May Madness is here! Most of college baseball has crossed the regular season finish line and it’s now on to postseason conference tournaments. Most people don’t know this, but American Idol actually planned its own season finale to correspond with college baseball’s conference tournament week (that may or may not be true, but it sounds good).

A good deal of this week’s installment of the notebook looks at NCAA bids & ramifications, but there’s a lot of other stuff in there as well…and Jimmy Iovine won’t be critiquing it!

David Lee was named the MEAC Tournament Most Outstanding Performer (BC photo).

3…More NCAA Tournament tickets punched over the weekend. Bethune-Cookman (MEAC), Prairie View A&M (SWAC) and Sacred Heart (Northeast) each claimed conference tournament titles to join Cornell of the Ivy League as the three teams with tickets punched to the dance so far. That leaves 26 automatic bids to be claimed in the next week before selections come out a week from today (5/29). The next bid will go to the winner of today’s Patriot League final between Army and Holy Cross. Bethune-Cookman’s title was its seventh straight.

3…Conference regular season championships to be decided this week that will determine automatic NCAA bids. The Big West, Pac-12 and West Coast Conference races have all come down to the final weekend of their regular season and none of the three leagues sponsor postseason tournaments. Cal State Fullerton (33-18, 15-6 Big West)is secure for an at-large bid when it visits Long Beach State (27-25, 14-7). San Diego (39-13) and Pepperdine (32-20) share 14-7 marks in the WCC heading into their showdown in Malibu. The Pac-12 is more complicated with Oregon (41-14, 19-8) holding a one game lead over Arizona (36-16, 18-9) and a two game lead over UCLA (38-14, 17-10), Stanford (36-14, 17-10) and Arizona State (35-18, 17-10). The Ducks are at Oregon State, Arizona hosts ASU, UCLA hosts USC, and Stanford hosts Cal this weekend. Long Beach State has the least solid footing to receive an at-large bid of any of the above mentioned teams. (Arizona State is ineligible for this year’s NCAA Tournament.)

10…Wins with no losses by UCLA in midweek games this season. The latest such win for the Bruins came with Tuesday’s 6-3 decision over Cal State Fullerton. Such wins over the likes of Pepperdine and UC Irvine (along with their Pac-12 success) have put UCLA in position for a top eight national seed next week. They put their perfect midweek record on the line when they visit UC Irvine Tuesday night.

6…SEC teams that tasted midweek defeats on the same day last week. Florida, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Auburn, and Tennessee each lost on Tuesday to Samford, Murray State, Arkansas State, Central Arkansas, Jacksonville State, and Middle Tennessee State, respectively.

Oregon's Brett Thomas

3…Sacrifice bunts in one game by Oregon clean-up batter Brett Thomas. The sophomore leads the Ducks with a .310 average and 13 doubles, but he dropped three bunts down to help Oregon score single runs in five different innings in a 5-4 win over Seattle en-route to a series sweep.

15…Conference regular season championships for LSU, an SEC record, after taking two of three games from South Carolina to close the regular season. The Tigers (42-14, 19-11) claimed their first outright SEC crown since 2003.

5…Straight wins by Vanderbilt to close the regular season. The Commodores did not have a winning streak of more than three games prior to winning the last two games of the LSU series last week and then sweeping Ole Miss this past weekend. After starting 2012 with a 1-7 record Vanderbilt’s 29-25 overall mark (16-14 SEC) heading into the SEC Tournament guarantees a winning record, which is the minimal requirement for an NCAA at-large berth.

32…Game winning streak by Utah Valley that ended with Tuesday’s 11-10 loss at Utah. The Wolverines (43-12, 28-0) have still won 36 of their last 37 games after closing Great West Conference play with a four game sweep of Northern Colorado. Their 32 game winning streak fell two short of the Division One record shared by Texas (1977) and Florida Atlantic (1999). They have a chance for more wins this week, but with an RPI of 67 last week their NCAA future is tenuous, because the Great West Conference does not receive an automatic bid.

Florida's Preston Tuck

1…Home run hit by Florida’s Preston Tucker for his school record-setting 320^th career hit in Thursday’s 6-0 win over Auburn. Tucker’s blast moved him past Mark Ellis on the Gator’s all-time hit list and also marked the second time this season he used a home run to set a school record. His home run back on Feb. 25 gave him Florida’s all-time RBI mark. Tucker and the Gators took two of three games from the Tigers to close the regular season.

19…ACC wins by North Carolina State – a school record – after Thursday’s 10-5 win over Florida State. Wolfpack freshman Carolos Rodon also improved to 9-0 to tie the school freshman record for wins in the victory, but the Seminoles still took the last two games of the series to clinch the number one seed in the ACC Tournament.

22…Straight home wins for Baylor, the longest active streak in the nation, after Thursday’s 16-5 dismantling of Texas. The 22 straight is a school record for home wins. Baylor also became the first Big 12 team to go unbeaten at home in a season with its 12-0 conference mark. The last two games of the series were played in Austin.

34…Years since the Bears had shutout the Longhorns in Austin prior to Friday’s  4-0 Baylor victory. Trent Blank (10-1) and Crayton Bare combined on the goose egg with 7.0 and 2.0 innings, respectively. Baylor has the top seed heading into the Big 12 Tournament.

27…Years since Indiana State had won a Missouri Valley Confererence championship prior to beating Missouri State 6-3 Thursday to clinch this year’s regular season crown. The Sycamores (41-15, 14-7) won the title outright, something they had never done before. They shared the 1985 championship with Wichita State. Dakota Bacus (7-3) tossed his third complete game of the season in Thursday’s clinching victory.

Missouri State's Nick Petree

72 1/3…Innings without giving-up an earned run that ended for Missouri State’s Nick Petree in that loss to the Sycamores when ISU plated a first inning run en-route to the MVC clinching victory. Petree (10-3) also carried a 38.0 inning scoreless streak into the crucial game. The last earned run he had surrendered came more than two months ago – March 9 against SIU-Edwardsville. Petree did lose once during the streak when two unearned runs led to a 2-1 loss to Bradley in April. Petree missed the 2010 season due to Tommy John surgery. He has a 0.91 ERA with 102 strikeouts in 99 1/3 innings this season.

43…Wins for Stony Brook, a school record, with Saturday’s double header sweep of Maine. The Seawolves (43-11, 21-3) won 19 of their last 20 games to close the regular season to set a new high water mark for program wins for a second straight season. Stony Brook is the number one seed in the America East Tournament. They play No. 4 seed and defending tournament champ Maine in the first round on Wednesday.

17…Consecutive conference championships by Rice, a streak that dates back to 1996, after taking two of three games from Central Florida over the weekend to claim the Conference USA regular season crown. The current streak includes tournament titles. Rice has won seven straight C-USA titles since joining the league in 2006. Rice and UCF split the first two games of their series, which set-up a winner take all regular season finale on Saturday for the first time in C-USA history.

13…Years since Wake Forest swept a regular season series from ACC power Clemson prior to taking all three games from the Tigers to close the regular season. Saturday’s 7-0 win capped the sweep. It snapped a string of 98 straight games Clemson had gone without being blanked. Wake(32-22, 13-17) has an RPI of 32 in the latest Warren Nolen rankings (official NCAA RPI due out later today) and is in good shape to receive at least an at-large NCAA bid.

3…WAC regular season champions after New Mexico State, Sacramento State and Nevada finished the regular season with identical 11-7 marks in league play.  New Mexico State is the No. 1 seed and Sacramento State is the No. 2 seed, with each receiving first round byes in the WAC Tournament.

613…Wins by Pat Casey at the helm of Oregon State after Sunday’s 7-5 win over Washington State. The 613 victories ties Casey with Jack Riley for the most in OSU history. Beaver Michael Conforto used a three-run home run to set the Oregon State single season record with 69 RBIs this year. He currently leads the Pac-12 and could become the first Beaver to do so since 1982.

2…Million-plus college baseball fans (paid attendance) who flocked to games in SEC stadiums in 2012. It’s the first time any conference has surpassed the two million mark in a season. LSU, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, South Carolina, and Florida drew more than 1.6 million of that total. Conference teams also averaged more than 5,000 per game for the first time ever.

Utah Valley has now won 32 straight games (courtesy Utah Valley athletics).

(CB360 co-founder Pete LaFleur contributed to this report.)

We’re not looking at RPIs, ok there are some RPI references, but we are taking a look at more highly noteworthy numbers as teams and players start heading to the finish line of the 2012 college baseball season. From winning streaks to losses, saves, complete games, no-hitters and all points in between … here’s this week’s By The Numbers:

32 … Game winning streak by Utah Valley (39-11, 24-0). The Wolverines were only 7-11 after a 13-3 loss to Sacramento State on March 22, but they haven’t tasted defeat since. Texas (1977) and Florida Atlantic (1999) share the record for the longest D1 winning streak at 34 games. The Wolverines need a win on Tuesday against Utah to tie the 1982 Texas team for the second-longest DI winning streak of all-time. They potentially could push their winning streak to 41 by the time NCAA selections come out.

3 … Stunning losses at Oklahoma over the weekend by Baylor. The Bears started Big 12 play with a record 18-0 mark, but after having conference byes for two straight weekends they suffered their first conference losses of 2012. Saturday’s setbacks were by finals of 1-0 (in 10 innings) and 2-1, but they were thumped 12-6 on Sunday to suffer their second 3-game losing streak of the year.  Baylor (39-11, 18-3) still has locked-up the Big 12 regula- season title and had won nine straight series dating back to the 2011 season.

