The SEC is not having the type of year we’re used to seeing with so many teams underperforming. But some of those teams are getting hot down the stretch. The battle just to get to Hoover for the SEC Baseball Tournament is fierce, and Kentucky did a lot to help their chances with a huge series win over the number one team in the country. What in the Wildcats is going on! Tennessee, the unanimous number one team in the country, had not lost a weekend series all year … until now. And, of course, it came against the least likely of teams in the Kentucky Wildcats. This was the only Thursday night game this week and it didn’t disappoint as Kentucky walked it off in the 13th inning for a 3-2 win. On Friday, the Wildcats jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the game was suspended at 4-2 in the 8th and had to be completed on Saturday with the Wildcats holding on and winning 5-2. Tennessee finally got the bats going on Saturday and won 7-2 to avoid the sweep. The series win was huge for Kentucky in a number of wins, but mainly, it keeps them in the race to get to Hoover. Are Vandy and Florida Back? Perhaps two of the most disappointing teams in the SEC this year are Vanderbilt and Florida but both had big weekends showing signs that they could be ready to breakout. With the lack of pitching and injury to Hunter Barco, the Gators are having to lean more on their offense. They got plenty of it in a sweep over Mississippi State this weekend scoring a total of 23 runs on the weekend. On Friday, Wyatt Langford was 3-4 with a home run, walk and 3 runs scored, while BT Riopelle was 4-4 with a home run and 6 RBI. Vanderbilt got a huge series win on the road over a ranked Georgia team. On Friday, leadoff man Enrique Bradfield Jr. reached base five times and scored 4 runs. It was the pitching on Sunday that helped Vandy clinch the series. Freshman Carter Holton tossed 6 scoreless innings allowing 4 hits and 2 walks with 5 strikeouts. Vanderbilt is now just one game behind Georgia for second place in the SEC East, while Florida created separation from the bottom of the conference. Down to Two in SEC West Race Arkansas won a big showdown at Auburn this past weekend winning the Friday and Saturday games by scores of 11-8 and 7-4. All three games were separated by 3 runs or fewer in a very competitive and entertaining series. With just two weeks left, you have to figure it will be a tall task for Auburn to come back and win the SEC West after falling three games behind the Razorbacks. Same can be said for LSU who remains two games back of the Hogs after a series win over Alabama. That leaves one real threat to Arkansas in the West with Texas A&M who got a series win over South Carolina. The offense broke out in the first two games scoring a combined 29 runs. They are two games back of Arkansas now but hold the head-to-head tie-breaker after winning the series in College Station back in late April. Missouri in trouble after getting swept by Ole Miss Ole Miss is another team that has underperformed this season, but perhaps they’re getting hot at the right time after sweeping Missouri at home. Kemp Alderman was 4-4 with 3 RBI in their Friday night win. Hunter Elliott struck out 9 over 7 innings in Saturday’s win. Kevin Graham was 5-5 with 2 home runs and 3 RBI to help complete the sweep on Sunday. Even with the sweep, and Mississippi State getting swept, those two remained tied for last place in the SEC West. And they’re tied with Kentucky for that last spot in (or out, depending on how you look at it) for Hoover. Missouri is now two games behind those teams and it appears they’ll be one of the two left out of Hoover. Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

Tennessee stays at No. 1 for the seventh straight week despite dropping two out of three games on the road at Kentucky. Oregon State went 4-0 against Oregon on the week and stays at No. 2. In fact, teams No. 1-8 all staid in the same position as last week's poll. Virginia Tech, Oklahoma State, and Arkansas round out the top five. Miami swept North Dakota State over the weekend to stay at No. 6. Stanford swept rival California to stand pat at No. 7. Gonzaga, Virginia, and Notre Dame round out the top ten. Texas (22), Vanderbilt (23), Oklahoma (24), and Florida (25) all enter the top 25 this week. Clemson (38), Kentucky (40), Old Dominion (41), Pittsburgh (46), North Carolina (47), and Florida Atlantic (49) each enter the top 50. The ACC leads all conferences with 12 ranked teams followed by the SEC (9), Big 12 (6), Pac-12 (5). and Conference USA (5). Teams from 13 different conferences are represented in the top 50. See the full top 50 below: Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

