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

State scoreboard, Thursday, May 21

Henry Zenor has hit a first-inning leadoff homer in both Spartans
 games of the Big South Tournament. (USC Upstate photo)

Player of the day: Henry Zenor. USC Upstate 4-5, BB, 3 2B, HR, 3 R, 2 RBI

ACC TOURNAMENT

Truist Field, Charlotte
Georgia Tech 16, Virginia 10

Miami 8, Boston College 2
---

SEC TOURNAMENT
Hoover (Ala.) Metropolitan Stadium

Georgia 5, Mississippi State 3

Florida 13, Alabama 3, 8 innings

--- 
* Sun Belt Tournament: Strong pitching from Cameron Flukey and Darin Horn helped Coastal Carolina  (37-20) stay alive and eliminate Appalachian State (30-24). Flukey allowed a run on two hits and struck six in four innings. Horn went the final five innings, allowing two hits and a run while striking out eight. Trace Mazon had three hits, while Blake Barthol, Walker Mitchell and Rex Watson added two apiece.

SUN BELT CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

DABOS Park, Montgomery, Ala.

ESPN+

Troy 11, South Alabama 3

Coastal Carolina 8, Appalachian State 2 - Coa: Trace Mazon 3-4, R, 2 RBI
South Alabama 7, Georgia State 4
Texas State 4, Louisiana 3
---

* Big South Tournament: Henry Zenor homered and hit three of USC Upstate's (31-27) 10 doubles in a run-rule win over Winthrop (33-23). The Spartans scored in their first six innings. Maloy Heaghney and Tyler Lang had three hits apiece, while Wylie Waters had a grand slam. Colin Crowley homered and singled for Winthrop ...High Point was leading Charleston Southern, 3-2, in the bottom of the second when the game was interrupted by rain. Instead of resuming the game, it was suspended until 9 a.m. Friday and Winthrop and USC Upstate played their game.

BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

McCormick Field, Asheville

Longwood 17, Radford 7

USC Upstate 18, Winthrop 6, 7 innings - Up: Jake Armsey 2 2B, R, 5 RBI

Unknown

Game 6: Longwood vs. lower seeded Game 4/5 loser.

Suspended until TBA Friday
Game 4: High Point 3, Charleston Southern 2, B2
---
* CAA Tournament: Monmouth (30-22) scored five runs in the fifth inning to break a tie and eliminate College of Charleston (28-28). The Cougars scored single runs in the first and second innings, but Monmouth tied the score in the third with the help of an error.

CAA TOURNAMENT

Brooks Field, Wilmington, N.C

Monmouth 7, College of Charleston 2 - Cha: Dylan Johnson 1B, HR

Campbell 3, UNCW 1
Hofstra 6, Northeastern 0

---

* SoCon Tournament: A seven-run ninth inning gave The Citadel (33-24) plenty of breathing room in a win over top-seeded Mercer to advance to the tournament semifinals for the first time since 2015. Trip Brown went six shutout innings, striking out seven, for the Bulldogs. Zach Hunt and Phillips Daniels drove in two runs each in the ninth. Mercer was shut out before hitting a pair of solo home runs in the ninth ... Later Thursday, Chris Katz hit a go-ahead inside-the-park shot in the eighth as Mercer (44-14) eliminated Wofford (34-22). The Terriers had leads of 3-2, 5-4, 7-5 and 8-6 before Mercer rallied. 

SOCON TOURNAMENT

Fluor Field, Greenville

ESPN+

The Citadel 9, Mercer 2 - Cit: Zach Hunt 1B, HR, R, 2 RBI

Samford 9, Western Carolina 5
Mercer 9, Wofford 8 - Wof: Niko Brini 3-5, 2B, R, 2 SB, 3 RBI
Western Carolina 4, UNC Greensboro 3

---
* NCAA DII Southeast Super Regional: Catawba (46-11) scored three runs in the first and four in the second to take Game 1 of the best-of-three series from Francis Marion (45-13). Charlie Bussey III and Ethan McAnally had three hits apiece for the Patriots. The series winner advances to the Division II World Series in Cary, N.C.
 
NCAA DIVISION II SOUTHEAST SUPER REGIONAL
Best of three
Catawba 12, Francis Marion 7 - Fra: Ethan McAnally 3-4, HR, 4 RBI
Catawba leads series, 1-0

(6/1324)

State scoreboard, Wednesday, May 20

MIchael Gibson increased his batting average to .387
and picked up his 8th save. (The Citadel photo)

Player of the day: Michael Gibson, The Citadel, 8-for-10, 2B, HR, 7 R, 7 RBI, HBP, S, .1 IP, K

ACC TOURNAMENT
Charlotte

Virginia 6, Duke 4

Miami 11, Stanford 2

Virginia Tech 17, Notre Dame 10

Pitt 7, Wake Forest 4

---
SEC TOURNAMENT
Hoover, Ala.

