College Roundup: Bulldogs Silence LSU

HOW THE TOP 25 FARED

(1) Miami: won, 9-2, vs. Virginia

(2) Florida: won, 4-1, vs. Georgia

(3) Texas A&M: lost, 7-4, vs. Alabama

(4) Texas Christian: won, 11-6, at Oklahoma State

(5) Louisiana State: lost, 2-1, vs. (7) Mississippi State

(6) Louisville: lost, 2-1, at Boston College

(7) Mississippi State: won, 2-1, at (5) Louisiana State

(8) Vanderbilt: lost, 2-1, at Tennessee

(9) UC Santa Barbara: lost, 10-5, at Cal Poly

(10) Texas Tech: lost, 7-4, vs. Texas

(11) Florida State: won, 7-6 in 12 innings, vs. Notre Dame

(12) South Carolina: won, 5-1, vs. Missouri

(13) Rice: won, 4-3, at Southern Mississippi

(14) North Carolina State: won, 9-1, vs. North Carolina A&T

(15) Mississippi: won, 7-4, vs. Auburn

(16) North Carolina: lost, 5-4, at Wake Forest

(17) Long Beach State: lost, 14-13, at UC Riverside

(18) Michigan: won, 12-9, at Iowa

(19) Kentucky: split DH vs. Arkansas, lost 2-0 and won 5-4

(20) California: lost, 8-5 in 13 innings, vs. Arizona

(21) Florida Atlantic: lost, 4-3, at Florida International

(22) Oregon State: off

(23) Michigan State: won, 9-0, vs. Indiana

(24) Louisiana-Lafayette: lost, 2-1, vs. Texas State

(25) Coastal Carolina: lost, 5-2, vs. High Point

Strike One: Bulldogs take series at LSU

Mississippi State’s season has, at times, defied explanation. There was the week when the Bulldogs lost to Eastern Kentucky and Oral Roberts yet took a series at Vanderbilt—all in the same week. There were the last two weekends, when the Bulldogs won a series at Florida, only to turn around and get swept at home by Texas A&M.

Then there’s this weekend. With a 2-1 win Saturday, Mississippi State clinched a series win against Louisiana State in Baton Rouge—the program’s first series win against LSU since 2006. The series is further proof that, while the Bulldogs may not be the country’s most consistent team, when they’re firing on all cylinders, they’re one of its toughest to beat.

After Friday’s 12-8 slugfest, Saturday was a textbook pitcher’s duel between LSU righthander Alex Lange and Mississippi State righthander Austin Sexton. Though Lange threw a complete game and allowed just one earned, it was Sexton who emerged victorious, holding the Tigers to one run on five hits in 7 1/3 innings.

“Austin had such great movement on his breaking ball tonight,” MSU head coach John Cohen told hailstate.com. “We knew if he could keep it in the strike zone, he would get a lot of quick outs. Both kids really competed their tails off out there on the mound tonight.”

DH Jack Kruger gave the Bulldogs an early lead with a first-inning solo home run, and left fielder Reid Humphreys added another run with a sacrifice fly in the six, before taking over on the mound with an out in the ninth to earn his fifth save of the season.

With the win and a Texas A&M loss to Alabama, the Bulldogs moved one game behind the Aggies in the SEC West standings.

“You have to learn how to win the 10-9 games, but you also have to win the 2-1 games,” Cohen said. “We were able to do that tonight. Austin was fabulous, and the bullpen was great behind him.”

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Strike Two: Atlantic Coast Confusion

The margin between the upper and lower tiers of the ACC is perhaps as thin as it has ever been. Parity abounds.

Case in point: Both Boston College and Wake Forest clinched series this weekend against No. 6 Louisville and No. 16 North Carolina, respectively.

Led by a sterling outing by hard-throwing closer-turned-starter Justin Dunn (6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K), the Eagles defeated the Cardinals, 2-1, Saturday. Catcher Nick Sciortino hit the walkoff single in the bottom of the ninth, pushing the Eagles to 21-14 on the season (7-11 ACC). The Eagles now have series wins against North Carolina State, Virginia and Louisville—a step forward for a program that hasn’t finished above .500 since 2010. The Cardinals, meanwhile, have dropped two of their last three conference series after winning every ACC series last year.

In Winston-Salem, Wake Forest clinched its second straight series against a Top 25 opponent by taking its second game against UNC, 5-4. Left fielder Kevin Conway homered and drove in two runs on his birthday, while righthander Drew Loepprich held the Tar Heels to one run in his 5 1/3 innings of work.

