Friday’s D1 Digest: SEC home teams, ACC road teams have their way
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Friday Staff Coverage:
- Kendall Rogers w/ takeaways from Auburn-Texas A&M
- Joe Healy on Arkansas piecing together bullpen win over LSU
- Pat James on North Carolina besting Wake’s Chase Burns
- Aaron Fitt w/ observations from Virginia-Duke
- Top Performers from Friday’s action
SEC home teams continue dominance
Through two and a half weeks of conference play, SEC home teams are winning at a 38-14 clip (.731). The home team has clinched all four series that started Thursday.
— Arkansas got a walkoff single from Hudson White in a 10-inning 4-3 victory over LSU to clinch the series. Peyton Stovall has three hits for the Razorbacks, who clinched the series with the win. LSU is now 2-6 in SEC play and faces Vanderbilt and Tennessee in the next two weeks. The Tigers are trying to break the curse that the last two College World Series champions—Mississippi State in 2022 and Ole Miss in 2023—did not even make the SEC Tournament in the next season.
— Some have questioned the Georgia schedule and attributed the offensive prowess – Georgia leads the nation in home runs – to a weak non-conference slate. After struggling at Kentucky, losing all three games to open SEC play, that might have had merit. But Georgia swept a three-game series from Alabama last weekend and run-ruled fourth-ranked Tennessee 16-2 Friday night. Corey Collins slugged two home runs, and Kolby Branch went 3-for-3 in the 14-hit attack. Charlie Goldstein held a potent Tennessee lineup to only two unearned runs in six innings.
— Florida juggled the rotation, going to closer Brandon Neely instead of Cade Fisher to start versus Mississippi State on Friday. Neely was sharp in the first three innings before allowing five runs in the fourth. Fisher worked 3.1 relief innings, and Luke McNeillie struck out the side in the ninth. Florida trailed 6-2 in the eighth and 6-4 in the ninth before walking it off on Cade Kurland’s RBI single. Ty Evans and Tanner Garrison homered for the Gators, who rebounded from the large deficit to steal a 7-6 victory.
NEVER COUNT US OUT ⚡#GoGators // 📺 SEC Network+ pic.twitter.com/FyJ9nEwSv5
— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) March 30, 2024
— Alabama used a seven-run eighth inning to break a tie and defeat South Carolina 13-6 to clinch the series win. Gage Miller went 3-for-4, Ian Petrutz had a homer and five RBIs, and Evan Sleight had a homer and a double in the win. Ben Hess started and took a no-hitter into the fifth, striking out eight, but the wheels came off, and four relievers took over from there. Also, Alabama announced that Hagan Banks, the Sunday starter in SEC play, had surgery and will miss the rest of the season.
— Texas A&M clinched a series win over Auburn with a 12-8 win Friday. The Aggies slugged five home runs, with Braden Montgomery hitting two and Jace LaViolette, Ali Camarillo, and Caden Sorrell all hitting one. Cooper McMurray and Ike Irish both homered for Auburn in the loss, which drops the Tigers to 1-7 in SEC play.
Another for good measure. 🫧#GigEm x @B_mont_ pic.twitter.com/2rkn7KERAl
— Texas A&M Baseball (@AggieBaseball) March 30, 2024
— Kentucky improved to 6-1 in SEC play with a 5-3 win at Ole Miss. Trey Pooser started and allowed six hits and three runs – two earned, with five strikeouts and one walk. Johnny Hummel worked his way out of a bases-loaded situation to collect the save.
— Bryce Cunningham allowed just three baserunners over seven scoreless innings as Vanderbilt clinched a series win with a 4-0 victory over Missouri. Cunningham struck out 12 in the win. In the first two games against Missouri, the Commodore pitching staff hasn’t allowed an earned run and has registered 25 strikeouts while holding the Tigers to four hits.
Double-digit dude 🔒
— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) March 30, 2024
Cunningham carves up his 10th batter tonight. pic.twitter.com/nJyGlW2ua3
ACC home woes
Road teams won six of the seven games Friday night in ACC play.
— North Carolina slugged four home runs, including a pair from Casey Cook, in a 6-5 win at Wake Forest. Cook drove in four runs, as UNC handed Chase Burns his first loss of the year. The flamethrower struck out 14 and didn’t walk a batter, but he did allow nine hits and six runs in 6.1 innings.
— Virginia set up a huge rubber game Saturday with a 7-3 win at Duke Friday. Griff O’Ferrall had two hits including a double and three RBI for the Cavaliers.
— Clemson evened its series at Miami with a 3-2 win. Four Tigers’ arms held Miami to seven hits while making the most of their six hits.
#Clemson pulled out a gritty win to even the series in Coral Gables. 🐅
— Clemson Baseball (@ClemsonBaseball) March 30, 2024
🎥 Clemson vs. Miami (Fla.) Highlights ➡️ 3/29/24 pic.twitter.com/fJkAkng4O7
— Louisville took advantage of four Florida State errors to even the series with a 5-2 win in Tallahassee. The Cardinals made the most of their five hits as Logan Beard slugged a home run in the win. Evan Webster fanned eight in his six innings. Tucker Biven worked the final three innings to collect the save.
