Sunday was one of the top days for underdogs this season, as the lower-ranked/unranked teams in games involving CB360 top-50 teams won 38% of the time (62%). Three top-10 teams were on the wrong end of those upsets, as #13 Texas A&M won the series-deciding game at #6 Oklahoma (5-2), Mississippi State took the final at #2 Vanderbilt (9-8), and Oral Roberts headed home with a 5-2 win at 38 Arizona State. front-page photo courtesy of Rhode Island
In the two marquee series of the weekend, #1 Florida completed its series sweep at #7 LSU (7-3; led by the two-way talents of Austin Maddox) while #3 Florida State played to extra-innings at #4 Virginia for the third straight day – with FSU winning 12-11 (in 10) to avert the sweep. Sunday’s other head-to-head matchups between CB360 top-50 teams included series clinchers by: #5 South Carolina (8-3 vs. #50 Georgia) … #12 TCU (8-4 at #43 UNLV) and #27 Auburn (8-7 vs. #18 Arkansas). #10 Texas needed 14 innings to complete its sweep of #44 Kansas State (6-5), while #38 Southern Mississippi beat #29 Connecticut (6-3) in tournament action at the College of Charleston.
Several teams completed impressive weeks with another upset win over a top-50 team, as: Rhode Island won 3-2 at #25 College of Charleston (the Rams earlier beat #29 UConn and lost in 15 inn. to #38 Southern Miss.) … Xavier claimed the series-deciding game at #28 Louisville (4-1) … and Penn State was a series winner at #36 Wichita State (9-4, in 11). A couple other SEC series – along with Auburn-Arkansas – also went to the underdogs, as Alabama won 6-4 at #32 Mississippi and Kentucky beat #47 Tennessee again (7-3).
Texas Tech – one day after staging an amazing rally in the top of the 9th at #20 Baylor (9 runs, 5 of them w/ 2 outs … only to lose on a run in the bottom of the 9th) – headed home from Waco with the series-clinching win (10-6, in 10) – while Kansas claimed its Big 12 series vs. #40 Oklahoma State by virtue of a doubleheader sweep (7-2; 5-4). Evansville supplied yet another top-50 upset on Sunday, winning 6-5 over #49 Michigan State to win that non-conference series.
The five top-50 teams that were not in action on Sunday included four teams from the soggy west coast (#11 Cal State Fullerton, #17 Stanford, #26 UC Irvine and #30 Oregon State), plus a #31 Coastal Carolina team that had been playing at Pepperdine.
SUNDAY’S TOP-50 MATCHUPS (3/20/11)
(based on the CB360 Composite National Rankings … upsets in italics)
#1 Florida 7-15-2 won at #7 LSU 3-8-1 … series sweep
Final Stats | FL Recap | LSU Recap | Photos | Video Highlights
#3 Florida State 12-10-2 won at #4 Virginia 11-14-1 (10 inn.) … VA won series (2-1)
Final Stats | FSU Recap | VA Recap | Video Highlights
at #5 South Carolina 8-10-2 def. #50 Georgia 3-4-1 … SC won series (2-1)
Final Stats | SC Recap | GA Recap | Photos | Quotes
#13 Texas A&M 5-11-0 won at #6 Oklahoma 2-10-0 … A&M won series (2-1)
Final Stats | A&M Recap | OU Recap (w/ video) | Photos
at #10 Texas 6-14-1 def. #44 Kansas State 5-10-3 (14 inn.) … series sweep … TX now 15-5, K-St 12-7
Final Stats | TX Recap | K-St Recap | Quotes
#12 TCU 8-17-2 won at #43 UNLV 4-8-2 … TCU won series (2-1)
Final Stats | TCU Recap | UNLV Recap
at #27 Auburn 8-12-2 def. #18 Arkansas 7-11-0 … AUB won series (2-1)
Final Stats | AUB Recap | ARK Recap | Video Highlights
#38 Southern Mississippi 6-11-2 def. #29 Connecticut 3-4-1 (at College of Charleston) … SoMiss now 15-3, UConn 8-9
Final Stats | SoMiss Recap | UConn Recap
