Homers Are Rampant In Hoover

HOOVER, Ala.—South Carolina outfielder Carlos Cortes launched a home run to right field Tuesday, just three batters into the first game of the Southeastern Conference Tournament. The ball has not stopped flying out of Hoover Metropolitan Stadium the rest of the week.

After 11 games over the first three days of the tournament, the 12 teams had combined to hit 24 home runs. That total already is the second most since the tournament moved to Hoover in 1998.

The abundance of home runs was unexpected at Hoover Met, which has acquired a reputation as a pitcher’s park in the 20 years it has hosted the SEC Tournament. Coming into this year, there had been 270 home runs hit in 278 SEC Tournament games at the stadium. That isn’t the graveyard for fly balls that TD Ameritrade Park-Omaha has been, but it has hardly played small.

The league’s longtime coaches have struggled to come up with an explanation for this year’s power surge. The most popular theory is that this week has been colder and less humid than usual. As a result, the ball has carried more.

“I think it’s because the air’s a little thinner, it’s cooler,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “Guys are hitting the ball pretty good, but it’s a little different feel.”

Home runs in the league are up overall this season, with the 14 teams combining for 682 so far this season. They hit 603 in 2016 and 602 in 2015. The league slugging percentage is slightly up as well, rising to .413 this season after being .409 the last two years.

The home run spike has led to some historic performances. Arkansas first baseman Chad Spanberger hit a tournament record three home runs in Thursday’s 12-0 victory against Auburn. Cortes homered twice earlier in the day against Missouri, marking the first time two players had multi-homer games on the same day of the tournament since 2001.

The list of players who have homered in this year’s tournament features accomplished sluggers such as Spanberger and Mississippi State first baseman Brent Rooker, the SEC’s home run leader this season. It also includes some players not known for their power, such as Vanderbilt shortstop Connor Kaiser, who hit on Tuesday his first career home run, and Louisiana State second baseman Cole Freeman, who had homered twice in two seasons before this week.

Nick Mingione spent 10 years as an assistant coach in the SEC before getting hired at Kentucky last June. While he has seen plenty of games in Hoover during his career, his assistant coaches had never coached in the SEC.

“The whole week leading up to it I was like, ‘Wait ‘til you go to Hoover, the ball doesn’t go anywhere; there’s no home runs’” Mingione said. “So to see seven in the first day and a half, they’re looking at me like I’m crazy.

“It’s definitely been totally different than what we’re used to.”