May 29, 2011

Rankings are from CBI Composite Poll

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Around the Bases
Hultzen, home runs hand hardware to Virginia

Wright State, Seton Hall, Oral Roberts, Georgia Southern take titles

Non-Tournament Conferences

San Francisco won 4-2 at Gonzaga to take the series and claim the West Coast Conference title.

Oregon blanked Oregon State 6-0 to complete the three-game sweep. UCLA lost 10-5 at Arizona State, but won the Pac-10 championship.

Around the Tournaments

ACC

#1 Virginia 7, #2 Florida State 2

Virginia wins ACC championship

In Durham, N.C., Danny Hultzen (right) and the homers helped Virginia down Florida State to win the ACC championship in front of 5,834 fans at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Hultzen (10-3) allowed six hits and two runs in six innings with one walk and five strikeouts. Hultzen raised his career record to 30-5, including 3-0 in the ACC tourney. Three relievers combined to keep the Seminoles (42-17) off the scoreboard over the final three innings. The Cavaliers (49-9) scored all their runs via the long ball. After FSU got a run in the top of the first, John Hicks (2 for 4, 2 R) hammered a two-run homer to give Virginia the lead. The Seminoles tied it in the top of the sixth on a dinger by Justin Gonzalez (2 for 4) before tourney MVP Steven Proscia’s three-run bomb put the Cavs on top to stay. Chris Taylor added a two-run shot in the seventh to complete the scoring. (photo courtesy of Virginia)

Big East

#5 Seton Hall 4, #2 St. John’s 2

Seton Hall wins Big East championship

In Clearwater, Fla., Joe DiRocco allowed one run in six innings as Seton Hall edged St. John’s to win its third Big East title. DiRocco (8-1) allowed six hits and two walks while striking out four. Four relievers held the Red Storm (35-20) to one run over the final three innings, as Ryan Harvey got the final four outs, two by strikeout, for his seventh save. The Pirates (33-23) scored single runs in the first and third before adding a pair in the fifth. Zack Granite went 1 for 3 with two walks and three runs for Seton Hall. Kevin Grove had two hits and two runs, while Jeremy Baltz went 3 for 4 for St. John’s. The Pirates stretched their win streak to eight and will make their first NCAA tourney appearance since 2001.

Big 12

#2 Texas A&M 10, #8 Missouri 9 (10)

Texas A&M wins Big 12 championship

In Oklahoma City, tourney MVP Andrew Collazo homered with two gone in the bottom of the 10th to give Texas A&M the win over Missouri and the Big 12 title. It was the second straight year the Aggies (42-18) won the championship on a dinger in the bottom of the 10th. The Tigers (27-32) had taken a 9-8 lead in the top of the ninth on a RBI groundout by Blake Brown and a run-scoring single by Jesse Santo. Gregg Alcazar had a pinch-hit RBI single in the bottom of the frame as A&M tied it at 9. Missouri led 6-0 after two before the Aggies put up five in the third and two in the fourth to take a 7-6 lead. The Tigers tied it in the sixth before A&M went up one in the seventh. Collazo had three hits and three runs, while Matt Juengel went 3 for 4 with two runs and two RBI for the Aggies. Jonah Schmidt went 2 for 4 with four RBI, while Eric Garcia was 4 for 6 with three runs for Missouri.

Horizon

#1 Wright State 4, #4 Valparaiso 3 (Valpo eliminated)

Wright State wins Horizon championship

In Dayton, Ohio, Wright State scored two in the sixth and one in the seventh to erase a 3-1 deficit and defeat Valparaiso to win the Horizon League title. Justin Kopale, who drove in a run in the second with a base hit, had a two-run homer in the sixth for the Raiders (36-17) to tie the score at 3. Tristan Moore had a RBI single in the seventh to give WSU a one-run lead. Michael Schum (9-2) pitched the final three innings without allowing a hit to record the victory. Zach Tanner had two hits and two runs for the Raiders. Andrew Bain and Will Hagel both had two hits and one RBI for the Crusaders (25-32). Damon McCormick (6-7, 8 IP, 10 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K) went the distance for Valpo for the second time in the tournament.

SEC

#2 Florida 5, #4 Vanderbilt 0

Florida wins SEC championship

In Hoover, Ala., Alex Panteliodis and three relievers combined on the shutout as Florida blanked Vanderbilt in front of 7,845 fans at Regions Park to win its first SEC title in 20 years. Panteliodis (5-2) allowed five hits and one walk in 5.1 innings with five strikeouts. Greg Larson (0.2 IP, 2 H) finished the sixth and faced one batter in the seventh before Nick Maronde (2 IP, 1 K) got the next six outs. Austin Maddox worked around two hits in the ninth to secure the shutout. The Gators (45-16) scored two in the second, one in the seventh and two more in the eighth. Cody Dent drove in two, while Daniel Pigott went 2 for 3 with one run and one RBI for Florida. Connor Harrell went 2 for 4 with a double and a steal for the Commodores (47-10), who stranded 10.

Southern

#4 Georgia Southern 1, #3 Samford 0

Georgia Southern wins Southern championship

In Charleston, S.C., Chris Beck tossed a three-hit shutout as Georgia Southern edged Samford in front of 1,091 fans at Riley Park to win the SoCon crown. Beck (9-4) did not walk a batter and struck out nine. Beck won his second game of the tournament and was named Most Outstanding Player after allowing one earned run, eight hits and one walk in 17 innings. The lone run for the Eagles (36-24) came in the third as Scooter Williams started the one-man rally with a one-out single. He stole second and advanced to third on an errant throw by the catcher before scoring on a wild pitch. His single was one of four hits in the game for Georgia Southern. Brad Moss, Saxon Butler and Kevin Putkonen each had a hit for the Bulldogs (37-23).

Summit

#1 Oral Roberts 5, #2 South Dakota State 4 (11) (SDSU eliminated)

Oral Roberts wins Summit championship

In Sioux Falls, S.D., Spencer Barnett had the run-scoring single with one away in the bottom of the 11th as Oral Roberts nipped South Dakota State at Sioux Falls Stadium to win its 14th straight Summit title. Nick Baligod went 3 for 5 with a homer and two runs for the Golden Eagles (36-20). Dan Martony (4-0) struck out a pair in the top of the 11th to earn the victory. Andrew Phelan had two hits and three runs, while Eric Cain had two hits and two RBI for the Jackrabbits (37-20). (photo by Dennis Hubbard)

Sun Belt

#2 FIU 6 vs. #8 UALR 7

UALR wins Sun Belt championship

In Monroe, La., Hector Acosta stole third and scored after knocking the ball out of the third baseman’s glove in the top of the sixth to snap a 6-6 tie as UALR edged FIU to win the Sun Belt title at Warhawk Field. Casey McCollum had a two-run homer and Myles Parma added a three-run shot in a five-run second as the Trojans (24-32) took a 6-2 lead. Jeremy Patton, the tourney MVP, had a two-run dinger in the bottom of the third as the Panthers (40-18-1) pulled to within two at 6-4. Jose Behar (2 for 4) added a RBI single later in the frame to make it a one-run contest. Patton (3 for 4, 3 R) scored the tying run in the fifth on a double by Mike Martinez. Acosta finished with two hits and two runs for UALR. Garret Graziano (6-9, 2.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB) picked up the win in relief, while Bubba Cooper (1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K) pitched the ninth for his second save.