John and Kyle pick the best series from week 12. The guys build a brand new projected field of 64. We re-air our Jim Schlossnagle (Texas A&M head coach) interview from earlier this week due to technical difficulties with the podcast. Get The College Baseball Nation Podcast on Apple Podcasts Get The College Baseball Nation Podcast on Spotify. Have a question for Kyle and John? Send a DM to us on Twitter (@CollegeBallNat) or an email to podcast@collegebaseball.info and we might answer it on the podcast. Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

The college baseball regular season is winding down, and we're just a few weeks away from Selection Monday. There are 72 teams in contention for an at-large bid come Selection Monday. If there are no bid-stealers from conference tournaments, that leaves 55 teams competing for 31 spots. In other words, the bubble is going to shrink a lot before the end of the year. Here are the leagues with a chance at earning an at-large bid. Leagues With Potential At-Large Teams (17 Conferences) ACC (12) Locks (5): Miami, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Louisville, Notre Dame Should be in (3): Florida State, NC State, Georgia Tech Work left to do (2): Wake Forest, Pitt Bubble about to burst (2): Clemson, North Carolina Clemson was swept by Louisville last weekend but moved up in the RPI. The Tigers are hanging on a thread. Several teams are hovering around .500 in ACC play, an important threshold for ensuring an at-large berth. American (3) Work left to do (2): Tulane, ECU Bubble about to burst (1): Houston Tulane, ECU, UCF, and Houston are duking it out at the top of the American standings. UCF (RPI 97) likely doesn't have a path forward unless they win the American tournament. However, both Tulane and ECU will have a shot if they don't earn the automatic bid. ASUN (2) Should be in (2): Liberty, Kennesaw State Both Liberty and Kennesaw State have top 40 RPIs and have a clear shot at at-large bids. Big 12 (6) Locks (1): Oklahoma State Should be in (1): TCU Work left to do (4): Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia Several of the Big 12 teams are currently weighed down by their RPIs, which is keeping them from being locks. Oklahoma (31), TCU (32), West Virginia (42), and Texas Tech (50) will all become locks if they can maintain top 30 RPIs over the next few weeks. Texas (RPI 23) will need to stay near .500 in conference play to become a lock (currently 9-9) Big East (1) Work left to do (1): UConn UConn with its 35 RPI and 37-8 overall record will be under consideration come Selection Monday should they slip up in the Big East tournament. Big Ten (5) Should be in (1): Maryland Work left to do (4): Rutgers, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan The Big Ten currently checks in at eight in conference RPI, which sets the Big Ten up for two to three bids. Rutgers is the clear second option as of now, as the Scarlet Knights are currently leading the Big Ten standings. CUSA (5) Locks (1): Southern Miss Work left to do (2): Louisiana Tech, UTSA Bubble about to burst (2): Middle Tennessee, Old Dominion In our most recent projection, we had three Conference USA teams making the field. It will be difficult for CUSA to earn more teams than that, so Middle Tennessee and Old Dominion both have work to do. Ivy League (1) Work left to do (1): Penn It's a narrow window, but Penn (RPI 38) has a chance at an at-large bid should they not survive the Ivy League postseason. Missouri Valley (3) Should be in (1): DBU Bubble about to burst (2): Evansville, Southern Illinois DBU is three games back in the Missouri Valley standings, but smart scheduling has led to an exceptional RPI (6). Should the Patriots not win the MVC Tournament, they'll likely still make it in the NCAA Tournament. Evansville (RPI 69) and Southern Illinois (88) will both have a shot at the automatic berth and an outside chance at an at-large bid. Mountain West (1) Work left to do (1): Nevada Nevada (RPI 58) is 2.5 games back of UNLV in the Mountain West. With a conference RPI of 14, it's unlikely the Mountain West will get an at-large bid. But if anyone will, it's Nevada. Ohio Valley (2) Work left to do (1): SEMO Bubble about to burst (1): Belmont SEMO (RPI 46) and Belmont (62) will have a chance at an at-large bid. SEMO travels to Oklahoma State this weekend, which will be a huge opportunity for the Redhawks. Pac-12 (6) Locks (3): Oregon State, UCLA, Oregon Should be in (2): Stanford, Arizona Bubble about to burst (1): Utah Oregon State has yet to play Oregon, Arizona, and UCLA. All three of these teams will earn an RPI boost from playing the Beavers. Utah (RPI 70) is a few losses away from seeing their bubble burst. SEC (14) Locks (6): Tennessee, Arkansas, Auburn, Georgia, Texas A&M, LSU Should be in (1): Vanderbilt Work left to do (4): Florida, Alabama, Mississippi State, South Carolina Bubble about to burst (3): Missouri, Ole Miss, Kentucky Florida (8-13 SEC), Alabama (9-12), South Carolina (9-12), Mississippi State (9-12), Missouri (7-14), Kentucky (7-14), and Ole Miss (7-14) are all chasing SEC wins. 13 SEC wins has historically been the minimum, and there are not enough wins to go around. Our most recent projection has just Florida making the cut from this group. SoCon (2) Should be in (2): Mercer, Wofford Mercer (RPI 17) and Wofford (22) have a few low RPI teams remaining on their schedule, but they each have enough RPI cushion to feel fairly comfortable about their at-large prospects. Sun Belt (6) Locks (1): Georgia Southern Should be in (1): Texas State Work left to do (2): Louisiana, Coastal Carolina Bubble about to burst (2): South Alabama, Troy The Sun Belt currently sits at No. 5 in conference RPI which predicts at least three bids. Louisiana and Coastal Carolina currently have the best shot to join Texas State and Georgia Southern. West Coast (2) Should be in (1): Gonzaga Work left to do (1): San Diego Once the fifth-place RPI conference, the West Coast Conference has slipped to No. 10. San Diego (RPI 47) has moved from a sure thing to a bubble team. Likely 1-Bid Leagues (14 Conferences) A10, America East, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, MAAC, MAC, MEAC, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Summit League, Patriot League, Southland, and SWAC. Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

There are only a few weeks left in the regular season, so it's time for another Field of 64 projection! Listen to the College Baseball Nation Podcast! The ACC leads all conferences with 10 teams in the projected Field of 64 followed by the SEC (8), Big 12 (6), Pac-12 (5), Sun Belt (3), and the SoCon, West Coast Conference, Big Ten, and CUSA (2). Last 4 in: UTSA San Diego Pittsburgh West Virginia First 4 out: Tulane Alabama South Carolina Iowa The full projected Field of 64 is below: Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

There has never been this much excitement in Blacksburg during baseball season in the history of the Virginia Tech program. The energy that John Szefc has injected into that fanbase is what college baseball is all about. Many of the ACC teams took a break from conference play this weekend, but we still saw plenty of movement in the standings with the four series that were played. No. 14 Virginia Tech Takes Series from No. 6 Virginia in Charlottesville If someone told you that one of the most anticipated series in the entire ACC slate this season would be Virginia hosting Virginia Tech, you would have thought they were crazy, yet that is where this season has taken us. The Hokies, one of the most surprising storylines in all of college baseball, outlasted Virginia for their first series win in Charlottesville in school history. For Virginia Tech fans, this is their most encouraging series of the season, due to stepping away from their comfort zone to win the series. The Hokies have used a very high octane offense, outscoring their opponents for most of the season. This weekend, it was all about pitching. Griffin Green (W, 7-1) was lights out on Friday, shutting down the Cavaliers offense for 7 innings, allowing just 7 hits and one run on his way to a 5-2 victory for the Hokies. Virginia bounced back to even the series on Saturday, but the Hokies proved to be too much in the rubber match. After trailing 4-0 after two innings on Sunday, Virginia Tech rallied, scoring 7 unanswered runs to claim the game and series, 7-5. The Cavaliers have now lost three of their last four ACC series after winning their first four. The sky is not falling, but the pressure is on Head Coach Brian O’Connor as Virginia closes the season with Clemson and a series at Louisville. No. 16 Louisville Sweeps No. 41 Clemson After being swept by Florida State in Tallahassee, the Cardinals have bounced back, winning consecutive series at home against North Carolina State and Clemson. Dan McDonnell has his offense rolling, scoring 35 runs on 35 hits against the Tigers pitching staff over the weekend. The Cardinals seem to be clicking on all cylinders at the plate, but their bullpen is to blame for any hair loss by the Louisville coaching staff. Jared Poland has settled in as the Friday night starter, tossing 8 shutout innings, striking out 13 batters while not surrendering a run against Clemson. Beyond that, the pitching staff has been a major question mark. After taking the game on Saturday, the Cardinals had the opportunity to sweep the Tigers on Sunday. The offense was