Kurt Heyer

5 … Complete games pitched this season by Arizona’s Kurt Heyer, after Friday’s 3-1 win over Cal. Heyer fanned nine and allowed onlt an unearned run on five hits against the Bears. His individual complete game total is better than eight of the 10 teams in the Pac-12. With seven staff CGs, Oregon is the only team in the conference to boast more than Heyer.

1 … CG by the LSU pitching staff this season. It came from Kevin Gausman in Friday’s 2-1 win over Vanderbilt.  Gausman struck out 11 and scattered five hits to help the Tigers clinch at least a tie for the SEC Western Division title and a bye in the first round of the SEC Tournament.

2-for-12 … LSU outfielder Raph Rhymes’ hits and at-bats for the week. Rhymes entered the week with a Supermanesque .500 batting average for the season, but the Vanderbilt pitching staff proved to be his Kryptonite over the weekend. Still, Rhymes is batting an amazing .478 for the season.

.500 … Vanderbilt’s season winning percentage after Tuesday’s 3-2 win over Louisville. The Commodores (now 26-25) started the season 1-7 and had not been even in the win-loss column since being 0-0 on opening day, but they went on to move above .500 for the first time this year by taking two of three games at LSU over the weekend.  Tuesday’s win was head coach Tim Corbin’s 400th at Vanderbilt. He missed Sunday’s 5-4 extra-inning win over the Tigers to be home with his sick daughter.

35 … Straight years Florida State has won at least 40 games. The Seminoles reached the mark this season with Tuesday’s 9-1 win over Stetson. FSU remains stuck on 40 after falling 6-5 to the Hatters the next day and then dropping their series-opener at Clemson. The Seminoles and Tigers will complete their series Monday with a doubleheader. The second game (6 p.m. ET) will be televised on ESPNU.

30 … Win plateau reached by Michigan State with Tuesday’s 15-7 victory over Western Michigan. After winning 34 games in 2010 and 36 last year, it marks the first time in program history the Spartans have recorded three straight 30-win seasons. The Spartans (33-17, 12-9) went on to take two of three in their weekend series with Iowa. With an RPI in the mid-40s, they remain hopeful of at least an at-large NCAA berth.

4-0 … The score of Michigan State’s biggest win of the season – a March 7 victory at Baylor. The Spartans are 47th in the current RPI (per WarrenNolan.com) and that number is propped up significantly by that victory over a Baylor team that remains in the running for a top-8 national seed.

20 … Road wins by Purdue this season – the second-highest total of any DI team in the nation this season. Ivy League champion Cornell leads the country with 22 road victories. The Boilermakers, who clinched their first Big Ten title since 1909 by taking two of three games at home from Michigan over the weekend, have played only 16 home games with one more remaining. They close the regular season at Iowa next weekend. Despite the lack of home dates, Purdue (39-9, 16-4) already has set a school record for wins this season.

Joe Rogers

3 … Road losses by Central Florida – tied with UCLA for the fewest of any DI team in the nation this season. UCF’s only road setbacks came on April 13 at Southern Mississippi, Feb. 22 at Florida and at Marshall over the weekend. The Knights (39-13, 14-7) still took two of three from the Thundering Herd to set up next week’s showdown for the C-USA regular season title with Rice (36-14, 15-7).

28 … Career saves by Central Florida’s Joe Rogers after notching one in Friday’s comeback win over Marshall. UCF plated three runs in the top of the 9th and then Rogers struck out the side in the bottom of the inning to shut the door on the 6-5 victory.

35 … Appearances on the mound by UCLA’s David Berg. The freshman leads the Pac-12 and set the Bruin’s program record for appearances in a season with his 34th trip to the mound in Saturday’s 4-2 win over Washington. Berg appeared in all three wins over the Huskies over the weekend, totaling 3.1 innings and allowing only two hits with three strikeouts. Berg is 5-2 with a 1.40 ERA in 51.1 innings while serving as the primary set-up man for close  Scott Griggs (13 Saves, 2.20 ERA).

16 … Saves in 2012 by North Carolina’s Michael Morin after saving 2-1 and 3-0 wins over Duke on Friday and Sunday, respectively. Morin now ranks second on the UNC all-time single season saves list behind Andrew Carignan (2007) and Thad Crisman (1993), who each had 18 saves. Morin’s efforts also helped North Carolina clinch the ACC’s Coastal Division crown. They hold a three-game lead over second-place Virginia and own the tiebreaker with the Cavaliers heading into the final weekend of the regular season. Morin is 5-3 with a 0.94 ERA in 48.0 innings and 31 appearances this season.

1 … Game this season in which Cal State Fullerton has hit multiple home runs. It came in Friday’s 9-7 win over UC Santa Barbara when J.D. Davis, Michael Lorenzen and Matt Chapman all left the yard. The three long balls nearly doubled Fullerton’s home run production in 2012. The Titans entered last week ranked 283rd in the nation with only five home runs all season. Fullerton (32-15, 14-4) swept the series with the Gauchos for their 11th straight series win. They lead Long Beach State by two games atop the Big West standings.

Jeremy Baltz

36 … Career home runs, a St. John’s school record, by Jeremy Baltz. The junior went deep for the 36th time in his career in Saturday’s 6-3 win at Louisville. Baltz hit 24 pre-BBCOR home runs as a freshman in 2010 but dipped to six long balls a year ago. Saturday’s shot was his sixth of 2012. The Red Storm (32-19, 17-7) lost two of three games to the Cardinals (35-17, 16-8), but they still lead the Big East standings by one game over Louisville and South Florida.

16 … Years since Texas A&M’s previous 9-inning no-hitter prior to Ross Stripling’s no-no in Saturday’s 1-0 win over San Diego State. The senior used 106 pitches with seven strikeouts to fire the gem on the day he was scheduled to graduate. A 5th-inning walk was the only blemish on an otherwise perfect day – and that runner was erased on a caught-strealing, as Stripling ultimately faced the minimum 27 batters.

29-5 … Kentucky’s home record this season to set a program high-water mark for home victories after a weekend sweep of Alabama. The Wildcats (41-11, 18-9) also have the second-most total victories in the 107 year history of Kentucky baseball. They remain in the running for the SEC regular-season championship and the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament.

73 … Hits this season by UK’s Austin Cousino – a freshman record at Kentucky. Cousino’s ninth home run of the season in Sunday’s 8-1 win over Alabama also gave him the Wildcats freshman for runs scored (54). Cousino is batting a team-best .343 with 18 doubles, 11 stolen bases, a .543 slugging percentage, and .421 on base percentage.

6 1/3 … Innings pitched by Stanford’s Stephen Piscotty in his first career start – an 8-3 win over Washington State on Saturday at Sunken Diamond. Piscotty made 156 previous career combined starts  at third base, first base, left field, and designated hitter for the Cardinal. In addition to earning the win, Piscotty was 3-for-3 at the plate with two walks, while issuing no walks of his own from the mound. The projected first-round pick in next month’s MLB Draft also had made 10 previous relief appearances. He is batting .344 with five home runs and a team-high 50 RBIs this season to go with a 3-2 record and 2.49 ERA.

Trea Turner

50 … Stolen bases by North Carolina State’s Trea Turner. The freshman swiped a pair in Saturday’s 6-2 win at Virginia Tech to join Georgia Tech’s Ty Griffin (50 in 1986) and UNC’s Brian Roberts (63 in 1997) as the only other players in ACC history to steal as many as 50 bases in a season. Turner has been caught only twice all year.

12 … Strikeouts in 7.0 innings by Loyola Marymount’s Trevor Megill in Saturday’s 8-6 win over San Diego. The win gave LMU the series win over the Toreros in the important WCC series. The effort helped the Lions take two of three games from the West Coast Conference-leading Toreros. Loyola has remaining series against second place Pepperdine and Santa Clara, while San Diego’s only WCC games left are vs. Pepperdine in two weeks. With no postseason tournament, the WCC regular-season champion receives the league’s automatic NCAA bid.

40 … Wins for Indiana State – the first 40-win season for the Sycamores in 20 years. ISU swept Southern Illinois over the weekend to reach the mark. The Sycamores (40-12, 13-5 MVC) travel upstate to face Purdue on Tuesday and then will host Missouri State (36-17, 11-6) to close out the regular season this weekend. The winner of that series will take the top seed in the Missouri Valley Conference Touranament.

4 … The number of DI baseball teams that have cracked 40 wins this season … the previously-mentioned Kentucky (41-11), Florida State (40-10), Indiana State (40-12) and UCF (40-12).

With less than a month to go before NCAA selections are made, here’s our latest “By The Numbers” look at the latest college baseball action…

Chris Cruz (right with helmet) is mobbed by his teammates after his Ivy League Championship walk off home run to beat Dartmouth (Cornell photo).

1…NCAA Tournament ticket punched. Cornell grabbed the first automatic bid of 2012 by taking two of three games from Dartmouth in the Ivy League Championship series over the weekend. The teams split Saturday’s games and then Cornell downed the Big Green 3-1 in 11 innings on Sunday with a two-run walk-off home run from right fielder Chris Cruz. The shot was Cruz’s school record 12^thof the season. The NCAA bid is just the second all-time for Cornell and its first since 1977.

28 … Current winning streak for Utah Valley, which has posted wins this season over Arizona and Arizona State (the NCAA record is a 34-game winning streak, set by Texas in 1977 and matched by Florida Atlantic in ’99). Utah Valley’s conference, the Great West, does not have an automatic NCAA bid – so the Wolverines may need to win out simply to be in the discussion for an NCAA at-large spot. Utah Valley is 35-11 overall and has a #62 RPI (per WarrenNolan.com), largely due to its #209 strength-of-schedule. Wolverine senior Goose Kallunki not only has one of the best names in the nation, but also is among the national leaders with a .419 batting average, 15 home runs, 72 RBIs, and a .747 slugging percentage. Utah Valley  has nine games left in the regular season, followed by the Great West Tournament.

