Some thoughts on Thursday's tournaments

ACC
* Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech and N.C. State all have 1-1 records in pool play. If Florida State beats Georgia Tech Friday, Clemson cannot qualify for the championship round regardless of what it does against N.C. State. I think N.C. State advances with a Georgia Tech win over FSU and a Wolfpack win over Clemson on Saturday. So, the Tigers will be Georgia Tech fans today.
* Georgia Tech beat N.C. State, 6-5 in 15 innings, in the longest game in ACC Tournament history. The Yellow Jackets scored the go-ahead run on a straight steal of home.

BIG SOUTH
* Coastal Carolina continues to cruise along.
* Charleston Southern needs a win over Gardner-Webb on Friday to be assured of not having a losing record. The Buccaneers are 29-29.

SEC
* Vanderbilt gave South Carolina a lesson in smallball in the ninth inning of Thursday's 7-2 victory. The Commodores were had three well-placed bunts in the inning. USC put itself in a hole for the second straight game with some shaky first-inning defense and returned to shaky play in the ninth.
* USC catcher Brady Thomas left Thursday's game early with a sprained left ankle. If he can't go against Georgia on Friday, it probably means another start for DeSean Anderson in the outfield as Robert Beary moves to catcher.
* Georgia plans to start left-hander Blake Dietrich (2-3, 3.51), who will be making his third start of the season. USC is expected to counter with Colby Holmes (6-2, 3-46.) Dietrich went 3 1/3 innings of three-hit relief, allowing one run in the finale of the teams' regular-season series. Holmes did not face Georgia.
* I was making small talk with a pro scout sitting nearby during one of Thursday's earlier games and asked if he thought USC pitcher Michael Roth was "draftable" despite not having an blazing fastball. He said yes for two reasons: Roth throws strikes and he's a left-hander.
* The SEC brackets flop after Friday's games. The winner of the Georgia-USC game will play Florida Saturday needing to beat the Gators twice. The Arkansas-Alabama winner would have to beat Vanderbilt twice on Saturday.

SOCON
* With the top two seeds (Elon, UNCG) gone from the tournament after Day 2, third-seeded Samford and fourth-seeded Georgia Southern are in the drivers' seats. They get Friday off.
* Appalachian State won two of three in the regular season against Furman, it's foe on Friday. College of Charleston swept three games from Western Carolina, which it plays Friday.