Top 25 Showdowns

• Florida State has had Florida's number over the last two years, going 7-2 against the Gators in 2010 and '11. But the top-ranked Gators struck the first blow in this year's season series, cruising to a 9-2 win against No. 7 FSU in Gainesville on Tuesday in front of a McKethan Stadium-record crowd of 6,005. UF coach Kevin O'Sullivan improved to 5-0 at home against Florida State, and the Gators extended their winning streak to 14 games, matching the school record. Preston Tucker's three-run homer in the third inning put Florida ahead for good, as the top four hitters in the UF lineup (Nolan Fontana, Daniel Pigott, Tucker and Mike Zunino) accounted for all nine of the team's RBIs. Greg Larson, Steven Rodriguez, Daniel Gibson and Austin Maddox combined to work 6.1 scoreless innings of two-hit relief. Maddox now has 22 strikeouts and no walks in 15.2 scoreless innings over eight appearances this season.

• In Tuesday's other top-10 showdown, No. 8 Rice won the first of two midweek games against No. 6 Arizona, 5-1, to give coach Wayne Graham his 1,500th collegiate victory (including his 11 seasons at San Jacinto JC). The Owls jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning behind Andrew Benak (5.2 IP, 6 H, 0 R), who turned in his fourth consecutive strong midweek start to improve to 3-0, 0.78 with 25 strikeouts and seven walks in 23 innings. Jeremy Rathjen (2-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B, HR) led the Rice offense.

Top 25 Upsets

• Louisville scored three runs in the first behind Jared Ruxer (5.2 IP, 5 H, 1 ER) and held on for a 4-3 win against No. 12 Mississippi, in the opener of a two-game midweek set. Ty Young's two-run triple highlighted the first-inning rally, and Zak Wasserman's solo homer in the sixth provided the eventual winning run.

• A pair of errors led to six unearned runs for Washington State, which beat No. 15 Cal State Fullerton 9-8 in 11 innings. Taylor Ard and Derek Jones each homered and combined for five RBIs for the Cougars, who won it on Patrick Claussen's RBI double in the 11th.

• Parker French (4 IP, 3 H, 0 R) and three relievers combined on a four-hitter, leading Texas to a 6-1 win against No. 20 Texas State. Eight Longhorns recorded hits in a balanced 11-hit attack, helping Texas improve to 7-8 on the season.

• Southeastern Louisiana won the opener of a two-game midweek set against No. 21 Mississippi State, 4-3. Andro Cutura (5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER) picked up the win for the Lions, who got two RBIs apiece from Ladd Rhodes and Jacob Fisher.

• Joel Hutter's walk-off RBI single capped Dallas Baptist's furious four-run ninth inning against Jordan John, giving the Patriots a 7-6 win over No. 22 Oklahoma. Austin Elkins had a two-run single in the ninth and then scored the winning run.

Other Highlights

• Dominic Ficociello's solo homer in the seventh provided all of the scoring in No. 4 Arkansas' 1-0 win against Gonzaga. Billy Moon (8 IP, 3 H, 1 ER) was outstanding in defeat for the Zags.

• In the Dodgertown Classic at Dodger Stadium, Pepperdine beat UC Irvine, 3-2, and No. 9 UCLA topped Southern California, 7-2. Matt Maurer (5.1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 4 K) improved to 3-0 for the Waves in the first game. In the nightcap, Trevor Brown (3-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 2B) led the UCLA offense in support of Grant Watson (6 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K), as the Bruins extended their winning streak to 11 games.

• Cameron Perkins (2-for-4, 2 RBI, 2B, HR) remained red-hot, leading No. 24 Purdue to a 4-2 win at Missouri State, improving the Boilermakers to 12-1 on the season. 

• Josh Elander (5-for-6, R, 3 RBI) had a big day for Texas Christian, which scored four runs in the 11th to win at Texas-San Antonio, 7-3.

• Kentucky, the nation's last remaining unbeaten team, improved to 17-0 with a 9-1 win against Wright State. A.J. Reed (3-for-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2B, HR) led the UK offense and also picked up his third win on the mound, tossing six innings of one-run ball.

• Coming off big weekends in their respective ACC openers, North Carolina State and Wake Forest notched nice wins over Southern Conference opponents. The No. 23 Wolfpack cruised to an 8-1 win at Elon behind Vance Williams (5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER). Mac Williamson (3-for-4, 2 R, 3 RBI) homered in his return from a four-game injury absence, and Chris Willson (6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) pitched well in Wake's 14-4 win against Georgia Southern. The Demon Deacons have won 14 straight, tied with Florida for the second-longest active streak in the nation (behind only Kentucky).

• Bill Cullen (4-for-6, 5 R, 4 RBI, 3 2B, 3B) led an 18-hit barrage, as Virginia Commonwealth won a slug-fest at East Carolina, 18-11.

• Louisiana-Monroe improved to 2-0 against Tulane with a 5-3 win in New Orleans. Shelby Aulds (4 IP, 2 H, 0 R) picked up the win with strong relief work.

• Tony Kemp (4-for-4, 3 R, 4 RBI, 2 3B, 2B) had a monster game in Vanderbilt's 12-2 win against Siena.

• New Mexico, coming off a three-game sweep of Gonzaga, still couldn't solve New Mexico State. The Aggies improved to 2-0 against their cross-state rivals with a 6-2 win in Albuquerque behind Casey Collins (7 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 7 BB, 2 K).