SEC Baseball Tournament 2017: Wednesday Schedule and Bracket Predictions

The SEC draws headlines as a football powerhouse, but it is dominant on the diamond as well.

The league features five teams in the Top 20 of the college baseball rankings, including the No. 4 Florida Gators, No. 7 LSU Tigers and No. 8 Kentucky Wildcats. So much talent sets up for a thrilling conference tournament, which continues into its second day Wednesday.

The SEC tournament started Tuesday in Hoover, Alabama, with three single-elimination games and moves into the double-elimination portion with four more contests Wednesday.

The opener between Mississippi State and Georgia is single elimination and was pushed back from Tuesday because of rain, but the other three contests start the double-elimination competition.

With that in mind, here is a look at the day's schedule, as well as bracket predictions for the four games. 

The full schedule and bracket can be found on the SEC's official website.

Wednesday Schedule and Bracket Predictions

Wednesday Game to Watch: No. 5 Mississippi State vs. No. 12 Georgia

There will be higher-seeded teams taking the field Wednesday at the SEC tournament, but this is the game to watch because of its single-elimination status.

It won't feature the national-title-contending powerhouses of Florida and LSU, but there is something to be said for the drama that comes with lower-seeded teams playing for their postseason lives.

Of course, it is a testament to the SEC's overwhelming depth that Mississippi State is ranked in the top 20 nationally and still has to play a single-elimination contest to reach the double-elimination portion.

While Mississippi State is the better seed, Georgia enters this battle of the Bulldogs with more momentum.

Georgia won eight of its final 11 games of the regular season and took two of three against Mississippi State in that span. The hot streak was enough to get Georgia into the SEC tournament (the last two teams in the standings miss it), and it gets another crack at a team it handled not long ago.

Jason Butt of The Telegraph pointed out outfielder Keegan McGovern has led the way with a .500 batting average and six RBI in the team's last seven games. He also torched Mississippi State to the tune of .625 in the previous three-game set.

"We started playing with a lot of confidence, and we've won three SEC series in a row against some really good baseball teams," Georgia head coach Scott Stricklin said, per Butt. "It took some time for us to grow up, and we put ourselves in a tough position, however we have momentum now going to the SEC Tournament."

On the other end, Mississippi State enters this tournament with five straight SEC losses.

However, momentum only goes as far as the next game's starting pitcher in baseball, and that is why Mississippi State will earn the victory.

Will Sammon of the Clarion Ledger noted ace Konnor Pilkington will toe the rubber for Mississippi State and look to put an end to the slide.

Pilkington features a 3.41 ERA and 92 strikeouts in 87 innings. He rarely allows hard contact, as his .202 batting average against indicates, and will stifle Georgia's bats on Wednesday.

His performance will be enough to earn a tournament-opening victory for Mississippi State.

*Pilkington's stats courtesy of Mississippi State's official athletics website.