* I'll admit it. I was ready to start shoveling dirt on Clemson's season after the Tigers faltered late in last Sunday's loss to Georgia Southern. It looked like a good move when the Tigers fell behind Furman, 10-0, after two innings of a Tuesday game in Greenville.
Lo, and behold, Clemson roared back to beat Furman, 23-15.
But the Tigers saved the best for the weekend, sweeping Florida State in three games that weren't very close. It was the first time Clemson had ever swept a three-game series in Tallahassee.
Clemson finished the regular season 31-25 and carries momentum into the ACC Tournament. The Tigers were 8-4 against the other four teams in their pool (although either North Carolina or Virginia Tech will be eliminated in the play-in game), so there should be no apprehension among Clemson players about being able to compete.
I saw someone post on Facebook that the FSU sweep put Clemson into the NCAA Tournament. I don't believe that's the case ... at least not yet. If Clemson loses in the ACC championship game and some other mid-level ACC teams struggle in the tournament it might sneak in, but I don't think a season's worth of issues can be erased by two good weekends to close the season.
* South Carolina also entered the week needing a lot of things to go right in order to make the NCAA Tournament selection committee take a second look. The Gamecocks won the opener of a series against LSU, then were dominated by the Tigers in the final two games to finish 13-17 in the SEC.
Research posted by ESPN suggested the Gamecocks might have been in great shape for an at-large bid had they swept LSU to finish at .500 in the league.
Now, I think the only way USC can push its streak of NCAA appearances to 16 is by winning the SEC Tournament. Remember, the Gamecocks are 10th overall in the SEC standings and it's rare that a league gets 10 spots in the 64-team field.
A run to the SEC finals by USC and quick exits by No. 8 Kentucky and No. 9 Auburn (they play each other on Tuesday, so one will definitely be gone quickly) might do it, but I don't think so. As with Clemson, should a short burst of success overshadow the struggles of most of the season?
If the Gamecocks don't make the tournament, they'll have no one to blame but themselves. They lost series with No. 12 Tennessee, No. 13 Georgia and No. 14 Mississippi State. Good teams win series they're supposed to win.
* College of Charleston had wrapped up the Colonial Athletic Association regular-season title a week earlier. The Cougars overcame a bump on Thursday to win two of three at Northeastern. The College won all eight league series this season. Northeastern spoiled the Cougars' sweep hopes in Game 1, hitting a three-run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning after CoC had scored two in the top of the inning.
* Winthrop extended its Big South Conference winning streak to 13 games with a weekend sweep of Longwood. The Eagles swept their last four league series to clinch grab the No. 3 seed in this week's conference tournament.
* Presbyterian didn't qualify for the Big South Tournament, but can take solace in knowing it won two of three games with Charleston Southern to wrap up the regular season. PC finished with 27 wins, setting a school season record for wins as an NCAA DI program.
* Although it lost two of three, that was good enough for Charleston Southern to take seventh place in the Big South and avoid a first-round matchup with regular-season champ Radford. The Buccaneers' reward? A first-round matchup with Coastal Carolina, which led the Big South for most of the season.
* Coastal Carolina dropped its first two games at Campbell, but salvaged the final game to wrap up second place in the Big South. I think the Chanticleers are still in good shape for an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Tournament, but at least two wins in the Big South Tournament this week wouldn't hurt.
* Wofford finished a half-game out of second place in the Southern Conference by splitting a Saturday doubleheader with East Tennessee State. The Terriers (26-20) will try to extend their school DI record for wins in a season in the SoCon Tournament beginnings Wednesday.
* The Citadel won two of three at Furman over the weekend, but was unable to escape the SoCon's single-elimination play-in game on Tuesday. The Bulldogs needed to sweep Furman to avoid the play-in game.
* North Greenville went two-and-out in its first trip to the NCAA Division II playoffs, but the Crusaders were not overmatched. They fell to eventual Southeast Regional champ Catawba, 4-2, in their opener, then lost a pitchers' duel to Wingate, 2-0.
* USC Lancaster's chance to build on the momentum of its first-ever NJCAA Region 10 Tournament championship lasted all of one day. The Lancers lost their Eastern District Tournament opener and had to play an elimination game later that same day, losing again. But, they got there, and that's something to remember fondly.
No comments:
Post a Comment