State schedule, Saturday, May 30

TV info TBA

ATLANTA REGIONAL

Game 2: No. 2 Oklahoma (32-21) vs. No. 3 The Citadel (35-24), 10 a.m.
Game 3: Illinois Chicago vs. Game 2 loser, 2 p.m.
Game 3: Georgia Tech vs. Game 2 winner, 6 p.m.
 

TALLAHASSEE REGIONAL
Game 3: Florida State vs. Coastal Carolina, 2 p.m.
Game 4: St. John's vs. Northern Illinois, 7 p.m.

TUSCALOOSA REGIONAL

Game 3: Oklahoma State vs. Alabama State, 2 p.m.
Game 4: USC Upstate vs. Alabama, 7 p.m.
Complete NCAA Regional schedule

State scoreboard, Friday, May 29

Max Bianchini helped the Spartans hold their
lead over the Cowboys. (USC Upstate photo) 

Player of the day: Max Bianchini, USC Upstate, 3 IP., 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K

Atlanta Regional
* Bulldogs rained out - The Citadel's opener with Oklahoma was rained out and will be played at 10 a.m. Saturday. That game's loser plays Illinois Chicago at 2 p.m. and the winner meets Georgia Tech at 6 p.m.

Georgia Tech 22, Illinois Chicago 5

Postponed until 10 a.m. Saturday 
No. 2 Oklahoma (32-21) vs. No. 3 The Citadel (35-24),  10 a.m.

Tallahassee Regional
*Northern 12, Coastal Carolina 10 - The Huskies (36-17) rode an eight-run fourth inning to their first NCAA Tournament win and knocked the Chanticleers (37-22) into an elimination game against Florida State on Saturday. Coastal Carolina scored a run in the first and three in the second, but NIU put up two runs in the third and eight in the fourth to go up 10-4.  The Chanticleer cut the deficit to three with a three-run fifth. The Huskies got two runs with two outs in the ninth, and they came in handy when Dean Mihos' three-run, two-out homer closed the deficit.

St. John’s 6, Florida State 5

Northern Illinois 12, Coastal Carolina 10 - Coa: Dean Mihos 1B, 2B, HR, 4 RBI

Tuscaloosa Regional
* USC Upstate 8, Oklahoma State 5 - The Spartans (34-28) scored scored three first-inning runs without a hit and that was the margin of victory against the Cowboys (37-21) in Upstate's first NCAA Tournament win. Upstate's first three batters drew walks. A wild pitch, a passed ball and a double play produced the three runs. OSU tied the score at 4-4, but Jake Armsey broke the deadlock with an RBI single in the fourth and Upstate never trailed again. Wylie Waters scored from second on a misplaced sac bunt in the fourth and  Preston Luca had a two-run single in the eighth. Brent Stukes (8-3) pitched the first five innings. Max Bianchini went three scoreless innings and Jacob Kirby left the bases loaded in the ninth for his third save. Upstate plays Alabama on Saturday.

USC Upstate 8, Oklahoma State 5 - Up: Maloy Heaghney 2-4, BB, 2 R

Alabama 21, Alabama State 3
Complete NCAA Regional schedule

(2/1337)

State teams stay in Southeast for NCAA

South Carolina's three teams in the NCAA Tournament won't have to leave the Waffle House footprint.

The Citadel is playing in the Atlanta Regional, Coastal Carolina is in the Tallahassee Regional and USC Upstate is in the Tuscaloosa Regional.

The 64-team NCAA Tournament field was announced Monday, There are 12 teams from the SEC, 9 from the ACC and 5 from the Sun Belt. The 16 regionals all have a four-team, double-elimination format. The 16 regional winners advance to one of eight best-of-three super regional the following weekend. Those eight super regional survivors go the the College World Series in Omaha. 

