College Roundup: Woodman Powers Up For Ole Miss

Strike One: Mississippi Powers Past LSU

With an 8-2 victory Saturday against No. 8 Louisiana State, No. 9 Mississippi won a key series with significant implications both in the Southeastern Conference West Division and the race for regional hosting spots in the NCAA Tournament.

HOW THE TOP 25 FARED

(1) Florida: lost, 2-1, at (6) South Carolina

(2) Texas A&M: split DH at Arkansas, lost 9-5 and won 11-8 in 11 innings

(3) Mississippi State: split DH at Alabama, lost 4-3 and won 2-1

(4) Miami: won, 11-2, vs. Florida A&M

(5) Florida State: lost, 10-3, at Clemson

(6) South Carolina: won, 2-1, vs. (1) Florida

(7) Texas Christian: won, 13-6, vs. (13) Texas Tech

(8) Louisiana State: lost, 8-2, at (9) Mississippi

(9) Mississippi: won, 8-2, vs. (8) Louisiana State

(10) Louisville: won, 4-0, vs. St. John’s

(11) Vanderbilt: won, 10-3, vs. Georgia

(12) North Carolina State: won, 12-2, vs. Duke

(13) Texas Tech: lost, 13-6, at (7) Texas Christian

(14) Southern Mississippi: lost, 9-4, at Florida Atlantic

(15) Rice: won, 12-4, vs. Charlotte

(16) Michigan: lost, 7-6, at Michigan State

(17) UC Santa Barbara: won, 6-3, vs. Hawaii

(18) Oregon State: lost, 6-0, vs. Stanford

(19) Coastal Carolina: suspended at Georgia Tech

(20) Tulane: won, 10-4, vs. Houston

(21) East Carolina: won, 6-4, vs. Cincinnati

(22) Virginia: swept DH at Pittsburgh, 5-1 and 7-6

(23) Louisiana-Lafayette: split DH at Texas Arlington, lost 4-1 and won 5-4

(24) Minnesota: off

(25) Oklahoma State: swept DH at Texas, 3-0 and 6-3

The Rebels (33-12) jumped out to an early lead, scoring three runs in the first inning against lefthander John Valek and chasing him an inning later with another run. They scored the first eight runs of the game, before the Tigers (28-16) got on the board with a pair of runs in the eighth.

Outfielder J.B. Woodman (2-for-4, 3 R, 4 RBIs) hit two home runs to lead Mississippi’s offense and cap an impressive weekend for the junior. His first home run of the day came with two outs in the first inning to open the scoring. Third baseman Colby Bortles (3-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBIs) followed with a homer of his own, and the Rebels were off and running.

Mississippi pounded out 13 hits Saturday, and scored 18 runs in the series.

“We swung it well all weekend from top to bottom,” coach Mike Bianco said. “We were able to get guys on, move them around and score some runs which—all we hoped for against a team like LSU.”

With the victory, Mississippi moved ahead of LSU in the tightly packed SEC West. With both teams competing for regional hosting spots, the head-to-head series victory could be a key addition to the Rebels’ tournament resume.

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Strike Two: Conference USA Race Tightens

After winning a series against Rice last week at home to move into first place in Conference USA, No. 14 Southern Mississippi hit the road this weekend to take on third-place Florida Atlantic. After winning the first game of the series, 9-5, on Friday, the Owls (30-11) clinched the series with a 9-4 victory Saturday.

FAU’s win, combined with Rice claiming its series against Charlotte, leaves the CUSA standings tightly packed at the top. No. 15 Rice, which has played one more game because its series finale was moved up a day due to the threat of rain Sunday, is 15-6 in the conference and holds a half-game lead over FAU and Southern Miss.

FAU’s offense exploded for 16 hits and eight walks Saturday, led by shortstop C.J. Chatham (5-for-6, 3 R, 5 RBIs). After grounding into a double play in the first inning, the junior recorded a hit in his next five plate appearances and finished a double shy of the cycle. He is hitting .383/.453/.594 with five home runs this season.

After starting the year with seven straight winning weekends, FAU had lost two of its last three series coming into the weekend, falling out of the Top 25 in the process. Beating the Golden Eagles (30-14) keeps the Owls not only in the mix atop the conference standings, but also for a host spot in the NCAA Tournament.

