State schedule, Sunday, May 10

Old Dominion at Coastal Carolina, 1 p.m.

Charleston Southern at Longwood, 1 p.m.

College of Charleston at Elon, 1 p.m.

East Tennessee State at Wofford, 1 p.m.

USC Upstate at Presbyterian, 1 p.m.

Winthrop at High Point, 1 p.m.

Alabama at South Carolina, 1:30 p.m.

Florida State at Clemson, 3 p.m.

S.C. college baseball recap, Saturday, May 9

State scoreboard, Saturday, May 9

Danny Nelson retired all 12 batters he faced
to keep the Tigers in comeback range. (Clemson photo)

Player of the day: Danny Nelson, Clemson, W, 4 IP, 0 baserunners, 3 K

Honorable mention: Max Kaplan, USC Upstate, CG, W, 9 IP, 5 H, R, BB, 7 K

* NCAA Division I: Jarren Purify drove in three runs and Clemson (30-21, 9-17 ACC) scored the go-ahead run in a wild pitch in the eighth inning to even its series with No. 14 Florida State (35-15, 16-10). Purify had a two-run homer in the fourth and an RBI single in the sixth. Hayden Simmerson struck out all three Seminoles in the ninth to nail down the save ... Logan Tribble singled and doubled to drive in three runs and Wofford (33-17, 11-6, SoCon) moved within a half-game of first-place Western Carolina with a series-clinching win over East Tennessee State (29-19, 9-8) ... Old Dominion (26-24, 12-14 Sun Belt) scored the game's final three runs to even its series at No. 8 Coastal Carolina (34-16, 20-6) ... Max Kaplan (5-5) pitched a complete game as USC Upstate (24-27, 12-11 Big South) evened its series with Presbyterian (11-40, 7-13) ... Reece Holbrook, Alex LaCoste and Will Tippett had three hits apiece and College of Charleston (24-25, 14-12 CAA) run-ruled Elon (19-30, 10-19) to clinch a series win ... Charleston Southern (27-19, 11-9 Big South) clinched a series win at Longwood (28-22, 10-10) and assured itself of back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 1987-88 ... No. 19 Alabama (34-17, 15-11 SEC) hit three home runs and clinched its first series win in Columbia since 2006 by sending South Carolina (22-29, 7-19) to its seventh straight loss. The 29 losses match the school season record set last year ... High Point (33-17, 14-6 Big South) scored four runs in the third inning and took sole possession of first place with its second straight win over Winthrop (30-20, 13-7) ... Samford (26-23, 10-8 SoCon) scored a run in the eighth, two in the ninth and one in the 10th to avoid a sweep and snap The Citadel's (27-23, 8-10) six-game winning streak.

Postseason
*NJCAA East District: Florence-Darlington Tech (50-13) fell a game short of the NJCAA World Series, losing to Harford (54-6) in the decisive game of the East District Championship Series. The Stingers fell behind 12-3 before rallying. Down 13-11, they loaded the bases with none out in the ninth, but a run-scoring double play and a groundout blunted the rally.

* Peach Belt Conference: A two-run homer from Zach Cowart put Lander (36-19) ahead to stay for the second straight day and Bearcats clinched a bid to the NCAA Division II playoffs with a two-game sweep regular-season champ North Georgia (41-14) in the Conference Championship Series. The eight team Southeast Regional field will be announced Sunday night.

Beyond the border
* ACC: North Carolina clinched a series win over Pitt, 12-2 ... Georgia Tech beat Duke for the second straight day, 15-2 ... No. 23 Virginia evened its series with California, 2-1 ... Miami took the rubber game of the series with Louisville, 10-8 ... N.C. State evened its series at Stanford, 12-7 ... Notre Dame beat Oakland, 15-5 ... UNC Greensboro outslugged Virginia Tech, 18-13 ... Wake Forest whipped Western Carolina again, 14-2 ... Boston College and NJIT were postponed and will play two games on Sunday.

* ACC standings: Georgia Tech 21-5; North Carolina 19-7; Boston College 17-10; Florida State 16-10; Miami 15-12; Wake Forest 14-13; N.C. State 13-13; Virginia 13-13; Virginia Tech 13-14; Stanford 11-15; Louisville 11-16; Notre Dame 11-16; Pitt 10-16;  Duke 9-17; California 9-17 Clemson 9-17.

