Content provided by And The Valley Shook.

LSU out-played, out-pitched, and out-hit the Baylor Bears, thanks to a spectacular performance from Anthony Ranaudo, who went 9 full innings giving up 3 hits and striking out 14.  LSU threatened all night, getting 9 hits and 8 walks but could never get the big hit with runners on.

Baylor threw a variety of pitchers, using 3 different pitchers each for several innings in the 10 inning game.  They started with a righty, then went to their only good lefty, and then to their ace pitcher, Kendal Volz.  All kept us off balance, though all gave up base runners.

LSU’s offensive woes were primarily the result of poor hitting at the top of the order.  Landry, Schimpf, and Dean were a combined 0-for-13 with 7 strikeouts.  Leon Landry grounded to second base three times.  Ryan Schimpf struck out 4 times.  The three combined for 4 walks, but 0 RBI and 0 runs scored.

The heroes were more towards the middle and back of the order.  Jared Mitchell had a nice night at the plate, going 2 for 3 with a solo home run in the second inning, two walks, two stolen bases, and he scored the game winning run in the 10th inning.  

Micah Gibbs scored LSU’s second run after LSU loaded the bases with no one out in the 4th.  LSU did not get a hit, but drove in Gibbs with a fielder’s choice.  Mitchell was then picked off of second base and Hanover grounded out to end the threat.  It was one of many missed opportunities.  We will not recount them all.

Baylor got its own home run in the 6th to cut LSU’s lead to 2-1, then manufactured a run in the 8th to tie it up.  While LSU could never break through against the Baylor pitchers, Baylor rarely even threatened Ranaudo.  

The heroics in the 10th came courtesy of a walk to Mitchell followed by a walk to Lemahieu.  In a curious decision I don’t understand, Mainieri decided to lift Hanover in favor of a pinch hitter, Sean Ochinko.  It would have made sense to me to pinch hit Jones in that situation, as Jones is a lefty going against the right-handed pitcher, but Ochinko is a righty and despite starting the season incredibly hot, I’m not sure Ochinko is any better of a hitter than Hanover is.

Anyway, Ochinko hit a grounder behind the bag at second that the shortstop couldn’t get flipped to second and all runners advanced, giving us bases loaded with one out and Nola up.  After pinch hitting for Hanover, Mainieri decided to leave Nola in to hit, which is another curious decision.  Nola came through with a liner that the 2nd baseman dove for and almost caught, but it trickled into center.  Mitchell scored the go-ahead run from third, but Lemahieu couldn’t score from second because he had to hesitate to make sure the ball wasn’t caught.

Landry and Schimpf then ended the inning with a pop up and a strikeout respectively.  Ott came in and closed out the game against the bottom of the Baylor order, who did not get a runner on base in the bottom of the 10th.

Baylor and Minnesota play the early game tomorrow, and the winner faces LSU in the nightcap hoping to force a deciding Monday game.  Baylor is out of pitching, as they have thrown, and used up, each one of the top 5 pitchers (as measured by innings pitched).  Baylor has been better than advertised in this regional, but they have completely used up their best pitchers.  Throwing Volz tonight was a mistake, in my opinion, because it put them in a position where even if they had won it would have been tough to finish out the series.  Now they’re in a nearly impossible situation unless they can find some pitching far down their roster.

Minnesota survived a scare from Southern, and their pitching situation is much better right now.  I anticipate playing Minnesota tomorrow.

Content provided by Dawg Sports.

Following a dominant performance in their opening outing, the Diamond Dogs returned to action on Saturday against Florida State in the Tallahassee Regional. In a pitchers’ duel that got out of hand for the Red and Black at the end, the Seminoles pulled away to claim an 8-2 victory.

F.S.U. starter Sean Gilmartin retired the Classic City Canines in sequence on a strikeout, a groundout, and a flyout in the visitors’ half of the first frame. Trevor Holder, who had a solid day on the hill overall, got off to a rocky start in the bottom of the canto when he walked Tyler Holt, surrendered a single to Stephen Cardullo, struck out Mike McGee while allowing a stolen base to put two runners in scoring position, and conceded the sacrifice fly to Jason Stidham that scored a run.

Once Stuart Tapley was plunked and Tommy Oravetz was issued a base on balls, Ohmed Danesh grounded out to strand three. No Diamond Dog made it as far as first in the top of the second stanza but Rafael Lopez sent a one-out single into right field and advanced to third on a Holt double. After Cardullo turned the first pitch he saw into a foulout, a McGee double and a Stidham single combined to bring home three runs. Following a first-pitch single by Tapley, Oravetz went down swinging, but F.S.U. already had all the runs they would need.

Georgia went three up and three down in the top of the third frame and the Seminoles made some noise in the home half of the canto (in the form of a one-out Mike Meschke single and a two-out Holt single) but failed to add to their lead. The Classic City Canines at long last got on the board when Peter Verdin dropped a one-out double into right center field in the top of the fourth stanza and Rich Poythress belted a two-run shot to halve the F.S.U. edge.

F.S.U. leadoff hitter Tyler Holt went three for four on Saturday, with a walk and a stolen base, which just goes to show that she was the real brains behind Remington Steele.

Holder set down the Seminoles in order in the bottom of the inning and Colby May was the only batter for either team to register anything other than an out in the fifth frame. The sixth canto saw no baserunners at all and the seventh stanza produced one for each side: Joey Lewis reached on a fielding error in the Bulldogs’ turn at the plate and Tapley registered a double in Florida State’s time in the batter’s box.