FAU visits Rice in two weeks, but the regular season conference race is likely to go down to the wire.

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Strike Three: Dirtbags Back On Track

After starting the year with six straight series wins and returning to the Top 25 for the first time since 2008, Long Beach State had stumbled a bit in Big West Conference play. It split its first four series, including losing its first two games last weekend at UC Riverside to fall out of the rankings.

Since then, however, the Dirtbags have rebounded. They won the series finale last Sunday and beat San Diego State on Tuesday to carry some positive momentum into a series with Cal Poly. The Mustangs came into the weekend in first place in the Big West and were coming off a sweep of then-No. 9 UC Santa Barbara.

Long Beach cruised to a 14-3 victory Friday, and then clinched the series win Saturday with a 2-0 victory. The four-game winning streak had gotten the Dirtbags (25-16) back into the top 50 in the RPI late Saturday night, according to WarrenNolan.com.

After its big night offensively Friday, Long Beach returned Saturday to its identity of pitching and defense. Righthander Darren McCaughan (8 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K) and closer Chris Rivera (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K) combined to limit Cal Poly to five baserunners. McCaughan retired the first 14 batters of the game, and improved to 7-1, 2.31. Rivera picked up his 12th save with a perfect ninth.

Cal Poly (25-16) had won three straight series coming into the weekend. But the Mustangs have been unable to get anything going against the Dirtbags, and have fallen out of first place in the Big West.

Cal State Fullerton now leads the conference, holding a one-game advantage over UCSB and Cal Poly. Long Beach is 1.5 games back in a race that has only gotten more muddled this weekend.

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The Lineup

Thomas Hatch, rhp, Oklahoma State: In the first game of a doubleheader sweep at Texas, Hatch (9 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K) threw his second straight shutout, as Oklahoma State won, 3-0. The sophomore (4-1, 1.52) shut out Texas Christian last week in Stillwater, and has now thrown 20 straight scoreless innings.

Dallas and Dalton Carroll, 3b and rhp, Utah: The brothers led Utah to a 9-3 victory against UCLA, clinching a series win and keeping the Utes in first place in the Pac-12 Conference. Dallas (2-for-4, 2 R, 3 RBI) capped the victory with a two-run homer in the eighth, while older brother Dalton (9 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 5 K) went the distance to improve to 4-5, 4.80.

Kyano Cummings, lhp, Siena: In the first game of a doubleheader against Rider, Cummings (7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K) threw a two-hit shutout and Siena won, 5-0, in seven innings. The senior’s second shutout of the season came the day after he recorded the final two outs in the Saints’ 5-2 victory.

Chris Okey, c, Clemson: In a 10-3 victory against No. 5 Florida State, Okey (3-for-5, 2 R, 5 RBIs), led Clemson’s offense. The Preseason All-American hit his eighth home run of the season, and is now batting .350/.460/.573.

Trevor Charpie, rhp, Nevada: Charpie (9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K) threw a one-hit shutout as Nevada defeated San Diego State, 5-0, to clinch a series victory. The Aztecs’ lone hit came in the second inning, and Charpie improved to 4-3, 4.04 this season.

Austin Edens, DH, Samford: In a doubleheader sweep at UNC Greensboro, Edens collected six hits and drove in five runs. In the nightcap alone, the sophomore went 4-for-5 with three doubles and four RBIs.

Ryan Thurston, lhp, Western Kentucky: For 10 innings, Thurston (10 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 11 K) stymied Florida International, lowering his ERA to a team-best 3.42. Western Kentucky eventually pulled out a 3-2 victory in 12 innings.

Luke Maglich, of, South Florida: An RBI double from Maglich (3-for-5, HR, 3 RBIs) in the ninth inning provided a walkoff, 5-4 victory against Central Florida for South Florida. It was the third walkoff hit of the season for the senior, and clinched a series victory in front of 2,794 fans, the third-largest crowd in USF Baseball Stadium history.

Robert Currie, of, Navy: With four hits in a doubleheader sweep of Bucknell, Currie became Navy’s all-time hits leader, with 242 over his four-year career. The senior is hitting .361/.458/.467 this season, and needs three more stolen bases to set another career record for the program.