spectacular yet again, but the bullpen struggles continued until the final pitch. Leading 18-9 heading into the 9th inning, it took three Cardinals pitchers to get three outs, giving up 6 runs, before winning 18-5. Although Clemson lost all three games, they did not lay down, scoring 10 runs in the 9th inning in the three games combined. I do not know if that says more for the Louisville bullpen or resiliency of the Tigers offense. It does not get any easier for the Cardinals, who still have three ACC series remaining against Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, and Virginia. No. 31 Georgia Tech Stuns No. 2 Miami The Hurricanes were on the wrong side of two close games on Friday and Saturday before salvaging the series with a win on Sunday. Georgia Tech starter, John Medich (W, 4-3) was lights out on Friday night, keeping the Miami offense quiet for the majority of the evening. Medich allowed just 1 run in 6 innings of work before the bullpen closed out the game with three shutout innings, winning 3-1 to begin the series. On Saturday, the Yellow Jackets offense exploded for 13 hits and 7 runs on their way to a 7-5 win, taking the series over the Hurricanes. Kevin Parada hit his second home run of the series, and 23rd of the season, Danny Hall’s club has been a mystery this season, but they have now won three of their last four ACC series with just Clemson and Pittsburgh left on the conference slate. The Yellow Jackets dug too deep of a hole to contend for the Coastal Division, but they are now playing for seeding and a tournament berth. No. 11 Notre Dame Survives Scare Against Boston College After dropping the first game of the series against the Eagles, Notre Dame bounced back in convincing fashion, scoring 27 runs in two games, to take the series. The Fighting Irish came alive, pounding out 30 hits, five of which were home runs, on Saturday and Sunday against a struggling Boston College team. Jack Brannigan had a career day on Saturday with 4 hits, one of which was a home run, 3 RBI, and 3 runs. Although Notre Dame won the series, Link Jarrett could not be happy with the performance of his starting rotation. His starting pitchers were able to record just 11.1 innings over the weekend, allowing 11 runs to a Boston College team that is 4-20 in conference play. The Fighting Irish fell one game behind Louisville in the Atlantic Division. Notre Dame will finish the season hosting Pittsburgh before traveling to Coral Gables on the final weekend. Notre Dame will play a maximum of 27 ACC games due to three cancellations earlier in the season. North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, Wake Forest, and Florida State all stepped away from conference play, winning their series as they prepare for the final few weeks of ACC play. Duke split a series with High Point as North Carolina had the weekend off. Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

Texas A&M HC Jim Schlossnagle joins the podcast to talk about Texas A&M's series win at Vanderbilt and the success he has had building the Aggie Baseball team. John and Kyle take a look back at all of week 11's action including Oklahoma State sweeping Texas, Georgia Tech knocking off Miami, and Virginia Tech beating rival Virginia. John and Kyle answer the question--was Tony Vitello justified tossing a bat at the Auburn dugout? Get The College Baseball Nation Podcast on Apple Podcasts Get The College Baseball Nation Podcast on Spotify. Have a question for Kyle and John? Send a DM to us on Twitter (@CollegeBallNat) or an email to podcast@collegebaseball.info and we might answer it on the podcast. Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

The Big 12 remains full of surprises, and there were plenty of those this past weekend, as well as a number of notable results, that shifted the league standings and the national rankings. Oklahoma State is back atop the conference after dominating in Austin, Texas Tech took care of business at Baylor, and TCU saw the excitement from consecutive series wins over Texas Tech and OSU quickly fade in northern Florida. All that and more coming up in this week’s Big 12 recap: No. 4 Oklahoma State sweeps No. 29 Texas on the road On the heels of last weekend’s series loss to TCU, Oklahoma State left nothing to doubt. The Cowboys regained their position atop the Big 12 standings, playing with unmatched intensity in Austin, as they swept a talented, yet underperforming Texas ballclub on the road. It was just what OSU needed to leap TCU for the conference lead, moving to 13-5 in Big 12 play, with their lone series loss coming at the hands of the Horned Frogs. And for the Longhorns, the recent series loss at Kansas State was bad enough. Being swept in conference