State scoreboard, Sunday, March 22

In just his third start of the season - and first
in the outfield - Jake Randolph provided
a spark for the Gamecocks. (USC photo)

Player of the day: Jake Randolph, USC, 3-3, 2 HR, BB, 3 R, 3 RBI

Honorable mention: Rex Watson, Coastal Carolina, 1B, 2 HR, BB, 7 RBI (I picked Randolph because Watson has already won POTD once)

Honorable mention: Cameron Haley Benedict 4-4, 2 HR, 8 RBI

 

* Briefly: Jake Randolph, in a rare start, singled and hit two of South Carolina's four homers and Brandon Stone pitched 5 1/3 strong innings as the Gamecocks (13-12, 1-5 SEC) beat No. 4 Arkansas (18-7, 4-2). Tyler Bak and Talmadge LeCroy also homered for the Gamecocks. The result snapped a seven-game losing streak for USC and gave Monte Lee his first win as USC's interim coach ... Rex Watson singled and hit two homers to drive in seven runs as No. 16 Coastal Carolina (16-7, 3-0 Sun Belt) completed a sweep of James Madison (11-11, 3-3) with a third straight run-rule win. That's the first time that's happened for Coastal, which has won its last 28 conference games ... No. 19 Clemson (18-7, 1-5 ACC) had 17 baserunners but could only get four around to score as Notre Dame (14-6, 6-3) completed a series sweep ... Michael Gibson struck out 7 in 5 1/3 innings as The Citadel (9-13, 1-2 SoCon) claimed the series finale at Mercer (20-4, 2-1).  Lane Tobin drove in what proved to be the winning run in the fourth inning ... Dylan Johnson and Jake Amman homered as College of Charleston (10-13, 5-4 CAA) handed UNCW (16-7, 5-1) its first conference loss to avoid a series sweep ... Charleston Southern (16-7, 2-1 Big South) scored eight runs in the fifth inning and run-ruled Gardner-Webb (13-11, 3-3) in the deciding game of the series ... Florence-Darlington Tech (29-6, 12-3 Region 10)  hit five home runs and stole 13 bases as it completed a sweep of USC Union (17-14, 4-10)  ... Ryan Piekutoski followed up Saturday's three-homer effort with two more to help USC Sumter (21-10, 9-5) completed a sweep of USC Salkehatchie (3-30, 1-13) ... Brady Gold's two-run single in the sixth inning gave Wofford (16-9) a lead it never lost in a win at Xavier (7-18) ... Tyler Gundelfinger and Kris Levensteins drove in two runs apiece in as seven-run sixth inning as USC Beaufort (6-23, 1-17 Peach Belt) topped USC Aiken (21-9, 10-5) for its first conference win ... Benedict (12-8, 10-8 SIAC) scored in six of seven innings of a run-rule win over Lemoyne-Owen (7-20, 3-13). Cameron Haley was 4-for-4 with 2 homers and 8 RBI ... Longwood (17-7, 3-3 Big South) hit five home runs and withstood a USC Upstate (12-13, 3-3) comeback to take the deciding game of the series ... Three High Point (14-9, 4-2 Big South) players drove in two runs apiece to complete a series sweep of Presbyterian (4-21, 2-4) ... Columbus State (17-9, 11-4 Peach Belt) held Lander (16-14, 10-8) scoreless until the eighth inning as it completed a series sweep ... Gaston College (32-2, 13-2 Region 10) completed a sweep of USC Lancaster (17-15, 4-10). The Rhinos have scored 11 or more runs in nine straight games.

Beyond the border
* ACC: No. 9 topped No. 24 Wake Forest, 14-4, to win the series ... No. 11 Florida State hammered No. 10 N.C. State, 15-5, to win the series ... No. 12 Georgia Tech notched the series finale at Pitt, 12-4 ... No. 14 North Carolina took the series over Louisville with a 7-6 win ... Boston College's 11-inning 3-2 win over California completed a sweep ... Virginia Tech beat Duke, 7-6, in 10 innings to win that series ... Miami drubbed Creighton, 15-5 ... Stanford outslugged Utah Valley, 17-10 and 15-9, in a doubleheader.

*SEC: No. 2 Texas shut out No. 5 Auburn, 5-0, to claim the series ... Alabama swept No. 18 Florida, 14-7 ... No. 6 Mississippi State finished a sweep of Vanderbilt, 17-7 ... No. 22 Tennessee took the rubber game against Missouri, 7-1 ... No. 23 Texas A&M hammered No. 7 Georgia, 18-5, for its lone win of the weekend.

* Sun Belt: No. 12 Southern Miss edged Troy, 5-4 ... Texas State hit eight home runs and completed a sweep of No. 25 Louisiana, 16-6 ... Georgia State topped Arkansas State, 9-5 ... Georgia Southern outslugged Marshall, 18-12, for its only win of the series ... South Alabama pasted Louisiana Monroe, 16-4.

* D1Baseball.com Top 25:  Northwestern clipped No. 21 Oregon, 11-10, in 12 innings

* Elsewhere: East Tennessee State beat UNC Greensboro, 15-8, for a SoCon series win ... Western Carolina edged Samford, 10-9, in a series-decider ... North Georgia run-ruled Flagler, 12-1, in a Peach Belt series finale.

Benedict 18, LeMoyne-Owen 4, 7 innings - Ben: Jonathan Olmedo 4-4, RBI
Charleston Southern 14, Gardner-Webb 4, 7 innings - Cha: Alex Marot 1B, HR, BB, 2 R, 3 RBI
Coastal Carolina 16, James Madison 6, 7 innings - Coa: Dean Mihos 1B, 2 2B, 3 R, 2 RBI

College of Charleston 6, UNCW 3 - Cha; Dylan Johnson 2B, HR, HBP, 2 R, 3 RBI
Columbus State 9, Lander 2 - Lan: Mason Salisbury 2-4
Florence-Darlington Tech 15, USC Union 7, 8 innings - Flo: BJ Balls 2B, 2 HR, SB, 4 RBI

Gaston College 14, USC Lancaster 3, 5 innings - Lan: Kaidan Baron HR, 3 RBI

High Point 9, Presbyterian 3 - PC: Matthew Rollison 2 HR
Longwood 12, USC Upstate 11 - Up: Trey Bentley 2B, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI

Notre Dame 7, Clemson 4 - Cle: Nate Savoie 4-5, R
South Carolina 9, Arkansas 4 - USC: Tyler Bak, 1B, 2B, HR, R, 3 RBI
The Citadel 3, Mercer 2 - Cit: Lane Tobin 1B, 2B, BB, R, RBI
USC Beaufort 11, USC Aiken 7 - Bea: Cooper McDaniel 2-3, BB, SB, R, 2 RBI
USC Sumter 16, USC Salkehatchie 5, 6 innings - Sum: Jaxon Jean 1B, HR, 4 RBI

Wofford 8, Xavier 5 - Wof: Champ Davis S, 4 IP, R, 4 K
(15/750)