Wednesday’s College Baseball Scoreboard & Wrapup (5/23/12)

May 24, 2012
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Lower seeds made their presence felt in a big way on Wednesday, winning roughly half (29 of 59) of the day’s conference tournament games, from 19 conferences that were competing in quest of an NCAA automatic bid. In fact, each of those conferences featured at least one win by a lower-seeded team. Two games were postponed to Thursday, another involved Utah Valley (a longshot NCA at-large candidate, playing in the Great West, which does not have an automatic bid) and the 63rd game CB360 was tracking on Wed. say Oregon beat Portland in a 2-1 non-conference game (the Pac-12 and WCC don’t sponsor conference tournaments, neither do the Ivy League or Big West). front-page photo courtesy of Oklahoma

Scroll down for more summary text and some additional notes from Wednesday’s action (all results listed at bottom of the page).

CLICK HERE for Tuesday’s CB360 Primetime Performers Daily Honor Roll
CLICK HERE for Tuesday’s CB360 scoreboard

CLICK HERE for the CB360 Conference Tournament Central home page

CLICK HERE for CB360 Primetime Performers Weekly Honor Roll for the past week (May 14-20)

Four top seeds were upset on Wed., as 8-seed Georgia Tech beat Florida State (5-4) to open play in the ACC … Texas A&M Corpus Christi similarly beat Sam Houston in an 8-vs.-1 game (6-2, Southland Conf.) … SEC 7-seed Mississippi State followed up its Tuesday win over (6) Arkansas by edging top seed LSU, 3-2 … and Missouri Valley  5-seed Evansville eliminated top seed Indiana State, 8-5. A day earlier, 8-seed Creighton had upset Indiana State and the Jays won again on Wed., beating (4) Illinois State 11-5.

There also were five 2-seeds upset on Wednesday:
• South Carolina, 3-2 vs. (5) Vanderbilt (SEC)
• College of Charleston, 8-6 vs. (7) Citadel (SoCon)
• South Carolina Upstate, 11-2 vs. (5) Mercer (A-Sun)
• Toledo, 5-0 vs. (7) Miami Ohio (MAC)
• and Albany, 2-1 vs. (3) Binghamton (America East)

Here’s some other quick notes from Wednesday’s conference tournament action (by no means an all-inclusive sampling and we’re sure to collect more noteworthy items as the week progresses):

• All four SEC tournament games were won by lower seeds: (9) Ole Miss 2-0 to eliminate (6) Arkansas  … (7) Mississippi State 3-2 vs. (1) LSU … (10) Auburn 3-2 to eliminate (8) Georgia … and (5) Vanderbilt  3-2 vs. (2) South Carolina.

• Wednesday’s rash of wins by lower seeds also included three in the Mid-America Confernce and two each in the MVC, SoCon, Big Ten, Atlantic Sun and Atlantic 10 (see below).

• Vanderbilt’s late-season surge (18-6 over past six weeks) now includes seven straight wins, while North Carolina is riding a 14-game winning streak (longest at UNC since 2002).

• Texas A&M has won 11 straight games at the Big 12 Tournament, one victory shy of record set from 2000-02 by Nebraska (12 straight Big 12 tournament wins). A&M freshman Daniel Mengden now is 3-0 with a 0.68 in four spot-starts this season (16 Ks, 1 BB in 26.2 innings as a starter).

• LSU used seven pitchers in a planned staff rotation vs. Mississippi State.

• In Michigan State’s 10-9 win over Nebraska MSU’s Tony Bucciferro had five strikeouts with no walks and left with a 10-2 lead entering the 9th, but four MSU relievers allowed seven earned runs (3H-3BB-2HBP) in the 9th (10-9 win).

• Nebraska & Penn State now have to win six games in four days to win the Big Ten and claim an NCAA berth.

• Despite being the Southland Conference 8-seed, A&M Corpus Christi posted wins vs. each the league’s top-3 teams (Sam Houston, Southeastern Louisiana and Texas State) during the regular season.

• Mercer followed up its series sweep of South Carolina Upstate to end the regular season by beating the Spartans again to open postseason play.

• Speaking of the Atlantic Sun, top seed Belmont scored in the 9th to force extra innings and then outlasted 6-seed Stetson, 4-3 in 15 innings (game extended past midnight). Despite being the 6-seed, Stetson entered the day with the best RPI (53) among A-Sun teams.

• Five of the eight games played so far in the MVC have been won by lower seeds, with the top seed Indiana State and (3) Wichita State already eliminated.

• Century Mark (plus-one) – Any time a player tops 100 hits in season, that’s something. Campbell’s Mike Felton now has 101 (setting a Big South single-season record).