action for the first time since 2019, and at home of places, was to be avoided at all costs. But the Longhorn pitching staff was no match for OSU’s bats. Not in game three. Not at any point during the weekend. The Cowboys outscored Texas 30-17, including a decisive 10-8 result on Sunday afternoon. For the first six innings of game three, it looked as if Texas would avoid the dreaded sweep. After all, a sold-out crowd of 7,139 filled the stands at Disch-Falk Field, and Lucas Gordon fanned a career-high 11 batters in a remarkable start. But once the Longhorns went to their bullpen, the lead instantaneously unraveled and OSU broke through, with a 10-run seventh. Zane Morehouse recorded just one out, and neither Coy Cobb nor Jared Southard tallied even one out, before Luke Harrison finally got the hosts out of the seemingly endless inning. Just four hits produced what ended up as a 10-7 lead for OSU, but that was because of four walks and two hit-by-pitches that added fuel to the fire as the Cowboys put on an offensive showcase. Griffin Doersching’s grand slam put OSU in front, 8-7, and for the first time, it seemed all the momentum was pushed into the direction of the Cowboys. It was virtually the same storyline in the series opener, a 8-6 OSU win, as Texas tied the score at six in the eighth before Zach Ehrhard’s two-run home run won it for OSU in the ninth. A 14-3 victory for the Cowboys followed as they scored in every inning from the fourth to the eighth. David Mendham hit safely in all three contests for OSU, tallying four RBIs, while Bryce Osmond turned in one of the best starts of the week in the Big 12, firing 5.1 scoreless innings in game two, with just one hit and three walks allowed. He also struck out six, and has now recorded five strikeouts in three of his last four starts. No. 35 Oklahoma rolls on Two weeks ago, the Sooners dropped arguably their most critical series of the season at the hands of Oklahoma State. Since that point, they have lost just three times, defeating Texas Tech in a midweek duel, sweeping Kansas on the road, and on this weekend, notching a series win over Kansas State. Oklahoma opened the series swinging, and against a pitching staff with an ERA of 6.06, the Sooners hit above .415 in consecutive games, winning 14-2 on Friday, and 22-10 on Saturday. Tanner Tredaway’s 15-game hitting streak was snapped in game two, but in the series opener, he was one of three Sooners with three hits, swatting a double, a triple, and a two-run homer, as he drove in five runs. Peyton Graham connected on two home runs in the victory, and on Saturday, was 2-for-5 with a pair of RBIs. The superior hitting made up for a challenging weekend for the pitching staff, which posted a 6.67 ERA, KSU took the series finale in another high-scoring duel on Sunday, winning 8-7, as a ninth-inning double play turned by the Wildcat infield snapped a four-game losing skid. The series win comes at a critical point for OU, currently No. 29 in CBN’s CBR ranking. The Sooners’ spot in the NCAA Tournament is by no means locked, and they face a daunting week in the Lone Star State, battling mid-major power Dallas Baptist on Tuesday, before facing TCU in a three-game series in Fort Worth over the weekend. No. 23 Texas Tech dominates in first two games of series at Baylor Texas Tech has lost its last five midweek games. But perhaps the upside to that is the losses have kept the Red Raiders hungry entering their Big 12 series each weekend, and as a result, Tech remains in the top half of the conference pecking order, third in the league with a 11-7 mark. That comes after back-to-back series wins, last weekend at home against West Virginia, and this past weekend in Waco, Texas, where they took the first two games of the series from Baylor. Truth be told, the Red Raiders have had difficulty in closing out their weekend schedules, perhaps due to the week-to-week uncertainty when it comes to the game three starter, having dropped their last three series finales. But Tech has found success because the hard work is done on the front end, with top-level starters Andrew Morris and Brandon Birdsell continuing to gain momentum as the season has progressed. The duo allowed just one run each in the first two games of the series at Baylor, as Tech won 7-1, and 11-1, respectively. Morris’ first season in Lubbock has more than lived up to expectations, as the right-hander moved to 6-0 on the year, giving up just four hits in a seven-inning outing on Friday night. Birdsell picked up where Morris left off, with another solid seven-inning performance in game two, He allowed nine baserunners, but gave up only a single run as the bullpen closed it out over the final two innings and Tech led from start