Arkansas earns two seed at SEC Tourney

FAYETTEVILLE – Arkansas, the Southeastern Conference Western Division champions, have earned the two seed in the 2011 SEC Baseball Tournament and will face seventh-seed Alabama on Wednesday morning at 9:30 a.m. (CT) at Regions Park in Hoover, Ala. The game between the Razorbacks and Crimson Tide will be televised by CSS and available in Northwest Arkansas on CST.

The Razorbacks advanced to the SEC Tournament for the eighth time under head coach Dave Van Horn and for the third consecutive year. Arkansas claimed the Western Division title with a dramatic doubleheader sweep of Ole Miss on Saturday afternoon. The division crown was the fourth for Arkansas since joining the SEC and the first since 2007.

Other teams on Arkansas’ side of the bracket include No. 3 seed Florida, No. 6 seed Mississippi State and No. 7 seed Alabama. The Gators and Bulldogs will meet in game two of the tournament on Wednesday, approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the Arkansas-Alabama game.

Top seed South Carolina headlines the other side of the bracket. The Gamecocks earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament due to having a 4-2 record against Florida and Vanderbilt, which also tied for the SEC Eastern Division title. Joining the Gamecocks on that side of the bracket are No. 4 seed Vanderbilt, No. 5 seed Georgia and No. 8 seed Auburn. South Carolina will face Auburn at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon and the contest between Vanderbilt and Georgia will follow approximately 30 minutes later.

All games of the SEC Tournament will be televised and available in high definition. CSS and SportSouth will team up to televise each game of the first four days of the tournament, while ESPN2 will broadcast the championship game on Sunday, May 29, at 1 p.m. (CT). Also, all games of the tournament will be available online on ESPN3.com.

SEC Tournament First Round Schedule:Game 1 – No. 2 seed Arkansas vs. No. 7 seed Alabama – 9:30 a.m. – CSS/CSTGame 2 – No. 3 seed Florida vs. No. 6 seed Mississippi State – Approx. 30 min. after game 1 – CSS/CSTGame 3 – No. 1 seed South Carolina vs. No. 8 seed Auburn – 4:30 p.m. – CSS/CSTGame 4 – No. 4 seed Vanderbilt vs. No. 5 seed Georgia – Approx. 30 min. after game 3 – CSS/CST