College Roundup: Mississippi State Takes Top Spot In SEC West

RECAP | State Rallies To Take Series at No. 15 Texas A&M

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— #RallyDawgs ? (@HailStateBB) May 6, 2017

Strike One: Wild Day Leaves Mississippi State Atop SEC West

When Saturday began, No. 4 Auburn and No. 9 Mississippi State were tied for first place in the Southeastern Conference West Division. Three teams were within 1 1/2 games of the pair. When the dust settled Saturday night, Mississippi State stood alone in first place, 1 1/2 games ahead of a three-team pack.

Mississippi State came back to defeat No. 16 Texas A&M, 4-3, to claim a critical road series. Elsewhere, Alabama swept a doubleheader at its archrival Auburn to win its first SEC series of the season. Arkansas’ series at Tennessee was reduced to a Saturday doubleheader, which it split. Louisiana State defeated South Carolina, 5-2, to even their series. Arkansas, Auburn and LSU are all 1 1/2 games behind Mississippi State, while Texas A&M is two games back.

As it has done all season, Mississippi State (32-17, 16-8) found a way to win Saturday. The Bulldogs lost the series opener Thursday with ace Konnor Pilkington on the mound, but bounced back to win the next two games in College Station. They won Saturday’s series finale without much offensive contribution from the first four hitters in their lineup, who combined to go 0-for-16 with seven strikeouts.

On Saturday, A&M led 3-1 after six innings. But Mississippi State scored three runs in the top of the seventh, all unearned, and Riley Self shut down the Aggies the rest of the way. The freshman threw 3.1 scoreless innings, facing just one batter over the minimum. He struck out three, walked one and allowed no hits to improve to 5-0, 2.21 with 47 strikeouts and nine walks in 36.2 innings.

“We didn’t play well Thursday but we came back and showed a lot of fight,” coach Andy Cannizaro said. “We played very well the final 18 innings in the series. We just kept getting better at-bats. Our guys really rose to the occasion and found a way to win the final game of a series on the road in a hostile environment.”

Auburn (32-16, 14-9) and LSU (30-16, 14-9) will have a chance Sunday to cut Mississippi State’s lead to one game as they both finish their series. Then it will be a sprint to the finish over the final two weekends of the regular season. LSU controls its own destiny, as it hosts Auburn next weekend and travels to Mississippi State on the final weekend of the regular season.

Strike Two: Southern Miss Takes Control in CUSA

What a day, what a day. Check out the ninth-inning drama! 🎥

See you in #Baseburg tomorrow for #SweepSunday! pic.twitter.com/OlBrbdg3Cn

— Southern Miss🔝 (@USMGoldenEagles) May 6, 2017

No. 20 Southern Mississippi and Florida Atlantic, last season’s Conference USA tournament and regular season champions, came into this weekend separated by just a game at the top of the conference standings. The Golden Eagles won Friday’s series opener and led Saturday’s game until the Owls took the lead with four runs in the top of the eighth.

Southern Miss still trailed by a run going into the bottom of the ninth and soon found itself down to its last out. But Mason Irby drove in the tying run on a single and then raced home on a wild pitch to give the Golden Eagles a 6-5, walk-off win.

The victory, combined with Old Dominion’s doubleheader split against Alabama-Birmingham, expanded Southern Miss’ lead to three games in the conference standings over both FAU and ODU. All three teams have seven conference games left this season.

Southern Miss (36-12, 18-5) has won six straight games since losing a series to ODU. It has pushed its RPI to No. 19, putting it squarely in the mix to host a regional. FAU (29-15-1, 15-8) is on the other end of the bubble, trying to hang on to a spot in the NCAA Tournament as its RPI sits at 58.

Irby (3-for-5) and Taylor Braley (3-for-4, HR, 3 RBIs) led the Golden Eagles’ offense. Righthander Kirk McCarty (6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K) threw six strong innings after leaving his start last Friday at Middle Tennessee State with arm soreness after just one inning.

Elsewhere in CUSA, Louisiana Tech extended its winning streak to seven games with a 10-6 victory against Florida International. The Bulldogs have climbed to No. 37 in RPI and fifth in the standings, putting them back in the mix for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Strike Three: SELA Wins Critical Series

Sam Houston State has won the Southland Conference four of the past five years. The lone year it didn’t win the league, Southeastern Louisiana did, and both teams have been consistent regional contenders in recent years.

They are not in first place this season—that honor belongs to McNeese State, though both the Bearkats and Lions won their series against the Cowboys. But this weekend’s series held significant implications on the race for both the conference title and at-large berths in the NCAA Tournament.

