State scoreboard, Thursday, May 23

Cole Singsank's ninth-inning single
gave the Cougars a walk-off win in a
game they once trailed 7-1. (CofC photo)

Player of the day: Cole Singsank, College of Charleston, 3-5, R, RBI

ACC Tournament
* Miami 8, Clemson 7 - The Hurricanes held off a late rally to eliminate the No. 3 Tigers from tournament title contention.

Miami left-fielder Edgardo Villegas made a leaping catch of Tristan Bissetta's drive to the left-field fence) to deny a game-tying extra-base hit and end the game.

A five-run second inning gave Miami a 6-2 lead. After Clemson pulled with 7-6 in the eighth, Jake Kulikowski homered to give the Hurricanes a two-run cushion. Jacob Hinderleider led off the Tigers' ninth with a homer, and Blake Wright followed with a walk, but Clemson (40-14) was denied in its bid to tie the game.

Bissetta, Hinderleider, Jimmy Obertop and Cam Cannarella had two hits apiece for Clemson.

Miami (27-29) advances to the tournament semifinals because it finished 2-0 in pool play. Clemson plays Louisville on Friday in a game with no impact on the conference tournament.

***

SEC Tournament

* LSU 11, South Carolina 10 - Michael Braswell, who transferred from USC after last season, singled down the left-field line in the ninth inning to give the Tigers the and they held on to send the Gamecocks into the losers' bracket.

Cole Messina's grand slam helped USC (35-22) take a 5-1 lead in the third inning, but LSU tied the score in the fifth. He added a two-run single in the sixth when Carolina took a 10-7 lead. Messina has a tournament-record 16 RBI in three games.

But errors by a pair of players shifted to positions of their defensive strength helped LSU score two runs in the eighth. Chris Veach, the hero of Tuesday's win over Alabama, came in to get the final out.

The Tigers' first two batters of the ninth inning singled. After a sacrifice fly tied the score, Braswell singled down the left-field line for the winner.

Carolina plays Kentucky in an elimination game at 4 p.m. Friday.

***

Big South Conference Tournament

* Charleston Southern 5, Presbyterian 4 - The Buccaneers took an early lead on a pair of RBI singles by B.J. Banyon and held on to beat the regular-season champ Blue Hose in the tournament opener.

Gavin Bogdanchik's eighth-inning homer provided the margin of victory for CSU (22-30), which survived a two-run homer by PC's Joel Dragoo in the bottom of the inning.

The Buccaneers' Sam Massey allowed two hits and a run in five innings to get the victory. Presbyterian's Daniel Eagen struck out 10 in seven innings.

CSU plays High Point on Friday. PC (29-26) meets the USC Upstate.

* High Point 10, USC Upstate 8 - The Panthers took the lead for the final team with a two-run sixth inning and held on to send the Spartans into the losers' bracket. 

Upstate had leads of 3-0, 5-3, 7-6 and 8-7 before High Point staged its comeback.

Noah Sullivan had four singles, scored two runs and drove in two for the Spartans, who had 10 hits in the first four innings.

The Spartans play Presbyterian on Friday, while High Point meets Charleston Southern.

***

Coastal Athletic Association Tournament

* College of Charleston 8, Hofstra 7 - Cole Singsank's ninth-inning single scored Cole Mathis to give the Cougars a come-from-behind win in their tournament opener.

Hofstra took a 7-1 lead into the seventh inning, but College of Charleston (40-12) scored six runs in the bottom of the inning. Avery Neaves' three-run homer highlighted a six-run seventh by the Cougars to tie the score.

Mathis drew a two-out walk in the ninth, stole second and scored on Singsank's third hit of the game drove him in.

Hayden Thomas struck out three in two shutout innings to get the win.

The Cougars advance to a Friday game against UNCW.

***

Southern Conference Tournament
* Wofford 12, Western Carolina 1, 7 innings - The Terriers scored eight runs in the first inning and Camden Wicker pitched six solid innings to stay in the winners bracket.

Adam Haber and Marshall Toole drove in two runs apiece in the early uprising.

James Hinson gave Western Carolina its run with a second-inning homer.

