College Roundup: Gamecocks Sweep Ole Miss
| HOW THE TOP 25 FARED |
| (1) Florida: lost, 7-4, at Kentucky |
| (2) Texas A&M: won, 3-1, vs. (13) Louisiana State |
| (3) Oregon State: lost, 5-3, at (15) California |
| (4) Miami: won, 5-4, vs. (17) Clemson in 11 innings |
| (5) Texas Christian: won, 9-5, at Texas |
| (6) North Carolina: lost, 6-0, vs. Georgia Tech |
| (7) Mississippi: lost, 4-0, vs. South Carolina |
| (8) Louisville: won, 11-4, vs. (9) Virginia |
| (9) Virginia: lost, 11-4, at (8) Louisville |
| (10) Mississippi State: lost, 11-8, vs. Georgia |
| (11) Vanderbilt: won, 2-0, at Missouri in 11 innings |
| (12) Florida State: canceled vs. (21) North Carolina State |
| (13) Louisiana State: lost, 3-1, at (2) Texas A&M |
| (14) UCLA: lost, 6-5, at Arizona |
| (15) California: won, 5-3, vs. (3) Oregon State |
| (16) Houston: won, 14-0, vs. George Washington |
| (17) Clemson: lost, 5-4, at (4) Miami in 11 innings |
| (18) South Carolina: won, 4-0, at (7) Mississippi |
| (19) Oklahoma State: won, 5-4, at Kansas State in 10 innings |
| (20) Long Beach State: won, 5-4, at Cal State Fullerton |
| (21) North Carolina State: cancelled at (12) Florida State |
| (22) Alabama: split DH vs. Tennessee, won 11-3 and lost 6-3 |
| (23) Michigan: swept DH vs. Illinois-Chicago, 5-0 and 10-4 |
| (24) UC Santa Barbara: lost, 9-5, at Southern California |
| (25) Arkansas: won, 14-7, vs. Auburn |
Strike One: Second Straight Sweep For South Carolina
Fresh off a sweep of Arkansas at home on the opening weekend of Southeastern Conference action, No. 18 South Carolina rode that momentum into its series at No. 7 Mississippi this weekend. The Gamecocks won, 4-0, Saturday to complete the sweep and begin SEC play 6-0 for the first time in program history.
South Carolina (23-2) limited Mississippi to five singles Saturday, as righthanders Adam Hill (6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K), Brandon Murray and Tyler Johnson combined for the shutout. Hill, a freshman, improved to 5-0, 1.91 with 41 strikeouts and seven walks this spring.
South Carolina took the lead with three runs in the top of the first, which proved to be more than enough. Coach Chad Holbrook said he didn’t think three runs would be enough, but the Gamecocks pitching staff ground through a tough Rebels lineup to get the victory.
“We made some pitches when we had to, turned some double plays, this weekend just kind of went our way,” he said. “I told the guys after the game, sometimes things in this league bounce your way. The key to having a great year is when they don’t bounce your way you still try to find a way to win.”
South Carolina’s only losses of the season came against Clemson at the beginning of March. Since then, the Gamecocks have won 13 straight games, including six straight against ranked opponents.
They will face more tough competition this week when they put those streaks on the line. South Carolina faces College of Charleston on Tuesday at home, before hitting the road again for the weekend, as it visits No. 11 Vanderbilt for a three-game set beginning Thursday.
Strike Two: More Late-Inning Heroics For Miami
After beating No. 17 Clemson on Friday night with a walk-off home run from Willie Abreu, No. 4 Miami used late-inning theatrics again Saturday to win, 5-4, in 11 innings and take the series.
With the game deadlocked at 4 in the 11th inning, Johnny Ruiz drew a leadoff walk and moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt. That brought Abreu, who has hit two walk-off home runs in nine days, to the plate to face lefthander Alex Bostic. Abreu homered off Bostic on Friday night, but the lefthander had got the better of him earlier Saturday, getting him to fly out in the ninth inning. Clemson elected to intentionally walk the slugger, passing on the left-on-left matchup.
Edgar Michelangeli followed Abreu, and knocked a single through the right side of the infield. Ruiz raced around from second base and dove into home plate, just beating the throw from right fielder Seth Beer.
Michelangeli collected half of the Hurricanes hits, going 4-for-6 with two runs and an RBI. The redshirt junior is hitting
The win was Miami coach Jim Morris’ 1,000th with the Hurricanes. He is the second Miami coach to reach that mark, joining Ron Fraser (1,271). The milestone win comes just a week after Morris won the 1,500th game of his career.
