After finishing as last year’s runner up in the CWS, Florida won’t even have a chance to play for the title this year. Despite rallying, the Gators squandered chances and fell to the Golden Flashes 5-4 today in Omaha, eliminating them from the postseason.

KSU got on the board first, taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. George Roberts laced an RBI single to bring Jimmy Rider home. The Flashes could’ve taken an even bigger lead, but they left two runners stranded.

They added more runs in the bottom of the second, though. Jason Bagoly singled, then reached second on a sac bunt from Alex Miklos. Miklos ended up getting to first thanks to a Gators error. Derek Toadvine laid down a sac bunt of his own to advance Bagoly to third.

Rider knocked an RBI single to bring Bagoly home, and David Lyon followed suit to make it 3-0 Flashes. Roberts got a base hit to bring Rider home before a ground out ended the inning. They left two men stranded again, or they could’ve really blown the game open.

Florida got on the board in the third, when Mike Zunino singled to bring Josh Tobias home. Tobias had been hit by a pitch to lead off the inning.

Kent State tacked on their final run in the bottom of the fourth. Rider doubled, went to third on a wild pitch, and came home on a second wild pitch to make the score 5-1.

» Continue reading “Kent State Stays Alive, Bounces Top-Seeded Florida”

We found out yesterday that Florida would be playing in the College World Series, while LSU would not. Today, both South Carolina and Arkansas punched their tickets to Omaha. Check out a full recap of the Gamecocks win over the Sooners here, and read on to find out about the Razorbacks’ extra innings win.

Arkansas 1, Baylor 0

It took 10 innings and a pinch hitter, but the Hogs are Omaha-bound.

Solid pitching from both teams kept the game scoreless through regulation, forcing extra innings. Arkansas had a chance to get on the board in the top of the ninth, but left two runners stranded.

In the top of the tenth, though, they managed to scrape across one run, which would end up being enough for the victory.

Brad Anderson led off with a single down the left field line, then reached second on a sac bunt from Bo Bigham. Matt Vinson struck out, bringing Jake Wise up to bat with one on and two outs.

In his only at-bat of the night, Wise laced an RBI single to bring Anderson home, then reached second on the throw. Joe Serrano grounded out to leave Wise stranded, but the damage was done.

BU actually had a chance to tie or win in the bottom of the inning, but they couldn’t capitalize. Josh Ludy coaxed a two-out walk and Max Muncy singled, but Dan Evatt K’d to end the threat and the game.

The teams had five hits each and the Bears also made one error. Wise led the Razorbacks at the plate, going 1-for-1, while Muncy went 2-for-5 to lead Baylor.

UA reliever Colby Suggs earned the win and improves to 7-0 on the season. He pitched the final two innings and allowed only one hit, issued two walks, and struck out two batters. Bears reliever Dillon Newman took the loss and drops to 4-4. He pitched only the final inning of the game and gave up one run on two hits and K’d one batter. Starter Tyler Bremer worked the first nine innings.

BU finishes the season with a 49-17 record. Arkansas’ overall record is now 44-20. They will face off against Kent State in Omaha.

After another day of Super Regionals action, one Southeastern Conference team is advancing to Omaha, another’s season is over, and two more will have to wait to find out their fates.

Florida 9, NC State 8

For the third year in a row, the Gators (47-18) are Omaha-bound. Despite a valiant last ditch attempt and multiple rallies by the Wolfpack (43-20), Florida managed to hang on and win in the 10th inning.

NC State got on the board first, in the bottom of the third, when Matt Bergquist knocked a one-out double to bring Brett Austin home from second. It didn’t take UF long to respond, though.

In the top of the fourth, the Gators put up four runs. Preston Tucker started things off with a homer to right, then Mike Zunino and Brian Johnson each doubled to put runners on second and third with no outs. An RBI single from Casey Trugeon brought Zunino home and gave Florida the lead. A sac fly from Justin Shafer made it 3-1, and Vickash Ramjit singled to cap off the scoring.

The Wolfpack got right back in it in the bottom of the inning. Andrew Ciencin hit a one-out single, and Jake Fincher did the same thing. Brett Austin double to bring both men home and cut the score to 4-3. They had a chance to tie or take the lead in the inning, but couldn’t capitalize.