* SEC:  No. 5 Georgia clinched the regular-season championship with a 13-8 win over LSU ... No. 12 Arkansas topped No. 24 Oklahoma, 12-8 ... No. 6 Auburn beat No. 11 Mississippi State, 13-2 ... Missouri beat Vanderbilt, 8-7 in 10 innings, in the completion of Friday's fog-suspended game, then the Commodores rallied to win Game 2, 11-8 in 11 innings ... Tennessee beat No. 4 Texas again, 14-9 ... No. 9 Texas A&M beat No. 20 Ole Miss, 18-5, in Game 1, but the Rebels won the second game, 6-5 ... Kentucky evened its series with No. 21 Florida, 4-2.

* SEC standings: Georgia 20-6; Texas A&M 16-10; Texas 15-10; Auburn 16-11; Alabama 15-11; Arkansas 15-11; Mississippi State 15-12; Florida 14-12; Ole Miss 14-13; Tennessee 13-13; Kentucky 12-14; Oklahoma 12-14; Vanderbilt 11-15; LSU 9-17; South Carolina 7-19; Missouri 5-21.

Alabama 9, South Carolina 6 - USC: Jake Randolph 1B, HR, BB, 2 R, 3 RBI
Charleston Southern 7, Longwood 1 - Cha: Blake Edgmon 2-4, BB, R, 2 RBI
Clemson 4, Florida State 3 - Cle: Luke Gaffney 2-4, 2 R

College of Charleston 11, Elon 1, 7 innings - Cha: Will Tippett 3-4, HR, SB 3 R 

High Point 7, Winthrop 3 - Win: Chazz Grossington 2-3, BB, R, RBI

Old Dominion 6, Coastal Carolina 3 - Coa: Trace Mazon 1B, SB, RBI

Samford 5, The Citadel 4, 10 innings - Cit: Trip Brown 7 IP, H R, 8 K
USC Upstate 7, Presbyterian 1 - Up: Preston Lucas 3-5, 3B, SB, R, RBI
Wofford 6, East Tennessee State 5 - Wof: Austin Laughlin S, 3 IP, 0 ER, 4 K 

NJCAA Atlantic District Tournament

Best-of-three
Harford CC 13, Florence-Darlington Tech 12 - Flo: Jake Little 1B, HR, 4 RBI
Harford wins series, 2-1

Peach Belt Championship Series

Best-of-three

Lander 11, North Georgia 7 - Lan: Brody Winter 2B,HR, BB, 2 R, 2 RBI

Lander wins series, 2-0

SAC Championship Series

Best-of-three
Wingate 15, Catawba 5, 7 innings,
Wingate 8, Catawba 6
Wingate wins series 2-1
(11/1261)

S.C. college baseball recap, Friday, May 8

State scoreboard, Friday, May 8

Zach Cowart moved the Bearcats within a win
of a bid to the NCAA Division II playoffs. (Lander photo)

