BALTIMORE, Maryland May 31, 2014 - As I begin this post, Alabama has survived an amazing ninth inning surge by Florida State and eliminated the Seminoles, 6-5. The Crimson Tide had a 6-0 lead going to the bottom of the ninth, but Florida State had three runs in and the bases loaded with nobody out, most of the damage coming on walks and a hit batsmen. Alabama's freshman closer, Thomas Burrows, got two outs on a strike out and fly out, but then faced ACC Player of the Year, DJ Stewart. Steward hit a solid single to center, scoring two runs and sending the tie run to third. Normally, FSU cleanup hitter John Nogowski would have been due up, but he had been pulled for a pinch runner in the 8th inning, and Seminole Coach Mike Martin opted to bring up freshman reserve catcher Gage West. West got great 'wood' on the aluminum bat, but it stayed in the park and was caught in centerfield for the final out. It is the first time in 30 years that Florida State lost the first two games of a regional tournament. Alabama survives and will play the loser of tonight's Georgia Southern-Kennesaw State game in another elimination game Sunday afternoon.
At Colombia, South Carolina, Maryland struck for three runs in the bottom of the 9th inning to beat Old Dominion, 4-3. The Monarch's Andy Roberts and Ryan Yarbrough, both southpaws, combined to shut Maryland out through seven innnings while Old Dominion was scoring single runs in the third, fifth and sixth innings. In the bottom of the 8th, Maryland loaded the bases on consecutive singles by Lamont Wade, Brandon Lowe and Jose Cuas, all with nobody out. At that point, Old Dominion went back to the bullpen and brought in righthander Connor Overton. Overton responded by inducing Blake Schmit to hit into a doubleplay, although Wade scored on the play. Overton then struck out Tim Lewis to end the threat. Jake Stinnett went 8 strong innings for Maryland, giving up the three runs on 7 hits. Taylor Stiles came on to pitch the ninth and promptly gave up a single to Josh Eldridge. Brian Beard pinch ran for Eldridge, but Stiles quickly picked him off of first base. He then struck out the next two hitters, giving the Terps one last chance in the ninth, down now by only two runs. Maryland wasted little time. Kyle Convissar, who had entered the game in the fifth inning as a pinch hitter when Terp Coach John Szefc was looking for a right-handed hitter against Old Dominion's staple of southpaws. That move paid huge dividends in the dramatic ninth, as Convissar led off by driving a pitch to the fence in deep left center field, good for a stand-up double. Anthony Papio grouded out, however, and the Monarchs were only two outs away from a huge win. Again, ODU Coach Chris Finwood went to the pen, this time bringing on his lead closer, Brad Gero. Trouble was a brewing for ODU. Kevin Martir greeted Gero by hitting a ground ball between third and shortstop. The third baseman for Old Dominion, P.J. Higgins, put his glove down as he moved quickly to his left, but the ball got past him, allowing Convissar to race to race to third and Martir to reach first. Charlie White followed Martir by hitting an 0-2 pitch into centerfield for a run-scoring single. Martir stopped at second. Lamont Wade then worked Gero for a walk to load the bases. Then something happened that never happened before in an NCAA playoff game. Gero hit Brandon Lowe and Jose Cuas on consecutive pitches to force in first the tie run and then the winning run. Unbelievable. The entire Maryland team stormed onto the field to celebrate while the Old Dominion lads looked like nine deer caught in the headlights of a Mack Truck. The Terps will take on the number one seed in this regional, South Carolina, tonight at 7 pm on ESPN3. The Gamecocks advanced with a 5-2 win over the Campbell Camels. Campbell and ODU are playing as I write this post in an elimination game. In another Saturday game to be completed, Campbell defeated Old Dominion, 7-3, in 12 innings.
Florida, another of the top five national seeds, also went down to defeat yesterday. So did Louisiana-Lafayette and their nation-leading 53 wins. The overall number one national seed, Oregon State, had to fight like all get out to come from behind and scrape by upset minded North Dakota State, 2-1. The Bison took a second inning lead when Kyle Kleinendorst whacked a leadoff home run. The Beavers tied the game in the bottom of the second, then moved ahead when Dylan Davis hit a homer in the seventh inning. Florida lost to the College of Charleston, 3-2, at Gainesville. Jackson State stunned powerful La. - Lafayette, 1-0. Also, Cal State - Fullerton beat Nebraska, 5-1; Oregon crushed Clemson, 18-1; Long Beach State whacked North Carolina, 6-1; Stanford beat Indiana State, 5-1; Texas Tech pushed across a run in the ninth to beat Columbia, 3-2; Mississippi State edged San Diego State, 5-2; Virginia humbled Bucknell, 10-1; Kansas outlasted Kentucky, 10-6; LSU got by Southeastern Louisiana, 8-4; Sam Houston State beat Dallas Baptist, 2-1; Texas beat Texas A & M, 8-1; Pepperdine surprised Arizona State, 3-2; UC-Irvine crushed UNLV, 10-3; Oklahoma State ran past Binghamton, 8-0; Indiana defeated Youngstown State, 10-2; Miami of Florida just got by Bethune-Cookman, 1-0; Arkansas downed Liberty, 3-2, and will play Virginia tonight in Charlottesville; Houston edged Bryant, 3-2; TCU got by Sienna, 2-1; Cal-Poly edged Sacremento State, 4-2; Louisville got by Kent State, 5-0; Rice hammered George Mason, 7-2; and Vanderbilt humiliated Xavier, 11-0.
One regional was rained out Friday and started Saturday afternoon. In Oxford, Mississippi, Washington defeated Georgia Tech, 8-0.
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