to finish, completing its fifth conference series win of the year. Trendan Parrish’s shaky start (1.1 IP, 7 ER) on Sunday was the only bit of inconsistency for the Red Raiders on the mound, but the offense just was not enough to make up for it. Baylor won 11-7, and credit to the Bears, who after scoring just once in the first two contests, took a 7-0 lead by the second inning. Tech’s Kurt Wilson, a 47-game starter this year, paced the Red Raider hitting corps with consecutive three-hit games to open the weekend, recording five RBIs in the process. No. 38 West Virginia responds to series-opening loss with series win at Kansas West Virginia has cooled off some since its conference-opening upset of TCU and ensuing sweep of Baylor, but the Mountaineers have been much better than their projected eighth-place finish in the Big 12 preseason poll, currently fifth in the standings with a 9-6 mark. Part of that was playing national powers Texas Tech and Oklahoma State on consecutive weekends, but WVU was not all that sharp in the series opener against last-place Kansas, either, falling 7-3 on Friday. But a switch flipped for the Mountaineers in Lawrence, as they came back with two 10-run games on Saturday and Sunday, and claimed the series with a pair of victories, remaining in the Big 12 title hunt with three weekends left on the schedule. Hitting controlled the script in the majority of those victories, though WVU relievers Chris Sleeper and Chase Smith deserve credit, having held KU scoreless for the final four innings of Saturday’s 10-7 victory, after the Jayhawks took a 7-6 advantage in the fifth. A three-run sixth for WVU put the Mountaineers in front, and they continued that momentum into Sunday’s 10-8 win. In that one, a similar pattern played out, as KU went up 4-2, hitting well early on, before WVU’s three-run fifth gave the Mountaineers the lead. The Jayhawks rallied in the ninth, as Caleb Upshaw swatted a three-run homer, but were unable to complete the comeback. Trey Braithwaite was brought on to record the final out, and needed just two pitches to do so, as he earned his sixth save of the year. The balance of WVU’s lineup has been one of the team’s biggest strengths throughout the year, and proved key again. Eight of the nine starters tallied at least one hit in Sunday’s finale. No. 19 Florida State stuns No. 22 TCU Just two of the series’ games could be played, but even still, a statement was made. In a higher-profile non-conference series late in the year, TCU traveled to Tallahassee for a set of weekend duels with Florida State. Though it featured two top 30 opponents, it was very much one-sided before rain canceled the series finale on Sunday. FSU opened the series with a 10-0 victory on Friday, as Parker Messick turned in an astounding seven-inning shutout that saw him allow just two hits, zero walks, and strike out 14. Ross Quinn was just as dominant, striking out five of the six batters he faced over the last two frames. Then, on Saturday, TCU began hitting, but struggled to score with runners aboard, standing eight baserunners over the first six innings. FSU won 7-3, with the Horned Frogs’ high point coming on Porter Brown’s two-run homer in the fourth. The pitching was not there for TCU, who posted an 8.50 ERA and gave up 19 hits in the abbreviated weekend. Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

The end of the SEC baseball season is near and there is still a ton to be decided and plenty of teams trying to earn a trip to the NCAA Tournament. While Tennessee is clearly the toast of the SEC – and all of college baseball – behind them is a crowded herd of good teams looking to make a statement each and every week, which Texas A&M continues to do after a big series win over Vanderbilt. The Wild, Wild West While the SEC East, and the SEC as a whole, has pretty much been decided with Tennessee way out front, the SEC West is wide open with three weeks left. Arkansas remains the favorite after winning the rubber game on Sunday to secure a series win over Ole Miss at home. A Michael Turner two-run homer on Sunday helped give the Razorbacks the lead and ultimately the series. Texas A&M continued their winning ways with a big series win over Vanderbilt. A great pitching performance by Nathan Dettmer on Thursday led to a 5-1 victory. The offense carried the way on Saturday led by Troy Claunch and Ryan Targac who combined for 7 hits and 10 RBI in a 12-4 win. The Aggies are now in a three-way tie for second place in the SEC West. Auburn is one of those three teams after picking up a lone win over the Volunteers this past weekend, which came with some drama as Tennessee was not pleased with this bat-flip by Bobby Peirce on a 3-run homer that broke a tie