The top of the eighth frame appeared promising for the Diamond Dogs, as a one-out Michael Demperio single and a two-out Verdin single brought the would-be go-ahead run to the plate in the form of Bryce Massanari. Unfortunately, the Red and Black catcher fouled out to strand his two teammates.

After Meschke drew the one-out walk that brought Will Harvil to the mound in the bottom of the inning, Lopez struck out to give the Georgia faithful cause for confidence that the Classic City Canines would have a final shot at victory. Unfortunately, it was then that the wheels came off, as Holt and Cardullo turned consecutive base hits into a run. Both remaining baserunners moved into scoring position on a double-steal and McGee walked the bases full to allow Stidham to bring home three runs with a bases-clearing triple. By the time Tapley went down swinging, the Seminoles had increased their lead to an insurmountable 8-2.

The Diamond Dogs went quietly on a flyout, a foulout, and a groundout in the top of the ninth canto to conclude a contest in which Trevor Holder pitched well enough to win. The Red and Black starter lasted more than seven innings, in which he gave up nine hits and three walks to 35 batters while striking out seven and surrendering five earned runs. He simply was outdueled by Sean Gilmartin, whose complete-game gem saw him strike out six, walk none, and concede only five hits and two earned runs.

Good pitching beats good hitting, and Florida State had very good pitching on Saturday afternoon. Gilmartin threw first-pitch strikes to 22 of the 33 batters he faced, which allowed the Seminoles to overcome their poor fielding. Because the Buckeyes eliminated Marist, the Diamond Dogs will face Ohio State a second time at noon on Sunday.

Go ‘Dawgs!

Content provided by Swamp Things – Gators Blog.

Either Miami is slipping or Florida is simply tired of being handled by the Hurricanes.

After losing 12 of the previous 15 postseason games to Miami, the Gators looked convincing in an 8-2 NCAA Regional win in front of a crowd of 4,109 in McKethan Stadium.

No. 17 Miami (37-21) must beat Jacksonville (37-21) today to have another crack at No. 8 Florida later in the evening of the double-elimination regional. Jacksonville eliminated Bethune-Cookman (32-28) earlier in the day with an 8-7 win.

Florida (41-20), the No. 1 seed and host, recovered from a sloppy 8-7 win Friday over Bethune-Cookman that required ninth-inning heroics by catcher Teddy Foster.

The last time Florida beat Miami in the postseason was June 15, 2003. The Gators had lost four straight home games to the Hurricanes.

Six different Gators registered an RBI, including right fielder Jonathan Pigott with a solo homer and two RBIs.

“You can’t sit on a two- or three-run lead,” Gators coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “You have to keep tacking on runs.”

Stephen Locke (5-2) blazed through 7 1/3 innings with grace, allowing no earned runs and escaping a potentially disastrous third inning.

Locke missed Miami’s three-game sweep of the Gators during the regular season while serving a temporary dismissal from the team for a DUI charge that was dropped in March.

“I like to be the guy some people look to to get a win,” said Locke, a senior who earned his first postseason win.

Miami ace Chris Hernandez (7-5) struck out three of the first four Florida hitters but allowed the Gators to catch fire in the third and sixth innings. 

Gators first baseman Preston Tucker tied the school RBI record of 80 previously set by Ryan Shealy. The Hurricanes must scramble after a six-hit offensive performance.

“We have to get hot and swing the bat better,” Miami coach Jim Morris said.

Content provided by Swamp Things – Gators Blog.

Now here's a "Magic" moment: Tim Tebow attended Game 6 of the NBA Eastern Conference finals Saturday night at Amway Arena (photo from Stephen M. Dowell, Orlando Sentinel). 

Some might say it placed the two most over-hyped athletes of all-time under the same roof — Tim Tebow and Cavs star LeBron James.

In fact, Shannon J. Owens tells me that fans booed Tebow Saturday night when they showed his image on the Jumbotron at Amway Arena.

Forget the haters. I view it the other way — Tebow's presence at Game 6 placed two of the most impressive athletes of their generation under the same roof.

Write you're own caption …

Ole Miss' Matt Snyder blasted a three-run homer in the fifth inning to help push Ole Miss past Western Kentucky 7-4 in day two of the NCAA Oxford Regional. The Rebels are one win away from a Super Regional as they face the winner of Missouri-WKU Sunday at 5 p.m. at Oxford-University Stadium.
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Florida State broke open a two-run game with four runs in the eighth inning and defeated Georgia 8-2 in the winner's bracket game of the NCAA Tallahassee Regional Saturday at Dick Howser Stadium.
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Rallying from down four, the Razorbacks take the 2009 NCAA title to the final hole, the final green.
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Iowa StateScott Fountain I’m running a story tomorrow (I think) on Auburn football operations guru Scott Fountain, who joined Gene Chizik in Auburn after two years at Iowa State. Fountain is a friendly and engaging guy who’s happy to be…

Content provided by Swamp Things – Gators Blog.

The Associated Press reports that the Minnesota Vikings have installed "Wildcat" formation plays for former Florida Gators star Percy Harvin. The Vikings were using Harvin, running back Chester Taylor and wide receiver Darius Reynaud in different plays behind center as they experimented with the trick formation in Saturday’s practice.

No shock here. The Vikings are looking to get the most out of their first-round pick.

Eighth-ranked Georgia eliminated 11th-ranked Missouri from the Women's College World Series on Saturday afternoon with a 5-2 victory at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium. The Bulldogs advance to play another elimination game Saturday night against sixth-ranked Michigan (47-11) at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
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