Saturday’s wide-open action in the CB360 top-50 produced six upsets of top-10 teams (#1 Virginia, #2 South Carolina, #6 North Carolina twice, #8 Oregon State and #9 Texas) while Kansas State and UC Riverside wrapped up series sweeps of their CB360 top-50 opponents and seven other teams – Miami, UAB, Oregon, Stanford, St. Mary’s, Missouri and High Point – all completed series upsets by virtue of their results on Saturday. In general, it was another huge day for the underdogs – as the higher-ranked teams won only 55% of Saturday’s games (26-21) featuring CB360 top-50 teams. front-page photo courtesy of UAB
North Carolina State's Rob Chamra
Surging North Carolina State (cb360 #42) won the series opener at #1 Virginia (6-2), handing the Cavaliers their fourth loss all season and first in a game started by ace Danny Hultzen or #2 Tyler Wilson. Later in the day, #36 Mississippi State upended #2 South Carolina (5-3) while #9 Texas lost its series finale at Kansas (4-2).
Kansas State finished off its sweep of #45 Texas Tech (4-1), as did UC Riverside against #40 Cal State Bakersfield (8-4). Miami had an impressive doubleheader sweep at #6 North Carolina (13-6 in 10; 5-3; gm-3 on Sun.), while UAB closed its home series vs. #15 Rice with a similar DH sweep (7-2; 8-7 in 12).
UAB's Keith DePew
The upset trend continued in the Pac-10, as: Oregon beat #23 Arizona again to take that series (7-3) … #26 Stanford rallied for a series-clinching win vs. #24 UCLA (5-2) … and Washington State won 2-0 at #8 Oregon State, halting the Beavers’ 11-game win streak.
The other underdogs that won series vs. top-50 opponents included: St. Mary’s (7-6 at #34 Gonzaga) … Missouri (10-1 at #43 Baylor) … and High Point (won Fri. opener; then 9-3/2-1 DH at #41 Coastal Carolina on Sat.).
#12 Arizona State won again at #22 California, with that 6-0 shutout producing a series sweep for the Sun Devils. There were only three other series sweeps completed on Sat. (in addition to ASU, UCR and K-St.), as #16 Southern Mississippi took a DH from Marshall (16-8; 9-4), #19 TCU finished off UNLV (2-1) and Kent State took two more from Buffalo (13-3; 7-0). #46 Connecticut earlier had completed its sweep of Georgetown on Friday.
UC Riverside's Trevor Harigrove
In addition to those mentioned above, Saturday’s other upsets of CB360 top-50 teams were as follows: Sacramento State 2-1 vs. #13 Fresno State (FS went on to win 4-gm series) … Kentucky 3-2 vs. #14 Arkansas (series opener) … Jacksonville 10-4 in 10 inn. vs. #20 Stetson (Hatters went on to win series) … Wake Forest 9-3 at #25 Clemson (series tied) … Southern Illinois 3-2 at #35 Creighton (series tied) … and Georgia Southern 6-0 vs. #38 Elon (series-clincher, 2-0).
There are 17 series set to wrap up on Sunday, seven of which have yet to be decided: #42 North Carolina State at #1 Virginia … #2 South Carolina at #36 Mississippi State … Kentucky at #14 Arkansas (DH) … Wake Forest at #25 Clemson … #29 Georgia at Tennessee … Southern Illinois at #35 Creighton … and Fordham at #49 Charlotte.