Player of the day: Zach Cowart, Lander, 2-4, BB, tie-breaking 2-run HR, T9

* Regular season: No. 14 Florida State (35-14, 16-9 ACC) built a five-run lead midway through the game and got the game's final out on a bases-loaded flyout to center to take the series opener at Clemson (29-21, 8-17). John Stuetzer and Brody DeLamielleure homered for the Seminoles. In the ninth, the Tigers had a leadoff single wiped out by a double play. A walk, a singled and another walk loaded the bases, but Tryston McCladdie flied out to center to end the game. The loss, coupled with California's win over Virginia, dropped the Tigers into last place in the standings ... Walker Mitchell and Rex Watson drove in five runs apiece and No. 8 Coastal Carolina (34-15, 20-5 Sun Belt) doubled up Old Dominion (25-24, 11-14) in a series opener. Watson and Jackson Winer homered for Coastal ... Andrew Buffkin pitched a complete-game shutout as The Citadel (27-22, 8-9 SoCon) completed a doubleheader sweep of Samford (25-23, 9-8) and extended its winning streak to six games. Will Holmes (5-4) struck out 12 and allowed two runs on a hit in six innings in the opener. In Game 1, Michael Gibson had four hits - including a home run - and three RBI, while TJ Anderson had a three-run homer for the Bulldogs. In the nightcap, Jayden Williams had a grand slam and drove in five runs. ... Wofford (32-17, 10-6 SoCon) survived a three-run rally by East Tennessee State (29-18, 9-7) in the ninth inning to take the opener of their series. Logan Tribble's bunt single gave the Terriers the lead in the seventh inning and Marc Quarrie followed with a three-run double ... Parker Sweeney struck out five in 2 2/3 innings to get the win and Will Tippett drove in three runs as College of Charleston (23-25, 13-12 CAA) won the opener of a series at Elon (19-29, 10-18). Tippett's sacrifice fly in the eighth inning gave the Cougars the winning run ... Presbyterian (11-39, 7-12 Big South) scored two runs in the eighth and three in the ninth to overtake USC Upstate (23-27, 11-11) in a series opener, snapping a nine-game losing streak. Layton Hyneman drove in the winning run with a fielder's choice sacrifice bunt to end the game. Chris Torres allowed a run and struck out six in seven inning for Upstate, which had a four-game winning streak snapped ... High Point (32-17, 13-6 Big South) pulled into a first-place tie with Winthrop (30-19, 13-6) by scoring three runs in the eighth and single runs in the ninth and 10th ... Alex Marot had a two-run single, a pair of two-run homers and drew three walks as Charleston Southern (26-19, 10-9 Big South) took a series opener at Longwood (28-21, 10-9) ... Luke Vaughan hit two home runs and Justin Lebron added a three-run shot as No. 19 Alabama (33-17, 14-11 SEC) handed South Carolina (22-28, 7-18) its sixth straight loss. The Gamecocks are one loss shy of tying the school single-season record with seven games left in the season. 

Postseason

* NJCAA East District: Elijah Sanders pitched seven shutout innings and Florence-Darlington Tech (50-12) forced a winner-take-all game against Harford CC (53-6) on Saturday by winning Game 2 of the NJCAA East District Championship Series in Florence. Harford held off a ninth-inning rally by the Stingers to take the opener. The Stingers scored six runs in the third of the nightcap and took a shutout into the bottom of the eighth, when Ty Mercado hit a grand slam. Tanner Beckley, Jackson Cook and Jake Zehner had two hits apiece for the Stingers in Game 2. Down by five runs entering the bottom of the ninth of Game 1, Tech's first seven batters reached base before Harford escaped. Pat Costin's bases-loaded double scored three runs, and a bases-loaded walk pulled the Stingers within one. But Harford reliever Matthew Galli struck out the next two batters and induced a flyout to end the game. The series finale will be played Saturday at Lexington County Baseball Stadium.  Tech won a coin toss and will be the home team. The series winner advances to the NJCAA World Series in Grand Junction, Colo., later this month.

* Peach Belt Conference: Zach Cowart's ninth-inning homer gave Lander (35-19) the lead and the Bearcats held on to beat top seed North Georgia (41-13) in the first game of the best-of-three  Conference Championship Series.  The Bearcats took a 4-2 lead in the seventh on homers by Caden Crews and Oliver Zohn, but the Nighthawks tied the score in the bottom of the inning on solo shots by Jake Streeter and Hunter Thompson.  Crews led off the ninth with a bunt single and Cowart followed with his winning shot. Games 2 - and 3, if necessary - will be played on Saturday.

Beyond the border
*ACC: California dumped No. 23 Virginia, 7-4, to break a tie with Clemson in the standings ... Tague Davis hit two home runs, giving him an ACC single-season-record 32, and Louisville scored nine runs in the 11th to even its series with Miami ... No. 2 North Carolina stifled Pitt, 4-1 ... Drew Burress' sacrifice fly in the the 10th inning lifted No. 3 Georgia Tech over Duke, 10-9 ... Stanford scored four in the eighth to beat N.C. State, 6-5 ... In nonconference games, Wake Forest beat Western Carolina, 6-1 and Notre Dame blanked Oakland, 2-0.

* ACC standings: Georgia Tech 20-5; North Carolina 18-7; Florida State 16-9; Boston College 17-10; Miami 14-12; Wake Forest 14-13; Virginia Tech 13-14; N.C. State 12-13; Virginia 12-13; Stanford 11-14; Louisville 11-15; Notre Dame 11-16; Pitt 10-15;  Duke 9-16; California 9-16 Clemson 8-17.