in the ninth inning. And then there is LSU who delivered the walk-off of the weekend on Sunday to secure a series win over Georgia. Looking at the schedules for these four teams down the stretch, Texas A&M has the most favorable schedule with South Carolina and Mississippi State at home before finishing at Ole Miss. Auburn and Arkansas play a huge series next weekend. LSU has Alabama, Ole Miss, and Vanderbilt the rest of the way. Gamecocks Continue Dominance at Home If South Carolina only played games at home they’d be one of the best teams in the country. As it is, they might not even be an at-large candidate for the NCAA Tournament. They swept Alabama over the weekend bringing their home record to 18-9, including series wins over Texas and Vanderbilt. Three early home runs gave South Carolina a 5-0 lead on Thursday, but Alabama tied it up in the 9th. However, the Gamecocks walked it off in the bottom half. Friday was a great pitching matchup that ended in a 2-1 game. Noah Hall for South Carolina pitched 7 shutout innings allowing just 3 hits with 8 strikeouts. The bats broke out on Saturday led by Andrew Eyster who was 3-4 with 2 runs and 6 RBI. For Alabama, this was a disastrous weekend as they were trying to stay in the SEC West race and keep their NCAA Tournament chances alive – the Crimson Tide just simply couldn’t afford to get swept. The Battle to Get to Hoover Only two teams will not make the trip to Hoover, Alabama for the SEC Tournament, and the battle to stay out of those spots will be fierce over the next three weeks. There are seven teams within three games of each other at the bottom of the standings. The teams in the hottest water right now are Missouri, Kentucky, and Ole Miss. The Wildcats avoided getting swept by Florida with a win on Sunday, which was big for their chances of making Hoover. And the series win was even bigger for Florida who is only at eight wins in the conference. Ole Miss won the first game in their series with Arkansas but dropped a couple of close ones on the road, keeping them in the basement of the SEC West. Missouri won a series against Mississippi State, which kept them from the bottom the SEC East. Now Missouri, Kentucky, and Ole Miss are tied for the worst record in the SEC with Florida just one game ahead of them, while South Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi State are just two games ahead. Who gets to Hoover will be one of the more interesting races to watch down the stretch. SEC Pitcher of the Year Candidates Connor Noland (Arkansas): 2.77 ERA, 68.1 IP, 77 Ks Chase Burns (Tennessee): 2.09 ERA, 56 IP, 75 Ks Drew Beam (Tennessee): 2.14 ERA, 63 IP, 51 Ks, .153 opposing batting average Jonathan Cannon (Georgia): 2.04 ERA, 57.1 IP, 53 Ks SEC Player of the Year Candidates Sonny DiChiara (Auburn): .436/.597/.842 with 13 home runs. Dominic Keegan (Vanderbilt): .401/.473/.669 with 8 home runs and 43 RBI. Jacob Berry (LSU): .368/.455/.661 with 14 home runs and 43 RBI. Trey Lipscomb (Tennessee): .361/.429/.789 with 18 home runs and 65 RBI. Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

By chance of good play and of the calendar, for the second straight weekend the American Athletic Conference (AAC) featured a matchup of two of its top teams as Tulane made a trip to Orlando to face UCF. The two teams entered the weekend in a three-way tie for the conference lead with East Carolina. A well-pitched game took place on Friday night to open the series, with UCF coming out on top 2-1. Tulane’s lone run came in the second inning on an RBI ground out by Trevor Minder to give the Green Wave an early lead. Still trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh, the Knights finally got to left-hander Dylan Carmouche for two runs in the inning. A throwing error by Tulane’s third baseman on an attempted sacrifice bunt by Michael Brooks led to the first run. Brooks ended up on second base on the play and scored two outs later on a single into shallow right field by Tom Josten. Both starting pitchers lasted seven innings, with Ben Vespi (4-2) being one run better than Carmouche on Friday night. The Green Wave only collected three hits in the loss, while the Knights had five. Saturday evening looked like another pitcher's duel early with the game tied at one going to the fifth inning. Starting pitcher Grant Siegel returned for Tulane after missing his Friday night start last weekend due to forearm soreness. Ben McCabe hit a two-run home run with two outs to give UCF a 3-1 lead in the fifth. The home run drove Siegel from the game after 4 2/3 innings pitched in his return start; he allowed just two earned runs. Brady Marget tied the game at three with a single in the seventh inning. Tulane scored three unearned