Southeastern came out on top, clinching the series with a 3-2 victory Saturday. The win propelled the Lions into second place in the Southland, three games behind McNeese and a half-game ahead of Sam Houston, and to No. 32 in the RPI. With just two weekends left in the regular season, Southeastern is on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble.

The Lions (31-15, 17-9) needed a late comeback to extend their winning streak to eight games. Trailing 2-1 going into the bottom of the eighth, Carson Crites came through in the clutch with a two-out, two-run double. Lefthander Payton Robinson (4-0, 4.25), who had come on in the top of the inning and struck out two batters to escape a bases-loaded jam, pitched a scoreless ninth to close out the win.

Southeastern has just one more conference series left—next weekend against Central Arkansas—before finishing the regular season against Seton Hall. The Lions are trying to reach regionals for the third time in four years.

The Lineup

HIGHLIGHTS | Watch how brilliant @houck_tanner was and check out @robglen2‘s game winning hit. #MIZ #C2E 🐯?? pic.twitter.com/Aw79KFK4jP

— #MizzouBaseball (@MizzouBaseball) May 6, 2017

Tanner Houck, rhp, Missouri: Though neither Houck (8 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K) nor Vanderbilt righthander Kyle Wright (9 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 13 K), teammates on USA Baseball’s Collegiate National team last summer, factored in Missouri’s 2-1 victory in 12 innings, they put on an impressive pitchers’ duel. Houck increased his career strikeout total to 278, moving him to fourth on Missouri’s all-time list, one ahead of Aaron Crow. Houck is 3-7, 2.88 with 81 strikeouts in 81.1 innings this season.

Micah Coffey, 3b, Minnesota: Led by Coffey (4-for-6, 4 R, 6 RBIs), Minnesota’s offense exploded for a 17-1 victory against Penn State. Coffey hit for the cycle, becoming the first Golden Gopher to do so since Rob LaRue in 2002. Coffey completed the cycle with an eighth-inning home run, just his second of the season. He is hitting .338/.388/.473 this season.

Dane Myers, 3b, Rice: Myers (3-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBIs) led Rice offensively in a series-clinching, 8-0 victory at Charlotte. The junior homered as a part of a three-homer second inning for the Owls and also added a triple, raising his season line to .360/.430/.523 with four home runs and nine stolen bases.

Michael Toglia, of, UCLA: In a 13-0 rout to complete a sweep of crosstown rival Southern California, Toglia (3-for-5, 6 RBI) doubled twice and homered. The freshman is hitting .282/.416/.524 this spring.

Zach Prendergast, rhp, Seton Hall: Prendergast celebrated his 22nd birthday by throwing a shutout to lead Seton Hall to a 1-0 victory against Creighton in Game 2 of a doubleheader. The senior struck out seven batters and scattered one hit and seven hits on 106 pitches. He improved to 6-2, 3.03 this season.

Matthew Batten, ss, Quinnipiac: Saturday was a record-breaking day for Batten in Quinnipiac’s doubleheader sweep of Manhattan. The senior had a hit in each game, giving him 245 in his career and breaking the program record. He also scored twice to tie coach John Delaney’s Division I program record with 139 career runs. Batten is hitting .319/.383/.464 and has scored 30 runs this season.

Brian Mims, 2b, UNC Wilmington: Mims (3-for-4, 3 R, 5 RBIs) homered twice in UNCW’s 11-4 victory against Northeastern. The victory clinched the series for the Seahawks (23-22, 11-6) and created a three-way tie atop the Colonial Athletic Association standings between Northeastern, UNCW and William & Mary.

Will Olson, c, Texas-Arlington: Olson (4-for-4, 2 2B, 6 RBIs) helped UTA to a 15-3 victory at Arkansas State, clinching its sixth-straight series win. The redshirt sophomore set career highs for both hits and RBIs and is now hitting .329/.439/.413 this season.

Jack Zoellner, 1b, New Mexico: Zoellner (5-for-5, 4 R, 4 RBIs) hit two of New Mexico’s six home runs in a 17-10 victory against Air Force. The senior is hitting .374/.472/.674 with 12 home runs this season.

How the Top 25 Fared

(1) Oregon State: won, 11-10, vs. California

(2) Louisville: won, 5-1, at Norte Dame

(3) North Carolina: off

(4) Auburn: swept in DH vs. Alabama, 4-3 and 7-6

(5) Texas Tech: swept DH at West Virginia, won 1-0 and 4-3

(6) Kentucky: won, 7-4, vs. Georgia

(7) Texas Christian: won, 8-2, vs. (25) Texas

(8) Long Beach State: lost, 6-3, vs. Cal Poly

(9) Mississippi State: won, 4-3, at (16) Texas A&M

(10) Clemson: won, 5-2, vs. Nevada

(11) Florida: won, 7-4, vs. Mississippi