Some thoughts about Friday

... South Carolina clinched a berth in the Southeastern Conference Tournament with its 13-9 win over Kentucky and losses by Alabama and Kentucky. The Gamecocks may feel fortunate that they won. Blake Cooper improved to 9-0, but he wasn't as sharp as he has been most of the season, and neither was the Gamecocks defense (three errors contributing to four unearned runs). Still, a win is a win, and the offense continued to shell opposing pitching.

... Clemson's Mike Freeman got his degree Friday morning in Clemson, then was flown to Washington and collected four hits as the Tigers whipped Maryland, 18-6. Not a bad way for Freeman to celebrate graduation. It was a good day for the Tigers. Florida State lost to Boston College, so Clemson pulled within two games of the Seminoles in the ACC Atlantic Division. All the Tigers need is to stay within reach of FSU entering the regular-season finale series at Clemson.

... Furman can't afford to blow four-run leads of the final three innings of a game and expect to qualify for the Southern Conference Tournament. Friday's 7-6 loss at Western Carolina, coupled with Wofford's 14-9 over Samford, dropped the Paladins three games behind the Terriers in the race for the eighth and final spot in the tournament. And, Furman must leapfrog UNC Greensboro before it can think about trying to catch Wofford. Because both schools have graduation today, the Paladins have a day off in mid-series to stew about Friday's turn of events.

... On a positive note for the Paladins, sophomore Daniel Stallsmith continued his second-half development into a solid weekend starter. He left Friday's game after six innings with a 6-2 lead.

... A month ago, College of Charleston dropped its first two games at Furman and at 8-6 in league play appeared on its way to being a non-factor in the SoCon race. But the Cougars have won 10 of 11 conference games since. With Friday's 13-9 win over The Citadel, the Cougars (18-7) have pulled within a half-game of the Bulldogs (17-5) in the conference race with two more meetings remaining.

... I was going to mention that I thought the crowd of 1,064 for the CofC opener was a little smaller than I expected, but it turns out it's almost 300 more than the Cougars' next-largest home crowd the season.

... There's a pretty severe gap between the top half of the Southern Conference and the bottom half, but Friday's win by Wofford may go a long way in boosting the Terriers' conference tournmament hopes.

... USC Upstate has taken a bunch of lumps this season, but got a nice road win Friday over third-place A-Sun foe Stetson.

... After being thrown into the losers' bracket on Thursday, regular-season champion Spartanburg Methodist rebounded nicely with a couple of wins in the NJCAA Region X Tournament in Burlington, N.C. The Pioneers must win two more today to force another game Sunday. Their first meeting today is with USC Sumter.

And, a couple of observations outside the state ...
... I was watching a replay of the Iowa/Penn State game on the Big Ten Network and discovered three games separate first-place Michigan and last-place Iowa in the standings.

... WWL (AM-870) in New Orleans ranks right up there with my favorite radio stations. It carries many LSU sporting events, and that allowed me to listen to the final stages of the Tigers' 16-15 10-inning win over Vanderbilt Friday night.