Clemson’s Sweep, SEC Surprises Highlight College Baseball’s Weekend (Off The Bat)

2. I don’t want to nitpick a team I’ve just declared as the conference favorite, that is ranked No. 2 in the country and is a legitimate national title contender. I do worry a little bit that Clemson has relied so much on late-inning magic. Or has it?

The Tigers are 7-0 in games decided by one or two runs. How does that relate to other top-10 teams?

Top 25 Rank	Team	Wins	Losses	Winning Percentage
1.	Arkansas	9	2	.818
2.	Clemson	7	0	1.000
3.	Oregon State	7	1	.875
4.	Florida	4	2	.667
5.	Texas A&M	4	2	.667
6.	Tennessee	2	1	.667
7.	Vanderbilt	5	2	.714
8.	Virginia	6	1	.857
9.	LSU	5	2	.714
10.	South Carolina	1	3	.250

So, not only does no team in the country have fewer overall losses than Clemson, it’s not playing an abnormal number of close games. It can’t expect to stay perfect in those games all season long and I’d recommend not needing too many more eight-run ninth innings this season, but the Clemson bullpen, anchored by Rob Hughes (1-0, 0.87, 3 SV) and Lucas Mahlstedt (1-0, 2.70) has shown it can be relied upon in the biggest spots.

3. Florida State (19-3, 3-3) went into the weekend undefeated and staring at a golden opportunity to prove themselves against one of the ACC heavyweights. The Seminoles instead return to Tallahassee a bit chastened.

Florida State’s pitching staff had impressed early this season. At Clemson, it was beaten up with the exception of sophomore lefthander Jamie Arnold (7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 9 K). No. 1 starter Cam Leiter (2.2 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 5 BB, 3 K) was knocked around in the opener and the bullpen gave up a staggering 25 runs (23 earned) in 6.2 innings. Obviously, Florida State has to pitch better if it wants to win a series like that on the road.

There are positives to take from the weekend for the Seminoles but after that kind of implosion, they have to take their lumps, learn their lessons and move on. The Tigers have a high-powered offense but so does pretty much every team in the ACC. They’ll have to find some answers ahead of a game Tuesday in Jacksonville against Florida, but one bad weekend is no reason to panic.

4. Florida is, without a doubt, the most confounding team in the country. The Gators are 14-9 and had another up-and-down week. The good: they won a series at LSU, emphatically winning Sunday behind Jac Caglianone (7 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 5 K) and a two-homer game from Colby Shelton. The bad: they lost at home Tuesday to Jacksonville and were one out away from losing the series in Baton Rouge before rallying to tie the game and then win it in extras on a home run from Caglianone.

On some level, Florida is actually pretty easy to figure out. The Gators are capable of beating anyone. They own series wins at LSU and Miami and against Texas A&M. But they also lack the depth on the mound to cruise through the regular season, the way some Florida teams in the past have.

Florida’s record is strange and it’s just 3-4 in midweek games. But its schedule actually rates as elite (it’s still a bit early to really be looking at the metrics, but Florida is third nationally in strength of schedule) and the losses clearly aren’t getting it down mentally. The Gators are 8-1 in games following losses this season.

I’m not saying everything is sunshine and rainbows in Gainesville, but at some point the quality of its wins outweighs the unusually larger number of losses.

5. LSU (19-6, 2-4) has now lost back-to-back series to open SEC play and is staring at a trip to No. 1 Arkansas this week with series against Vanderbilt and at Tennessee to follow. It’s not an easy spot to be in and while the schedule is theoretically easier in the second half of the season, things only get so much easier in the SEC West.

That said, I don’t think the Tigers are in a bad spot. Call me stubborn for sticking with my preseason national champion pick, accuse me of wearing purple-and-gold-tinted glasses, whatever. You may well be right. But LSU was one out away from a Saturday night win that would completely have changed the narrative about this weekend. Would’ve, could’ve, should’ve only goes so far, absolutely. But in the long run, a win or a loss in March where the margins are so thin only means so much.

What does give me cause for pause is the LSU bullpen. Sophomore lefthander Griffin Herring was excellent Friday night in relief of Luke Holman, throwing three scoreless innings to close out the 6-1 win. Sophomore righthander Gavin Guidry threw 1.1 innings Saturday, giving up one run in relief of Gage Jump. LSU then turned over a two-run lead to senior lefthander Nate Ackenhausen for what would have been a six-out save. He gave up a run in the eighth and another in the ninth before surrendering Caglianone’s 11th-inning home run. In all, he threw 3.2 innings and 71 pitches. On Sunday, Kade Anderson (1 IP, 3 R), Javen Coleman (2 IP, 3 R) and Christian Little (.1 IP, 1 R) struggled.

I’ve previously lauded LSU’s overall depth and depth on the mound. That’s not showing right now. Several pitchers who were projected to play key roles haven’t to this point. The Tigers need a few more of those pitchers to step up in high-leverage situations.