If Las Vegas had been laying odds in the preseason for what three teams would post win streaks higher than 20 games this season, how much could have been made by predicting the trifecta of: Kentucky (won first 22 of season) … Baylor (won 24 straight, from March 16-April 22) … and Utah Valley (current 28-gm win streak, started March 23)?

.500…Batting average of LSU outfielder Raph Rhymes. The junior, who spent a season at a junior college in 2010 when he couldn’t make the LSU roster, is 85-for-170 at the plate in 45 games this season. He sports a .618 slugging percentage and .544 on base percentage as well. Rhymes was 5-for-11 over the weekend while helping LSU take two of three games from Ole Miss to improve to 38-11 overall and an SEC best (tied with South Carolina ) 16-8).

80 1/3…Innings between home runs allowed this season by LSU pitcher Matt Gausman. The sophomore gave-up a leadoff shot to Ole Miss first baseman Matt Snyder in Friday’s game. It was the first long ball he had allowed since the first inning of LSU’s Feb. 17 season opener against Air Force.

UCLA's Adam Plutko

19…Straight non-conference wins for UCLA after Saturday’s 5-1 and 3-2 decisions over visiting Purdue. The Bruin pitching staff tallied 17 strikeouts with no walks in 18.0 innings in Saturday’s big showdown with the Big Ten Conference leader. Adam Plutko led the way for the staff with 7 Ks in 8 1/2 IP, but the 19-game streak ended on Sunday…

10…Runs scored in the top of the 9^th inning by Purdue in Sunday’s series finale with UCLA to win 15-11. Seven of the runs came with two outs in the frame as the Boilermakers salvaged a win. 15 batters went to the plate in the inning. Bruin pitchers walked eight in the loss.

1…Series loss this season by Purdue after dropping those games at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Boilermaker Friday starter Joe Haase (7-1) lost for the first time this year after allowing 3 ER in 6.0 innings, while his loss was also the first time the Boilers lost in a series opener in 2012.

113…Years since Purdue won its only Big Ten baseball championship. The Boilermakers (35-9, 14-4), whose only previous NCAA Tournament bid was in 1987, have remaining B1G series vs. ninth and tenth place Iowa and Michigan to close the regular season.

106…Years since Indiana and Nebraska had met on the baseball diamond prior to Saturday’s 13-2 Cornhusker victory in Bloomington. It also marked the first time IU has lost a Big Ten series opener this season, but the Hoosiers (24-24, 11-7) won the last two games of the series and sit in second place in the Big Ten behind arch rival Purdue.

Oregon's Alex Keudell

7…Wins in as many starts by Oregon’s Alex Keudell after going the distance in Friday’s key 6-1 win at Arizona. Keudell fanned seven in his second straight complete game. He has allowed just six runs in his last 57.0 innings (0.95 ERA).

12-4…Oregon’s record against ranked opponents after taking two of three games from Arizona over the weekend in Tucson. The wins keep the Ducks (34-14, 16-8) in first place in the Pac-12 standings. Oregon has also won nine series this season, including five on the road against ranked teams.

1…Big 12 regular season championship secured by Baylor. The Bears (38-8, 18-0) were idle over the weekend, but could lose all six of their remaining conference games against Oklahoma and Texas without worry. Current second place teams Texas A&M, Oklahoma State and Texas are all 13-8.

10…Wins in its last 11 games by Oklahoma State to find itself in the thick of the Big 12 race and back in the NCAA Tournament picture. Three of those wins and the only loss in the current stretch came against arch rival Oklahoma. The Cowboys won a midweek game over the Sooners on April 24 and took two of three from OU over the weekend in the Bedlam Series. The Cowboys play two games at Ohio State this week and then host another non-conference series with Alcorn State this weekend before hosting Texas A&M in the Aggies’ last series in the Big 12 May 17-19.

32…Wins for USC Upstate this season – its first full season of D1 eligibility. The Spartans, who won a combined total of 36 games over the last two seasons, are eligible for the D1 NCAA Tournament for the first time this season. They were picked to finish just 10^th in the Atlantic Sun preseason poll, but currently lead the conference with a 15-6 mark after taking two of three games over the weekend from preseason favorite Stetson.

USC Upstate's Gaither Bumgardner

11…Straight at-bats with a hit by USC Upstate’s Gaither Bumgardner before the streak ended in Friday’s 8-4 win over Stetson. Bumgardner was coming off back to back 5-for-5 performances, but grounded out in his first at-bat to fall three short of the NCAA record set in 1977. He had also reached base safely 15 consecutive times, which is three short of the record set in 2002.

10…Series won vs. SEC Eastern Division foes in the last four seasons by Florida after taking their series at Kentucky over the weekend. The Gators took two of three games from the Wildcats and have only lost two such series since 2009.

8…Unanswered runs scored by red hot South Carolina in Friday’s 8-6 10 inning win at Arkansas. The Razorbacks scored all six of their runs off Gamecocks ace Michael Roth in the first three innings, but then saw South Carolina plate three in the 4^th and 6^th innings before Evan Marzilli’s RBI double in the 10^th provided the winning margin. South Carolina (36-12, 16-8) would take two of three games in the series in Fayetteville and currently leads the SEC’s Eastern Division.

19-5…South Carolina’s record in its last 25 games.  The Gamecocks started SEC play with a 1-5 mark after being swept by Kentucky and then dropping two of three at home , but have been red hot since then. The 19 wins in their last 24 games includes a 15-3 mark in conference play.

South Carolina's Michael Roth

2…Doubles hit this season by South Carolina Friday night pitcher Michael Roth, who connected on his second two-bagger, which drove-in two runs, as a pinch hitter in Sunday’s 10-7 win over Arkansas. It was Roth’s second pinch hit in as many days. He is 4-for-14 at the plate (.286) this season, while going 4-0 on the mound with a 2.82 ERA.

15-11…Kentucky’s record since rattling-off 22 straight wins to start the season. The Wildcats (37-11, 15-9) are just 9-9 over the last four weeks, including consecutive SEC series losses to Vanderbilt and Florida. They are percentage points behind the Gamecocks in the SEC Eastern Division.

60…Feet – the combined distance of Oregon State’s first three hits against Stanford’s Mark Appel Friday night in Corvallis. The Beavers’ first two hits were swinging bunts and the last was a bunt single. Stanford scored all eight of its runs in the last two innings for an 8-2 victory, but Oregon State (30-15, 11-10) won Saturday and Sunday to win the series. Stanford and OSU now share fifth place in the Pac-12 standings.

11…Series wins in 2012 for Indiana State after taking two of three games in their Missouri Valley Conference series with Wichita State. The Sycamores (36-12, 10-5) are the only MVC team that has not lost a series this season. They are percentage points behind Missouri St. on the MVC leader board and host the Bears May 17-19 in the last regular season series for both teams.

10…Consecutive wins by Florida State heading into Monday night’s series finale with visiting Maryland (7 p.m. ET on ESPNU). The Seminoles (39-7, 21-2) haven’t lost since their series finale at Boston College on April 15. Their only other ACC setback was in their finale at Wake Forest on March 25.

8…Straight series New Mexico had won prior to dropping two of three games in Ft. Worth over the weekend to TCU. The Lobos (27-21, 13-5) and Horned Frogs (29-16, 13-5) share the lead in the Mountain West Conference. With just five teams in the league teams play two conference series against each other this season. New Mexico took two of three from TCU in the first meeting in Albuquerque.

23-24…Vanderbilt’s overall record after taking two of three games from rival Tennessee over the weekend in Knoxville. The series win comes on the heels of the Commodores taking two of three from Kentucky last week. Vandy started the season by dropping seven of its first eight games, but now finds itself creeping back into the mix for an NCAA bid. Vanderbilt’s last SEC series are against LSU and Ole Miss. It could have to do what Georgia did last year – get into the SEC Tournament and win a few games – to receive an at-large NCAA bid.

Current Atlantic Sun leader USC Upstate has been one of the bigger surprises in DI baseball this season (Upstate photo).

With just three weekends remaining in the regular season, selection Monday is on the horizon for college baseball teams looking to make final statements to the NCAA selection committee. This CB360 Notebook special takes a look at a handful of conferences that could receive just one NCAA bid at the end of this month, what their current conference standings look like, RPIs of the top teams in the standings, and who could end up with the bids. Not every conference listed below will end up with just a single NCAA bid, but how things go down the stretch in the regular season and in their postseason tournaments (for those that have them) will greatly affect their bids and the bids of other leagues.

We’re not looking at the SEC, ACC, Big 12, or Pac-12 that are locks to get multiple spots in the tourney, we are looking at the conferences battling for a single spot and what some of them need to do to get multiple bids.

We will look at more conference races next week as well…

America East      Record      RPI

Stony Brook (34-10, 12-2)  119
Binghamton (18-18, 9-3)  201
Maine (22-19, 8-4)  210

Stony Brook, which won a school record 42 games last year, came into the season as the favorite to win the America East. The Seawolves have played like the favorite all year long. Maine claimed last year’s automatic NCAA bid after knocking-off Stony Brook in the conference tournament. Winning another postseason crown this year will be the only way the Black Bears gain NCAA entry this season.

Atlantic Sun       Record      RPI

USC Upstate (30-13, 13-5)  73
Belmont (28-17, 12-6)  60
Stetson (29-15, 11-7)  50
Kennesaw St. (28-20, 12-9)  81

South Carolina Upstate is the biggest surprise in the conference. In its first season of full DI eligibility, the Trojans have 30 overall wins and lead the conference heading into the homestretch of the regular season after being picked to finish last in the 10-team league. Upstate just completed a five year transition from Division II.

