... Coastal Carolina wrapped up its fourth consecutive Big South Conference regular season title by beating second-place Liberty for the second straight day. The Chanticleers, who tied the school record for DI victories (44) are doing all they can to make their case for being a national seed.
... Clemson's Kyle Parker hit his 18th home run of the season as the Tigers righted the ship by beating Wake Forest, 17-5, on Saturday. Will Parker be drafted high enough to make him consider passing on his football career?
... Go figure. Clemson gets 14 hits and 17 runs and Mike Freeman goes 0-for-6, ending his 18-game hitting streak.
... The Tigers enter today's series finale two games behind Atlantic Division leader Florida State in the ACC. A division title is still within reach, as the Seminoles visit Doug Kingsmore Stadium next week.
... South Carolina coach Ray Tanner has to be elated over the way Sam Dyson has pitched the last couple of weeks, including Saturday's six-hit shutout of Arkansas. The Gamecocks, obviously, had no lingering aftereffects of last week's series loss at Kentucky.
... Do you think Tanner would have called for the men with the white coats if someone had told him the Gamecocks would lose two of three at Kentucky and win the first two at Arkansas? It's just more evidence why baseball is the greatest.
... Former Hanna High star Brady Thomas had an insignificant role for USC in 2009, batting .174 and getting just 23 at-bats. He has come up huge this season, serving as an able compliment to Kyle Enders at catcher and, occasionally being the designated hitter. He's batting .316 and leads the Gamecocks in slugging percentage. His two-run homer at Arkansas Saturday gave Dyson a 3-0 lead and a wider working margin en route to his shutout.
... Furman's players have shown they're not ready to pack up the bats yet, pulling within two games of eighth-place Wofford with four games left in conference play by beating the Terriers Saturday, 12-1. With no senior position players, coach Ron Smith has a good foundation for next season -- if he can get more effective pitching. The emergence of sophomore Daniel Stallsmith over the final half of the conference schedule gives him a head start on becoming the No. 1 pitcher in 2011.
... The Citadel beat UNC Greensboro for the second straight day. If the Bulldogs are hearing footsteps from a red-hot Charleston team just behind them in the Southern Conference title race, they aren't showing it.
... College of Charleston's Cole Rekar hit for the cycle in the Cougars' 15-5 win at Appalachian State.
... Winthrop's second straight win over VMI pulled the Eagles into a tie with the Keydets for fifth place in the Big South and kept them within striking distance of High Point for fourth.
... Francis Marion is still two wins away from winning the NCAA Division II South Regional, but the Patriots have bounced back well from their opening-game loss.
One interesting stat from outside the state
... Based on my research, Appalachian State is one of just two teams in the country with only one loss in non-conference play this season. The Moutaineers' lone setback outside the Southern Conference was to Gardner-Webb. Yet, the Mountaineers are seventh in the conference standings, as 12 of their 13 losses have been to league teams. The other team with one loss in non-conference play? Arizona State, which is ranked as high as No. 2 nationally. The Sun Devils have five losses, four in Pac-10 Conference play. The only non-conference loss? To state and conference rival Arizona in a game that didn't count in the conference standings.
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