State scoreboard, Saturday, May 25

Rom Kellis hit his 15th home run
as part of a six-run first inning
for the Stingers. (FD Tech photo)

Player of the day: Rom Kellis, Florence-Darlington Tech, 2-4, HR, BB, 2 R, 2 RBI

SEC Tournament
* LSU 12, South Carolina 11, 10 innings - Steven Milam's two-run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning punched the Tigers' ticket to the championship game on Sunday.

Shaky defense and worn-out bullpen contributed to to USC's demise. The Gamecocks (36-23) took an 8-0 lead in the fourth inning only to give six runs back in the bottom of the innings.

Starter Roman Kimball was sharp through 3 2/3 innings, but as gift single on  misplayed grounder opened the door for the big inning.

After pushing the lead back to 10-6, more defensive misadventures contributed to LSU tying the score in the bottom of the ninth. Garrett Gainey got three outs with potential winning run in scoring position to force extra innings.

Things got squirrelly after that. Blake Jackson drew a two-out walk, went to second on a wild pitch and took third on a wild pitch on ball four to Cole Messina.

New relief pitcher Gavin Guidry quickly got two strikes on Parker Noland. Jackson then broke toward home. Guidry threw to home, catcher Brady Neal caught the ball and tagged out Jackson. After being approached by USC coach Mark Kingston, the umpires huddled and determined Guidry had balked (scoring Jackson) and Stepp was called for catcher's interference (sending Noland to first).

Confusion abounded for several moments, during which time LSU coach Jay Johnson was ejected. Play resumed and the final out was recorded.

In the bottom of the inning, leadoff batter Hayden Travinski drew a walk when Gainey was called for a pitch clock violation (automatic ball) on ball three. Gainey contended  - to no avail - that had he had asked for time because his electronic communications device was not operating properly.

Milam then ended things with his blast to left field.

USC awaits its fate when NCAA Tournament bids are announced on Monday. Most projections have the Gamecocks as a No. 2 seed.

***

Big South Conference Tournament

* High Point 6, USC Upstate 0 - The Panthers held Upstate to five singles to win the championship and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Cael Chatham gave High Point the only run it turned out to be needed with a solo homer in the bottom of the first.

Three Panthers pitchers walked six and struck out just two, but the Spartans (36-24) could not take advantage.  It is High Point's first Big South title.

***

CAA Tournament

* UNCW 8, College of Charleston 5 - The Seahawks scored six runs in the first inning and withstood a four-run third by the Cougars to advance to Sunday's championship round.

Kevin Madden singled and homered to drive in two runs for College of Charleston, which was leading Delaware, 10-1, in the seventh inning of an elimination game when it was suspended until 11 a.m. Sunday because of rain.
***

Southern Conference Tournament
* Wofford 13, East Tennessee State 10 - David Wiley and Jack Renwick drove in three runs apiece as the Terriers advanced top Sunday's championship round.

Wofford (39-18) had three four-run innings, including a the tiebreaking outburst in the fourth inning.

East Tennessee State, which had stayed alive earlier in the day with a 12-4 win over Mercer, never got closer than the final margin.

* Samford 10, Wofford 1 - Earlier Saturday, the Bulldogs broke a 1-1 tie with two runs in the fifth and pulled away from the Terriers to advance to Sunday's championship round.

David Wiley homered in the second for Wofford's run. 

***

NJCAA World Series

* Florence-Darlington Tech 10, Iowa Western 4 - The Stingers scored six runs in the top of the first and rolled to a victory in their tournament opener.

Rom Kellis had a two-run homer, Ethan Plyler singled, doubled and tripled and  Devin Mitchell singled twice and doubled twice for FD Tech (52-10).

Trenton Burnett pitched the first five innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out six.

The Stingers face Southern Nevada at 11 a.m. Monday.

ACC TOURNAMENT

Truist Field, Charlotte

Florida State 9, Wake Forest 6

Duke 8, Miami 2

BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

Truist Point, High Point, N.C.

High Point 6, USC Upstate 0, High Point wins title - Up: Jace Rinehart 2-4

COASTAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION

Brooks Field, Wilmington, N.C. 

UNCW 8, College of Charleston 5 - Cha: Alex Lyon 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R

Suspended to 11 a.m. Sunday
College of Charleston 10, Delaware 1, B7

Moved to Sunday

Game 10: Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner, 12:30 p.m.

 

SEC TOURNAMENT

Hoover (Ala.) Metropolitan Stadium

LSU 12, South Carolina 11, 10 innings - USC: Dalton Reeves 1B, HR, 3 RBI

Tennessee 6, Vanderbilt 4

SOUTHERN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

Fluor Field, Greenville

Samford 1, Wofford 1 - Wof: Daniel Jackson 1B, 3B, BB

East Tennessee State 12, Mercer 4

Wofford 13, East Tennessee State 10 - Wof: Brice Martinez 3-5, 1B, 2 R, RBI

 

SUN BELT CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

Riverwalk Stadium, Montgomery, Ala.

Southern Mississippi 7, Appalachian State 5

Georgia Southern 7, James Madison 1

NJCAA WORLD SERIES

Sam Suplizio Field, Grand Junction, Colo.

Georgia Highlands 5, McLennan 1

Johnson County 14, Shelton State 4, 5 innings

Southern Nevada 7, Northwest Florida State 2, 10 innings

Florence-Darlington Tech 10, Iowa Western 4 - FD: Tyler Kamerer 2-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, 3 SB

(6/1381)

Beyond the border

* ACC: Max Williams had three hits and drove in four runs as No. 10 Florida State beat No. 22 Wake Forest, 9-6, to reach Sunday's tournament championship game ... No. 17 Duke scored the game's final eight runs, including six in the eighth, top beat Miami, 8-2, and advance to the finals Sunday against FSU.

* SEC: No. 1 Tennessee scored three runs in the sixth and went on to beat Vanderbilt. The Vols will play LSU in Sunday's tournament championship game.

* Elsewhere: No. 9 East Carolina stole home for a 5-4 win over Wichita State in the American Athletic Conference to force a second game, but the Shockers won the second game, 12-2 ...  After a 7-3 win over Southern Illinois in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, No. 20 Indiana State lost to Evansville ... No. 25 Southern Miss advanced to the Sun Belt Conference title game with a 7-5 win over Appalachian State ... No. 19 Oklahoma State beat No. 8 Oklahoma, 9-3,  to win the Big 12 Tournament ... VCU, coached by former Clemson player and assistant Bradley LeCroy, won the Atlanta 10 title over Richmond, 16-1 ... In NCAA Division II, Catawba shut out Georgia College, 8-0, the sweep the Southeast region super regional and advance to the College World Series in Cary, N.C. ... Birmingham Southern, the team representing a college that will cease operations next Friday, advanced to the NCAA Division III World Series with a 7-6 win over Denison to sweep the best-of-three super regional.  Several of the Birmingham Southern players were suffering from food poisoning ... William & Mary is parting ways with Mike McRae after three seasons. He had a 32-26 record this year and was 90-74 in three seasons at the Coastal Athletic Association school.