SEC Tournament Notebook

HOOVER, Ala. - The first day of the newly expanded Southeastern Conference Tournament is in the books. Here is summary of what happened here today at Regions Park.

MSU, VANDY STREAKING: The two hottest teams in the SEC posted first-round wins on Tuesday as Mississippi State defeated Arkansas 9-1 and Vanderbilt beat Georgia 4-1. The Bulldogs have won 12 of their last 16 SEC games following the win over the Razorbacks. MSU began the year with a 5-10 SEC record. Vanderbilt won its sixth straight game in its win over Georgia. The Commodores are 23-10 in their last 33 games after beginning the year with 7-15 record.

EVERY DOG HAS HIS DAY: MSU first baseman Wes Rea and shortstop Adam Frazier both had big days for the Bulldogs on Tuesday. Rea hit a mammoth three-run home run in the second inning to give the Bulldogs an early 3-0 lead. Frazier was 3-for-4 with a walk form the leadoff spot in the order. He is hitting .579 (11-for-19) in his last five games and had a streak of seven consecutive times on base snapped with a ninth-inning ground out. Freshman right-hander Brandon Woodruff had a solid outing on the mound and recorded his first career win. He opened the game by throwing first-pitch strikes to 11 of the first 12 batters he faced. He also had a streak of 13 consecutive strikes in the first, second and third innings.

REED CAN PITCH AND HIT: Kentucky freshman utility-man A.J. Reed had an impressive SEC Tournament debut, going 4-for-4 with a solo home run in the Wildcats 2-0 win over Ole Miss. Reed hit a solo home run in the fourth inning to give UK a 1-0 lead. Reed also threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings on the mound and picked up his fifth win of the season. He allowed five hits and added three strikeouts and one walk.

FRESHMAN PHENOMS: Florida played four freshmen in its 6-1 win over Auburn. The combination of Casey Turgeon, Justin Shafer, Josh Tobias and Taylor Gushue were 4-for-10 with one run scored, two doubles and five RBIs. Shafter was 3-for-4 with three RBIs, including a two-run single in the second inning that gave the Gators a 2-0 lead. Turgeon ripped a two-run double in the sixth inning and Shafer followed with an RBI single. Gushue added a pinch-hit double in the eighth inning.

HITLESS IN HOOVER: Auburn and Georgia were a combined 0-for-17 with runners in scoring position in their first-round losses. The Tigers were 0-for-8 in a 6-1 loss to Florida, while Georgia was 0-for-9 in the loss to Vanderbilt in the nightcap. The Tigers and Bulldogs meet in an elimination game on Wednesday for the second straight year.

THREE AMIGOS: Ole Miss, Arkansas, Auburn and Georgia combined for three total runs in their four losses on Tuesday. Ole Miss was shutout by Kentucky, while Arkansas, Auburn and Georgia scored one run each.

UMPIRE INJURED: Home plate umpire A.J. Lostaglio suffered a fractured wrist when he was hit by a ball during the third inning of the Georgia-Vanderbilt game. Lostaglio left the game and was replaced by first base umpire Jack Cox. Tony Walsh, who was not working the game, took over for Cox at first base.

TUESDAY'S SCORES:

Kentucky 2, Ole Miss 0

Mississippi State 9, Arkansas 1

Florida 6, Auburn 1

Vanderbilt 4, Georgia 1

WEDNESDAY'S SCHEDULE:

Ole Miss vs. Arkansas (9:30 a.m.)

Mississippi State vs. LSU (TBA)

Auburn vs. Georgia (4:30 p.m.)

Vanderbilt vs. South Carolina (TBA)