Stetson was the co-preseason favorite to win the A-Sun. The Hatters’ overall record is solid, and a good non-conference schedule with games against the likes of Florida State, Central Florida and Miami gives them the best RPI in the conference and the best chance for the league to receive an at-large NCAA bid if they don’t win the conference postseason tournament. Stetson and Jacksonville both received at-large bids last year, joining tournament champion Belmont in the NCAA Tournament. It marked the first time in four years the league received multiple bids.

Big series this weekend with Upstate at Stetson.

Atlantic 10          Record  RPI

Rhode Island (26-19, 11-4)  101
Dayton (21-24, 10-5)  196
St. Joseph’s (19-24, 9-5)  217
St. Louis (30-14, 11-7)  150

Charlotte was the preseason favorite to win a third straight A-10 crown, but the 49ers are sitting in the lower half of the conference standings at 20-23 overall and just 8-9 in conference play. Current leader Rhode Island was picked to finish second, while St. Joseph’s and St. Louis have both played a little above preseason expectations. Bottom line-the conference tournament champ will receive the 13-team league’s lone NCAA bid.

Big East           Record     RPI

St. John’s (29-16, 14-4)  35
Louisville (31-14, 12-6)  69
USF (29-16, 12-6)  82
UConn (24-20, 12-6)  77
Rutgers (26-18, 11-7)  79
Seton Hall (26-19, 11-7)  95

The Big East has shown itself to be a multi-bid league in recent years, and that should be the case this season. However, things could get interesting down the stretch. St. John’s and Louisville are on the most solid footing for a potential at-large bid and they play each other next week. What happens if a lower seed, like Seton Hall last year, wins the Big East postseason tournament puts things in doubt. That said, St. John’s benefitted from the de-emphasis on RPI last year when it received one of the final at-large bids with an RPI outside the top 60.

Big South             Record        RPI

Coastal Carolina (30-13, 12-3)  36
Radford (25-18, 10-5)  93
Campbell (33-12, 9-6)  104
Liberty (34-15, 10-8)  76

Things have pretty much gone as expected in the Big South this season. Coastal Carolina, which has won a league record five straight Big South titles, was the near unanimous preseason favorite to win another conference crown in 2012. The Chanticleers have won each of their conference series this season, including last week’s sweep of the team that was picked to finish second in the conference – Liberty. The Big South’s best chance for two NCAA bids is for Liberty or someone else to win its postseason conference tournament. With seven regular season games to go the Flames can also make a strong at-large case for themselves if they can get to 40 wins. Even if they don’t get to 40 they already have similar credentials as last year’s St. John’s team from the Big East that received an at-large invite.

Big Ten              Record          RPI

Purdue (34-7, 14-4)  5
Minnesota (27-20, 9-6)  130
Indiana (22-23, 9-6)  116
Nebraska (28-16, 8-7)  80
Michigan St. (27-15, 8-7)  51
Illinois (25-19, 8-7)  57
Penn St. (22-22, 8-7)  136

B1G’s best chance to get two NCAA bids is for someone to beat Purdue in the postseason conference tournament. The Boilermakers are an absolute lock for a bid, despite having the credentials to host a regional, they don’t even know if that will happen. Purdue is in the process of building a new stadium that won’t be done until July. Their best bet to host looks like playing at the Ft. Wayne Tincaps’ minor league facility, but that’s a drive of more than 2 ½ hours to the northeast. The Boilers are at UCLA for three games this weekend with a possible national seed on the line.

Back to the bids though. Michigan State and Illinois, last year’s regular season co-champions, play a big series this weekend in Champaign. The winner has the only likely chance for an at-large berth by season’s end. Nebraska’s RPI won’t climb enough with Indiana, Minnesota and Michigan (116, 130, 230) in the RPI remaining.

Big West             Record            RPI

Cal St. Fullerton (27-14, 9-3)  13
Long Beach St. (21-21, 11-4)  56
Cal Poly (26-17, 9-6)  65
UC Santa Barbara (23-19, 9-6)  115
UC Irvine (24-17, 8-7)  67

Preseason favorite and perennial NCAA Tourney team Cal State Fullerton is the only lock for a bid this season. The Titans took two out of three games earlier this year from current second place team Long Beach State and those two close the regular season with three games in Long Beach. That series looms large since the Big West does not hold a postseason tournament.

Irvine and Santa Barbara face off this weekend. The Anteaters still have a chance to get back in the mix with two midweek games against San Diego (26 RPI) and another vs. UCLA. Cal Poly just got a nice win over Pepperdine (27 RPI), but their chances to get more style points are long gone. Poly’s remaining series are against UC Davis (197), Cal State Bakersfield (161), Santa Barbara (115), and UC Riverside (147).

The fact that WCC teams San Diego, Pepperdine and Gonzaga all have top 30 RPIs severely hinders the Big West’s chances to receive two or more bids.

Colonial               Record          RPI

UNC Wilmington (27-7, 17-4)  48
Hofstra (26-17, 14-7)  120
George Mason (32-17, 15-9)  103

One of the problems the CAA has is the team with the second best RPI in the league, VCU at 92, is just 25-20 overall, 11-13 in league play and in eighth place in the current conference standings. James Madison was the overwhelming preseason favorite to win the CAA, but the Dukes are sitting in ninth place at 15-29-1 and 9-15 in the conference. Wilmington is sitting on solid ground and has a chance to add several more wins with 11 left in the regular season. An RPI building opportunity comes next week when they travel to Chapel Hill to face North Carolina.

Horizon            Record          RPI

Wright St. (31-14, 16-5)  110
Valparaiso (23-20, 15-6)  156

Wright State and Valpo go head-to-head in Dayton, OH this weekend with the top seed in the Horizon’s postseason tournament on the line. The Raiders have become the team to beat in recent years in the six-team league, earning two of the last three automatic bids by winning conference tournament crowns. Wright State and Valparaiso are the only teams in the league with winning records this season.

Georgia Tech's Mott Hyde was 3-for-4 with a home run in Tuesday's 4-3 win over rival Georgia at Turner Field.

The last weekend in April saw the most series upsets of the season involving CB360 Top 50 teams. Five of eight lower ranked teams took series victories in head-to-head Top 50 matchups, while a total of 14 lower ranked teams pulled-off series upsets over the weekend.

The biggest of the upsets saw No. 3 Kentucky drop two of three games at Vanderbilt, while the West Coast Conference saw both No. 19 San Diego and No. 29 Gonzaga both drop important series to unranked conference foes.

RPI has become a hot topic in college baseball in recent weeks, but the upsets further go to show that the only RPIs that really matter are the ones that show up on Monday, May 28-Selection Monday. While RPI is, arguably, the most important number here’s our by the numbers look at another week in college baseball…

5…Teams that enter May with single digit losses: Florida State (36-7), Purdue (34-7), Baylor (38-8), Kentucky (36-9), and Appalachian State (32-9).

355…Times Georgia and Georgia Tech have met on the baseball diamond after Tuesday’s game at Turner Field in Atlanta. Nearly 20,000 were on hand to see the Yellow Jackets edge the Bulldogs 4-3.

Ross Stripling helped Texas A&M to a win in what could be the last series with rival Texas.

368…Times Texas and Texas A&M have played after their weekend series, which started Friday in College Station and continued Saturday and Sunday in Austin (the Aggies took two of three games). Unless they meet in the Big 12 or NCAA postseason tournaments their 368^th clash, won 2-1 Sunday by Texas, may have been their last. The longtime rivals will end their series with A&M headed to the SEC next year.

24…Game winning streak that ended when Baylor fell 4-1 to UT San Antonio Tuesday. The Bears had not lost since March 13 prior to Tuesday’s upset. Baylor is 3-4 this season vs. Southland Conference teams (Ls vs. UTSA, UT Arlington & Lamar-2) but 32-4 vs. all others.

22-2…Margin of victory of two Louisville wins over Kentucky in a two week span. The Cardinals beat the Wildcats 12-0 back on April 10 and 10-2 last Tuesday in the only two regular season meetings this season between the Bluegrass State rivals.

400…Career wins for Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor after Wednesday’s 7-5 victory over VCU. O’Connor’s career record improves to 402-144-2 after a pair of weekend wins over Miami (the series concludes Monday night on ESPNU). He has averaged better than 44 wins through eight-plus seasons. That includes a 30-14-1 mark with nine regular season games to go this year.

9,684…In attendance at Omaha’s TD Ameritrade Park Tuesday night to see Nebraska play Creighton. The Cornhuskers beat the Bluejays 4-1. The two teams play again at TDA on May 8.

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Adam Matthews

0…Hits allowed against South Carolina Thursday night by Alabama starting pitcher Spencer Turnbull through 7.0 innings before the game had to be halted due to severe weather. The game was resumed at 5 p.m. the next day prior to game two of the series. After Gamecock reliever Tyler Webb retired the Tide in order in the top of the 8^th, South Carolina’s Adam Matthews launched the first pitch he saw from Alabama reliever Jon Keller for a home run. It was South Carolina’s only hit and only run in the 1-0 victory. The win helped propel the Gamecocks to a series sweep.

6…Runs scored in the 8^th inning by LSU in Saturday’s 8-4 win over Georgia. A Mason Katz grand slam highlighted the late inning explosion and helped the Tigers clinch the SEC series. Western Division leader LSU (35-10, 14-7) shares the best record in the conference with Eastern Division leaders Kentucky (36-9, 14-7) and South Carolina (33-11, 14-7).

