Category: College sports

Clemson baseball up to No. 5 in USA TODAY Sports coaches poll

Clemson moved up four spots to No. 5 in the new USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll, released Monday, March 18.

Clemson moved up four spots to No. 5 in the new USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll, released Monday, March 18.

Coach Erik Bakich’s Tigers are 17-2 overall and went 4-1 last week after taking two of three from Duke at Jack Coombs Field in Durham over the weekend. It’s the team’s highest ranking this season in the coaches poll after having been ranked ninth the past two weeks.

Arkansas (17-2) remained No. 1 after outscoring Missouri by a combined 23-1 margin in a three-game sweep. Oregon State (17-2) moved up one spot to No. 2.

Vanderbilt (18-3) made one of the biggest leaps in this week’s poll, jumping seven spots to land at No. 3 after sweeping Auburn on Sunday.

Reigning national champion LSU (17-4) fell from No. 2 to No. 4 after dropping two of three to Mississippi State over the weekend.

Texas A&M fell two spots to No. 6. Tennessee, Florida, Duke and Alabama rounded out the top 10.

Unbeaten Florida State (18-0), which visits Clemson for a three-game weekend series beginning Friday, moved up 10 spots to No. 12 in the coaches poll.

The Tigers will host Winthrop Tuesday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in midweek action. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. EDT. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.

Everything Brad Brownell said on Selection Sunday

Here’s everything Clemson coach Brad Brownell said after the Tigers were awarded an at-large bid to the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

Brad Brownell called it a “great day for Clemson basketball.”

That was after the Tigers were chosen as a No. 6 seed by the selection committee for this year’s NCAA Tournament .

It’s the 14th time in school history that Clemson will head to the Dance. The last time the Tigers appeared in the NCAA Tournament, in 2021, they fell in the first round to Rutgers in a No. 10 vs. 7 seed matchup.

Clemson’s last win in the tournament was in 2018. They defeated New Mexico State and Auburn before falling to Kansas in the Sweet 16.

Now, after a 21-11 season that included wins over North Carolina, Alabama, and other teams with impressive tournament résumés, the Tigers will face Mountain West Tournament champion New Mexico (26-9) at FedExForum in Memphis Friday.

The game is scheduled for a 3:10 p.m. EDT tipoff and will be televised by truTV. It will be Clemson’s fourth NCAA Tournament appearance with Brownell as coach.

Here’s everything Brownell said on Selection Sunday after Clemson’s at-large bid was announced.

Clemson up to No. 3 in Baseball America rankings; No. 4 in D1Baseball

By sweeping Manhattan in midweek play and winning two out of three games against No. 6 Duke in its ACC series opener, Clemson moved to No. 3 in Baseball America’s latest Top 25 rankings and No. 4 in D1Baseball’s new Top 25.

A shakeup at the top of this week’s Baseball America and D1Baseball Top 25 rankings has seen Clemson soar into the top 5.

By sweeping Manhattan in midweek play and winning two of three against Duke in its ACC series opener, Clemson moved to No. 3 in Baseball America’s latest Top 25 rankings and No. 4 in D1Baseball’s new Top 25.

Powered by home runs from Jimmy Obertop and Jacob Hinderleider, the Tigers (17-2 overall, 2-1 conference) used a three-run 10th inning Sunday to earn a wild 8-6 win and series victory in Durham. They also defeated Manhattan by a combined score of 18-2 in a pair of midweek contests.

Clemson’s 4-1 week saw them move six spots in the rankings for both Baseball America and D1Baseball.

The Tigers will host undefeated Florida State (18-0, 3-0) at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in ACC play Friday. The Seminoles were a big mover in this week’s rankings, jumping 14 spots to No. 7 in Baseball America and going from unranked to No. 12 in D1Baseball.

Duke (15-5) fell from No. 3 to No. 6 in Baseball America and from No. 6 to No. 9 in D1Baseball.

Arkansas (17-2) remained at No. 1 in both rankings after a 4-0 week while LSU (17-4) fell to No. 5. The reigning national champions were No. 2 in last week’s rankings.

Oregon State (17-2) moved up to No. 2 in D1Baseball’s rankings while staying at No. 4 in Baseball America’s rankings.

Besides Clemson and Florida State, Vanderbilt (18-3) and Alabama (17-3) were big movers in this week’s rankings. The Crimson Tide took two of three from previously fifth-ranked Tennessee over the weekend to climb nine spots and land at No. 9 in Baseball America’s rankings.

