Sunday Roundup: SEC East Heavyweights Keep Rolling



Another weekend in college baseball has come to a close. Here's a roundup of the Top 25 action a few other highlights from around the country. Note that a number of series ran from Thursday through Saturday this week due to the Easter holiday; you can find a roundup of Saturday's action here.

• North Carolina State at (1) Virginia: The Cavaliers won Sunday's rubber game, 7-6. UVa. built an early 5-0 lead through three innings and held off N.C. State's comeback bid—Kyle Crockett (2.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R) earned the win in relief, and Branden Kline (1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K) picked up his 13th save. Five Cavs posted two-hit days as part of a balanced 12-hit attack. Steven Proscia drove in a run to tie Sean Doolittle atop UVa.'s career RBIs list.

• (2) South Carolina at Mississippi State: Freshman DeSean Anderson filled in for the injured Jackie Bradley Jr. and had three hits as part of South Carolina's 18-hit onslaught in a series-clinching 13-4 win. South Carolina's 3-4-5 hitters—Christian Walker, Brady Thomas and Jake Williams—combined for 11 hits and 10 RBIs. South Carolina's one-two bullpen punsh of John Taylor (4 IP, 4 H, 1 ER) and Matt Price (2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K) took care of business on the mound.

• Louisiana State at (4) Vanderbilt: Anthony Gomez (4-for-6, 3 RBI) was one of three Commodores to record four-hit games, as Vandy rapped out a season-high 20 hits in a 10-7 victory, completing the series sweep. LSU rallied with four runs in the seventh to get within two runs, but Vandy's bullpen slammed the door, as Mark Lamm and Navery Moore each worked a hitless inning.

• Alabama at (5) Florida: Nolan Fontana had three hits and drove in both Florida runs in a 2-1 win against Alabama, as the Gators completed a series sweep. Karsten Whitson (6.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K) improved to 5-0 in his longest outing of the season.

• (16) Oklahoma State at (6) Texas A&M: The top two hitters in Texas A&M's lineup, Tyler Naquin and Krey Bratsen, combined for six hits, four runs and two RBIs to lead the Aggies to an 8-1 win and a series sweep. Ross Stripling (8 IP, 6 H, 1 ER) improved to 8-2 on the year, while Hunter Herrera (5 IP, 6 H, 5 ER) took over OSU's Sunday spot from Andrew Heaney and took the loss. The Aggies are a game ahead of second-place Texas in the Big 12.

• Duke at (10) Florida State: The Blue Devils led 8-4 after two innings, but Florida State chipped away at the lead in the middle innings and then surged ahead with six runs in the seventh inning en route to a 13-9 win. Sherman Johnson's three-run double capped the big seventh for FSU, which got three hits and four RBIs from Jayce Boyd. David Trexler (1.1 IP, 5 H, 6 ER) got the start and struggled for the Seminoles, but Mack Waugh (5.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K) picked up the win with strong relief work.

• Boston College at (13) Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets scored eight runs over the second and third innings in support of Buck Farmer (6.2 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 6 K), and they held off BC's late rally to win 10-8. The Jackets swept the series and remained a game behind Virginia in the ACC Coastal.

• (25) Miami at (14) North Carolina: The Tar Heels dodged a sweep with a convincing 8-1 win behind a complete game from Kent Emanuel (9 IP, 9 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K). UNC jumped out to a 5-0 lead against E.J. Encinosa (3.2 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 5 BB, 2 K) and never looked back.

• Nebraska at (17) Oklahoma: Sunday's series finale was rained out. Oklahoma won the first two games.

• (21) Arkansas at Kentucky: The Wildcats won the first game of Sunday's doubleheader, 3-1, to clinch the series, but the Razorbacks salvaged a win in the rain-shortened finale, 4-1 in five innings. The first game was a continuation of game that was suspended in the third inning Saturday; D.J. Baxendale started it and worked two innings, but the Hogs did not bring him back when play resumed Sunday, and UK scored twice in the fourth against Cade Lynch. Arkansas broke a 1-1 tie with three runs in the fourth in the finale.

Around The Nation

• Elon avoided a sweep with a 9-0 win at Georgia Southern. Neal Pritchard (4-for-5, 2 R, 3 RBI) led the offense for Elon, which pulled back into first place in the SoCon, a half-game ahead of the Eagles.

• Adam Bryant (3-for-6, 3 RBI) had another big day to lead Troy to a 12-9 win against Western Kentucky, completing a series sweep. After getting shut out twice at Middle Tennessee State last weekend, Troy's offense came up big this weekend, scoring 29 runs in three games against a WKU team that entered the weekend tied for second place. Troy now holds a three-game lead over second-place Florida Atlantic.

• Kyle Farmer (2-for-3, HR, 4 RBI) powered Georgia to a 5-3 win against Tennessee, giving the Bulldogs a road series victory. Georgia climbed back above .500 (21-20).

• Jeff Schaus (2-for-4, 3 RBI) led a 12-hit attack in support of Jonathan Meyer (6 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 K), as Clemson won the rubber game against Wake Forest, 10-4.

• You thought the Big Ten was muddled last week? The conference is even more tightly bunched after this weekend: Purdue, Michigan State and Penn State are tied for first place at 7-5, and five teams are a game back at 6-6. Northwestern is just two games back, and last-place Iowa is still within three of first place. Preseason favorite Minnesota put itself right back into the race this weekend, completing a road sweep at Indiana to climb to 6-6 in conference play.

• The Colonial Athletic Association is similarly complicated—as usual. Delaware  won a big series against James Madison this weekend but dropped Sunday's series finale. Delaware and Old Dominion are now tied at 13-8 in the CAA, a half-game behind first place UNC Wilmington (12-6), and a game ahead of JMU (12-9). In all, seven teams are within three games of first place.

• Southern Illinois beat Creighton, 2-1, to win the series. Creighton is now tied with Missouri State and SIU atop the Missouri Valley Conference at 6-3, with Illinois State at Wichita State a game back.



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About This Blog

  • Aaron Fitt is the lead college writer for Baseball America. If you have questions or comments about college baseball you can e-mail him at collegeblog@baseballamerica.com.

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