26…Career wins for Portland pitcher Kyle Kraus after helping the Pilots to an important 5-4 victory over No. 19 San Diego in Friday’s series opener between the two West Coast Conference teams. Kraus gave-up just two earned runs with no walks and five strikeouts in the complete game to become his program’s all-time leader in wins. Portland went on to win the series 2-1.

0.94…Oregon pitcher Alex Keudell’s ERA during his current 6-0 streak. The senior earned his 19^th career win after firing a complete game in Friday’s 4-1 win over Cal. He has allowed just five earned runs in 48.0 innings during his stellar six game run.

14-7…Oregon’s record in Pac-12 play after completing a weekend sweep of Cal to move into first place in the conference standings. The Ducks (30-13) have already totaled their most conference wins since the program was reinstated four seasons ago. They travel to Tucson next weekend for a showdown series with Arizona.

Kurt Heyer

2,600…All-time victories for the Arizona baseball program with Friday’s 24-7 pounding of East Tennessee State. Arizona is just the eighth school in NCAA history to reach the milestone win mark. Winning pitcher Kurt Heyer (8-1) was also the winning pitcher when Arizona notched its 2,500^th victory in last year’s season opener. The Wildcats also set a program record with six triples in the game. They went on to sweep the non-conference series from ETSU.

11…Wins in as many tries by No. 9 Purdue (33-6, 13-3) in games in which ace Joe Haase (7-0) has started this season. Haase allowed just a run in 7.0 innings in Friday’s win over Michigan State. Boilermaker reliever Blake Mascarello worked 2.0 innings in that game and saw a streak of 21 straight batters retired end with a bunt single by Torsten Boss to lead off the 9^th inning. The Boilermakers took the first two games of the series before falling 5-0 on Sunday-the first time they have been blanked in 2012. It’s also the Boilers’ first home shutout in three years.

5…Straight Ivy League Rolfe Division titles for Dartmouth after defeating Harvard 11-3 on Saturday. Gehrig Division champion Cornell will host Dartmouth May 5-6 in the first postseason event of the season –  the best-of-three Ivy League Championship Series. The winner receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Gonzaga two way player Marco Gonzalez

11…Innings pitched by Gonzaga’s Marco Gonzalez in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Loyola Marymount. The sophomore struckout 15 with no walks on 139 pitches, but did not factor in the decision in the 12 inning game.  Gonzalez fanned six straight at one point from the end of the 8^th through the 10^th inning. He was also the Bulldogs’ DH in the game, going 0-for-5 with two strikeouts of his own at the plate. LMU took two of three games from the No. 29 Bulldogs.

9…Runs allowed in three games by Vanderbilt in taking two of three games from Kentucky over the weekend to hand the Wildcats their first SEC series loss of the year. Since a 1-7 start to the season the Commodores (21-23, 9-12) are creeping closer to .500 and a potential spot in the expanded 10-team SEC Tournament field.

5…Shutout innings pitched in relief by Stanford reliever Sahil Bloom on Sunday to help the Cardinal to a 7-2 series clinching win over UCLA. Bloom entered the game right after Stanford had plated six runs in the top of the 5^th inning to take a 6-2 lead. Teammate Tyler Gaffney also reached base safely all five times he came to the plate in the game. He did it with two walks, a hit by pitch, an infield single, and a triple.

8…Straight weekend series won, a school record, by New Mexico. The string includes series wins over Gonzaga and TCU. The Lobos (26-19, 12-3 MWC) have won 11 of their last 13 games and sit in first place in the Mountain West Conference heading into this weekend’s showdown at TCU (26-15, 11-4).

40…Years since Memphis had won a series against a top 10 team prior to taking two of three games from Central Florida (No. 8 NCBWA) over the weekend. The series loss is also the first of the season for UCF and also drops the Knights into second place in the Conference USA standings. Rice leads the conference with an 11-4 mark followed by UCF at 13-5. The two teams meet May 17-19 in the regular season finale for both.

2…No hitters thrown on the same day by St. Cloud State pitchers Logan Birr and Scott Lieser in Friday’s 9-0 and 19-0 wins over Minnesota Crookston. The Division II pitchers each fanned 14 and each faced 24 batters in their back-to-back no hit feat.

Max Garner helped Baylor sweep Texas A&M for its 24th straight win.

A big weekend of college baseball has just concluded. A total of 10 head-to-head series between CB360 top 50 teams wrapped-up over the weekend. Our  By The Numbers Notebook takes a look at some of those series as well as more notable action from the latest week as April begins to wind down.

24…Consecutive wins by No. 7 Baylor after a monster weekend sweep of No. 8 Texas A&M. The 24 straight wins gives the Bears the longest winning streak by a Big 12 team since the conference began play in 1997. The Bears are 35-7 overall and 18-0 in conference play for the best conference start and longest winning streak in Big 12 history.  The 24 game winning streak is the longest in the nation this season. The three wins over the Aggies are the first for the Bears against a ranked team during the streak.

13…Of the 24 straight Baylor wins that have come by margins of one or two runs. Max Garner saved all three wins over the Aggies over the weekend.  They were decided by a total of five runs. Garner logged 3 2/3 innings with one hit and four strikeouts to earn his 6^th, 7^th and 8^th saves of 2012.

10,798…Fans who saw the Bears win two games over A&M at Baylor Ballpark Saturday and Sunday (the first game of the series was played in College Station) for a two game series record at the park. The combination of the Aggies leaving the Big 12 next year and the Bear’s winning streak helped bring fans to see two of the team’s biggest wins this year.

Kenton Parmley saw his hitting streak end at 47 games over the weekend.

47…Game hitting streak that ended with an 0-for-3 day on Sunday for Southeast Missouri State’s Kenton Parmley. The shortstop tied Wichita State’s Phil Stephenson (1981) for the third longest D1 streak of all-time. Florida International’s Garrett Wittels hit safely in 56 straight two years ago. Oklahoma State’s (and current Chicago White Sox manager) Robin Ventura still has the longest D1 streak at 58 games in 1987.

0…Hits allowed by Oregon’s Jordan Spencer in Wednesday’s 2-0 no-hit win over Portland. The freshman struckout five and faced just two over the minimum in his first complete game.

0-6…Miami’s record against rivals Florida and Florida State this season after being swept over the weekend by the Seminoles. FSU outscored the Hurricanes 25-10 in the three games in Tallahassee.

19-2…Florida State’s record in ACC play after the sweep of the Hurricanes. The next best record in the conference is 13-8, shared by NC State (second place in the Atlantic Division behind FSU) and Coastal Division leader North Carolina. Clemson and Miami are both 12-9.

3…Straight walk-off wins by Virginia Tech after Kyle Wernicki’s game winning RBI single in the 10^th to beat Coastal Carolina 4-3 Tuesday night. The Hokies had won the last two games of their series with Miami in walk-off fashion as well the previous weekend.  VT dropped two of three though over the weekend at Wake Forest.

Vikash Ramjit

16…Innings it took No. 1 Florida to defeat Georgia 3-2 Friday night in Gainesville. Vikash Ramjit scored the winning run for the Gators after an errant throw on a dropped third strike. Florida pitchers fired 13 strikeouts with no walks in the victory. Four Gators pitched at least 3.0 innings apiece. Reliever Austin Maddox had the longest outing of the night at 5.2 IP. Greg Larson earned the win with 3.0 hitless frames. The Gators (31-9, 11-7)  took two of three games in the series.

41…Runners left on base in 16 innings in Indiana State’s 2-1 win over Valparaiso last Tuesday. The Sycamores stranded 24 in the marathon victory, while the Crusaders left 17 aboard. The game featured 24 straight scoreless half innings with no runs scoring between the top of the 4^th and bottom of the 16^th inning. Valpo out-hit ISU 18-12 in the loss. Indiana State (31-10) went on to take two of three games from Dallas Baptist over the weekend.

107…Pitches for Oregon State’s Jace Fry to fire a complete game shutout win Saturday over UCLA. Fry scattered six hits with two walks and six strikeouts while becoming the first Beaver freshman in three years to toss a solo shutout. The Beavers took two of three games from UCLA to drop the Bruins into a second place tie with Oregon in the Pac-12 standings.

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_______________________________________________________________________________

5…Unfortunate strikeouts in 0-for-5 night by Virginia’s Jared King. The first baseman was saddled with the rare “Olympic Rings” in Friday’s 6-3 loss to Duke. National strikeout leader Marcus Stroman had nine Ks in 7.0 innings on the mound, while reliever David Putnam registered four strikeouts in 2.0 IP.

13…Of the 14 runs that scored in Cal Poly’s 8-6 Saturday win over Cal State Fullerton that came with two outs. The Titans still managed to take two of three games in the series from the Mustangs. Fullerton is tied with Long Beach State with 9-3 records at the top of the Big West Conference standings. The Big West is shaping-up to possibly be a one bid league come NCAA selection Monday. Fullerton is 26-13 overall, but Long Beach is just 18-19. Santa Barbara and Cal Poly are just five and six games above .500 overall.

2…Straight years UC Irvine has no-hit Long Beach State in the opener of their series after Anteater Andrew Thurman did it in Friday’s 4-0 win over the Dirtbags. Thurman hit the first batter of the game and then retired 23 straight before walking pinch-hitter Jeff Yamaguchi in the bottom of the 8th inning. The sophomore righthander struckout five and used 110 pitches to become the fifth Irvine pitcher to fire a no-hitter. LBSU still went on to take the next two games to win the series 2-1.

728…Total pitches thrown in a doubleheader split between James Madison and Hofstra. JMU won the first game 20-14, while Hofstra took the nightcap 15-13. The two pitching staffs combined to walk 34 batters in the two games.

Notre Dame's Pat Connaughton is a rare basketball/baseball two-sport college standout.