Starting pitching has been key for the Demon Deacons of late, with ace Parker Dunshee shutting down Florida State and UNC on back-to-back Fridays and righthanders Loepprich and Connor Johnstone holding their own just enough to keep Wake’s powerful offense within striking distance.

“We said from the beginning, we thought we had the makings of a good club,” head coach Tom Walter said. “And if our starting pitching, if Loeppy and C.J. continue throwing the ball well, we’re going to be a dangerous club down the stretch.”

Following a series win against Florida State last weekend, the Demon Deacons (25-17, 9-11 ACC) are starting to build a case for an at-large bid but will likely need to improve their 7-12 road record.

Incidentally, the Deacons play at Boston College next weekend.

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Strike Three: The Wild West

No. 9 UC Santa Barbara and No. 17 Long Beach State looked like the class of the Big West heading into the weekend. Heading into Sunday, both teams are trying to avoid sweeps.

After winning, 7-0, Friday, Cal Poly blew by the Gauchos yet again Saturday, 10-5, putting up four runs in the first inning and punching back every time UCSB rallied. Four UCSB errors certainly didn’t help matters for the Gauchos.

The series loss is UC Santa Barbara’s first since March 4-6 at Oregon. On the flip side, the young Mustangs are quietly gathering steam, winning their third straight series, with their previous two coming against Hawaii and Cal State Fullerton.

Cal Poly (24-13, 6-2 Big West) currently sits at a half game back of the first-place Titans (24-13, 7-2) in the conference standings.

The Dirtbags have more ground to make up at 5-6 in the conference, having lost both of their games to UC Riverside this weekend in walk-off fashion. In a wild 14-13 shootout Saturday, the Dirtbags rallied for three runs in the top of the ninth inning only to see the Highlanders walk off in the bottom half. Long Beach State will try to avoid a sweep—and its fifth straight loss—on Sunday.

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The Lineup

Michael Emodi, c, Creighton: Emodi got the Bluejays started Saturday, homering and driving in six runs in the opening game of a doubleheader against Brigham Young. Creighton went on to sweep the doubleheader, bouncing back from Friday’s loss to win a big non-conference series.

Quincy Nieporte, DH, Florida State: Notre Dame gave Florida State a run for its money Saturday, but the Seminoles were able to hold off the Irish, 7-6, in 12 innings. Nieporte homered and drove in three runs in the contest. His leadoff double in the 12th set the stage for freshman Jackson Lueck’s walkoff single a batter later.

Zach Jackson, rhp, Arkansas: Jackson delivered easily his best outing since moving from closer to the weekend rotation, throwing a career-high seven innings (a complete game in a shortened contest) and tying his career high with eight strikeouts all while holding Kentucky to no runs on two hits. The win clinched the series—much-needed for the Razorbacks, who have lost their last three conference series.

Josh Watson, of, Texas Christian: Watson was the driving force behind TCU’s 11-6 series-tying win at Oklahoma State, homering and driving in four runs in a 3-for-5 showing. His solo shot tied the game at 2-2 in the fourth, and he helped the Frogs build the lead from there.

Gene Cone, of, South Carolina: Cone went 2-for-3 and scored two runs in South Carolina’s series-clinching 5-1 win against Missouri, and in doing so, he extended his hitting streak to 26 games—tied with now Royals prospect Whit Merrifield for the best in school history.

Tristin English, 1b, Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets earned revenge and forced a rubber game against Clemson with a 16-1 beating Saturday. English did much of the damage, hitting two home runs and tying his career high with four RBIs.

Scot Hoffman, rhp, High Point: In a battle for first place in the Big South, High Point dealt the first blow at Coastal Carolina behind a masterful performance by Hoffman. The redshirt-senior righthander carried a shutout into the ninth and wound up allowing two runs on just four hits, striking out nine in 8 1/3.

Ronnie Dawson, of, Ohio State: The toolsy Buckeyes outfielder stuffed the stat sheet with a 4-for-5 game in Ohio State’s 9-1 win at Illinois. Dawson homered, doubled, scored two runs, drove in two and stole a base in the win.

Ryan Aguilar, of/1b, Arizona: Aguilar picked up only one hit in the topsy-turvy, 13-inning epic with California, but it was the biggest hit of all. His team-leading sixth home run, a three-run shot, clanked off of the right-field foul pole in the top of the 13th, putting the Wildcats in position to defeat Cal, 8-5, and win the series. Aguilar’s homer came against righthander Alex Schick, an electric 6-foot-7 closer who was making his season debut after being sidelined with a knee injury.