• 6-seed Georgia Southern really took it to SoCon 3-seed and NCAA at-large hopeful Elon, winning 19-2 with a 23-hit attack that featured no home runs (18 singles, 5 doubles). Elon led 1-0 thru four innings, but GS scored six in the 6th and nine in the 8th.

• Chris Statton became Mississippi State’s first pitcher since 1990 to reach 11 wins in a season.

• Garrett Carey’s home run leading off the bottom of the 9th gave 4-seed Oklahoma a 1-0 win over rival (5) Oklahoma State, spoiling another strong outing from OK State ace Andrew Heaney.

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WEDNESDAY’S KEY GAMES (schedule & results; May 23, 2012)
(sorted based on conference RPI, per WarrenNolan.com)

upsets in italics

ACC Tournament  (Greensboro, NC) … Tournament Central
• 8-seed Georgia Tech 5 … def. (1) Florida State 4
• 3-seed North Carolina State 3 … def. (6) Miami 2
• 2-seed North Carolina 6 … def. (7) Wake Forest 0

SEC Tournament  (Hoover, AL) … Tournament Central
• 9 seed Mississippi 2 … elim. (6) Arkansas 0
• 7-seed Mississippi State 3 … def..(1) LSU 2
• 10-seed Auburn 3 … elim. (8) Georgia 2
• 5-seed Vanderbilt 3 … def. (2) South Carolina 2

Big 12 Tournament  (Oklahoma City, OK) … Tournament Central
• 4-seed Oklahoma 1 … def. (5) Oklahoma State 0
• 1-seed Baylor 11 … def. (8) Kansas State 1
• 2-seed Texas A&M 10 … def. (7) Kansas 4
• 6-seed Missouri 5 … def. (3) Texas 0

Conference USA Tournament  (Pearl, MS) … Tournament Central
• 5-seed Memphis 14 .. def. (4) Southern Mississippi 3
• 1-seed Rice 7 … def. (8) Houston 5
• 3-seed Tulane 4 … def. (6) East Carolina 3

Missouri Valley Tournament  (Springfield, MO) … Tournament Central
• 5-seed Evansville 8 … elim. (1) Indiana State 5
• 2-seed Missouri State 7 … elim. (3) Wichita State 0
• 8-seed Creighton 11 … def. (4) Illinois State 5
• 6-seed Southern Illinois 9 … def. (7) Bradley 8

Southern Conference Tournament  (Greensville, SC) … Tournament Central
• 7-seed The Citadel 8  … def. (2) College of Charleston 6• 6-seed Georgia Southern 19 … def. (3) Elon 2
• 1-seed Appalachian State 7 … def. (8) Furman 5
• 4-seed Samford 7 … def. (5) Western Carolina 0

Western Athletic Tournament  (Mesa, AZ) … Tournament Central
• 5-seed Fresno State 8 … def. (4) Hawaii 2
• 3-seed Nevada 4 … def. (6) Louisiana Tech 3

Big Ten Tournament  (Columbus, OH) … Tournament Central
• 5-seed Michigan State 10 … def. (4) Nebraska 9
• 6-seed Ohio State 12 … def. (3) Penn State 5 

Atlantic Sun Tournament  (DeLand, FL) … Tournament Central
• 5-seed Mercer 11 ... def. (2) South Carolina Upstate 2
• 4-seed Florida Gulf Coast 12 … def. (3) Kennesaw State 4
•  1-seed Belmont 4 ... def. (6) Stetson 3  (15 inn.)

BIG EAST Tournament  (Clearwater, FL) … Tournament Central
• 3-seed Seton Hall 6 … def. (6) Rutgers 1
• 2-seed St. John’s 12 … def. (7) Notre Dame 2
• 1-seed Louisville 8 … def. (8) Pittsburgh 4
• 5-seed Connecticut 7 … def. (4) South Florida 2

Southland Tournament  (San Marcos, TX) … Tournament Central
• 4-seed Texas Arlington 6 … def. (5) McNeese State 2
• 8-seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 9 … def.  (1) Sam Houston State 2
• 3-seed Texas State 11 … def. (6) Stephen F. Austin 1
• 2-seed Southeastern Louisiana 6 … def. (7) Central Arkansas 3  

Mountain West Tournament  (Las Vegas, NV) … Tournament Central
• 4-team tournament starts at 3 PT at May 24

Sun Belt Tournament  (Bowling Green, KY) … Tournament Central
• 5-seed Louisiana-Monroe 7 … def. (4) South Alabama 4
• 2-seed Arkansas State 12 … def. (7) Middle Tennessee 1
• 1-seed Florida Atlantic 4 … def. (8) Western Kentucky 3