SATURDAY’S TOP-50 MATCHUPS (4/23/11)
(based on the CB360 Composite National Rankings … upsets in italics)
Mississippi State's Ryan Collins
#42 North Carolina State 6-11-1 won at #1 Virginia 2-6-1 (gm-1) … series tied
Final Stats | NC-St. Recap | VA Recap | Photos | Video Highlights
at #1 Virginia 3-7-0 def. #42 North Carolina State 1-8-0 (gm-2) … series tied
Final Stats | VA Recap | NC-St. Recap | Photos | Video Highlights
at #36 Mississippi State 5-8-1 def. #2 South Carolina 3-7-2 … series tied
Final Stats | MS Recap | SC Recap
at #3 Florida 9-10-1 def. #37 Alabama 2-10-3 … series-clincher (2-0)
Final Stats | FL Recap | AL Recap | Photos
Miami's Nathan Melendres
at #4 Vanderbilt 10-13-1 def. #32 LSU 10-13-1 … series-clincher (2-0)
Final Stats | VAN Recap (w/ video) | LSU Recap | Video Highlights (LSU)
#21 Miami 13-13-0 won at #6 North Carolina 6-12-1 (10 inn.; gm-1) … series opener
Final Stats | MIA Recap | UNC Recap
#21 Miami 5-12-1 won at #6 North Carolina 3-8-0 (gm-2) … series-clincher (2-0)
Final Stats | MIA Recap | UNC Recap
Arizona State's Jake Barrett
at #7 Texas A&M 5-9-3 def. #17 Oklahoma State 1-6-2 … series-clincher (2-0)
Final Stats | A&M Recap | OK-St. Recap
#12 Arizona State 6-8-1 won at #22 California 0-5-1 … series sweep
Final Stats | ASU Recap | Cal Recap | Photos
at #48 Jacksonville 10-15-3 def. #20 Stetson 4-10-2 (gm-1) … series tied
Final Stats | JU Recap | STET Recap
Jacksonville's Jonathan Murphy
#20 Stetson 9-10-0 won at #48 Jacksonville 4-12-1 (gm-2) … series-clincher (2-1)
Final Stats | STET Recap | JU Recap
at #26 Stanford 5-8-0 def. #24 UCLA 2-11-4 … series-clincher (2-1)
Final Stats | STAN Recap | UCLA Recap
Stanford's Zach Jones
at #27 Auburn 9-13-0 def. #39 Mississippi 7-7-0 … series-clincher (2-1)
Final Stats | AUB Recap | OleMiss Recap | Photos
SATURDAY’S OTHER TOP-50 GAMES (4/23/11)
(based on the CB360 Composite National Rankings … upsets in italics)
#5 Cal State Fullerton 9-15-1 won at Cal Poly 3-5-2 … CP won series (2-1)
Final Stats | FULL Recap | CP Recap
Jake Marasco (Kansas)
Washington State 2-9-0 won at #8 Oregon State 0-4-0 … Ore.-St. won series (2-1)
Final Stats | WSU Recap | Ore.-St. Recap
at Kansas 4-7-0 def. #9 Texas 2-7-0 … TX won series (2-1)
Final Stats | KU Recap | TX Recap | Photos | Quotes
at #10 Florida State 10-9-2 def. Duke 3-7-1 … series-clincher (2-0)
Final Stats | FSU Recap (w/ video) | Duke Recap
Sacramento State's Brandon Sandoval
at #11 Georgia Tech 8-9-1 def. Boston College 1-7-3 … series-clincher (2-0)
Final Stats | GT Recap | BC Recap
at Sacramento State 2-9-0 def. #13 Fresno State 1-7-0 (7 inn.; gm-1) … FS leads series (2-1)
Final Stats | Sac.-St. Recap | FS Recap
#13 Fresno State 12-14-0 won at Sacramento State 4-13-3 (gm-2) … FS won series (3-1)
Final Stats | FS Recap | Sac.-St. Recap
at Kentucky 3-12-3 def. #14 Arkansas 2-3-1 (gm-1) … series opener
Final Stats | KY Recap | ARK Recap
Kentucky's Alex Meyer
#14 Arkansas at Kentucky (gm-2) – suspended (0-0; b-3rd; resume Sun. at 1 ET)
at UAB 7-9-0 def. #15 Rice 2-3-1 (gm-1) … series tied
Final Stats | UAB Recap | Rice Recap