The Commodores moved six spots to No. 2 in Baseball America after a weekend sweep of Auburn.

Wake Forest (13-6), which had been No. 1 for weeks until last week, fell nine spots to No. 16 in D1Baseball’s rankings, and eight spots to No. 15 in Baseball America’s rankings. The Demon Deacons lost two of three to Virginia over the weekend, plus a midweek game to Coastal Carolina.

Virginia (15-4), Virginia Tech (14-4), and North Carolina (17-4) were the other ACC schools to make D1Baseball’s rankings.

Streaming tips for Clemson fans ahead of March Madness

Fans of March Madness will have more streaming choices than ever before this year.

Fans of March Madness will have more streaming choices than ever before this year.

Thanks to TNT Sports’ sister streaming platform Max (formerly HBOMAX), streaming this year’s NCAA Tournament will be an option for those without traditional cable or popular live streaming services such as YouTube TV and Hulu + Live.

Max, via its B/R Sports add-on, will offer subscribers live streams of NCAA Tournament games that are selected for broadcast on TNT, TBS, and truTV — the latter of which will televise Clemson’s first-round matchup against New Mexico Friday.

The Tigers and Lobos are scheduled for a 3:10 p.m. EDT tipoff from Memphis’ FedExForum. Spero Dedes, Jim Spanarkel and Jon Rothstein will have the call of the game for truTV.

truTV and TNT will combine to broadcast 25 games total — 13 on truTV and 12 on TNT. TBS will broadcast 21 games. Those combined 46 games will be available via the Max app on both smartphones and other smart devices. The Final Four, as well as the national championship game on April 8, will be televised by TBS.

CBS will broadcast 21 games. Games televised by CBS will not be available for streaming on the Max app, however. Viewers looking for CBS games can still find them via the network’s streaming partner Paramount+, which recently streamed CBS’ coverage of Super Bowl LVIII.

Next year, part of the NCAA Tournament will be shown for the first time on the new, yet-to-be-named joint venture streaming service that will combine TNT Sports (formerly Turner Sports), ESPN, and Fox Sports.

That streaming service — often referred to as “Spulu” in many online circles — will still exclude CBS broadcasts, which aren’t involved in the TNT/ESPN/Fox alliance. The joint venture between TNT, ESPN and Fox is scheduled to debut this fall.

The NCAA also offers streaming of the tournament via its March Madness Live app or NCAA.com.

Live audio

Fans that are in the car or on the go and want to be able to listen to NCAA Tournament radio broadcasts can do so with a subscription to SiriusXM satellite radio, which offers complete play-by-play of all tournament games.

Clemson vs. New Mexico will be broadcast on SiriusXM channel 202 Friday. Full channel assignments are available at siriusxm.com/sports.

SiriusXM broadcasts the tournament via the NCAA’s national radio feed, Westwood One. Fans hoping to listen to team-specific broadcasts, like those that air on the Clemson Athletic Network, will have to tune in to their local radio affiliate or visit an affiliate’s official website.

‘Sundays are hard’: Trisha Ford explains 1-run loss vs. No. 21 Mississippi St. to snap 8-game win streak

“That’s what I talked to the team about,” she said. “Sundays are hard, Sundays we have to figure out how to come out here and grind it out.”

The Texas A&M softball team had its eight-game winning streak snapped on Sunday afternoon with a narrow loss against Mississippi State.

The No. 21 Bulldogs (21-6, 3-3 SEC) avoided the sweep with a 6-5 victory, giving the No. 17 Aggies (25-3, 5-1) their first conference loss of the season. Texas A&M coach Trisha Ford spoke to the media postgame.

“I thought we just didn’t do a great job of executing our gameplan,” Ford explained. “We had a couple of opportunities there. The zone was pretty tight for both teams and we didn’t do a good job of executing and kind of using that to our advantage. That’s just how it goes, they had more fight in us. That’s what I talked to the team about.

‘Sundays are hard, Sundays we have to figure out how to come out here and grind it out.'”

The Aggies had the tying run at third base in the top of the seventh inning but were unable to get the runner home.

“We were in the right part of the lineup for us to do some damage,” Ford recalled. “We just ran out of time.”

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Shaun on Twitter: @Shaun_Holkko.

