Some thoughts on Wednesday's tournament games

ACC
* I think Clemson's 9-0 win over Georgia Tech went a long way toward wrapping up a regional host spot for the Tigers. A win over Florida State today would knock the Atlantic Division champ Seminoles out of the tournament title picture.
* One more win might allow N.C. State to start making plans for postseason travel. I don't see the Wolfpack getting to host a regional, though.
* If FSU and Georgia Tech both lose again Thursday, their Friday meeting will have no impact on who will win their pool. It would come down to Clemson and N.C. State on Saturday. I don't like round-robin pool play because it can lead to meaningless games.
* The total attendance of 6,990 for three games was more than a thousand less than either two-game session in the SEC Tournament. The ACC Tournament was scheduled to be at Myrtle Beach this year until the conference backed out of the deal because of political correctness (the Confederate flag flying at a monument on the Statehouse grounds). I hope the league takes a bath financially.

ATLANTIC SUN
* Is Stetson playing its way out of the tournament? The top-seeded Hatters have lost five of their last six games, including a 15-3 rout at the hands of sixth-seeded Belmont on Thursday.

BIG SOUTH
* Coastal Carolina is showing it is still the class of the league. Anthony Meo had a no-hitter for the Chanticleers in a 5-0 win over Radford. It was Coastal's sixth shutout of a league opponent this season.
* Charleston Southern's 9-3 win over Winthrop was its first Big South Tournament win since 2002. That also happened to be the last time the Buccaneers had a winning record in league play before this season.

SEC
* Adam Matthews got his first at-bat for USC in more than a month when he pinch-hit during the Gamecocks' 7-3 win over Auburn. He hit a grounder and took it easy going down the first-base line to avoid aggravating his hamstring injury. Still, his availabilty as a pinch-hitter gives the Gamecocks a little more depth.
* The Gamecocks' Michael Roth continues to amaze. An error led to three unearned-runs against him in the first inning, but the crafty left-hander persevered, giving the Gamecocks their first complete game since Roth's heroic performance in the College World Series against Clemson.
* Losses by Auburn and Georgia set up a somebody-ain't-going-to-the-NCAAs game for Thursday. Auburn is 29-28, while Georgia is 28-29. Thursday's loser can't finish with a .500 record, which the NCAA says is a requirement for getting a postseason bid. If neither school winds up with a winning record, that might open the door for LSU or Mississippi to make the baseball dance. Neither qualified for the SEC Tournament.
* I didn't realize Alabama's Nathan Kilcrease is only 5-foot-6.
* Vanderbilt routed Georgia despite sitting aces Grayson Garvin and Sonny Gray, so the Commodores may be in the best shape pitching-wise for the remainder of the tournament.
* I'm not a big fan of the 10-run rule, but I guess it's a necessary evil when tournaments need to keep as close to schedule as possible.
* There were a handful of LSU fans at the tournament, but not as many as I anticipated.

SOCON
* The top two seeds in the Southern Conference, Elon and UNC Greensboro, lost to Western Carolna and Furman, respectively. Elon and Western Carolina played 20 innings, with the game lasting 6:33 and pushing the start of the scheduled 9 p.m. game between Georgia Southern and College of Charleston until about 12:30 a.m. Thursday. Georgia Southern scored three runs in the eighth for a 4-2 victory. The game sended shortly after 3 a.m.
* Western and Elon went to extra innings tied at 5-5. Each team scored a run in the 14th and again in the 19th before the Catamounts pushed across the decisive three runs.
* College of Charleston must come back and play an elimination game at 1 p.m. Thursday against Elon. Both teams ought to be dreary-eyed during that one.

AROUND THE COUNTRY
* Ranked Texas and Oklahoma lost in the Big 12 Tournament
* Ranked TCU lost in the Mountain West Conference Tournament
* Ranked Rice and East Carolina lost in the Conference USA Tournament