The Citadel (35-24) earned the Southern Conference's automatic bid and will be the No. 3 seed in Atlanta, playing Oklahoma (32-21) at 5 p.m. Friday at Russ Chandler Stadium on the Georgia Tech campus. The game will be on ESPN+

Coastal Carolinas (37-21) earned an at-large bid from the Sun Belt Conference and will be the No. 2 seed in the Tallahassee Regional at Dick Howser Stadium. The Chanticleers will play Northern Illinois (35-17), which is making its first NCAA appearance since it moved from district to regional competition in the 1970s. The game is scheduled for 8 p.m. Friday on ESPN+. Coastal was believed to be in contention for a regional host spot before going 11-13 over its final 24 games.

USC Upstate (33-28) qualified by winning its second straight Big South Conference Tournament. The Spartans are the No. 3 seed at Tuscaloosa and will play Oklahoma State (37-20) in the first round. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday on ESPN+.

Top 16 national seeds

1. UCLA (51-6), 2. Georgia Tech (48-9), 3. Georgia (46-12), 4. Auburn (38-19), 5. North Carolina (45-11-1), 6. Texas (40-13), 7. Alabama (37-19), 8. Florida (39-19), 9. Southern Mississippi (44-15), 10. Florida State (38-17), 11. Oregon (40-16), 12. Texas A&M (39-14), 13. Nebraska (42-15), 14. Mississippi State (40-17), 15. Kansas (42-16), 16. West Virginia (39-14).

Super Regional pairings
No. 16 Morgantown vs. No. 1 Los Angeles
No. 15 Lawrence vs. No. 2 Atlanta
No. 14 Starkville vs. No. 3 Athens.
No. 13 Lincoln vs.  4. Auburn.
No. 12 College Station vs. No. 5 Chapel Hill.
No. 11. Eugene vs. No. 6 Austin.
No. 10 Tallahassee vs. No. 7 Tuscaloosa.

No. 9 Hattiesburg vs. No. 8 Gainesville.

ATLANTA REGIONAL

Friday
No. 1 Georgia Tech (48-9) vs. No. 4 Illinois Chicago (27-27-1), Noon, ACCN

No. 2 Oklahoma (32-21) vs. No. 3 The Citadel (35-24), 5 p.m., ESPN+

Saturday
Game 3: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner

Game 4: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser 
Sunday
Game 5: Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser
Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner
Monday
Game 7: if Game 5 winner wins Game 6

TALLAHASSEE REGIONAL
Friday
No. 1 Florida State (38-17) vs. No. 4 St. John’s (NY) (33-24), 3 p.m., ACCN

No. 2 Coastal Carolina (37-21) vs. No. 3 Northern Illinois (35-17), 8 p.m., ESPN+

Saturday
Game 3: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner

Game 4: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser 
Sunday
Game 5: Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser
Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner
Monday
Game 7: if Game 5 winner wins Game 6

TUSCALOOSA REGIONAL

Friday

No. 2 Oklahoma State (37-20) vs. No. 3 USC Upstate (33-28), 2 p.m., ESPN+

No. 1 Alabama (37-19) vs. No. 4 Alabama State (34-21), 7 p.m., ESPN+

Saturday
Game 3: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner

Game 4: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser 
Sunday
Game 5: Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser
Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner
Monday
Game 7: if Game 5 winner wins Game 6
Complete NCAA Regional schedule

Team of the week, May 18-24 (tie): The Citadel and USC Upstate

The Citadel (5-0 for the week)

(beat VMI, Wofford, Mercer - twice - and Samford in the SoCon Tournament)

The Bulldogs picked up their first Southern Conference Tournament championship since 2010 with a dominant run through the event. Coach Russell Triplett's excelled both at the plate and on the mound, surviving a play-in game to reach the double-elimination portion of the event and claim the championship from the fifth seed.

USC Upstate (4-1 for the week)

(beat Winthrop, High Point, went 2-1 vs. Longwood in the Big South Tournament)
Coach Kane Sweeney's team beat the two teams to finish above them in the regular season and didn't let a weather-induced venue change from Asheville to Boiling Springs stop them from repeating as tournament champion.