Mississippi State 12, Missouri 2

Florida 8, Vanderbilt 3

Arkansas 8, Tennessee 4

Auburn 3, LSU 1
---

* Sun Belt Tournament: After Coastal Carolina (36-20) rallied from seven runs down to tie the game, Louisiana (36-21) score the next five runs to send the Chanticleers into the losers' bracket. Blagen Pado's second home run of the game, a three-run shot, pulled Coastal even at 7-7 in the sixth, but the Ragin' Cajuns scored three runs in the seventh and two in the eighth. Trace Mazon's one-out triple in the ninth pulled Coastal within one, but the next two batters were retired. The Chants face Appalachian State on Thursday.

SUN BELT CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
Montgomery, Ala.

Texas State 6, Appalachian State 5

Louisiana 12,  Coastal Carolina 11 - Coa: Trace Mazon 3-5, 3B, R, 2 RBI

Southern Mississippi 7, Georgia State 6
Postponed until 10 a.m. Thursday
Game 6: No. 5 South Alabama vs. No. 4 Troy

---
* CAA Tournament: Two Hofstra (21-27)  pitchers held College of Charleston (28-27) to four hits and a pair of six-run innings helped the Pride run-rule the Cougars. CofC meets Monmouth in an elimination game on Thursday.

CAA TOURNAMENT

Brooks Field, Wilmington, N.C

Hofstra 13, College of Charleston 0 - Cha: Alex LaCoste 2-3

UNCW 5, Monmouth 0
---

* Big South Tournament: Titus Von Kapff  allowed two earned runs in 5 1/3 innings and Garrison Barile had three doubles to drive in three runs as Charleston Southern (30-21) scored all its runs in the first three innings to turn back Radford (25-25).  Caden Wolfley and Tyler Wright also had three hits for the Buccaneers, who fae top seed High Point on Thursday ... Trey Bentley hit a tie-breaking grand slam in the sixth inning and USC Upstate (30-27) topped Longwood (29-28) in its opener. Bentley also had double and two singles for the Spartans,  who play Winthrop on Thursday.

BIG SOUTH TOURNAMENT

McCormick Field, Asheville

Charleston Southern 8, Radford 5 - Cha: Caden Wolfley 3-5, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI 

USC Upstate 11, Longwood 8 - Up: Chris Torres 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 9 K

Suspended until 9 a.m. Thursday
Longwood 5, Radford 0, T2
---
* Southern Conference Tournament: The Citadel (32-24) lashed out 39 hits and produced 34 runs in a pair of wins on the opening day. The Bulldogs scored four runs in the first inning and capped things with seven runs in the eighth for a run-rule win over VMI (28-27) in a play-in game. Then, they never trailed after a six-run first inning to beat Wofford (34-21) in the first round of double-elimination play.  Against VMI, Michael Gibson had five hits and got the save and Phillips Daniels had three hits and drove in five runs. Andrew Buffkin (6-2) struck out eight in five innings against Wofford. Tanner Hardin doubled twice and drove in three runs for the Terriers. The Citadel plays top seed Mercer on Thursday, while Wofford meets the loser of that game in an elimination game.

SOCON TOURNAMENT

Fluor Field, Greenville

The Citadel 21, VMI 11 - Cit: TJ Anderson 3-5, 2B, HBP,  3 R, 2 RBI

UNC Greensboro 6, East Tennessee State 5

The Citadel 13, Wofford 7 - Cit: Andrew Bowers S, 4 IP, 3 H, R, 3 K

Samford 13, UNC Greensboro 1, 7 innings
(6/1318)

State scoreboard, Tuesday, May 19

Patrick Evans' second triple of the year
tied him for the team lead. (USC photo)

Player of the day: Patrick Evans, South Carolina, 1B, 3B, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI

* ACC Tournament: Jayce Lee doubled in the go-ahead run in the third inning and added a home run in the sixth as Notre Dame (31-21) eliminated Clemson (31-26). The Tigers got solo homers from Tyler Litchenberger, Bryce Clavon and Jacob Jarrell and an RBI triple from Tryston McCladdie. Clemson pitchers struck out 16, but the Tigers struck out 12 times.

ACC TOURNAMENT

Truist Field, Charlotte

ACC Network

Duke 21, N.C. State 12
Stanford 11, California 4
Notre Dame 5, Clemson 4 - Cle:Tyler Lichtenberger 1B, HR
Pitt 16, Louisville 8

* SEC Tournament: The worst season in South Carolina (22-35) history ended in fitting fashion: another loss. The 13th consecutive loss came to Tennessee (38-19) and included shaky defense, ineffective pitching, too many strikeouts and an inability to shut down opponent in the next inning on the rare occasion when the Gamecocks did score.

 

SEC TOURNAMENT
Hoover (Ala.) Metropolitan Stadium

SEC Network

Missouri 10, Ole Miss 8
Vanderbilt 8, Kentucky 5
Tennessee 11, South Carolina 6 - USC: Jake Randolph 2-4, BB, R

LSU 6, Oklahoma 2

SUN BELT CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

DABOS Park, Montgomery, Ala.

ESPN+

Louisiana 11, Marshall 1
Georgia State 17, Old Dominion 1, 7 innings
(2/1312)