With many key series opening on Thursday throughout college baseball, the underdogs stood up in impressive fashion – including 7-of-9 series between CB360 top-50 teams that saw the lower-ranked teams emerge victorious. The underdogs overall won 42% (13-18) of Thursday’s games involving CB360 top-50 teams, as the #1, #3 and #4 teams all were upset (along with #14, #16 and #19). front-page photo courtesy of North Carolina
Thursday’s top-50 upsets and other noteworthy results included the following:
• at #9 North Carolina 6, #1 Virginia 0 … UVa still has not clinched the ACC Coastal Div. title (UVa 22-6, Ga. Tech 21-7); could UNC pull off late surge and be a top-8 national seed in NCAAs?
• at #38 Alabama 2, #3 South Carolina 1 … Tide (14-4; four teams 13-5) now lead wild West Div. race in SEC; SC fell out of 3-team tie atop SEC East (Florida now alone at 21-7)
• at #42 Georgia 5, Vanderbilt 4 … UGa pushed two games above .500 (must finish w/ winning record to be considered as NCAA at-large entrant); Commodores now 21-7 in SEC
• at #5 Florida State 8, #15 Clemson 6 … FSU topped nearest competitor to clinch ACC Atlantic Div. title
• #6 Texas 4, at #11 Texas A&M 2 … these teams now are all even atop the Big 12
• at #45 Baylor 4, #14 Oklahoma 2 … Bears have clinched winning record
• #17 Rice 4, at Southern Mississippi 0 … another dead heat, this one atop Conference USA
• #48 Mississippi 2, at #19 Arkansas 1 … both ended the day in the 4-team logjam for 2nd-place in the SEC West (neither has clinched being in or out of SEC Tournament race)
• Marshall 6, at #30 Central Florida 0 … UCF would like more security for its NCAA hopes (can’t finish w./ winning record in CUSA, now 10-12)
• #37 LSU 17, at #32 Mississippi State 1 … LSU making late move (but will it be enough?); Bulldogs in the 4-way SEC West tie
• at Texas Arlington 6, #34 Texas State 5 ... Bobcats already had clinched Southland Conf. title
• at Tennessee 5, #35 Auburn 2 … another costly loss for Auburn, now in the 4-way, 2nd-place tie in SEC West and in danger of not posting winning record (for NCAA at-large; 28-26)
• at South Alabama 9, #36 Troy 8 … loss dropped Troy from Sun Belt Conference lead (NCAA bubble team?)
• at Mercer 10, #44 East Tennessee State 8 … potentially costly loss for NCAA hopeful ETSU
• at Kennesaw State 10, #49 Jacksonville 8 … Dolphins are another NCAA bubble team, need to regroup and hope to take series/do well in A-Sun tournament
Most of the CB360 top-50 (40) were in action on Thursday, with several west-coast teams set to resume on Friday (the Pac-10, Big West and WCC do not have conference tournaments; regular-season champ gets NCAA automatic bid).
Nine of the CB36- top-50 teems that were idle on Thursday are west-coast teams – #7 Oregon State, #8 Arizona State, #12 CS Fullerton, #24 Arizona, #25 UC Irvine, #27 Stanford, #28 California, #29 UCLA and #50 Gonzaga (plus #26 Oklahoma State).
All photos on this page courtesy of the respective schools.