.423…Field goal percentage on the basketball court this past season by Notre Dame basketball and baseball standout Pat Connaughton. A guard who averaged 7.0 points for Mike Brey’s hoops team from November-March, Connaughton has a 2-2 record with a 2.37 ERA for Mik Aoki’s Irish baseball team this spring. Connaughton has 19 strikeouts in 19.0 IP this season. He fired 6.0 shutout innings in Sunday’s 14-4 win over Georgetown to help the Irish to a three game sweep.

 3…Teams tied for first place in the Big East Conference standings. UConn, St. John’s and South Florida all share 11-4 marks in conference play, followed by 10-5 Louisville and 9-6 Notre Dame. The leader board is likely to change quickly. UConn still has remaining series with Louisville, USF and Notre Dame. St. John’s has Notre Dame this weekend then back to back weekends with USF and Louisville. USF still has series with St. John’s and UConn to go as well.

6…Conference series wins by Kentucky to begin SEC play this season after taking two of three games from LSU over the weekend. The Wildcats (35-6, 13-5 SEC) have the nation’s best overall record as well as the best mark in the SEC. They are off to the best start in the 100 years of the program.

12…Two-out RBIs this season by Kentucky freshman A.J. Reed, who is batting .311 with 3 home runs and 39 total RBIs at the plate. Reed also has a 4-1 record, 3.71 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 28 2/3 innings as a pitcher for the Wildcats.

4…Total runs North Carolina closer Michael Morin had allowed in his first 36 2/3 innings this season before he gave up two runs in 2 2/3 innings in Saturday’s 4-2 loss to Georgia Tech. Morin (4-3), who has 10 saves in 2012, saw his ERA go from a miniscule 0.74 to 1.14. More importantly for the Yellow Jackets (24-17, 9-12 ACC), they were able to win just their third ACC series of the season by taking two of three games in Chapel Hill.

Buck Farmer

3…Runs allowed by GT Friday starter Buck Farmer over his last four starts, a stretch covering 30.0 innings, after giving-up two runs in 7.0 IP in Friday’s 11-4 win over the Tar Heels. Farmer (6-3) has allowed just two runs in 15.0 innings and two starts vs. UNC.

11…RBIs in four games, including a three-game sweep of Arizona State, by Stanford’s Alex Blandino. The freshman batted .563 with four home runs last week. Two of the homers came in a 17-5 win over the Sun Devils. He also plated the winning run with a walk-off two-out RBI single to give the Cardinal an 8-7 Saturday victory. He also hit a three-run home run in that game.

5…Wins over top 10 ranked teams, all on the road, this season by Washington after taking two of three games at No. 10 Oregon over the weekend. The Cougars had just three such wins in head coach Donnie Marbut’s first eight seasons combined entering 2012.

42…First inning runs through 42 games scored by Central Florida (34-8, 12-3 CUSA) which swept a weekend series over Tulane and has sole possession of first place in Conference USA. The Knights’ 12 conference victories this season have already tied a school record. They also have six weekend sweeps in 2012-their most six sweeping seven in 2004.

3…Losses suffered by Gonzaga at the hands of San Francisco in a weekend West Coast Conference series. The Bulldogs (26-12, 6-6) went into the weekend just a game behind San Diego (31-9, 9-3) atop the WCC standings, but took a huge tumble to sixth place after being swept by USF (19-24, 6-6). Some had Gonzaga pegged to possibly host an NCAA Regional, but they could end up on the bubble just to make the field of 64 in what has traditionally been a one bid league.

Virginia Tech celebrated a pair of weekend walk off wins over Miami (Dave Wolpert photo).

Another wild weekend of college baseball is in the books. The weekend started with seven CB360 Top 50 matchups going to extra innings on Friday and ended with a total of 13 series sweeps (41 total Top 50 series). The only sweep by an underdog came when Southeastern Louisiana took three games from No. 37 Texas State in Southland Conference play.

An interesting MLB milestone with a college connection was reached Sunday when the Arizona Diamondbacks’ John McDonald collected his 500^th career hit. McDonald is the last former Providence College player still active in the Major Leagues. Providence cut its baseball program after the 1999.

1,444…Career wins for Stanford head coach Mark Marquess with Sunday’s 4-2 victory over Oregon. The victory ties him with long time Virginia Tech coach Chuck Hartman (1960-2006) for No. 5 all-time among Division-I coaches.

Stephen Piscotty

600…Career Division One victories for Oregon head coach George Horton after Saturday’s 5-0 series clinching win at Stanford.  The win not only gave Horton the milestone, it also gave the Ducks their fourth straight Pac-12 Conference series victory and moved them into a tie with Arizona atop the conference standings.

7…RBIs by Stanford’s Stephen Piscotty in Monday’s 19-6 win over rival Cal. It was Piscotty’s second 7-RBI game this season. He also did it in an 18-5 win over Vanderbilt back on February 19. Piscotty leads the Cardinal with 37 RBIs this season.

600…Career wins at Oregon State for head coach Pat Casey after Saturday’s 12-2 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Sunday’s win put him 12 victories away from tying Jack Riley for the most wins in Beaver history.

54…Years since Florida had swept a regular season series from intrastate rival Florida State prior to doing it last week. Just a day after seeing FSU replace them as the No. 1 ranked team in the country, Florida downed the Seminoles 6-3 in Tallahassee. That win, combined with a 9-2 victory on March 13 in Gainesville and a March 27 4-1 win in Jacksonville, gives the Gators their first sweep of the ‘Noles since 1958. It was also Florida’s 100^th all-time victory against Florida State.

7…Total losses by Florida State this year – almost half of them (3) have come at the hands of the Gators. The ‘Noles also dropped Sunday’s series finale to Boston College.

19…Consecutive wins by Baylor after sweeping Kansas State over the weekend. The Bears have moved within one victory of the program record consecutive wins set in 1985. They had to overcome deficits of six runs and four runs to win the last two games of the series in Manhattan to improve to 15-0 in Big 12 Conference play. The 15 straight wins to open conference play is eight better than the previous Big 12 record.

9…Years since Virginia had been swept in a home series prior to dropping all three home games over the weekend to North Carolina. The Cavaliers had won 15 straight home games and 16 straight ACC series prior to seeing the Tar Heels win all three games by a total of seven runs.

21…Straight non-conference games Kentucky had won prior to being pounded 12-0 by Bluegrass State rival Louisville Tuesday in Lexington. It’s the largest margin of victory for Louisville in the series with their rival. It also marked the Cardinal’s first win over a No. 1 ranked team (Collegiate Baseball Poll) since 2005.

16…Years since a team had swept a doubleheader from Arkansas prior to Kentucky taking two from the Razorbacks on Saturday to clinch the series win against their SEC rival. The 5-4 and 2-1 victories also marked the Wildcats’ first series win in Arkansas’ Baum stadium since 2002 and just their second series win there in program history. Arkansas had won nine consecutive home series prior to the losses.

Lance Breedlove

408…Career wins by Purdue head coach Doug Schreiber after a weekend sweep of defending Big Ten champion Illinois. The wins continue the Boilermakers (28-5, 10-2 Big Ten) on one of the best seasons in program history, while also giving Schreiber the program wins record that was previously held by Dave Alexander – for whom Schreiber played from 1983-86.

25…Consecutive shutout innings pitched at home by Purdue pitcher Lance Breedlove after tossing 7 2/3 scoreless frames in the Boiler’s game two win over the Illini. The senior from Long Beach, Ca, who was primarily a reliever last year, has not allowed a run at Lambert Field dating back to May 2011. Breedlove is 6-2 with a 2.23 ERA this season, with a microscopic 0.55 ERA in Big Ten play.

5…Runs that scored with two outs in Francis Marion’s 5-4 upset win over No. 13 South Carolina. The win came on Wednesday night in Florence, SC at the dedication of the Division II school’s Cormell Field at Sparrow Stadium. South Carolina beat Francis Marian 5-3 in 1974 at the dedication of the “old” Cormell Field.

46…Consecutive games Alabama’s Taylor Dugas had reached base prior to having that streak snapped with an 0-for-4 day in Saturday’s 7-1 loss at LSU. The Lafayette, La native is still batting .336 with 18 walks and has been hit by pitch 13 times this season.

1…Complete game this season by the Cal pitching staff. It came courtesy of Matt Flemer, who held Washington to two runs and four hits in Saturday’s 5-2 win. Flemer, a senior, also earned the first complete game of his career in what his 73^rd career appearance and 17^th start. The victory clinched Cal’s first Pac-12 Conference series win this season.

7…SEC wins by Tennessee this season after Saturday’s 5-4 upset of Florida. The seven conference victories under first year head coach Dave Serrano matches their total from a year ago.

.184…Opponent batting average by the UCLA bullpen in 109 2/3 innings this season. The Bruin pen has a 1.97 ERA in 2012 (3.40 overall team ERA), and came-up big over the weekend in helping the Bruins hand Arizona its first series loss

Ronnie Richardson

of season. David Berg, Zack Ortiz, Grant Watson, Ryan Deeter, and Scott Griggs combined to allow just an unearned run on four hits with four strikeouts and a walk 8 1/3 innings in the series in Tucson. The unearned run was the difference in Friday’s 4-3 loss. UCLA (24-8, 10-5) is in third place in the Pac-12 behind Arizona and Oregon.

23…Times hit by pitch this season by Central Florida’s Ronnie Richardson. The UCF centerfielder now holds the program’s single season record after being plunked in back to back trips to the plate in Sunday’s 12-3 win over Southern Mississippi. The junior has 53 career HBP to his credit. Combined with 26 BB and 39 hits he has a team best .492 OBP in 2012.

