday, May 22
1	9:30 a.m.	No. 6 Vanderbilt vs. No. 11 Texas A&M	SEC Network	5,514
2	1:00 p.m.	No. 7 Auburn vs. No. 10 Kentucky
3	4:30 p.m.	No. 8 LSU vs. No. 9 Mississippi State		8,072
4	8:00 p.m.	No. 5 South Carolina vs. No. 12 Missouri
Wednesday, May 23
5	9:30 a.m.	No. 3 Georgia vs. No. 11 Texas A&M	SEC Network	7,126
6	1:00 p.m.	No. 2 Ole Miss vs. No. 7 Auburn
7	4:30 p.m.	No. 1 Florida vs. No. 8 LSU		6,710
8	8:00 p.m.	No. 4 Arkansas vs. No. 5 South Carolina
Thursday, May 24
9	9:30 a.m.	No. 3 Georgia vs. No. 2 Ole Miss	SEC Network	7,197
10	1:00 p.m.	No. 8 LSU vs. No. 5 South Carolina
11	4:30 p.m.	No. 11 Texas A&M vs. No. 7 Auburn		9,651
Friday, May 25
12	10:00 a.m.	No. 1 Florida vs. No. 4 Arkansas	SEC Network	1,384
13	3:00 p.m.	No. 2 Ole Miss vs. No. 7 Auburn		8,945
14	6:30 p.m.	No. 8 LSU vs. No. 1 Florida
Semifinals – Saturday, May 26
15	Noon	No. 2 Ole Miss vs. No. 11 Texas A&M	SEC Network	10,381
16	3:00 p.m.	No. 8 LSU vs. No. 4 Arkansas
Championship – Sunday, May 27
17	2:00 p.m.	No. 2 Ole Miss vs. No. 8 LSU	ESPN	14,126
*Game times in CDT. # – Rankings denote tournament seed.

References

1. "SEC Championships - Full Schedule". Southeastern Conference. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
2. "SEC Announces Format Change to Baseball Tournament". Tennessee Volunteers. December 19, 2011. Archived from the original on November 18, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
3. "SEC adds two teams, changes format for postseason conference tournament". NCAA.com. December 22, 2012. Archived from the original on November 18, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2015.