Alabama defeats Arkansas 7-4 in the first game of the 2011 SEC Baseball Tournament May 25, 2011 in at Regions Park in Hoover, Al. Alabama's 2b Josh Sanders tags out Arkansas Jarrod McKinney. 

 
HOOVER, Alabama -- The seventh-seeded Alabama baseball team is off to the same start in the Southeastern Conference Tournament that it had a year ago when it defeated No. 2 Auburn 7-1.
This time, Arkansas was the No. 2 seed, and the Razorbacks fell to the Crimson Tide 7-4 this morning in the opening game of the tournament at Regions Park.
Alabama scored five runs in the first inning and Nathan Kilcrease (7-4) tied his career high with 10 strikeouts. In eight innings, he allowed four runs (one earned) on seven hits. He walked one.
The Tide (33-24) will play at 4:30 p.m. Thursday against the winner of today's game between No. 3 Florida and No. 6 Mississippi State. Arkansas (36-19) will meet the loser of that game at 9:30 a.m. Thursday.
Arkansas starter Randall Fant (3-4) lasted only two-thirds of an inning as he gave up five runs on five hits. Two of the hits were infield singles. Brett Booth had a two-run single and Andrew Miller added an RBI double.
After the Razorbacks scored three unearned runs in the sixth, the Tide's Taylor Dugas led off the top of the seventh with his sixth home run of the season to increase the Tide's lead to 7-3.