Can BC Play Its Way In? Late Night In Hoover (5/22)

Boston College is making noise at the ACC Tournament.

A day after knocking off Clemson, the Eagles (31-26, RPI 54) won again Wednesday, this time beating top-seeded Louisville 5-1. Dan Metzdorf (8-2) silenced the Cardinals (43-13, RPI 8) to the tune of three hits, one unearned run, four walks and seven strikeouts in a complete-game win.

BC advances to Saturday’s semifinal, where it will play the Pool D winner (North Carolina, Miami or Virginia). The Eagles may have to win the whole thing to reach the NCAA tourney, but things could still be interesting if they reach the ACC tourney final and fall short.

The Cardinals, meanwhile, will host a Regional, but the loss may have hurt their chances to be a national seed (and host of the Super Regionals should they advance out of the Regional round).

In the nightcap in Durham, North Carolina squeaked past Virginia (RPI 41) 3-2 in 10 innings. That would have been a big win for the Cavaliers, who are sitting on the bubble.

Speaking of nightcaps, what a game in Hoover, Ala., where it wouldn’t be an SEC Tourney without a few late, late nights.

Mississippi State edged LSU 6-5 in 17 innings in a game that lasted 6 hours and 43 minutes – the longest tournament game in SEC history – and finished just after 3 a.m. local time.

In the end Gunner Halter singled up the middle to score Justin Foscue with the game-winner. The Tigers had scored in the top of the 16^th but allowed an unearned run in the bottom of the 16^th as the game continued.

Tanner Allen had and Rowdey Jordan each had three hits for the Bulldogs, while Giovanni DiGiacomo had two hits, including a homer, and three RBI for the Tigers. On the mound, Cole Gordon allowed one hit and four walks with eight strikeouts in five scoreless relief innings for MSU, and Matthew Beck and Zack Hess each tossed four scoreless innings for LSU.

In the second-best game of the day, Saint Louis’ Connor Lehmann struck out 19 but suffered the loss when pinch-hitter Sonny Ulliana stroked a two-out shot to the wall in right to score two runs in the bottom of the 10^th inning as Rhode Island won 2-1 in the A-10 tourney.

Lehmann finished with 9.2 innings, three hits and two earned runs to go with his 19 strikeouts. He was matched by Rhody’s Tyler Wilson, who worked 10 innings with six hits, one earned run and 14 strikeouts.

Elsewhere of note…

• The top four seeds in the Big Ten tourney all lost, as Iowa beat No. 1 Indiana, Ohio State beat No. 2 Michigan, Maryland beat No. 3 Illinois and Nebraska beat No. 4 Minnesota. In the Buckeyes’ 2-1 win, Seth Lonsway, Will Pfenning and Andrew Magno combined on a one-hitter. The Wolverines (RPI 48) are 25-2 against Q4 and could use a win today to solidify its NCAA standing. Illinois (RPI 25), Indiana (RPI 32) and Nebraska (RPI 35) are in better shape from an RPI standing.
• The top four seeds won in the Big 12 tourney. Baylor knocked off Oklahoma (RPI 40), which now plays TCU (RPI 75) in an elimination game that the Sooners may need to bolster their resume. Terrific matchups today as No. 1 Texas Tech (RPI 9) meets No. 4 West Virginia (RPI 14) and No. 2 Baylor (RPI 23) meets No. 3 Oklahoma State (RPI 7).
• Georgia beat Texas A&M when Cam Shepherd ripped a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to end a scoreless tie and give the Bulldogs (RPI 3) the win. And how about the day for Vanderbilt’s JJ Bleday? Bleday went 5 for 5 with two doubles, two runs and an RBI as the Commodores routed Auburn 11-1. Stephen Scott homered and drove in five for Vandy (RPI 1).
• Davidson’s Casey Sutherland improved to 8-1 with eight scoreless innings, and Eric Jones had two hits, including a solo homer, as the second-seeded Wildcats blanked No. 7 Saint Louis 2-0. Elsewhere, fourth-seeded Fordham rallied from 6-1 down in the sixth to win 7-6 on Jake MacKenzie’s RBI single in the 10^th against fifth-seeded Richmond.
• In the American, top seeded East Carolina (RPI 5) may have kept its grip on a national seed by beating Houston (RPI 44) 13-2 in an elimination game. The Cougars, however, find themselves on the bubble after losing two straight.
• In the A-Sun, Stetson scored three times in the ninth inning to knock off top-seeded Florida Gulf Coast (RPI 124). Second-seeded Liberty picked up its first-ever A-Sun tourney win, slipping past North Florida.
• Manhattan had a big day in the MAAC tourney. After opening with a 6-2 win over Marist behind John Cain’s ninth win and Nick Cimillo’s homer and four RBI, the fifth-seeded Jaspers got a complete game from T.J. Stuart to knock off top-seeded Canisius to move into the winners’ bracket final.
• In the CAA, No. 5 UNCA edged No. 4 Northeastern 8-6 in 11 innings as Cole Weiss delivered the go-ahead double and later scored on Doug Angeli’s third RBI off the day. And Brandon Raquet hit a two-run homer to help No. 3 William & Mary edge No. 6 James Madison 2-1.
• It took 13 innings, but No. 7 Charleston Southern knocked off No. 2 Radford 8-3, scoring twice in the top of the ninth to force extra innings and then five in the 13th in the Big South.
• It also took 13 innings in Conway, S.C., where second-seeded Georgia Southern (RPI 73) scored twice after Louisiana had scored once to win in 13. The winning runs came on a wild pitch and a sacrifice bunt/throwing error. In another extra-inning game, it was a wild one between UT Arlington and Coastal Carolina. UTA scored five times in the bottom of the eighth to take a 6-3 lead before Coastal scored five times in the top of the ninth to go on top 8-6. UTA tied it with two in the ninth and won it in the 10^th as Zac Cook drove in the game-winning run.
• If third-seeded Morehead State is to repeat as Ohio Valley Conference champ, it will have to do it from the losers’ bracket as it did a year ago after sixth-seeded Eastern Kentucky avenged a weekend sweep by scoring one in the eighth and three in the ninth to beat the Eagles. Will Johnson homered in the eighth and ripped a two-run double in the ninth after Logan Thomason homered.
• Pitching was on display in the Southland – in four games, there were two shutouts and a total of 13 runs scored on the day. Of note, Alex Palmer of Stephen F. Austin struck out 10 in a complete-game shutout of No. 3 Southeastern Louisiana, and Cody Davenport of Central Arkansas struck out 11 in a complete-game shutout of No. 7 Northwestern State.
• Marshall worked 12 innings for a win over Louisiana Tech, and Southern Miss and Rice followed that one up with a 10-inning affair won by the Golden Eagles.