Weather doesn’t keep crowds away from SEC baseball tourney

Rain dampened the playing field, but not much else at the 2018 SEC Baseball Tournament.

Despite a rain delay in each of the first five days, the tournament still drew 144,086 total fans, the second highest total in the history of the event held May 22-27 at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.

The high attendance number was highlighted by a crowd of 14,126 for the championship game May 27 between Ole Miss and LSU.

“You can’t do anything about the rain delays,” said Herb Vincent, associate commissioner for communications with the Southeastern Conference. “We had, despite the rain delays, the second largest attended tournament in history and the largest championship day crowd since 1999. It was a great success.”

Ole Miss took down LSU, 9-1, in the title game to win the tournament and cap off the week. Throughout the week, 17 games were played at the Hoover Met and the field held up remarkably, Vincent said. 

“The field was in excellent shape,” he said. “We needed that because we had all the rain and had a state-of-the-art draining system and a field that could handle that.”

Vincent also gave high marks to the city of Hoover for its work in putting on the tournament each year. The Finley Center held FanFest activities for the second year in a row, providing a bevy of activities while the games are ongoing.

“FanFest was a step above what it was last year,” Vincent said. “It has added an entirely new element that is going to help sustain it for a very long time, because you’re bringing young kids out to the ball park. It makes for a tremendous experience for all of them and the city of Hoover is to be commended for their commitment.”

For the second consecutive season, Alabama did not qualify for the tournament, but Auburn made its deepest run since 1999. The Tigers defeated Kentucky, 4-3 in 11 innings on May 22 to advance into the double elimination portion of the tournament. On May 23, Auburn posted a 9-3 win over Ole Miss. But back-to-back losses to Texas A&M and Ole Miss the following two days sent Auburn home on May 25.

“I want us to play on the weekend of this tournament,” said second-year Auburn head coach Butch Thompson following his team’s elimination. “I’m trying to make a big deal, as we build this program, that it’s important to us.”

Even with just one of the two in-state powers represented and Mississippi State bowing out in the first day of the tournament, Vincent said he believes the tournament has grown beyond the days of attendance hinging on which schools are around through the weekend.

“The locals just support the tournament so well that regardless of who is in the tournament, it’s great baseball,” he said. “SEC baseball and SEC baseball in Hoover, in particular, has moved past that and the city supports it so well.”

Vincent made sure to give credit to the Alabama Sports Council, the city of Hoover and the SEC for teaming up to provide a quality event each year. 

He also mentioned Bruno Event Team President Gene Hallman and Carrie Coleman, the Assistant Vice President dealing with collegiate and amateur sports.

“I think we make a really good team to put on this tournament,” he said.