Daniel Jackson's three-run homer in the sixth brought the run rule into play.

Wofford (37-17) plays UNCG at 9 a.m. Friday.
***

Sun Belt Conference Tournament,.
* Appalachian State 6, Coastal Carolina 3 - The Mountaineers escaped a bases-loaded situation in the ninth to eliminate the Chanticleers.

Coastal was up 2-0 on a pair of sacrifice flies before Appalachian scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth.

Jake Books tied the score on a seventh-inning homer, but Drew Holderbach hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to put ASU up.

Two walks and a single loaded the bases for Coastal in the ninth, but a strikeout and a double play ended the game.

Appalachian State is coached by former Lander coach Kermit Smith.

If Coastal Carolina (34-23) does not get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, Thursday's loss ended coach Gary Gilmore's career.

In his postgame comments, he sounded steeled for not getting a call on Monday.

“I want to thank Coastal for allowing me to coach for 29 years," Gilmore said. “All the players and the coaches, it’s going to be a weird feeling to start being on vacation tomorrow."

***

ACC TOURNAMENT

Truist Field, Charlotte

Miami 8, Clemson 7 - Cle: Darren Purify 2-4, 2 2B, R, 2 RBI

North Carolina 12, Pitt 2

Duke 8, N.C. State 1

BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
Truist Point, High Point, N.C.
Charleston Southern 5, Presbyterian 4 - Cha: Evann Long 1B, 2B, R, RBI
High Point 10, USC Upstate 8 - Up: Jace Rinehart 1B, HR, 4 RBI

COASTAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION TOURNAMENT
Brooks Field, Wilmington, N.C. 

William & Mary 9, Northeastern 6

College of Charleston 8, Hofstra 7 - Cha: Avery Neaves 3-run HR

UNCW 10, Delaware 6

SEC TOURNAMENT
Hoover (Ala.) Metropolitan Stadium

Kentucky  9, Arkansas 6

Tennessee 7, Texas A&M 4

LSU 11, South Carolina 10 - USC: Ethan Petry 2B, 2 BB,. 2 R, 2 RBI

Vanderbilt 4, Mississippi State 3

SOUTHERN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
Fluor Field, Greenville

Wofford 12, Western Carolina 1, 7 innings - Wof: Camden Wicker W, 6 IP, 4 H, R, 4 K

Mercer 7, East Tennessee State 4

SUN BELT CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
Riverwalk Stadium, Montgomery, Ala.

Appalachian State 6, Coastal Carolina 3 - Coa: Graham Brown 1B, 2 2B, R

James Madison 10, Louisiana 9

Southern Mississippi 6, Troy 5

Georgia Southern 8, Old Dominion 6

(7/1369)

Beyond the border

* ACC: No. 7 North Carolina sailed past Pitt, 12-2, in its first game in the conference tournament ...  No. 17 Duke clinched a spot in the semifinals with an 8-1 win over No. 12 N.C. State. The Blue Devils will play Miami on Saturday for a spot in the championship game. 

* SEC: Charleston Southern transfer Ryan Waldschmidt hit two home runs and drove in three runs and College of Charleston transfer Trey Pooser pitched five shutout innings as No. 2 Kentucky eliminated No. 5 Arkansas, 9-6. Arkansas ace Hagen Smith suffered his first loss of the season, although he allowed only two unearned runs ... Kavares Teares singled, doubled and homered to drive in four runs as No. 1 Tennessee won an elimination game over No. 4 Texas A&M ... Vanderbilt earned a spot in the semifinals with a 4-3 win over No. 15 Mississippi State.

* Elsewhere: Wichita State smacked No. 9 East Carolina, 14-4, in the American Athletic Conference Tournament ... James Madison scored six runs in the seventh and held off No. 21 Louisiana, 10-9, in an elimination game of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. The Ragin' Cajuns were the regular-seasons champs ... Southern California topped No. 23 Oregon, 4-2, in the Pac-12 Tournament ... No. 25 Southern Mississippi scored three runs in the eighth to beat Troy, 6-5, and stay in the winners' bracket of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament ...