Florida and Virginia both reprised their dramatic series-opening victories by winning in thrilling fashion again on Saturday, as the weekend’s marquee series already have lived up to the hype regardless of what happens on Sunday. It was a fairly typical grouping of results on Saturday, with the 43 games involving CB360 top-50 teams producing 15 upsets (the higher-ranked teams won 65% of the top-50 games). front-page photo courtesy of Texas A&M
Florida's Hudson Randall
Virginia (cb360 #4) beat #3 Florida State in 11 innings for the second straight game, this time doing so on defensive sub Jared King‘s stunning leadoff home run. That game technically counted as one of the day’s 14 top-50 upsets, but others featured bigger gaps in the CB360 Composite National Rankings, as: Loyola Marymount blanked #26 UC Irvine (4-0) … Pepperdine completed a series sweep of #31 Coastal Carolina (2-1, 7-1) … South Alabama stopped a surging Troy team (10-4) … Penn State shocked #36 Wichita State (4-2 road win) … and Evansville topping #49 Michigan State (2-0).
Virginia's Jared King
Florida – the top team in the CB360 top-50 – had rallied on Friday to win its opener at #7 LSU, but Saturday’s game saw the only run come in the top of the 1st, as pitcher Hudson Randall led the Gators to a 1-0 series-clincher. Florida avoided a trend that saw half of Saturday’s top-50 showdowns go to the lower-ranked teams (UVa over FSU, plus): #13 Texas A&M 11-1 at #6 Oklahoma (tying that series) … #27 Auburn 9-5 vs. #19 Arkansas (series tied) … and #29 Connecticut 3-1 vs. tournament host #25 College of Charleston.
Penn State's Steven Hill
Saturday’s five other top-50 upsets included: Long Beach State 2-1 vs. #30 Oregon State … Alabama 7-5 at #32 Mississippi (series tied) … McNeese State 9-4 at #34 Southeastern Louisiana (series-clincher) … Jacksonville 12-3 at #34 East Tennessee (series now 2-0) … and VCU 4-2 vs. #45 James Madison (series tied).
The most dramatic upset of the night almost played out in a wacky Waco finish – as Texas Tech scored nine times in the top of the 9th (five with 2-outs) to tie #20 Baylor, but the Bears then had their own 9th-inning rally for a 14-13 finish befitting of March Madness (that series is one of many set to be decided on Sunday).
Saturday’s other three head-t0-head games between CB360 top-50 teams included: #5 South Carolina 2-1 vs. #50 Georgia (avenging series-opening loss) … Texas 4-3 vs. #44 Kansas State (10 inn.) … and #12 TCU 12-2 at #43 (series tied).
Texas A&M's offense awakened in a big way during its game-2 win over Oklahoma.
FRIDAY’S TOP-50 MATCHUPS (3/19/11)
(based on the CB360 Composite National Rankings … upsets in italics)
#1 Florida 1-5-0 won at #7 LSU 0-9-1 … series-clincher
Final Stats | FL Recap | LSU Recap | Photos | Video Highlights
at #4 Virginia 5-6-0 def. #3 Florida State 4-10-1 (11 inn.) … series-clincher
Final Stats | VA Recap | FSU Recap | Video Highlights
at #5 South Carolina 2-10-0 def. #50 Georgia 1-5-1 … series tied
Final Stats | SC Recap | GA Recap | Photos | Quotes
#13 Texas A&M 4-6-0 won at #6 Oklahoma 1-7-1 … series tied
Final Stats | A&M Recap | OU Recap (w/ postgame video)
Connecticut's Dan Feehan
at #10 Texas 4-6-0 def. #44 Kansas State 3-6-3 (10 inn.) … series-clincher
Final Stats | TX Recap | K-St Recap | Photos | Quotes
#12 TCU 12-14-1 won at #43 UNLV 2-7-4 … series tied
Final Stats | TCU Recap | UNLV Recap
at #27 Auburn 9-9-0 def. #18 Arkansas 5-10-1 … series tied
Final Stats | AUB Recap | ARK Recap | Video Highlights
#29 Connecticut 3-11-2 won at #25 College of Charleston 1-5-1
Final Stats | UConn Recap | CofC Recap
FRIDAY’S OTHER TOP-50 GAMES (3/19/11)
(based on the CB360 Composite National Rankings … upsets in italics)
at #2 Vanderbilt 4-11-1 def. Mississippi State 0-3-0 … series-clincher
Final Stats | VAN Recap (w/ postgame video) | MS Recap
at #8 Arizona State 4-8-1 def. Oral Roberts 3-5-1 … series-clincher
Final Stats | ASU Recap | ORU Recap
at #9 Clemson 16-8-2 def. Duke 7-11-2 … series-clincher
Final Stats | CLEM Recap | Duke Recap
Loyola Marymount's Alex Gillingham
at #11 Cal State Fullerton 6-5-3 def. Washington 1-8-2 (gm-1) … series-clincher
Final Stats | CSF Recap | WA Recap | Photos
at #11 Cal State Fullerton 9-15-3 def. Washington 4-7-2 (gm-2) … series sweep
Final Stats | CSF Recap | WA Recap
at #14 Fresno State 7-11-2 def. Washington State 2-5-0 … series-clincher
Final Stats | FRES Recap | WSU Recap
#15 North Carolina 5-8-0 won at Virginia Tech 4-8-0 … series-clincher
Final Stats | UNC Recap | VT Recap | Photos
at #16 Arizona 14-17-2 def. San Francisco 0-8-1 … series-clincher
Final Stats | AZ Recap | SanFranRecap
at #19 Georgia Tech 12-17-0 def. North Carolina State 0-6-2 … series-clincher
Final Stats | GT Recap | NC-St Recap
at #20 Baylor 14-12-0 def. Texas Tech 13-22-3 … series tied
Final Stats | BAY Recap (w/ video) | TT Recap | Postgame Audio (TT) | Video Highlights | Quotes | Notes (TT)
#21 UCLA at Cal Poly (gm-1) – postponed (still will play once on Sun., 3/20, at 6 PT)
#21 UCLA at Cal Poly (gm-1) – postponed (now will play DH on Mon., 3/21, at 1 PT)
at #22 Tulane 7-13-0 def. New Orleans 4-6-2 … series-clincher
Final Stats | TUL Recap | UNO Recap | Quotes
Ohio State at #23 California (gm-1) – suspended (Cal leads 2-0 in top-2nd; resume Sun. at 1 PT)
Ohio State at #23 California (gm-2) – postponed (will try to play DH on Sunday, 3/20)
Long Beach State's Matt Hibbert
at #24 Rice 5-9-0 def. Louisiana Tech 2-4-1 … series-clincher
Final Stats | Rice Recap | LT Recap
at Loyola Marymount 4-11-1 def. #26 UC Irvine 0-3-2 (gm-1) … series tied
Final Stats | LMU Recap | UCI Recap
#26 UC Irvine 4-9-1 won at Loyola Marymount 1-9-2 (gm-2) … series-clincher (2-1)
Final Stats | UCI Recap | LMU Recap | Postgame Video (LMU)
at #28 Louisville 3-8-0 def. Xavier 0-5-0 … series tied
Final Stats | LOU Recap (w/ audio) | XAV Recap | Photos | Notes
#30 Oregon State 9-10-1 won at Long Beach State 6-12-4 (gm-1) … series-clincher
Final Stats | OrSt Recap | LBSU Recap
at Long Beach State 2-8-2 def. #30 Oregon State 1-6-1 (11 inn.; gm-2) … OrSt won series (2-1)
Final Stats | LBSU Recap | OrSt Recap
Pepperdine's Aaron Gates
at Pepperdine 2-3-0 def. #31 Coastal Carolina 1-5-1 (gm-1) … series-clincher
Final Stats | PEP Recap | CC Recap
at Pepperdine 7-12-0 def. #31 Coastal Carolina 1-6-2 (gm-2) … series sweep
Final Stats | PEP Recap | CC Recap
Alabama's Andrew Miller
Alabama 7-13-0 won at #32 Mississippi 5-8-1 … series tied
Final Stats | AL Recap | OleMiss Recap | Quotes (AL)
South Alabama 10-14-1 won at #33 Troy 4-8-3 … series tied
Final Stats | So.-AL Recap | Troy Recap | Postgame Audio
McNeese State 9-18-1 won at #34 Southeastern Louisiana 4-8-1 … series-clincher
Final Stats | McN Recap | SE-La. Recap
#35 Oregon 6-11-1 won at San Diego 3-7-0 (gm-1) … series opener
Final Stats | ORE Recap | USD Recap
McNeese State's Jace Peterson
#35 Oregon 10-14-1 won at San Diego 7-13-1 (gm-2) … series-clincher
Final Stats | ORE Recap | USD Recap
Penn State 4-12-4, at #36 Wichita State 2-5-1 … series tied
Final Stats | PSU Recap | WICH Recap
at #37 Stetson 3-8-1 def. Mercer 2-9-0 … series-clincher
Final Stats | STET Recap | MER Recap
#38 Southern Mississippi 4-8-5 def. Rhode Island 3-11-4 (15 inn.; at College of Charleston)
Final Stats | SoMiss Recap | URI Recap
Jacksonville 12-14-0 won at #39 East Tennessee 3-11-1 … series-clincher
Final Stats | J’ville Recap | ETSU Recap
#40 Oklahoma State at Kansas – postponed (DH on Sun., 3/20, at 12 CT)
Virginia Commonwealth's John Lenherr
at #41 Texas State 5-9-2 def. Sam Houston State 3-7-2 … series-clincher
Final Stats | TxSt Recap | SH-St Recap
at #42 East Carolina 6-9-1 def. Rutgers 3-7-2 … series-clincher
Final Stats | ECU Recap | RUT Recap
at Virginia Commonwealth 4-8-1 def. #45 James Madison 2-7-2 … series tied
Final Stats | VCU Recap | JMU Recap
at #45 Central Florida 5-11-1 def. Columbia 2-3-1 … series-clincher
Final Stats | UCF Recap | COL Recap
#47 Tennessee 12-16-0 won at Kentucky 8-12-1 … series tied
Final Stats | TN Recap (w/ video) | KY Recap | Photos
#48 Elon 5-6-0 won at Western Carolina 4-5-0 … series-clincher
Final Stats | Elon Recap | WCU Recap | Photos
Evansville's Nate Smith
at Evansville 2-3-0 def. #49 Michigan State 0-8-0 … series tied
Final Stats | EV Recap | MichSt Recap