* SEC: No. 5 Georgia outslugged LSU, 11-8 ... Tennessee knocked off No. 4 Texas, 5-1 ... No. 20 Ole Miss stopped No. 3 Texas A&M, 5-3 ... A ninth-inning home run lifted No. 6 Auburn past No.  11Tge Mississippi State, 5-4 ... No. 17 Arkansas whipped No. 24 Oklahoma, 12-2 ... No. 21 Florida scored five runs in the eighth and one in the ninth for a walk-off 7-6 win over Kentucky ... The Vanderbilt-Missouri game was suspended until Saturday because of fog in a 7-7 tie in the top of the ninth. Mizzou scored six runs in the eighth to take the lead before Vandy scored on the final play before the game was suspended.

* SEC standings: Georgia 19-6; Texas A&M 15-9; Texas 15-9; Auburn 15-11; Mississippi State 15-11;  Alabama 14-11; Arkansas 14-11; Florida 14-11; Ole Miss 13-12; Tennessee 12-13; Oklahoma 12-13; Kentucky 11-14; Vanderbilt 10-14; LSU 9-16; South Carolina 7-18; Missouri 4-20.

* South Atlantic Conference: Top-seeded Catawba (42-9) scored two runs in the ninth - capped by Malachi Cloud's walk-off homer - to take Game 1 of the Conference Championship Series over Wingate (37-17).

Alabama 8, South Carolina 3 - USC: KJ Scobey 1B, BB, RBI
Charleston Southern 14, Longwood 3 - Cha: Kain Collins 3-5, BB, 2 SB, 2 R, 2 RBI
Coastal Carolina 16, Old Dominion 8 - Coa: Dean Mihos 2-3, 3 BB, 4 R
College of Charleston 6, Elon 5 - Cha: Ethan Plyler 1B, 2B, BB, RS, 2 RBI

Florida State 8, Clemson 4 - Cle: Jacob Jarrell 2-3, 2 BB, 2 RBI
High Point 9, Winthrop 8, 10 innings - Win: Corey Wouters 2 2B, R, 2 RBI
Presbyterian 6, USC Upstate 5 - PC: Tyrell Williams 7 IP, ER, 5 K
The Citadel 10, Samford 4, Game 1 - Cit: Garrett Fulmer 1B, 2B, R, RBI
The Citadel 8, Samford 0, Game 2 - Cit: Jayden Williams 2-3, BB, HR, 2 R, 2 SB, 5 RBI
Wofford 7, East Tennessee State 6 - Wof: Alec Bouchard W, 7 IP, 3 R, 7 K

NJCAA Atlantic District Tournament
Dailey Field, Florence
Best-of-three
Harford CC 14, Florence-Darlington Tech 13, Game 1 - Flo: Pat Costin 1B, BB, 2 2B, 2 R, 6 RBI
Florence-Darlington 7 Tech 7, Harford CC 4 - Flo: Gabe Herold HR, 2 RBI

Series tied, 1-1

Peach Belt Championship Series
Bob Stein Stadium, Dahlonega, Ga.
Best-of-three

Lander 6, North Georgia 4 - Lan: Joshua Sanchez W, 2.1 IP, 0 H, 4 K

Lander leads series 1-0

SAC Championship Series

McCrary Park, Asheboro, N.C.
Best-of-three
Catawba 6, Wingate 5
Catawba leads series, 1-0
(13/1250)

S.C. college baseball recap, Thursday, May 7

State schedule, May 8-10

Friday, May 8

Samford at The Citadel, Game 1, noon.

Alabama at South Carolina, 5:30 p.m.

East Tennessee State at Wofford, 5:30 p.m.

Charleston Southern at Longwood, 6 p.m.

College of Charleston at Elon, 6 p.m.

Florida State at Clemson, 6 p.m.

Old Dominion at Coastal Carolina, 6 p.m.

Samford at The Citadel, Game 2, 6 p.m.

USC Upstate at Presbyterian, 6 p.m.

Winthrop at High Point, 6 p.m.

NJCAA Atlantic District Tournament
Dailey Field, Florence
Best-of-three
Game 1: Harford vs. Florence-Darlington Tech, 11 a.m.
Game 2: Harford vs. Florence-Darlington Tech, 3 p.m.

Peach Belt Championship Series
Bob Stein Stadium, Dahlonega, Ga.
Best-of-three

Game 1: Lander vs. North Georgia, 5 p.m.

SAC Championship Series

McCrary Park, Asheboro, N.C.
Best-of-three
Game 1: Catawba vs. Wingate, 4 p.m.

Saturday, May 9

Alabama at South Carolina, 1 p.m.