In the bottom of the fifth, though, NCSU tied it up with a homer from Chris Diaz. They took a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the seventh, Bergquist laced a one-out single and Trea Turner bunted to reach first base. With runners at first and second, Danny Canela roped an RBI single and brought Bergquist across the plate.

It was Florida’s turn to take the lead in the top of the eighth. Johnson went yard, then Daniel Pigott and Turgeon singled. Turgeon stole second, and with men at second and third, Shafer knocked an RBI single. » Continue reading “NCAA Super Regionals: Another Mixed Bag For The SEC”

Four teams from the Southeastern Conference are playing in the Super Regionals this weekend. Three of the teams, South Carolina, Florida, and LSU, are host sites for these games, while Arkansas is playing in the Waco Super Regional, where Baylor is the host. The Gamecocks and Gators currently have 1-0 leads in their Super Regional series, while Arkansas trails 0-1 and LSU is even at 1-1.

LSU 5, Stony Brook 4

This game was suspended in extras yesterday due to bad weather. It didn’t take long to finish up this morning, though, because just 10 minutes in, the Tigers walked off with a victory.

Kevin Gausmann, who would start Game 2, threw just 12 pitches to send the Seawolves down 1-2-3 in the top of the 12th. In LSU’s half of the inning, Tyler Moore singled, then advanced to second on a sac bunt by Austin Nola. JaCoby Jones was intentionally walked, putting runners on the corners with one out. Mason Katz was up next, and he knocked an RBI single to bring Moore home.

Stony Brook took an early lead when the game started Friday afternoon, when Sal Intagliata homered in the second inning. That gave the Seawolves a 2-0 lead, but the Tigers fought back to tie it, and Jones went yard in the bottom of the ninth to make the score 2-2.

SBU outhit LSU 14-9, but they also had three errors compared to LSU’s one. William Carmona led Stony Brook at the plate, going 3-for-5, and Moore went 2-for-3 to lead LSU.

Seawolves reliever Frankie Vanderka, who pitched only 1/3 of an inning Saturday morning, took the loss and dropped to 2-3 on the season. Gausmann got the win and improved to 12-1 on the year.

LSU’s record improved to 47-16 while Stony Brook fell to 50-13.

» Continue reading “NCAA Super Regionals: So Far, Mixed Results For The SEC”

The 64 teams chosen to compete in the 2012 NCAA Tournament were announced this morning. Sixteen teams were chosen to host Regionals, eight were chosen as national seeds.

Regional hosts: LSU (Baton Rouge), North Carolina (Chapel Hill), Virginia (Charlottesville), Texas A&M (College Station), South Carolina (Columbia), Miami (Coral Gables), Oregon (Eugene), Florida (Gainesville), Purdue (Gary – due to stadium construction), Rice (Houston), UCLA (Los Angeles), Stanford (Palo Alto), North Carolina State (Raleigh), Florida State (Tallahassee), Arizona (Tucson), and Baylor (Waco)

National seeds: Florida (No.1), Florida State (No. 3), Baylor (No. 4), Oregon (No. 5), North Carolina (No. 6), LSU (No. 7), and South Carolina (No. 8)

The eight hosts for the Super Regionals will be announced on June 4. Regionals are played from June 1-4, Super Regionals from June 8-11, and the College World Series lasts from June 15-26.

Regionals are double elimination, and in the first round, The No. 1 and No. 4 team will play each other, as will the N0. 2 and No. 3 teams. Super Regionals are a best of three series.

The SEC leads all conferences with eight teams selected to the tournament, and 31 different conferences are represented.

St. John’s beat USF yesterday to take home the Big East baseball championship title. The tournament title was the second in three years for St. John’s and the third for head coach Ed Blankmeyer.

USF had a 3-1 lead in the top of the third inning after Luis Llerna’s base hit to rightfield scored Todd Brazeal. James Ramsay’s grounder to second was misplayed, allowing two more runs to come in. St. John’s scored a run in the bottom of the fourth inning on Zach Lauricella’s solo home run and then the  Red Storm took the lead in the sixth inning. In the bottom of the seventh, Bret Dennis delivered a two-out, two-run single to left which gave St. John’s a 6-3 lead after an error, a walk and a hit by pitch had loaded the bases. The Red Storm scored their seventh run on Frank Schwindel’s RBI double down the leftfield line.

St. John’s pitcher Matt Carasiti was named Tournament Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.