‘It was emotional’: Texas A&M seniors Tyrece Radford & Henry Coleman react to NCAA Tournament bid

“It was a lot of emotion in the room… To see it pay off and for us to get that nine-seed, it really meant a lot to everyone in this room.”

The Texas A&M men’s basketball team is officially going dancing in March Madness at the NCAA Tournament.

The Aggies (20-14) are the No. 9 seed in the South Region and will play new athletic director Trev Alberts‘ former school, No. 8 Nebraska, in the first round on Friday.

After the selection show, Texas A&M players were not made available to the media but seniors, forward Henry Coleman III & guard Tyrece “Boots” Radford, spoke to 12th Man Productions about their instant reaction to the selection.

“It was a lot of emotion in the room,” Coleman said. “I think from every mom, dad, coach, to player, there was a ton of emotion in the room. Everyone has made sacrifices over this year of something whether if it be school, time away from kids or family, everyone has had to sacrifice. To see it pay off and for us to get that nine-seed, it really meant a lot to everyone in this room.”

Boots has had a challenging season on and off the court and was understandably emotional alongside his teammates when the Aggies were revealed.

“It was emotional,” Radford recalled. “A couple of my teammates were dropping tears and you could see the excitement on everybody’s face, just being ready to play.”

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Shaun on Twitter: @Shaun_Holkko.

‘Once in a lifetime deal’: Texas A&M men’s coach Buzz Williams previews NCAA Tournament matchup vs. Nebraska

“There was such a genuine feeling by our guys. So emotional, very raw, very transparent, really, really lifetime memory to be able to see.”

The Texas A&M men’s basketball team is officially going dancing in March Madness at the NCAA Tournament.

The Aggies (20-14) are the No. 9 seed in the South Region and will play new athletic director Trev Alberts‘ former school, No. 8 Nebraska, in the first round on Friday.

After the selection show, Buzz Williams was not made available to the media but the head coach spoke to 12th Man Productions about his instant reaction to the selection.

“There was such a genuine feeling by our guys,” Williams said. “So emotional, very raw, very transparent, really, really lifetime memory to be able to see that. We’re excited. We’re thankful.”

Williams also reflected on the entire journey that his team has gone on since Day 1 of the season.

“This will be week 29 since we started work the week of Labor Day. Nine weeks of work in preseason, eight weeks of work in non-conference, 10 weeks of work in the SEC, then obviously the conference tournament this past week,” Williams recalled. “To be able to keep going after all the good and bad things, we are grateful. The connectedness that our group has, our players, our coaches, support staff, it’s just been a once in a lifetime deal and something we’ll always remember.”

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Shaun on Twitter: @Shaun_Holkko.

WATCH: Texas A&M men’s basketball team finds out March Madness fate for NCAA Tournament

“There was such a genuine feeling by our guys. So emotional, very raw, very transparent, really, really lifetime memory to be able to see.”

The Texas A&M men’s basketball team is officially going dancing in March Madness at the NCAA Tournament.

The Aggies (20-14) are the No. 9 seed in the South Region and will play new athletic director Trev Alberts‘ former school, No. 8 Nebraska, in the first round on Friday.

The Lady Aggies will also play the Cornhuskers in an 11 vs. 6-seed matchup. As noted by Robert Behrens on X, the managing editor of Good Bull Hunting, a Texas A&M website apart of SB Nation, for the first time since 2018, both Aggies men’s and women’s basketball teams have made the NCAA Tournament.

After the selection show, Buzz Williams was not made available to the media but the men’s head coach spoke to 12th Man Productions about his instant reaction to the selection.

“There was such a genuine feeling by our guys,” Williams said. “So emotional, very raw, very transparent, really, really lifetime memory to be able to see that. We’re excited. We’re thankful.”

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Shaun on Twitter: @Shaun_Holkko.

No. 4 Texas A&M baseball team loses its first SEC series of the season at No. 8 Florida after 17-0 start

After starting the season unbeaten after 17, the Aggies have lost 2-of-3 contests and dropped the first SEC series of the season at Florida.

After starting the 2024 season unbeaten after 17 games, the Texas A&M baseball team has lost two of its last three contests and dropped the first SEC series of the season at Florida this weekend in Gainesville.