Big South Tournament  (High Point, NC) … Tournament Central
• 2-seed Campbell 10 … def. (7) High Point 4 (resumed from 5/22)
• 4-seed Gardner-Webb 4 … elim. (8) Charleston Southern 3
• 7-seed High Point 7 elim. (6) UNC Asheville 1
• 1-seed Coastal Carolina 5 … def. (5) Radford 3
• 3-seed Liberty vs. (2) Campbell (Big South, gm-8) – moved to 5/24, 11 a.m. ET

Colonial Tournament (Harrisonburg, VA) … Tournament Central
• 5-seed VCU 11 … def. (4) George Mason 7
• 3-seed Delaware 8 … def. (6) Towson 7  (12 inn.)
• 6-seed Towson vs. (4) George Mason  (elimination game) – ppd to 5/24

Ohio Valley Tournament  (Jackson, TN) … Tournament Central
•  4-seed Eastern Illinois 2 … def. (5) Morehead State 1
• 6-seed Southeast Missouri 4 … def. (3) Jacksonville (AL) State 1

Atlantic 10 Tournament  (Bronx, NY) … Tournament Central
• 5-seed Richmond 9 … def. (4) UMass 5 
• 6-seed St. Joseph’s 3 … def. (3) Rhode Island 0
• 3-seed Rhode Island 6 … elim. (4) UMass 5

Mid-American Tournament  (Avon, OH) … Tournament Central
• 5-seed Western Michigan 4 …def. (4) Ohio 2
• 6-seed Eastern Michigan 4 … def. (3) Central Michigan 3
• 7-seed Miami Ohio 5 … def.. (2) Toledo 0
• 1-seed Kent State 9 … def. (8) Buffalo 0

Metro Atlantic (MAAC) Tournament  (Troy, NY) … Tournament Central
• 4-team tournament begins May 24

Horizon Tournament  (Chicago, IL) … Tournament Central
• 4-seed Illinois-Chicago 10 … def. (5) Butler 1
• 6-seed Youngstown State 8 … def. (3) Milwaukee 4

America East Tournament  (Stony Brook, NY) … Tournament Central
• 3-seed Binghamton 2 … def. (2) Albany 1 
• 1-seed Stony Brook 14 … def. (4) Maine 6

Summit Tournament  (Tulsa, OK) … Tournament Central
• 4-team tournament begins May 24

Great West Tournament  (no auotomatic NCAA bid; 8-team tournament)  Tournament Central
• 1-seed Utah Valley 9 … def. (5) Houston Baptist 8

Non-Conference
• at Oregon 2 … def. Portland 1

 

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TUESDAY’S KEY GAMES (schedule & results; May 22, 2012)

upsets in italics

SEC Tournament  (Hoover, AL) … Tournament Central
• 4-seed Kentucky 2 … def. (9) Mississippi 0
• 7-seed Mississippi State 9 … def. (6) Arkansas 1
• 3-seed Florida 6 … def. (10) Auburn 1
• 5-seed Vanderbilt 4 … def. (8) Georgia 1

Big South Tournament  (High Point, NC) … Tournament Central
• 5-seed Gardner-Webb 8 … def. (4) Gardner-Webb 2
• 1-seed Coastal Carolina 9 … def. (8) Charleston Southern 8
• 3-seed Liberty 9 … def. (6) UNC Asheville 2
• 7-seed High Point vs. (2) Campbell – suspended to 5/23( (HP leads 2-1, t3)

Missouri Valley Tournament  (Springfield, MO) … Tournament Central
• 4-seed Illinois State 10 … def. (5) Evansville 3
• 8-seed Creighton 5 … def. (1) Indiana State 0
• 6-seed Southern Illinois 6 … def. (3) Wichita State 3

• 7-seed Bradley 5 … def. (2) Missouri State 3

Patriot League  (title series; gm-3/final)
• at 1-seed Army 8 … def. (2) Holy Cross 4
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF  |  Army Recap  |  HC Recap  |  Photos

Great West  (no auotomatic NCAA bid; 8-team tournament)  Tournament Central
•  1-seed Utah Valley 17 … def.  (8) New York Tech 10

Non-Conference
• Oregon at Portland – rainout (no makeup; still set to play Wed., May 23 at Oregon, 6 PT)
• UCLA 6 … won at UC Irvine 1
• Stanford 10 … won at Santa Clara 5
• at Washington State 1 … def. Gonzaga 0  (10 inn.)

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