SUNDAY’S OTHER TOP-50 GAMES (3/20/11)
(based on the CB360 Composite National Rankings … upsets in italics)
Mississippi State 9-11-2 won at #2 Vanderbilt 8-13-1 … VAN won series
Final Stats | MS Recap | VAN Recap (w/ video)
Oral Roberts 5-9-1 won at #8 Arizona State 2-9-1 … ASU won series (2-1)
Final Stats | ORU Recap | ASU Recap
at #9 Clemson 9-17-3 def. Duke 3-3-3 … series sweep
Final Stats | CLEM Recap | Duke Recap | Postgame Audio (Duke)
Washington State at #14 Fresno State – rainout (no makeup)
#15 North Carolina 7-13-2 won at Virginia Tech 6-16-1 … series sweep
Final Stats | UNC Recap | VT Recap | Photos
at #16 Arizona 7-15-0, San Francisco 0-8-3
Fnal Stats | AZ Recap | SanFran Recap
at #19 Georgia Tech 11-13-3 def. North Carolina State 4-7-1 … series sweep
Final Stats | GT Recap (w/ video) | NC-St Recap
Texas Tech 10-19-1 won at #20 Baylor 6-8-1 (10 inn.) … TT won series (2-1)
Final Stats | TT Recap | BAY Recap (w. video) | Notes (TT) | Quotes (BAY)
#21 UCLA at Cal Poly – postponed (will try to play DH on Mon., 3/21, at 1 PT)
at #22 Tulane 7-10-0 def. New Orleans 6-12-0 … series sweep
Final Stats | TUL Recap | UNO Recap | Quotes
at #23 California 4-4-0 def. Ohio State 0-5-1 (gm-1) … series opener
Final Stats | Cal Recap | OSU Recap
at #23 California 11-14-4 def. Ohio State 1-3-1 (gm-2) … series-clincher (2-0)
Final Stats | Cal Stats | OSU Recap
at #24 Rice 11-10-2 def. Louisiana Tech 3-4-0 … series sweep
Final Stats | Rice Recap | LT Recap
Rhode Island 3-9-0 won at #25 College of Charleston 2-7-2
Final Stats | URI Recap | CofC Recap
Xavier 4-8-0 win at #28 Louisville 1-7-1 … XAV won series
Final Stats | XAV Recap | LOU Recap | Photos | Notes
Alabama 6-8-1 won at #32 Mississippi 4-9-2 … ‘Bama won series (2-1)
Final Stats | AL Recap | OleMiss Recap | Quotes
at #33 Troy 6-14-0 def. South Alabama 1-8-1 … Troy won series (2-1)
Final Stats | Troy Recap | So.-AL Recap | Postgame Audio
at #34 Southeastern Louisiana 8-8-2 def. McNeese St. 4-5-1 … McN-St won series (2-1)
Final Stats | SE-La. Recap | McN-St Recap
#35 Oregon 6-6-3 won at San Diego 4-13-0 … series sweep
Final Stats | ORE Recap | USD Recap
Penn State 9-11-2 won at #36 Wichita State 4-3-5 (11 inn.) … PSU won series (2-1)
Final Stats | PSU Recap | WICH Recap
at #37 Stetson 3-10-1 def. Mercer 2-7-2 … series sweep
Final Stats | STET Recap | MER Recap
at #39 East Tennessee 10-13-3 def. Jacksonville 8-10-1 … JU won series (2-1)
Final Stats | ETSU Recap | J’ville Recap
at Kansas 7-12-0 def. #40 Oklahoma State 2-8-2 (gm-1) … series tied
Final Stats | KU Recap | OK-St Recap
at Kansas 5-9-1 def. #40 Oklahoma State 4-13-2 (gm-2) … KU won series (2-1)
Final Stats | KU Recap (w/ postgame video) | OK-St Recap | Quotes
at #41 Texas State 8-17-0 def. Sam Houston State 1-4-0 … series sweep
Final Stats | TxSt Recap | SH-St Recap
at #42 East Carolina 6-12-0 def. Rutgers 0-4-2 … series sweep … ECU now 16-4, RUT 7-11
Final Stats | ECU Recap | RUT Recap
at #45 Central Florida 4-9-1 def. Columbia 2-6-2 … series sweep
Final Stats | UCF Recap | COL Recap
#45 James Madison 4-7-0 won at Virginia Commonwealth 1-7-4 … JMU won series (2-1)
Final Stats | JMU Recap | VCU Recap
at Kentucky 7-13-1 def. #47 Tennessee 3-13-3 … KY won series (2-1)
Final Stats | KY Recap | TN Recap | Photos
#48 Elon 9-9-2 won at Western Carolina 6-11-4 … series sweep
Final Stats | Elon Recap | WCU Recap
at Evansville 6-11-1 def. #49 Michigan State 5-8-3 … EV won series (2-1)
Final Stats | EV Recap | MSU Recap