4…Consecutive Conference USA series wins by UCF to open the season after taking two of three games from Southern Mississippi over the weekend. Terry Rooney’s Knights had never won even two straight series to open conference play prior to this year. UCF (30-8, 9-3) is also one of five DI teams to win 30 games this year.

.179…Batting average of LSU outfielder Arby Fields entering Tuesday’s game against Alcorn State. Fields has gone on a tear hitting .455 (10-for-22) in his last six games with a double, a triple, six RBI, seven runs, two steals and a .480 on-base percentage, while raising his overall average to .295. Fields is in his first season at LSU. He played football and baseball at Northwestern in 2009 and ’10 before transferring to a California junior college last year. He has primarily been a reserve outfielder this season.

13…Come from behind wins when trailing after the 5^th inning for Virginia Tech. The Hokies plated two runs in the bottom of the 9^th on Sunday to walk off with a 3-2 win over Miami. It was the second straight day they won in their last at-bat to take two of three games from the No. 8 Hurricanes. Pete Hughes’ Hokies (25-11, 7-11) are just the third VT team since 2000 to get to 25 wins before its 40^th game of the season.

18…Nation-leading saves this season by San Diego’s Michael Wagner. The sophomore saved all four Torero wins last week to tie the West Coast Conference single season saves record and move within five saves of the all-time Division One season record. Wagner had a pair of 2.0 inning saves against rival San Diego State and LaSalle and then worked an inning in each of the last two games against the Explorers to cap the weekend sweep. He has 31 strikeouts and nine walks in 22 appearances and 35.0 IP this season.

29…Of 39 games to start the season played on the road by Missouri Valley Conference leader Indiana State. The No. 35 Sycamores (28-9, 8-4 MVC) took two of three games at Bradley over the weekend for their fourth straight series win to open conference play. It’s their best MVC start since winning five straight series to open the 1998 season. Rick Heller’s squad needs just one win to match last year’s total. They play their next 12 and 15 of their last 20 games at home.

Florida State Celebrates Mike Martin's milestone 1,700th career victory.

This past weekend was a good one to be an underdog in college baseball. While CB360 Top-50 teams still won the majority of games, underdogs managed to win 41 of 106 head to head matchups against higher-ranked teams from Thursday through Sunday.

Many series, including No. 11 LSU at No. 1 Florida, began on Thursday last week because of Easter weekend.

Two coaches (see below) reached major milestone victories over the weekend, and, interestingly, they both did it with their team on the road.

Following is a “by-the-numbers” look at some of the weekend’s action.

1,700…Career wins for Florida State head coach Mike Martin. The veteran skipper reached the milestone with Sunday’s 8-4 Sunday win over Georgia Tech. FSU swept the series to improve to 14-1 in ACC play this season.

LSU's Paul Mainieri

1,100…Career wins for LSU head coach Paul Mainieri with Saturday’s series-clinching 8-7 win over No. 1 Florida. The Tigers had to overcome an early 7-2 deficit in Gainesville to reach the milestone for Mainieri, who has earned 236 of his victories in his five-plus seasons on the Bayou.

11…One run games played by LSU this season, after Thursday and Saturday’s wins over the Gators. The Tigers are 8-3 in those one-run contests, including a 7-2 mark in SEC games decided by just a single digit this season.

5…Losses in their past seven games by the once seemingly invincible Gators. Florida lost two of three to Ole Miss a week ago, followed by a midweek setback to North Florida and this past weekend’s two losses to LSU to fall to 25-7 overall and 7-5 in SEC play. The Gators were 17-1 at home this season entering the weekend before dropping the two games to the Tigers.

Marcus Stroman led the nation with 72 Ks last week.

25…Combined strikeouts in his past two starts, both losses, by Duke pitcher Marcus Stroman. The junior fanned 12 in a 1-0 loss to Georgia Tech last week and then struck out 13 in a 4-1 setback to Clemson this past Friday. Stroman has 85 Ks in 58 IP this season – a 13.2 strikeouts per 9.0 innings rate.

10…Home runs by Miami’s Pete O’Brien. The senior belted his team-leading HR in Friday’s win over North Carolina. He is in his first season at Miami after being allowed by the NCAA to transfer and play immediately after three years at Bethune-Cookman.

14…The combined home run total of O’Brien’s Hurricane teammates. The three home runs hit by three different ‘Canes are the next closest after O’Brien.

14…Years since Miami had shut out an opponent twice in the same series, prior to blanking the Tar Heels 8-0 and 4-0 this weekend en route to a series sweep. It also marks UNC’s first series loss and first three-game losing streak this year.

21…Straight home wins for Kentucky – a school record – after Friday’s 3-2 win over Ole Miss. The streak ended with Saturday’s 9-3 loss to the Rebels, but the Wildcats won Sunday’s series finale for their fourth series win in as many SEC series in 2012.

8-2…Oregon’s record against ranked opponents this season after taking the first two games of their series with UCLA. The Ducks and Bruins now are tied for second place in the Pac-12 standings behind 9-3 Arizona.

5…Losses by Stanford over the past three weeks, after losing only three times in the first six weeks of the season. The Cardinal dropped four straight Pac-12 games in one stretch, after falling to USC in their March 26 series finale and being swept at Arizona last weekend. They lost the middle game of their weekend series with Washington, but still managed to take two out of three games in Seattle.

Joe Haase has helped Purdue to a record setting start to 2012 (courtesy Purduesports.com)

8…Series/event-opening wins by Purdue this season. The Boilermakers are off to a record-setting 24-5 start this season, thanks in part to the pitching of ace Joe Haase. The Boilers are 8-0 in games their Friday starter has started this season. Haase is 5-0 with a 3.59 ERA.

11…Years since the Boilermakers had swept a Big Ten Conference road series before taking three on the road from Northwestern over the weekend.

12…Straight wins to open Big 12 play by Baylor after Saturday’s 12-7 win over Missouri. No team had started better than 7-0 to start Big 12 play prior to this season. The red hot Bears have won 14 consecutive games overall and have series sweeps over Texas Tech, Kansas, Oklahoma State, and Missouri. The slate will get tougher, with remaining series against Top-50 teams Texas A&M, Texas and Oklahoma.

8…Wins with no losses by Baylor pitcher Trent Blank. The senior had an 8-4 career record prior to this season, but with a 1.67 ERA and a .185 opponent batting average, the Bears Saturday starter’s 2012 win total currently leads the nation.

58…Tennessee batters hit by pitch through 31 games this season. The Vols, under first-year head coach Dave Serrano, already have matched their HBP total from the 2011 season (54 games).

(Photo courtesy Dave Wolpert(

With a seeming blur, March is over and conference races are starting to take shape in various corners of the country. The ACC already has four conference series in the books heading into the first full weekend of the new month.

Some conferences have had just two weekends of league play, so we will hold off a bit before we look at them. Following is a snapshot of the races of four multiple-bid conferences. More coming, including looks at some “single bid” leagues in the coming weeks.

ACC

The biggest surprises of the conference so far have to be North Carolina State, Clemson and Georgia Tech. The Wolfpack have surprised with how good they have been, while the Tigers and Yellow Jackets have surprised with their up and down play.

NC State’s only conference series loss came in Chapel Hill to rival North Carolina, but their series-opening 3-1 win handed UNC ace Kent Emanuel his first loss of the season.

After suffering early non-conference losses to the likes of UAB, Maine and Western Carolina, Clemson was  swept by both North Carolina and Virginia before bouncing back with a 2-1 series win over Miami over the weekend (the Tigers also swept Boston College).

Georgia Tech dropped two of three to BC last week, and just managed to take two of three from Duke over the weekend. The Jackets managed a 1-0 series-opening win over the Blue Devils, despite 12 strikeouts by Duke starter Marcus Stroman. Buck Farmer nearly matched him with 11 Ks in a complete game effort.

Maryland was an early feel good story with its season-opening series win at UCLA, but the Terps have come crashing back to earth since beginning ACC play. Maryland was swept by Wake Forest to open conference play, and has three total league against Boston College, North Carolina and Miami.

Atlantic Division

Florida St. (11-1, 24-4)
NC State (8-4, 19-7)
Wake Forest (5-7, 19-11)
Clemson (5-7, 14-13)
Boston College (4-8, 12-15)
Maryland (3-9, 18-11)

Coastal Division

North Carolina (9-3, 22-6)
Miami (8-4, 21-7)
Virginia (6-6, 18-10-1)
Georgia Tech (6-6, 18-11)
Duke (5-7, 12-17)
Virginia Tech (2-10, 18-12)

Big 12

Baylor has so far been the biggest surprise in the conference. The Bears were picked to finish fourth in the preseason coaches’ poll, but they are yet to lose a conference game through the first three weekends of league play. Their degree of difficulty is back loaded though. Baylor’s last three regular season Big 12 series are against preseason favorite Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Texas.

Texas is just four games above .500 overall, but the Longhorns are 5-1 in conference play. Texas is batting just .272 with a 3.86 staff ERA.  Texas Tech got off to a nice start in early season action, but the Red Raiders have come back to earth a bit since Big 12 play began.

Baylor (9-0, 22-7)
Texas (5-1,15-11)
Texas A&M (4-2, 22-6)
Missouri (3-3,16-11)
Oklahoma (4-5,18-11)
Kansas State (3-6,14-13)
Kansas (2-4,12-15)
Texas Tech (2-7, 16-13)
Oklahoma St. (1-5, 14-14)

Pac-12

How crazy is the Pac-12 right now? UCLA started the season by dropping two of three home games to Maryland, but is one of two teams in the conference with 20-plus wins entering April. The Bruins are tied for first place with Arizona, which just completed a huge sweep of Stanford over the weekend.

