On Campus: Grinding Out Conference Tournaments

HOOVER, Ala.—The instant classic 14-inning marathon game between Louisiana State and Florida that began Wednesday night at the Southeastern Conference tournament didn’t end until 1:48 a.m., when the Tigers finally closed out a 5-3 victory.

LSU’s reward was moving into the winners’ bracket of the tournament and getting to play in the final game of Thursday’s session. Florida, however, was back on the field at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium 11 hours and seven minutes later for an elimination game against Alabama.

Righthander Brady Singer, who made his first collegiate start Thursday and went six solid innings in the Gators’ 5-4 victory, said it was difficult to get ready to play the Crimson Tide.

“(Wednesday) night was obviously a long night and we got back to bed about 3:30 (a.m.),” Singer said. “Had to wake up this morning and just dig deep, fight back and give us a win to keep going in this tournament.”

Such is life at conference tournaments, where four games a day must be squeezed onto one field. That necessitates early-morning start times, which are otherwise rare in college baseball.

Vanderbilt played at 9:30 a.m. on the first two days of the SEC tournament after not playing a morning game all season. Coach Tim Corbin said an early start time “flips your day upside down.” But the Commodores successfully navigated the morning game twice, defeating Missouri, 7-0, Tuesday and then beating Texas A&M, 6-5, on Wednesday.

“Morning’s slow but it’s just getting the routine things done before you get to breakfast,” Corbin said. “I don’t have the meeting in the morning with them. I do the meeting at night before we go to bed because it’s the same thing, it’s just when they’re more clear. In the morning, they’re not clear, they just want to eat. My own kids, they don’t even want you to talk to them.

“So we just get them to the ballpark get them ready. Once you get going, once you get their body moving, they’re in good shape.”

Texas A&M coach Rob Childress said he thought both teams handled the morning start well. He said the biggest difference in preparation for the Aggies was an earlier wake-up call.

“When guys are done with finals, you’ve got to get them up earlier,” he said. “They were up and ready to go.

“With an older team that’s what you expect as a coach. Both teams were ready to go.”

The Aggies’ loss to Vanderbilt meant they had to return to the field the next morning for the first game of Thursday’s session. Texas A&M defeated South Carolina, 4-1, behind a quality start from righthander Brigham Hill.

Hill said he was able to keep his pre-start routine the same Thursday—it just started a little earlier in the day than he is used to.

“I just tried to treat it like any other start,” Hill said. “I started about 30 minutes early, stretching and all that. I just tried to keep the same thing.”

Florida’s game against Alabama followed Texas A&M’s victory, and didn’t start until after noon. While it wasn’t a morning game, the Gators’ late night made for a taxing turnaround, both from a physical and mental standpoint. But coach Kevin O’Sullivan said the players showed their resiliency by bouncing back and winning Thursday’s elimination game.

“They were disappointed (Wednesday),” he said. “It was a tough game all the way around. They were tired—I think they’ll sleep great tonight and get ready to play (Friday).”

---

News and Notes

Atlantic Coast Conference: Louisville repeated as ACC Atlantic Division champions with a 22-8 record in conference action, and entered the ACC tournament as the No. 2 seed. It was a familiar position for the Cardinals, who have been one of the top two seeds in their conference tournament in seven of the last eight years. But Louisville has not won a conference tournament title since it won the Big East tournament in 2009. The Cardinals got off to a solid start in this year’s ACC tournament, defeating Wake Forest, 9-5, Wednesday in their opening game of pool play.

Big 12 Conference: Texas Tech is attempting to become just the fifth team in conference history to win the regular season and tournament titles. The last team to do so was Texas, which pulled the double in 2009. In 2011, Texas A&M won a share of the regular-season title and went on to win the tournament, but it was not the top seed that year. The Red Raiders last won the regular-season championship in 1997, and advanced to the title game before falling to Oklahoma, 19-17.

Big Ten Conference: Longtime Minnesota pitching coach Todd Oakes died Thursday after a four-year battle with acute myeloid leukemia. He was 55. Oakes had been the Golden Gophers’ pitching coach since 1998, and coached 26 pitchers who went on to be drafted, including all-star Glen Perkins. In a statement on Twitter, Perkins said there was “not a single person more responsible for the career I’ve had than Todd Oakes.” Minnesota, the Big Ten regular season champion, was eliminated from the conference tournament Thursday.

Pac-12 Conference: California righthander Daulton Jefferies threw three perfect innings Monday against Utah in his first appearance on the mound since March 24. The Preseason All-American had been sidelined first by tightness in his calf and then a strained shoulder. Jefferies said after the game that he felt good once he got over his nerves of returning to action. “I’ve been extremely anxious and ready for the moment to be on the mound,” he said. “I knew for the first batter I was going to be a little jittery and with a lot of adrenaline coming in to it.” The junior is 6-0, 1.20 in seven starts this season.

Southeastern Conference: Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart said Thursday that Dave Serrano would return for a sixth season as the Volunteers coach. Serrano, the 2007 Coach of the Year, was hired after the 2011 season and his original five-year contract was due to expire next month. He will now get another year to try and turn around a program that hasn’t been to the NCAA tournament since 2005. “Very simply stated, I still believe in Dave Serrano,” Hart said. “I still think there is hope for us to turn the corner with our baseball program. This struggle is not confined to the Dave Serrano era. We have struggled to get baseball to where we all want it for many years. I’m not happy, and Dave Serrano is not happy with the results after year five. But I have had the opportunity to observe up-close-and-personal, as we’ve gone through what was the fifth and final season in Dave’s existing contract, and never once did I see Dave Serrano cut a corner. And I never saw our team quit. Those are signs that the hope might be gone, but those signs never reared their heads.” Serrano is 130-138 at Tennessee, including a 29-28 mark this season. … Arkansas announced Monday that pitching coach Dave Jorn, 61, is retiring. Jorn had been the Razorbacks pitching coach since Dave Van Horn returned to his alma mater as head coach in 2002. Jorn also served in the same role from 1983-1988. Three former Arkansas pitchers are currently in the big leagues—Mike Bolsinger, Dallas Keuchel and Drew Smyly.

Other conferences: Two conferences have already completed their tournaments this week. Navy won the Patriot League championship series against Holy Cross, and will return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2011. Bethune-Cookman won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament, defeating Norfolk State in the championship game, 1-0. The Wildcats have now won the MEAC Tournament in two of the last three years after winning it in 2014. … UC Irvine defeated Cal State Northridge, 4-1, Thursday, giving coach Mike Gillespie the 1,100th victory of his career. He is the 34th Division I coach in history to reach the milestone, and the second this season, joining Rice coach Wayne Graham.