.@Coach3Morris cuts the first slice of cake celebrating his 1,000 wins in the team locker room pic.twitter.com/3GMBmuPskW
— Hurricanes Baseball (@CanesBaseball) March 27, 2016
Miami has now won three straight series to open Atlantic Coast Conference play, including back-to-back series against Top 25 opponents Louisville and Clemson. The Hurricanes will get another Top 25 conference foe next weekend, as No. 6 North Carolina visits Mark Light Field.
Strike Three: Southeast Missouri State Sweeps Again
Southeast Missouri State emphatically completed Saturday a third straight sweep to begin Ohio Valley Conference play with a 26-2 drubbing of Tennessee-Martin. The Redhawks pounded out 31 hits in the game, including eight home runs hit by eight different players.
Catcher Brian Lees hit the first homer of the game in the second, and the Redhawks added four more in the inning, as they took a commanding 10-0 lead. Lees (3-for-4, HR, 2B) was just the first in the offensive explosion for SEMO. All of its starters and substitutes, 14 players in all, collected at least one hit Saturday. All but one scored at least once.
“Not too often do you see eight home runs in a game and none of these were cheap either,” coach Steve Bieser said. “The team hit well and we barreled the ball up really well. This is a hitters-friendly ballpark with solid dimensions, but when you do hit it well, it goes in this park.”
The eight homers are the most by a team in a single game this season, but falls well short of the record 14 Georgia Southern hit against Columbia in 2008.
SEMO was the preseason favorite in the OVC and has so far lived up to that billing, sweeping Eastern Kentucky, Morehead State and, now, Tennessee-Martin. Jacksonville State has also started 9-0 in conference play, with the two teams scheduled to meet April 22-24 in Jacksonville, Ala.
The Lineup
- Daniel Franklin, rhp, Southern: Pitching just five days after his father died of complications stemming from high cholesterol, Franklin (8 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K) earned the victory as Southern defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 5-3, in Game 1 of a doubleheader. Franklin, who also lost his mother to breast cancer last year, told Mike Gegenheimer of the Baton Rouge Advocate his father wouldn’t have wanted him to miss his start. “It was actually a relief (to pitch) because I know that’s what they would’ve wanted me to do,” Daniel said. “I know they’re always with me through any situation. Anytime I was in trouble, I would just take a deep breath and say, ‘Come on, Dad. help me out,’ and that would be it. … He was with me.”
- Cullen Dana, lhp, Seton Hall: The freshman threw seven hitless innings against Army, as Seton Hall extended its winning streak to 12 games with an 11-0 victory in Game 1 of a doubleheader. Dana (7 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 K) was relieved after throwing 96 pitches, and the Black Knights broke up the combined no-hit bid soon after.
- Zach Plesac, rhp, Ball State: Facing Miami, Plesac, the nephew of former big league pitcher Dan Plesac, was nearly unhittable. Plesac (9 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 11K) held the RedHawks to just a pair of singles and struck out a career-high 11 batters as the Cardinals won, 9-0, to even the series.
- Timmy Robinson, of, Southern California: After scoring just three runs in two losses at No. 24 UC Santa Barbara, Robinson (2-for-5, 2 HR) helped jump-start Southern California’s offense in a 9-5 victory. The senior scored twice and drove in five runs, and now leads the Trojans with five home runs this season.
- Evan White, 1b, Kentucky: The Wildcats snapped top-ranked Florida’s 17-game winning streak with a 7-4 victory, and White (3-for-3, HR) was a big part of the reason why. The sophomore reached base in all four of his plate appearances, scored twice and stole a base. He is hitting .389/.444/.537 this season.
- Seth Romero, lhp, Houston: After seeing his no-hitter broken up in the seventh inning, Romero (8 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K) settled for eight shutout innings and a victory against George Washington. The sophomore has thrown 13 straight scoreless innings, and improved to 4-0, 0.58 with the win.
- Michael Bernal, ss, Arkansas: The Razorbacks’ offense exploded in a 14-7 victory against Auburn, with Bernal (2-for-4, 2 HR) leading the way. The redshirt senior has eight home runs already this season, doubling his total from 2015.
- Duncan Robinson, rhp, Dartmouth: A week after throwing a complete game against Maine, Robinson (9 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K) went the distance again Saturday at South Florida. The senior faced three batters over the minimum and needed just 103 pitches to throw his second career shutout.
- Tommy Richter, 3b, College of Charleston: In a doubleheader sweep of Delaware, Richter collected seven hits and scored six runs. Much of his damage was done in the nightcap, when the sophomore went 5-for-5 with a walk and scored five runs. In one day, Richter raised his batting average 53 points, from .280 to.333.
Comments are closed.