6. For the third week in a row, TCU (17-7, 2-7) lost a conference series. This week it was a tough road series loss at Oklahoma State (15-9, 3-3). The Horned Frogs won the opener, 1-0, behind a complete game effort from Payton Tolle. But they lost 6-2 on Saturday and 6-3 on Sunday, finishing the weekend with six runs on 11 hits.

It’s time to hit the panic button on the Frogs. Data on teams starting 2-7 in Big 12 play and making the NCAA Tournament is tricky because the conference this year is going from a 24-game conference schedule to a 30-game slate. So, it’s not necessarily instructive to go back and find examples of previous Big 12 teams who got off to similarly slow starts and extrapolate that to this year’s Frogs.

But at this point, TCU needs to start running off conference wins and a bunch of them. Outside the SEC, the committee does not generally look favorably upon teams with losing conference records. That’s not to say you can’t get in with a losing conference record – look no further than 2023 Oklahoma (11-13 in Big 12 play), but it’s rare. That means TCU needs to target going 13-8 (.619) the rest of the way in conference play.

That’s doable. TCU was picked as the conference favorite and a top-10 team nationally in the preseason. They have Omaha experience and a wealth of talent. But it’s also a team that’s averaging 4.0 runs per game in Big 12 play. TCU this weekend hosts Houston (14-9, 4-5), which suddenly is a must-win series.

7. I’ve been bullish on South Carolina all season, believing that its slow start offensively would eventually round into form and that its hot start on the mound could continue. One weekend alone isn’t proof that everything is resolved, but the Gamecocks (19-5, 4-2) couldn’t have had a better series against Vanderbilt. They swept the series, outscoring the Commodores, 26-9.

There’s a lot to be said for putting up that kind of weekend against Vanderbilt’s pitching staff. But what really stood out was South Carolina’s own pitching. Righthander Eli Jones (2-0, 2.35) has thrived at the front of the rotation and on Saturday retired the first 18 batters he faced. South Carolina pieced the second game together and then on Sunday got a quality start from righthander Tyler Pitzer (6.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K) in a spot that was originally listed as TBA in the probable starters.

The Gamecocks look to have solid depth on the mound and have a 2.96 team ERA. The offense is averaging 8.4 runs per game. South Carolina needs to prove it can win away from Founders Park—it’s 1-3 in true road games—but it looks like it’s going to be a tough out all season.

8. It was a weekend to forget for Vanderbilt (19-6, 3-3). Very little went right as its 13-game winning streak came to a crashing halt. This was the Commodores’ first real road test and it was a tough one, particularly with so many younger players in the lineup.

The most concerning part of the weekend was probably Vanderbilt’s defense, as the Commodores made five errors that led to nine unearned runs. Defense hadn’t been a problem for Vanderbilt entering the weekend. It had made just 14 errors in 22 games and ranked 11th nationally with a .982 fielding percentage.

Ultimately, I think it’s a weekend to flush, but it’s also something that needs to be learned from before Vanderbilt visits LSU and Texas A&M in a couple weeks.

9. After losing its first two ACC series, Wake Forest (16-7, 4-5) got back on track with a series win against Louisville. Getting a conference series win was a meaningful step in the right direction and there were some individual reasons for optimism along the way.

All-American lefthander Josh Hartle again wasn’t at his best, giving up seven runs on seven hits and three walks in six innings. But getting Hartle through six innings and allowing him the space to work through some jams was big after he had totaled 5.1 innings in his first two ACC starts. Getting righthander Michael Massey back in Game 3 after he missed his start last week at Virginia due to a hamstring injury was also a good sign, even if he was limited to two innings as he works back to full strength.

I went deep into Wake’s early season scuffles last week. The Demon Deacons weren’t going to solve all their problems in one weekend, but it was a good start. They’ll get another tough test this week at home against North Carolina.

10. NC State provided a big, important response this week. After a four-game swoon a week ago, as it lost at home to UNC Greensboro and was swept at Georgia Tech, it bounced back with a trio of gritty wins.

The Wolfpack (15-7, 5-4) on Tuesday won a back-and-forth game against Coastal Carolina, 9-8, and then opened their series against Duke with back-to-back one-run wins. They on Saturday clinched the series with a 9-8, walk-off victory that saw them score six runs in the bottom of the ninth, capped by a three-run home run from Eli Serrano III.

NC State was run-ruled in Sunday’s finale, and it has some real issues on the mound, where it has a 6.83 team ERA. It’s going to have to work out those issues if it’s going to compete at the top of the ACC, but the way it fought all week, particularly coming off a four-game winning streak, was a very encouraging sign.

11. Kentucky rolled Georgia last week. The Wildcats outscored the Bulldogs, 37-15, and punctuated the weekend with a 12-2 run-rule rout. Alabama, meanwhile, earned a tough series win against Tennessee, finishing it off with a 7-6 comeback win.