runs in the eighth on only one hit, taking advantage of a throwing error, and the Green Wave led 6-4. Each team added a run in the ninth inning, but that was all as Tulane took the middle game 7-5 to even the weekend series and set up a high-stakes matchup on Sunday. The two squads both used six pitchers in the contest, after they each used just two pitchers in Friday’s opener. Sunday’s game was scoreless into the bottom of the third inning on Sunday afternoon when Andrew Sundean delivered a one-out double down the left field line that rolled into the corner to score runners from first and second base. The Knights led 2-0. A pop-up about fifteen feet from home plate was dropped when Tulane catcher Bennett Lee was run into by his own first baseman, allowing a run to score on the error. Moments later Brooks singled into left field with two outs and the Knights led 4-0 at the end of three innings. After Tulane got a couple of runs back in their half of the fourth inning, the Knights responded with a three-run blast to left field by Gephry Pena and took a 7-2 lead into the fifth inning. A fourth-inning weather delay put a halt to the proceedings for about 45 minutes. After play resumed, Tulane picked up a pair of runs in the fifth inning and two more in the ninth to close the gap to 8-6, but a final rally in the ninth fizzled on an accidental check-swing comebacker to the mound ended the game and gave the Knights a 2-1 series win over the Green Wave. Meanwhile, as noted previously, while two of the top three teams battled things out in Orlando, East Carolina was hosting Cincinnati up in Greenville this weekend. The Pirates swept that series and now stand alone atop The American at 11-4. Another interesting development transpired over the weekend: The Houston Cougars moved into a tie for second place with UCF after Houston swept South Florida in Tampa. Now the Cougars and the Knights are both 10-5 in the American, a game back of East Carolina. Houston hosts UCF in two weekends before they themselves travel to East Carolina to close out the regular season. Houston also travels to Wichita State to take on the Shockers for a weekend; the Shockers have the worst record in the AAC. UCF travels just down the road and stays in state to play a series at South Florida before the Knights head to Houston and then close out their regular season against Cincinnati in Orlando. East Carolina has six games with Memphis and South Florida, two teams at the bottom of the rankings in the American, and to make it somewhat easier for the Pirates, they play their final six conference games at home. Once again, after a shaky start for East Carolina, on the first day of May it looks like the American will be decided in Greenville. Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

Tennessee stays at No. 1 for the sixth straight week after winning a series against Auburn. The Volunteers dropped the middle game to the Tigers before a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning of game three clinched the series. Oregon State won a road series against Utah to move up to No. 2. Virginia Tech shoots up the rankings to No.3 after taking a series at rival, Virginia. Virginia Tech is just two games back of Miami in the ACC Coastal Division with six conference games to go. Oklahoma State and Arkansas round out the top five after they each won their series over the weekend. The Cowboys swept Texas on the road, while the Razorbacks took two-out-of-three from Ole Miss at home. Miami and Stanford drop to Nos. 6 and 7, respectively, after each dropping road series. Miami fell to Georgia Tech, and Stanford lost to Washington. Gonzaga, UCLA, and Virginia fill the remaining spots in the top ten. Florida State (19), Arizona (20) UC Santa Barbara (21), LSU (24), and Georgia Tech (25) all enter the top 25. Coastal Carolina (43), UTSA (47), and Southeast Missouri State (50). each enter the top 50. The SEC leads all conferences with 10 ranked teams followed by the ACC (9), Big 12 (6) and Pac-12 (5). Teams from 16 different conferences are represented in the top 50. See the full top 50 below: Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

There's only a month left in the regular season, so it's time for another Preseason Field of 64 projection! Listen to the College Baseball Nation Podcast! The ACC leads all conferences with 10 teams in the projected Field of 64 followed by the SEC (9), Big 12 (6), Pac-12 (5), Sun Belt and Big Ten (3), and the SoCon, West Coast Conference, and CUSA (2). Last 4 in: Pittsburgh Iowa Oklahoma Louisiana Tech First 4 out: East Carolina Middle Tennessee Liberty Mississippi State The full projected Field of 64 is below: Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!