In a Saturday filled with doubleheaders due to impending weather, we saw some great comebacks and several pivotal extra inning contests. After knocking off NC State for the second straight game to win the series, Florida State had to go to extra innings to complete the sweep of the 7th ranked Wolfpack. After NC State took an 8-7 lead in the 13th, the Noles rallied back for two runs to win it 9-8 and come up with a massive sweep in a crucial conference matchup in Tallahassee. It’s very early in the season, but Florida State along with Virginia look to be the front-runners is a very tough ACC in 2014.
As the #1 ranked team in the country South Carolina trailed by three runs with two outs in the bottom of the 9th things looked bleak, but you can never count out the Gamecocks. After Connor Bright delivered a base hit to cut the lead to 4-2, Max Schrock came up with the game-tying two-run home run to force extra innings. In the bottom of the 10th Brison Celek knocked an RBI single into right field to give South Carolina the 5-4 win and even the series. The rubber match of the series saw freshman Wil Crowe improve to 4-0 on the season, allowing just one run in 5 1/3 innings of work as the Gamecocks came back to win the series by a final score of 3-1.
Also around the SEC, after dropping Game 1 on Friday night Vanderbilt fought back for a series win against LSU with wins of 5-3 and 9-3 on Saturday to keep pace with the #1 Gamecocks in the East.
Mississippi State pitcher Ross Mitchell threw a complete game in his second career start to lead the Bulldogs to a 6-1 win in Game 2 of their series at Georgia. Mitchell allowed just one run on four hits and struck out five to help MSU regain some momentum after a tough 7-1 loss on Friday night. In Game 3 the Bulldogs pulled off a 4-1 victory to clinch the series and carry some positive momentum into their big series against Vanderbilt in Starkville next weekend.