The Cardinal hadn’t lost a series all season prior to the sweep, but they reside in ninth place after the third conference weekend of the season. The first month of their season included series wins over Vanderbilt, Texas and Rice.

Oregon got off to an 11-1 start to the season, but the Ducks slumped for a couple weeks in early March before coming back to life over the weekend. They opened Pac-12 play by dropping two of three games at Washington, but got themselves back in the mix with a sweep of Arizona State over the weekend. That sets up a big series at UCLA this weekend.

Don’t overlook Washington. The Huskies dropped their series to Oregon State last week and have a chance to make a statement this weekend when they host Stanford.

UCLA (7-2, 20-5)
Arizona (7-2, 21-7)
Oregon                 (6-3, 18-8)
Oregon St. (6-3, 17-8)
Washington (3-3, 16-9)
USC (3-5, 16-9)
Washington St. (3-5, 13-11)
Arizona St. (3-6, 16-12)
Utah (3-6, 7-19)
Stanford (2-4, 16-6)
California (1-5, 16-10)

SEC

Here’s life in the SEC through three weekends of league play: Florida is still number one in most major polls, but the Gators are only second in their own division, two time defending national champion South Carolina is in fifth place in that same division with 20 overall wins and a 3-6 mark in league play, 2011 CWS team Vanderbilt is 11-17, a Tennessee team that won 25 games overall and seven in conference play already has 18 and five respective wins this year under Dave Serrano, and Kentucky opened the season with 22 straight wins – including a sweep of the Gamecocks to open SEC play – and currently leads its division.

That’s just the SEC Eastern Division.

Outside of Kentucky, possibly the biggest surprise after three conference weekend’s is Western Division leader Auburn. The Tigers have a combined five home non-conference losses to Missouri, Purdue, Southern Miss., and Belmont (17-11 overall record), but they have opened SEC play with series victories over Ole Miss, LSU and Mississippi State to sit with LSU atop their division.

Vanderbilt and Alabama are a combined 18 games under .500, while the other 10 teams in the conference are an average of nearly 13 games above the .500 mark.

Eastern Division

Kentucky (7-2, 27-2)
Florida (6-3, 24-4)
Tennessee (5-4, 18-10)
Georgia (4-5, 18-11)
South Carolina (3-6, 20-8)
Vanderbilt (3-6, 11-17)

Western Division

Auburn (6-3, 17-11)
LSU (6-3, 22-6)
Arkansas (5-4, 22-6)
Ole Miss (5-4, 20-8)
Mississippi St. (3-6, 18-11)
Alabama (1-8, 9-19)

Kentucky made the biggest weekend statement by sweeping South Carolina in the first SEC series for both teams (photo courtesy UK athletics).

It’s almost unbelievable, but the fifth full weekend of the college baseball season is in the books. Conference play is now under way in most of the warm weather conferences around the country.

Underdogs took just six of 32 series of three games or more over the weekend, with two more series still to be decided on Monday.

While March Madness has taken center stage over the last four days, college baseball got its first ESPN exposure over the weekend as well. Game one of the Virginia-Florida State series was on ESPNU and tonight’s series finale will be on the same channel. Virginia will try to salvage a game after losses in the first two games. Tonight’s first pitch is set for 7 p.m. Eastern.

Here’s a look at more from the weekend…

The Wild, Wild Wildcats…

Who saw Kentucky coming? We’re not talking John Calipari’s Wildcat basketball team, we’re talking Gary Henderson’s baseball club –the one that just took its SEC-opening series from two-time defending national champion South Carolina.

Despite a run of 18 straight wins to open the season heading into the weekend’s series in Lexington against the Gamecocks, it was hard to know what to make of the Wildcats, because their schedule was as soft as the spot where Kim Kardashian sits.

If you live outside the Bluegrass State and you saw Kentucky’s 21-0 run to start the season coming then you obviously knew that little twist/cameo at the end of the new 21 Jump Street movie was coming too (I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t seen it).

The guy who has been as big a part of the Wildcat resurgence has been the sudden impact of A.J. Reed. The freshman two-way player has been as versatile in his first season at Kentucky as Jonah Hill has been on the big screen in his last two big box office hits. Reed might never get an Oscar nomination like Hill did for his rotund role as a saber stat dude in Moneyball  or chase down high school hipsters gone bad as the slimmed-down Hill did in Jump Street, but he’s been big time just the same.

Reed delivered the game-winning hit in Saturday’s 4-3 win over South Carolina (the ‘Cats’ second by that score in as many days) and also earned the win on the mound by pitching 2.0 shutout innings of relief. For the season Reed (remember a freshman from Terre Haute, IN) is batting .386 with two home runs and a team-leading 28 RBIs at the plate, while boasting a 4-0 record with a 1.83 ERA in 19 2/3 innings and five appearances (three starts) on the mound.

Reed is far from the only reason the Wildcats are averaging better than eight runs a game. Zac Zellers (.393) and Cameron Flynn (.383) are both scorching the ball. Flynn leads the club with six HR. Austin Cousino is batting .382 and Luke Maile, who had the walk-off home run to beat South Carolina in Friday’s opener, is batting .360 with five home runs and 27 RBIs.

The pitching staff has been great as well, with a 2.95 ERA, 200 strikeouts and just 55 walks in 189.0 IP. The Wildcat bullpen was huge in the South Carolina series with 10 2/3 shutout innings and wins in all three victories.

Terps Slowed…

While it took Kentucky a month to get most of the country to take it seriously, Maryland grabbed attention early on by taking two of three games at UCLA on opening weekend. The Terps road that momentum to a nine-game winning streak, but they have now gone back in their shell after being swept by Wake Forest and dropping two of three games to North Carolina since opening ACC play last week (they did win a couple midweek games vs. St. Peter’s in between).

Things won’t get any easier for Erik Bakich’s club anytime soon. All but two ACC opponents (Duke and Virginia Tech) the rest of the season has been ranked in the College Baseball 360 Composite Top 50 this season. Virginia Tech could join that club soon and Duke beat Miami on Friday.

Bruins Bouncing Back…

Most people kind of left the Bruins for dead after they dropped that season-opening home series to Maryland, but they’ve been plugging away ever since. UCLA had rattled-off 12 consecutive victories since losing the Feb. 19 finale vs. the Terps. The streak ended with Sunday’s 4-3 loss to Arizona State, but the Bruins (15-4, 2-1 Pac-12) bounced-back to take the series finale 4-2. Sophomore Kevin Williams hit a walk-off home run on Saturday vs. ASU to send the streak to 12 games. His first career homer came earlier in the week in a 7-2 win over USC at Dodger Stadium. The Sun Devils (12-7, 1-2 Pac-12) hit just .163 in the series.

Red River Victory…

The Longhorns lost five straight games at one point after being swept at Stanford three weeks ago. Things didn’t get much better after that, with losses in eight of their last 13 games before this past weekend’s series against Oklahoma. Augie Garrido got the herd pointed back in the right direction though by sweeping the Sooners in their Big 12 opening series in Austin.

The sweep started with a 7-6 12-inning victory on Friday and concluded with Sunday’s less dramatic 9-4 win. The three game sweep is Texas’ seventh over the Sooners since 1999. It also runs their current overall winning streak to five games.

Milestones

Georgia Tech head coach Danny Hall notched his 1,000th career victory with Friday’s 12-3 victory over Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets won the series 2-1.

Tennessee dropped two of its three games in its SEC opening series at Georgia, but the Vols salvaged a win in Sunday’s series finale. It was new head coach Dave Serrano’s first career SEC victory and also the 300^th win of his career.

Done Dancing?

Purdue is one of a handful of schools in the country that had a Top 50 college baseball team and a team playing in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, but the weekend was not kind to the Boilermakers.

Doug Schreiber’s baseball team got the weekend started on the right foot by winning the first two games of its series at Wichita State to run it winning streak to 10 games. The Shockers swept a Saturday doubleheader though to earn a series split to hand the Boilermakers (14-3) their first back-to-back losses of the season.

Meanwhile, Matt Painter’s basketball team – the No. 10 seed in the Midwest Region, had No. 2 seed Kansas on the ropes Sunday night with a berth in the Sweet 16 on the line. Purdue led throughout most of the game in Omaha, but the Jayhawks pulled out a last minute 63-60 win.

Think Schreiber would trade a couple losses this weekend if his season could end in Omaha too?

CLICK HERE to see the complete list of schools with Top 50 baseball teams and a team in the NCAA Basketball Tourney as compiled by CB360 co-editor Pete LaFleur. Six of them have basketball teams in the Sweet 16.

Down In The Valley

While Wichita State(12-10) is off to a disappointing start, Indiana State (16-4) is the hottest team in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Sycamores have won 11 straight, including four wins over the weekend in San Antonio.

Robby Ort (.403) and Jeremy Lucas (.392) have combined for eight home runs and 45 RBIs to lead the the offense, but five other Sycamores have double digit RBIs as well.  Pitchers Kyle Rupe and Ryan Torgerson are a combined 7-0 with a 1.54 ERA as well.

Sagging Zags

Since starting the season with 10 straight wins, Gonzaga has cooled-off considerably over the last week. The Bulldogs lost all three games at New Mexico last week and then dropped a pair of midweek games at Arkansas to see their losing streak reach five games before winning two of three over the weekend against Pacific.

The Zags play at Washington on Tuesday and then host four games with Hawaii before opening West Coast Conference play at the end of this month.

The two hottest teams in the WCC right now are Portland (13-3) and Santa Clara (13-4), which have each won eight of their last 10 games. The conference race looks to be a good one this year with those three teams along with San Diego (17-6) and Pepperdine (14-5) both playing well too.