College Roundup: Home Teams Come Out On Top In Rivalries

Tuesday saw some of the best rivalries in college sports play out on the diamond, as Florida played Florida State, Texas A&M hosted Texas and Brigham Young took on Utah.

The home team took all three games, as both Florida and BYU scored 6-0 shutouts. There was more drama in College Station, where Texas A&M defeated Texas, 5-4, on a walk-off home run from catcher Michael Barash.

The No. 2 Aggies took a 4-0 lead into the ninth inning with closer Ryan Hendrix on the mound. But the Longhorns tied the game, scoring four runs in the inning against Hendrix and Turner Larkins, before Mark Ecker was finally able to end the inning.

But the game did not stay tied for long. Barash led off the bottom of the ninth against senior lefthander Ty Culbreth and hit the seventh pitch he saw over the left field wall for his first home run of the season. The victory extended the Aggies winning streak to 11 games.

The longtime rivals had not played since the 2014 Houston Regional, when Texas defeated Texas A&M twice. Tuesday was their first regular-season meeting since 2012, Texas A&M’s last season in the Big 12 Conference before joining the Southeastern Conference.

Texas A&M coach Rob Childress told reporters after the game it was a night befitting the resumption of the rivalry.

“The game should be close and decided at the end of the game,” he said. “For a Tuesday night, it’s not a run-of-the-mill Tuesday night. Certainly, the crowd was fantastic, it was into every pitch and sometimes toward the middle part of the year that’s what you want.”

There was less drama in Gainesville, where top-ranked Florida extended its winning streak to 12 games, but the rivalry still brought out the best in the home fans. There were 5,917 people in McKethan Stadium to see the Gators victory, the fifth most in the park’s history.

They saw another exemplary all-around game from the Gators. DH J.J. Schwarz went 3-for-5 to lead the offense, and righthander Dane Dunning (5.2 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K) improved to 2-0, 3.54. The victory also saw Florida improve to 10-1 under coach Kevin O’Sullivan at home against Florida State.

Florida and Florida State will meet again March 29 in Jacksonville.

In Utah, BYU (16-1) ran its winning streak to 10 games with its 6-0 victory. DH Colton Shavers (1-for-4) hit a two-run home run, his fifth of the season, and eight Cougars pitchers combined for the shutout. The two teams continue the Holy War on April 12, again facing off in Provo, Utah.

In other notable results around the country, No. 8 Texas Christian rallied from a three-run deficit in the eighth inning to defeat Rice, 6-4. It was the Horned Frogs’ first road win in the series since 2005.

Eastern Kentucky rallied from a six-run deficit in the eighth inning to upset No. 15 Mississippi State, 16-12, in 10 innings. The Colonels scored six runs in the eighth and then four more in the 10th, as the Bulldogs bullpen faltered. Eastern Kentucky senior outfielder Kyle Nowlin (2-for-5, 2 R, 3 RBIs) hit his eighth home run of the season, tied for second most in the country. For Mississippi State, first baseman Nathanial Lowe (3-for-4, 2B, HR) drove in seven runs, the most by a Bulldog since 2010.

HOW THE TOP 25 FARED

(1) Florida: won, 6-0, vs. (13) Florida State

(2) Texas A&M: won, 5-4, vs. Texas

(3) Oregon State: off

(4) Louisville: won, 11-1, vs. Xavier

(5) Vanderbilt: won, 9-2, vs. Northern Illinois

(6) Miami: off

(7) Louisiana State: off

(8) Texas Christian: won, 6-4, at Rice

(9) California: off

(10) Virginia: won, 4-3, vs. Towson

(11) North Carolina: won, 17-4, at East Carolina