What a difference a week makes. Georgia (21-4, 3-3) turned around and swept Alabama (18-6, 2-4) in Athens, scoring 25 runs along the way. With an offensive output like that, it’s hard to look away from what Charlie Condon did, as he went 6-for-11 with three home runs and two stolen bases. He’s now hitting .517/.637/1.213 with 17 home runs, 25 walks and 12 strikeouts.

But what Georgia did on the mound was also notable. Alabama came into the series averaging 9.8 runs per game, third best in the SEC. The Bulldogs held them to 15 runs on the weekend and got strong piggyback outings in the first two games (Charlie Goldstein and Brian Zeldin in Game 1; Leighton Finley and Kolten Smith in Game 2) before more of a group effort Sunday.

Georgia is always going to be more reliant on its offense than its pitching this season, but a series like this one shows what the upside can be on the mound for the Bulldogs.

12. It was a wild week in the Sun Belt. Coastal Carolina (at Appalachian State) and Southern Miss (at Georgia Southern) both took their first series losses of the season. James Madison and Troy lost home series to Texas State and South Alabama, respectively. Louisiana swept Old Dominion, holding the Monarchs to one run on the weekend.

It’s too early for any of that to really mean much. What it probably foreshadows, however, is a topsy-turvy conference title race and plenty of parity. While it’s still a little early for RPI, it’s worth noting that of the conference’s 14 schools, 10 rank in the top 100 and only two (Coastal and JMU) crack the top 50. So there’s not a lot of separation throughout the league.

13. Making just his second career start, Middle Tennessee State freshman lefthander Chandler Alderman on Saturday threw a no-hitter in a 10-0, eight-inning victory against Liberty. He struck out 11 batters and walked three. He improved to 2-1, 3.52 with 31 strikeouts and 10 walks in 23 innings.

Making Alderman’s already incredible performance even more impressive was that his no-hitter was sandwiched between big offensive days for Liberty. The Flames on Friday won, 11-6, and then blew out the Blue Raiders, 25-9, in Sunday’s rubber game.

14. Oregon State second baseman Travis Bazzana hit a leadoff home run in all four of the Beavers’ games this week. The junior started the streak Tuesday at Portland and then carried it all the way through a series against Washington. Oregon State (21-2, 5-1) won all four games. Bazzana is hitting .467/.581/1.054 with 14 home runs and six stolen bases. He has tied Michael Conforto with 31 career home runs, just three off the program record.

15. One of the more surprising series results of the weekend was Delaware upsetting Campbell. The Blue Hens (11-11, 2-1) came back late both on Friday and Sunday to beat the Camels (17-6, 1-2) in Buies Creek.

Campbell, which was playing its first ever Coastal Athletic Association series, had not lost a series at home since it was swept by Maryland in February 2022. Delaware, meanwhile, was coming off a weekend in which it gave up 56 runs and was swept at home by Rutgers.

Eight for Omaha

Arkansas, Clemson, Florida, LSU, Oklahoma, Oregon State, Tennessee, Texas A&M

Despite the topsy-turvy weekend, I’m making just one change to my field: Florida is back and Vanderbilt drops out. I’ve previously detailed how I’m over worrying about the Gators’ odd losses and how I remain a believer in LSU. The more unusual choice I’m making here is to stick with Oklahoma after a 1-3 week, including a home series loss against West Virginia. The thing is, however, that the Big 12 has sent a team to the College World Series every year for a decade. Is this the year that changes? Maybe, but someone from that league will probably figure it out and right now I continue to feel the best about the Sooners. So they stay in the field, with Vanderbilt and Virginia just on the outside.

Looking Ahead

No. 1 Arkansas hosts No. 9 LSU in top-10 showdown. A couple weeks ago, this looked like it might be No. 1 vs. No. 2 but the Tigers (19-6, 2-4) have dropped back-to-back series to open SEC play. In a way, that increases the importance of this weekend as LSU needs something to change its momentum. The Razorbacks (19-3, 5-1) just had a 15-game winning streak snapped on Saturday at Auburn, but now return home, where they are 15-1 this season.

No. 8 Virginia travels to No. 11 Duke for key ACC series. The Cavaliers (20-4, 6-3) are coming off a sweep at Pittsburgh and now will be back on the road this weekend. It will be their third road series in the first four weeks of ACC play. Duke (17-7, 4-5) has taken consecutive tough series losses to Clemson and NC State and will be looking to get back on track at home. Both teams should score plenty of runs, as Virginia (10.87 runs per game) and Duke (9.13) both rank among the most prolific offenses in the country.

Texas visits Kansas State in Big 12 clash. This might fly a bit under the radar because neither the Longhorns (15-9, 4-2) nor the Wildcats (17-6, 5-1) are ranked this week, but it’s a good bet that the winner of this series will move into the Top 25. Texas has been up-and-down in the first half but has a chance to snag another quality road series win. K-State is on a nine-game winning streak but is still looking for a signature series win, which it could get this weekend.