Up next for both: NCAA regionals. Destination and opponents to be announced Monday

Previous winners

Jan. 23-Feb. 1: North Greenville
Feb. 2-8: Anderson
Feb. 9-15: Francis Marion 

Feb. 16-22: Charleston Southern
Feb. 23-March 1: Benedict
March 2-8: Clemson

March 9-15: Coastal Carolina
March 16-22: Florence-Darlington Tech

March 23-29: Winthrop

March 30-April 5: North Greenville
April 6-12: Wofford
April 13-19: Winthrop
April 20-26: Coker

April 27-May 3: The Citadel
May 4-10: (tie) Charleston Southern, Claflin, Lander

May 11-17: Francis Marion

State scoreboard, Sunday, May 24

Preston Lucas was 9-for-19 during the Spartans'
run to the tournament title. (USC Upstate photo)

Player of the day: Preston Lucas, USC Upstate, 4-7, 2B, R, RBI, BB

* Big South Tournament: After losing in its first chance to wrap up the title, USC Upstate (33-28)  got three base-loaded walks in the first inning of Game 2 against Longwood (34-27) and never trailed in win the conference championship and automatic NCAA Tournament bid for the second straight season. Johnny Sweeney had an RBI groundout in the second and Wylie Waters and Brady Small added two-run homers in the third and fifth innings, r3espectively. Coach Kane Sweeney's squad got three no-hit innings from starter Chris Torres. After Jacob Kirby allowed two hits in four shutout innings, Andrew Kummer allowed no hits over two innings to close out the game.  Longwood's Game 1 win ended a nine-game winning streak for the Spartans. A bases-loaded walk gave the Lancers the lead in the third and Jae'den Carter added a two-run homer in the seventh. Upstate pitchers struck out 15. The Spartans will learn their regional destination on monday.

ACC TOURNAMENT

Championship

Georgia Tech 13, North Carolina 6

---
SEC TOURNAMENT

Championship    

Georgia 11, Arkansas 1, 7 innings

---

BIG SOUTH TOURNAMENT

Championship

Longwood 4, USC Upstate 1 - Up: Johnny Sweeney 3B, RBI

USC Upstate 8, Longwood 1 - Up: Jacob Kirby W, 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 K 
---

CAA TOURNAMENT

Championship

Northeastern 3, Campbell 2

---
SUN BELT CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

Southern Mississippi 6, Troy 2

Championship

Southern Mississippi 11, Louisiana 7
(2/1335)

State scoreboard, Saturday, May 23

Will Holmes has struck out 112 batters in
88 1/3 innings this season. (The Citadel photo)

Player of the day: Will Holmes, The Citadel, W, 7 IP, 2 H, R, B, 10 K

ACC TOURNAMENT

Truist Field, Charlotte

Georgia Tech 9, Miami 3
North Carolina 13, Pitt 5
---

SEC TOURNAMENT

Hoover (Ala.) Metropolitan Stadium

Georgia 8, Florida 7

Arkansas 2, Auburn 1
---

* Big South Tournament: USC Upstate (32-27) moved into the championship round by beating top seed High Point (37-19) behind the shutout pitching of Brent Stukes and Jacob Kirby. The Spartans scored two runs - the first on a squeeze bunt - in the second inning and Stukes (8 innings) and Kirby (1) made sure that was enough. Wylie Waters singled twice and homered for Upstate, which is on a nine-game winning streak. Higlater Saturday for the right to play Upstate on Sunday ... Brogan Jones's third RBI of the game broke a 3-3 tie in the 11th inning as Longwood (32-26) eliminated Winthrop (33-24). The Eagles scored runs in the eighth and ninth innings to force extra innings. The decisive run was unearned. Jaylen Hernandez had three hits for Winthrop, which outhit the Lancers 12-5.

BIG SOUTH TOURNAMENT

John Henry Moss Stadium, Boiling Springs, N.C.