Old Dominion at Coastal Carolina, 1 p.m.

East Tennessee State at Wofford, 2 p.m.

Florida State at Clemson, 2 p.m.

Charleston Southern at Longwood, 3 p.m.

USC Upstate at Presbyterian, 3 p.m.

Winthrop at High Point, 4 p.m.

College of Charleston at Elon, 6 p.m.

Samford at The Citadel, 6 p.m.

NJCAA Atlantic District Tournament
Lexington County Baseball Stadium
Best-of-three
Series tied, 1-1

Game 3: Harford vs. Florence-Darlington Tech, 1 p.m.

Peach Belt Championship Series

Bob Stein Stadium, Dahlonega, Ga.
Best-of-three

Lander leads series, 1-0
Lander vs. North Georgia, 1 p.m.
Lander vs. North Georgia, if necessary

SAC Championship Series

McCrary Park, Asheboro, N.C.
Best-of-three
Catawba leads series, 1-0
Catawba vs. Wingate, noon

Catawba vs. Wingate, if necessary, 4 p.m.

Sunday, May 10

Old Dominion at Coastal Carolina, 1 p.m.

Charleston Southern at Longwood, 1 p.m.

College of Charleston at Elon, 1 p.m.

East Tennessee State at Wofford, 1 p.m.

Florida State at Clemson, 1 p.m.

USC Upstate at Presbyterian, 1 p.m.

Winthrop at High Point, 1 p.m.

Alabama at South Carolina, 1:30 p.m.

Moved to Friday
Samford at The Citadel

State scoreboard, Thursday, May 7

Freshman Wylan Sheffield pitched the only two complete
games by the Panthers this year, winning both. (Claflin photo) 

Player of the day: Wylan Sheffield, Claflin, W, CG, 7 IP, 5H, 0 R, BB 3 K 

* Claflin (7-36) scored three runs in the first inning, four in the second and 17 runs in the third inning and coasted past host Virginia State (13-26) to win the CIAA Championship Series in Ettrick, Va. 

It was the third win in as many days for coach Jaylan Bledsoe's Panthers, who sent 22 batters to plate in the third. Claflin got 12 hits - 11 of them singles - and drew 12 walks and seven hit batsmen.

Wylan Sheffield (2-11) pitched a five-hit complete game to register the Panthers' first shutout of the season.

Devyn Campbell, Nehemiah Drew and Anthony Hardy had two hits and four RBI apiece. Drew also scored four runs, while five teammates scored three apiece.

Claflin started the season 0-2, then won three straight games before a 24-game losing streak followed. After ending that streak with a walk-off win over USC Beaufort, the Panthers lost their final 10 games of the regular season.

The NCAA Division II Central Collegiate Athletic Conference does not sponsor baseball, so four member schools with baseball programs compete in other leagues or as independents. Claflin competes in the Peach Belt Conference.

 The Championship Series is not recognized as an official CIAA championship - but a championship is a championship, and Claflin took one home.

Beyond the border
* ACC: Miami took the opener of a home series with Louisville 13-8.
* ACC standings: Georgia Tech 19-5; North Carolina 17-7; Boston College 17-10; Florida State 15-9; Miami 14-11; Wake Forest 14-13; Virginia 12-12;  N.C. State 12-12; Virginia Tech 13-14; Pitt 10-14; Stanford 10-14;  Notre Dame 11-16; Louisville 10-15; Duke 9-15; Clemson 8-16; California 8-16.

* SEC: No. 11 Mississippi State handled No. 6 Auburn, 10-3

* SEC standings: Georgia 18-6; Texas A&M 15-8; Texas 15-8; Mississippi State 15-10; Auburn 14-11;  Alabama 13-11; Arkansas 13-11; Florida 13-11; Oklahoma 12-12; Ole Miss 12-12; Kentucky 11-13; Tennessee 11-13; Vanderbilt 10-14; LSU 9-15; South Carolina 7-17; Missouri 4-20.

CIAA Championship Series
Whaley Colbert Stadium, Ettrick, Va.
Claflin 24, Virginia State 0, 7 innings - Cla: Nehemiah Drew 2-4, 2 BB, SB, 4 R, 4 RBI

NCCAA South Regional

Toccoa Falls College

Fort Lauderdale 11, Toccoa Falls 9

Fort Lauderdale advances to NCCAA World Series
(1/1237)