at UAB 8-12-2 def. #15 Rice 7-13-3 (12 inn.; gm-2) … series-clincher (2-1)
Final Stats | UAB Recap | Rice Recap
at #16 Southern Mississippi 10-14-1 def. Marshall 8-13-2 (gm-1) … series-clincher (2-0)
Final Stats | SoMiss Recap | Marshall Recap
at #16 Southern Mississippi 9-13-2 def. Marshall 4-5-3 (gm-2) … series sweep
Final Stats | SoMiss Recap | Marshall Recap
Oregon's Ryon Healy
at #18 Oklahoma 4-14-0 def. Nebraska 1-3-1 … series-clincher (2-0)
Final Stats | OU Recap | NEB Recap (w/ video) | Photos
at #19 TCU 2-2-1 def. UNLV 1-9-3 … series sweep
Final Stats | TCU Recap | UNLV Recap | Photos
at Oregon 7-9-0 def. #23 Arizona 3-9-0 … series-clincher (2-1)
Final Stats | ORE Recap (w/ postgame video) | AZ Recap
Wake Forest 9-12-1 won at #25 Clemson 3-9-3 … series tied
Final Stats | WFU Recap | CLEM Recap
Wake Forest's Brett Armour
at #28 UC Irvine 6-9-0 def. UC Davis 1-7-1 … series-clincher (2-1)
Final Stats | UCI Recap | UCD Recap
#29 Georgia 8-10-3 won at Tennessee 6-8-0 … series tied
Final Stats | GA Recap | TN Recap (w/ video | Photos
#30 East Carolina 12-13-1 won at Houston 2-10-1 (7 inn.) … series-clincher (2-1)
Final Stats | ECU Recap | HOU Recap
Kyle Barraclough became the third straight St. Mary's pitcher to go the distance in the series win over WCC leader Gonzaga.
#31 Texas State 16-13-0 won at Northwestern (La.) State 2-6-2 … series-clincher (2-1)
Final Stats | TxSt Recap | NW-La. Recap
at #33 Troy 11-13-3 def. Western Kentucky 3-9-1 … series-clincher (2-0)
Final Stats | Troy Recap | WK Recap | Photos
St. Mary’s 7-13-0 won at #34 Gonzaga 6-9-2 … series-clincher (2-1)
Final Stats | SMC Recap | GON Recap
Southern Illinois 3-5-0 won at #35 Creighton 2-6-0 … series tied
Final Stats | SIU Recap | Creighton Recap
Georgia Southern's Andy Moye
at Georgia Southern 6-7-0 def. #38 Elon 0-6-2 … series-clincher (2-0)
Final Stats | GS Recap (w/ postgame video) | Elon Recap
UC Riverside 8-9-1 won at #40 Cal State Bakersfield 4-10-2 … series sweep
Final Stats | UCR Recap | CSB Recap
at High Point 9-13-1 def. #41 Coastal Carolina 3-7-2 (gm-1) … series-clincher (2-0)
Final Stats | HP Recap | CC Recap
High Point's Ryan Retz
#41 Coastal Carolina 11-13-3 won at High Point 2-2-0 (gm-2) … HP won series (2-1)
Final Stats | CC Recap | HP Recap
Missouri 10-16-1 won at #43 Baylor 1-5-3 … series-clincher (2-1)
Final Stats | MO Recap | BAY Recap | Video Highlights | Quotes
Missouri's Jonah Schmidt
at #44 East Tennessee State 7-9-1 def. Kennesaw State 3-8-2 … KS won series (2-1)
Final Stats | ETSU Recap | KS Recap
at Kansas State 4-10-0 def. #45 Texas Tech 1-7-1 … series sweep
Final Stats | K-St. Recap | TT Recap | Postgame Video | Notes
Kansas State's James Allen
#47 Central Florida 11-16-2 won at Memphis 9-14-1 … series-clincher (2-0)
Final Stats | UCF Recap | MEM Recap
at #49 Charlotte 6-9-0 def. Fordham 5-9-1 … series tied
Final Stats | CHAR Recap | FORD Recap
at #50 Kent State 13-18-2 def. Buffalo 3-8-1 (gm-1) … series-clincher (2-0)
Final Stats | Kent-St. Recap | BUFF Recap
at #50 Kent State 7-10-0 def. Buffalo 0-6-0 (gm-2) … series sweep
Final Stats | Kent-St. Recap | BUFF Recap