ESPN+
Longwood 4, Winthrop 3, 11 innings - Win: Harrison Wilson 3.1 IP, H, 0 ER, 6 K

USC Upstate 5, High Point 0 - Up: Preston Lucas 2-5, 2 R

Game 9: High Point vs. Longwood, TBA

---

CAA TOURNAMENT

Brooks Field, Wilmington, N.C

Campbell 5, Hofstra 3
Northeastern 5, Hofstra 4

Northeastern 7, Campbell 4
---

* Southern Conference Tournament: Will Holmes (7-4) struck out 10 Samford (31-25) batters in seven innings as The Citadel (35-24) earned its first NCAA Tournament bid since 2010 with an unbeaten 5-0 run through the tournament. Christian Stratis had a walk, two hits and an RBI and Zach Hunt and Sam Danskey added RBI for coach Russell Triplett's Bulldogs. Michael Gibson doubled, scored a run and pitched the final 1 1/3 innings to get his 10th save of the season and third of the tournament.

SOCON TOURNAMENT

Fluor Field, Greenville

Championship Game

The Citadel 3, Samford 1 - Cit: Jayden Williams 3-5 

---

SUN BELT CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

DABOS Park, Montgomery, Ala.

Troy 11, South Alabama 10
Troy 9, Southern Mississippi 6

Troy University
Louisiana 12, Texas State 6
Louisiana 7, Texas State 4
Moved to Sunday

Game 16: Troy vs. Southern Mississippi

---
* NCAA Division II Southeast Super Regional: Former Spartanburg Methodist and Limestone player Kemper Nix struck out seven in five innings and his Catawba (47-12) teammates scored five runs in the first inning to beat Francis Marion (46-14) and win the best-of-three regional. The Indians advance to the NCAA Division II World Series in Cary, N.C. Jimmy Koza and Charlie Bussey III had two hits apiece for the Patriots.

NCAA DII SOUTHEAST SUPER REGIONAL

Newman Park, Salisbury, N.C.

Best-of-three series

Catawba 6, Francis Marion 3 - Fra: Jafet Martinez-Delgado 6 IP, 3 H, R, 2 R
Catawba wins series, 2-1, advances to DII World Series
(4/1333)

State scoreboard, Friday, May 22

Charlie Bussey III extended the NCAA DII single-season
 record for runs scored to 118. (FMU photo)

Player of the day: Charlie Bussey III, Francis Marion, 3B, HR, 3 R, BB

ACC TOURNAMENT
Truist Field, Charlotte

North Carolina 10, Virginia Tech 4

Pitt 8, Florida State 6
---

SEC TOURNAMENT

Hoover (Ala.) Metropolitan Stadium

SEC Network

Arkansas 8, Texas 1

Auburn 7, Texas A&M 0
---

* Big South Tournament: Charleston Southern (30-24) was eliminated after losing twice in one day. The Buccaneers fell to top seed High Point in the resumption of a game suspended because of rain on Thursday. The Buccaneers took a the lead with two runs in the seventh, but High Point answered with three runs in the bottom of the seventh and held on. Then, CSU was eliminated by Longwood (31-26) when the Lancer scored nine runs over the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Winthrop's game with Longwood and USC Upstate's game with High Point were moved to Saturday. 
 

BIG SOUTH TOURNAMENT

McCormick Field, Asheville

High Point 9, Charleston Southern 6 - Cha: Nathan Martinez 4-4, R, RBI

Longwood 10, Charleston Southern 4 - Cha: Tyler Wright 3-5, 2 RBI

Moved to Saturday

Game 7: High Point vs. USC Upstate, TBA
Game 8: Longwood vs. Winthrop, TBA

Game 9: Game 7 loser vs. Game 8 winner, TBA

---

CAA TOURNAMENT

Brooks Field, Wilmington, N.C

UNCW 6, Monmouth 1
Northeastern 7, UNCW 3

Moved to Saturday

Game 8: Campbell vs. Hofstra

---
* SoCon Tournament:  The Citadel (34-24) advanced to Saturday's championship game with a run-rule win over regular-season champion Mercer. Christian Stratis was 4-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs in support of pitcher Bryce Coulter (2-2), who pitched a complete game for the Bulldogs.