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THURSDAY’S TOP-50 MATCHUPS (5/19/11)
(based on the CB360 Composite National Rankings) … upsets in italics
at #9 North Carolina 6-10-0 def. #1 Virginia 0-4-1
Final Stats | UNC Recap | VA Recap | Photos
at #38 Alabama 2-6-1 def. #3 South Carolina 1-5-2
Final Stats | AL Recap | SC Recap | Photos | Quotes
at #42 Georgia 5-10-0 def. #4 Vanderbilt 4-8-0
Final Stats | GA Recap (w/ video) | VAN Recap | Photos
at #5 Florida State 8-9-2 def. #15 Clemson 6-10-3
Final Stats | FSU Recap (w/ video) | CLEM Recap | Photos
#6 Texas 4-9-0 won at #11 Texas A&M 2-7-1
Final Stats | TX Recap | A&M Recap
at #45 Baylor 4-12-1 def. #14 Oklahoma 2-4-0
Final Stats | BAY Recap (w/ video) | OU Recap (w/ video)
#17 Rice 4-7-0 won at #16 Southern Mississippi 0-5-4
Final Stats | Rice Recap | SoMiss Recap
#48 Mississippi 2-7-0 won at #19 Arkansas 1-6-0
Final Stats | OleMiss Recap | ARK Recap
#37 LSU 17-14-0 won at #32 Mississippi State 1-5-0
Final Stats | LSU Recap | MS Recap | Video Highlights
OTHER THURSDAY TOP-50 GAMES (5/19/11)
(based on the CB360 Composite National Rankings) … upsets in italics
at #2 Florida 9-12-3 def. Kentucky 6-8-2
Final Stats | FL Recap | KY Recap
#10 Georgia Tech 11-14-2 won at Virginia Tech 4-9-3
Final Stats | GT Recap | VT Recap | Photos (VT)
#13 TCU 9-24-0 won at New Mexico 0-6-1
Final Stats | TCU Recap | NM Recap
at #18 Fresno State 7-9-1 def. Nevada 1-5-2 (makeup from 4/17)
Final Stats | FS Recap | NEV Recap
at #20 Stetson 7-11-1 def. Belmont 4-7-1
Final Stats | STET Recap | BEL Recap
at #21 Miami 4-8-0 def. Duke 1-4-1
Final Stats | MIA Recap (w/ video) | Duke Recap | Notes
#22 Connecticut 3-6-1 won at Cincinnati 1-4-2
Final Stats | UConn Recap | CIN Recap
at #23 Florida International 9-14-1 def. Florida Atlantic 7-15-1
Final Stats | FIU Recap (w/ video) | FAU Recap
Marshall 6-9-0 won at #30 Central Florida 0-4-1
Final Stats | MAR Recap | UCF Recap
at #31 Kent State 4-9-0 def. Akron 3-9-3
Final Stats | KS Recap | Akron Recap
#33 East Carolina 5-12-0 won at Tulane 1-2-2
Final Stats | ECU Recap | TUL Recap
at Texas Arlington 6-9-2 def. #34 Texas State 5-12-2
Final Stats | UTA Recap | TxSt Recap | Photos
at Tennessee 5-13-1 def. #35 Auburn 2-6-0
Final Stats | TN Recap (w/ video) | AUB Recap | Photos
at South Alabama 9-13-3 def. #36 Troy 8-11-2
Final Stats | SA Recap (w/ video) | Troy Recap
at #39 Coastal Carolina 9-1-0 def. Charleston Southern 3-7-2
Final Stats | CC Recap | CS Recap
at #40 Elon 8-12-1 def. Furman 7-14-0
Final Stats | Elon Recap | FUR Recap
#41 Creighton 3-9-0 def. Missouri State 2-6-1 (at Omaha’s TD Ameritrade Park)
Final Stats | Creighton Recap | MS Recap
#43 North Carolina State 9-12-1 won at Boston College 4-9-0
Final Stats | NC-St. Recap | BC Recap
at Mercer 10-15-1 def. #44 East Tennessee State 8-15-2
Final Stats | MER Recap | ETSU Recap
at #46 Dallas Baptist 8-9-0 def. Charlotte 6-12-0
Final Stats | DB Recap | CHAR Recap
#47 Southeastern Louisiana 5-9-0 won at Northwestern (La.) State 0-8-3
Final Stats | SL Recap | NWS Recap
at Kennesaw State 10-12-0 def.#49 Jacksonville 8-12-1
Final Stats | KS Recap | JU Recap