The peaking-at-just-the-right-time Bulldogs blanked the Dores 3-0 this afternoon in Hoover to win the conference tournament and put an end to Vandy’s nine-game winning streak.

This is the first time MSU has won since 2005. They were on a roll throughout the entire tourney, winning five for the first time ever and earning their first-ever shutout title win. They lost only one game in Hoover this year.

Mississippi State got on the board in the third inning, when Adam Frazier singled with one out. After a Brett Brownlee groundout, Trey Porter walked and Hunter Renfroe knocked an infield single to load the bags with Bulldogs. Frazier came home on a wild pitch to give the Dogs a 1-0 lead. That was all they’d need, but they weren’t done scoring.

In the next inning, MSU loaded the bases with two outs again. A walk to Frazier brought another run in, and then Brownlee hit a sac fly to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead. That was more than enough, considering Vandy couldn’t muster any sort of offense.

Both teams struggled with getting runners home, with the Bulldogs stranding nine and the Commodores leaving 10. Somewhat surprisingly Mississippi State outhit Vanderbilt, but only 7-6.  Mitch Slauter led the Dogs at the plate, going 2-for-3. Will Cooper led the Dores and was 1-for-1 at the plate. Frazier was named the MVP of the tournament.

MSU reliever Ross Mitchell earned the win and improves to 2-0 on the season. He worked five shutout innings in which he gave up five hits and two walks, and also struck out three batters. Chris Stratton, who threw 1/3 of an inning if perfect ball, got the save, his first of the year. VU starter Tyler Beede allowed all three of the Bulldogs’ runs on four hits. He lasted 3 1/3 innings, walked three, and K’d four. He took the loss and his record drops to 1-5.

Both teams had representatives on the All-Tournament Team, which was announced after the game.  Vanderbilt’s Spencer Navin, Connor Harrell and Mike Yastrzemski made the squad, as did Mississippi State’s Frazier, Jonathan Holder, and Demarcus Henderson.

The USF Bulls will face the St. John’s Red Storm in the Big East Baseball Championship today. USF won two games, defeating UConn in both, yesterday to advance to this game.

St. Johns and USF have met 21 times dating back to 2006, with the Red Storm leading the series 12-9. St. John’s  took two of three from USF in the 2012 regular season.

The game can be seen on ESPNU at 11:00 am CST.

Mississippi State topped Kentucky and Vanderbilt beat Florida in Hoover today to advance to tomorrow’s title game. If this final match up surprises you, you’re not alone. Tomorrow’s game is set to begin at 2:30 ET and will be shown on ESPN2.

Mississippi State 2, Kentucky 1

While today’s second game was decided in the last inning, the red-hot Bulldogs (38-22) took advantage of early scoring opportunities as they scraped by Wildcats (43-16) this afternoon.

After a scoreless first inning for both teams, MSU took a 1-0 lead on an RBI single from Wes Rea. UK answered in the bottom of the inning with their only run of the day, a solo homer to right from J.T. Riddle.

The Bulldogs scored their only other run in the third, when an RBI single from Trey Porter brought Adam Frazier home.

Kentucky had a chance to tie or take the lead in the fifth, with two on and two outs, but failed to capitalize. MSU then had a chance to increase their lead in the seventh, with runners at first and second and only one out, but two straight strike outs ended the threat.

Interestingly, Mississippi State’s starting pitcher, Luis Pollorena, was yanked in the third inning after giving up a lead off walk. In two innings of work, he threw 43 pitches and allowed only one run on three hits, the walk, and struck out three batters.

Thanks to a lack of offense, good defense, and solid pitching from MSU’s bullpen, the score remained the same for the final six innings. Bulldogs reliever Nick Routt got the win and improves to 3-5 on the year. Closer Jonathan Holder earned the save, his ninth. The Wildcats’ starter, Cory Littrell, took the loss and falls to 8-2.

Frazier went 2-for-4 to lead MSU at the plate and was the only Bulldog with more than one hit, while Riddle led the Wildcats, going 3-for-4. UK actually outhit Mississippi State 9-8, and both teams left nine runners stranded. The Bulldogs also made two errors.

» Continue reading “SEC Tournament: And Then There Were Two…”

We are a good chunk of the way through the Big East baseball tournament. There are two scheduled games to be played today along with two play in games if necessary.

Here is your Saturday schedule. All times are EST.

Best of luck to those playing today.