— Pittsburgh used a six-run second inning and slugged three home runs in a 7-6 victory at Virginia Tech. Phil Fox nailed down the game with two scoreless relief frames.
PANTHERS THIRD BOMB OF THE INNING! https://t.co/6p7edjOn1A pic.twitter.com/rv0mQtqVvh
— Pitt Baseball (@Pitt_BASE) March 29, 2024
— Boston College scored three runs in the tenth inning to win at Georgia Tech 5-3 to clinch the road series win over the Yellow Jackets. Patrick Roche had two hits and a home run for the Eagles.
— NC State was the only home ACC team to win Friday, but it took a walk-off hit in the ninth to beat Notre Dame 7-6. Jacob Cozart went 3-for-4, and Luke Nixon went 2-for-5 with a home run and five RBIs.
Luke called game 😴 pic.twitter.com/Jz1cvSVFyc
— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) March 30, 2024
Big 12 wildness continues
— Texas had 22 hits and slugged four home runs in a 21-11 win at Kansas State to even the series. Jalin Flores went 4-for-5 with a homer, five runs scored, and three RBIs, and Max Belyeu went 4-for-6 with a homer, three runs, and five RBIs in the win. Chuck Ingram hit a pair of home runs for KSU.
— Kansas swept a doubleheader at BYU, winning 4-3 and 8-5 to complete the three-game road sweep. Jake English went 3-for-4 with a double and a homer in the first game. Kodey Shojinaga was the star in the second game, going 3-for-5 with a homer and a double.
— Sam Garcia pitched seven innings and held West Virginia to three hits and one run, striking out 11 and not walking a batter in Oklahoma State’s 2-1 road victory.
— Two UCF hurlers held Texas Tech to five hits in a 2-1 win in Orlando Friday to capture the series. Dom Satagliano (6.1/3/1/1/1/5) got the win and Chase Centala (2.2/2/0/0/0/3) collected his sixth save in the victory.
— Oklahoma fell to Lamar 13-8 Friday night. Zak Skinner went 5-for-5 with two homers, a double, and six RBIs for the Cardinals. Remember, the Sooners, leading the Big 12 at 7-2 overall, also lost 12-10 Thursday to Lamar. Twenty-five runs allowed in two games to Lamar? Not good, Sooners.
Varnado turns a 9th inning double play as Oklahoma is down to its final out. #WeAreLU pic.twitter.com/sWqAzGLBwx
— Lamar Baseball (@Lamar_Baseball) March 30, 2024
— Payton Tolle struck out three Houston batters in 8.1 innings as TCU beat Houston 6-2 and clinch the series. Tolle allowed only three hits and two runs. Luke Boyers’ three hits led the Horned Frogs offense.
— Baylor defeated Cincinnati 8-6 in the other Big 12 matchup, evening the series and setting up a fun rubber game Saturday.
Let's go hit. 😤 @KobeAndrade4 #SicEm 🐻⚾️ | #Together pic.twitter.com/9RhipEUmMj
— Baylor Baseball (@BaylorBaseball) March 30, 2024
Other national nuggets
— Troy outlasted Southern Miss 9-8 in a wild game to even a crucial Sun Belt series. Both teams rallied late, with the Trojans’ three-run ninth providing the difference.
— Louisiana clinched a big road series win with a 16-5 win at Texas State. Jose Torres and Josh Alexander each had three hits in the win, and the Ragin’ Cajuns move to 7-1 in Sun Belt play.
— Utah held on for a 7-5 victory over Stanford, clinching the series for the first time over the Cardinal since 2016. The Utes have now won three series in the Pac-12.
— After a rocky start, USC is exorcising demons versus Oregon State. USC won Thursday 2-1 and now has taken the series with a lopsided 17-4 win on Friday. The Trojans scored ten runs in the fifth inning as Jacob Galloway went 3-for-4 and Carson Wells went 3-for-5 in the win.
HIGHLIGHTS | Check out full highlights from the Trojans' slugfest here: pic.twitter.com/t7m5M1Ynu8
— USC Baseball (@USC_Baseball) March 30, 2024
— Maryland scored five runs in the ninth to defeat Michigan 11-9 Friday evening. Sam Hojnar went 4-for-5 for the Terrapins, who move to 3-1 in Big Ten play.
— Brody Brecht was chased after three innings with five hits, seven runs, and two walks. He struck out five in Iowa’s 16-9 loss to Minnesota.
— Jacob Riordan threw a seven-inning no-hitter in San Diego State’s 12-0, seven-inning, run-rule win over New Mexico. Riordan struck out eight and walked six in the 111-pitch effort. This was the second game of a doubleheader where the Aztecs won the first game 8-6.
— The Samford trio of Alex Flood, Heath Clevenger and Cole Fryman combined to throw a seven-inning no-hitter in a 14-0 win over Longwood. Flood threw the bulk of the game with five strikeouts in five no-hit innings, while Clevenger struck out two in an inning and Fryman closed it out.
— Grand Canyon freshman righthanded pitcher Connor Mattison threw the 28th no-hitter in WAC history Friday night in a 4-0 Lopes win over Sacramento State to split a doubleheader. Mattison struck out ten and walked two in the no-hit performance.
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