SOCON TOURNAMENT

Fluor Field, Greenville

The Citadel 14, Mercer 4 - Cit: Michael Gibson 1B, 2B, SB, 4 RBI

Samford  5, Western Carolina 1, 13 innings

---
* Sun Belt Tournament: Louisiana (37-22) took an early five-run lead and held on to eliminate Coastal Carolina (37-21) in a game moved to Troy University because of a weather-induced schedule backup. Rex Watson and Trace Mazon had run-scoring hits in the fourth and Walker Mitchell and Mazon drove in runs in the eighth. Dean Mihos walked and Blake Barthol singled him to third with two outs in the ninth. After Barthol stole second, Mitchell struck out to end the game.

SUN BELT CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

Louisiana 5, Coastal Carolina 4 - Coa: Blake Barthol 4-5, 2 2B, SB, R
Southern Mississippi 7, Troy 6 - two-out walk-off grand slam on an 0-2 pitch
Moved to Saturday

Game 12: Game 10 loser vs. South Alabama

---
* NCAA DII Southeast Super Regional: Francis Marion (46-13) scored the go-ahead run on a double-steal attempt and held on to force a deciding third game in the series at Catawba (46-12). Ethan McAnally gave the Patriots a 3-1 lead in the first inning, but the host Indians went ahead 5-4 in the fifth. FMU tied the score when Myles Profitt doubled in Will Dorrell in the bottom of the inning. Charlie Bussey III doubled and McAnally walked in the sixth inning. On a double steal attempt, Bussey scored from second while McAnally was thrown out. Robbie Jordan (12-2) got. the win. Game 3 is set for noon Saturday, with the winner advancing to the Division II College World Series in Cary, N.C.

NCAA DIVISION II SOUTHEAST SUPER REGIONAL

Newman Park, Salisbury, N.C.

Francis Marion 8, Catawba 5 - Fra: Charlie Bussey III 2B, HR, BB, 3 R

Best-of-three series tied, 1-1
(5/1329)

USC dismisses Lee, Rooney, Hendry

Monte Lee talks with the media after an April 7 loss to College
 of Charleston.(Palmetto State Baseball photo)

John Whittle of Gamecock247.com (formerly The BigSpur.com) reports South Carolina's administration has informed interim head coach Monte Lee, pitching coach Terry Rooney and assistant coach John Hendry that they will not be returning to the program.

Director of operations and player development Chris Gordon, strength and conditioning coach Billy Anderson and special assistant coach Stuart Lake will remain with the program until a new head coach is hired, Whittle reports.

Lee was named interim head coach after Paul Mainieri was jettisoned March 21 and coached the final 34 games. Lee expressed interest in the role on a permanent basis, but had a 10-24 record as interim coach, including 13 straight losses to end the season. He was 7-20 against SEC competition, including a loss to Tennessee in the conference tournament.

Lake, who has a role with the Gamecock Club, was serving as analyst for USC's radio broadcasts until he moved to the dugout after Mainieri's departure.

Lee was retained by Mainieri .from the staff of former head coach Mark Kingston. He previously served as an assistant at USC before becoming head coach at College of Charleston and later, Clemson.

Lee was listed as USC's hitting coach, but media reports indicated he was not in control. In addition, Mainieri replaced Lee with Rooney as primary in-state recruiter and Carolina has struggled to bring in high school talent.

USC had a school-worst 6.41 staff earned-run average in  2025. The ERA improved this season, but the offense ranked at or near the bottom of the SEC in many categories.‌ For instance, USC's overall batting average of .235 was 18 points worse than the next-closest team. Carolina was last in runs scored (276) by 64 runs, and on-base percentage (.325) by 45 points. The Gamecocks hit .203 in SEC play.

Hendry came to USC after serving in an off-field role at Virginia.
Whittle's story