The No. 8 Gators (12-7, 1-2) defeated the No. 4 Aggies (18-2, 1-2) by a final score of 4-2 on Sunday afternoon at Condron Ballpark. Florida ended Texas A&M’s undefeated streak on Friday night with an 8-6 win. The Aggies bounced back for a 10-6 victory on Saturday.

Texas A&M struck first in the series finale, scoring an unearned run in the top of the first inning. Graduate student outfielder Hayden Schott reached base after a throwing error by sophomore second baseman Cade Kurland to score sophomore OF Jace LaViolette, who has now reached safely in all 20 games. The Gators responded in the bottom of the second frame and tied the conference matchup.

Junior OF Braden Montgomery reclaimed the advantage for the Aggies in the fifth with a solo shot to left field, which was his second homer of the weekend and ninth of the campaign. Florida hit a solo home run in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game again and added a 2-run jack in the eighth to ultimately win 4-2.

Texas A&M has now lost three consecutive series against the Gators. The Aggies are 2-2 versus ranked opposition, including their blowout of Texas in Austin on March 5.

Sophomore left-handed pitcher Justin Lamkin started on the bump and tossed the first 4.2 frames and allowed 4 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks & 2 hit by pitch with 5 strikeouts on 88 pitches. Senior sidewinding righty Brock Peery threw the next two innings for a new season-best without allowing a hit with 1 K on 23 pitches. Junior RHP Josh Stewart (1-1) took the loss after recording only 1 out and giving up 2 hits & 1 run on 7 pitches.

Florida junior RHP Brandon Neely (1-0) earned his first win after tossing the seventh & eight innings in relief, allowing 2 walks & 1 HBP with 4 punchouts on 41 pitches. Freshman RHP Luke McNeillie (1) got the save after pitching a scoreless ninth giving up 1 hit with 1 strikeout on 17 pitches.

Texas A&M begins an eight-game homestand at Blue Bell Park on Wednesday at 4 p.m. against Prairie View A&M.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Shaun on Twitter: @Shaun_Holkko.

Clemson rallies past Duke in 10th inning, earns series win

No. 9 Clemson earned a hard-fought 8-6 win and series victory over No. 7 Duke Sunday at Jack Coombs Field in Durham.

Clemson got home runs from Jimmy Obertop and Jacob Hinderleider in the 10th inning and held on in the bottom half for a hard-fought 8-6 victory over No. 7 Duke Sunday at Jack Coombs Field in Durham.

The win gave the Tigers (17-2 overall, 2-1 ACC) an impressive series victory to open conference play.

Getting there wasn’t easy as Duke (15-5, 3-3) seemingly answered each Tigers rally with one of its own.

Clemson, ranked No. 9 in the latest USA TODAY Sports coaches poll, got out to a 2-0 lead in the first when Blake Wright launched his team-leading seventh home run to the opposite field in right off Duke starter Tim Noone.

The Tigers carried a 3-2 lead into the eighth inning despite having only one hit through seven innings. Then, both teams’ offenses began to erupt.

Alden Mathes led off with a sharp single to right and had advanced to third with two out when Hinderleider lined a ground-rule double to the warning track in left-center for a 4-2 lead.

Jarren Purify followed with a run-scoring double that brought in Hinderleider and made it 5-2.

Duke answered right away with four consecutive hits to open the eighth. A.J. Gracia’s two-run home run off Mark Clayton cut the Tigers’ lead to 5-4.

A deep fly to left from Wallace Clark off Reed Garris later that inning allowed Devin Obee to tag from third and score the tying run.

After Clemson was retired in order in the ninth, Rob Hughes took over in the bottom half. When Gracia lined a triple down the right field line, Alex Stone tried to score all the way from first to end the game but was thrown out at home by Purify following a terrific relay from Mathes.

Clemson went ahead for good in extra innings.

Obertop unloaded on a 2-0 pitch that cleared the wall in right to put the Tigers ahead, 6-5. It was a no-doubt shot that was Obertop’s fourth homer of the year and his second in as many days.

After Tristan Bissetta reached on an infield single, Hinderleider followed with a two-run homer down the right field line for an 8-5 Clemson lead.

Matthew Marchal pitched the 10th inning and allowed back to back singles with one away to bring the tying run to the plate. But Bissetta made a sensational diving catch to keep Clark from emptying the bases. A run scored on the play but it robbed Clark of at least a double and possibly a triple.

Marchal then got Zac Morris to ground to third for the final out.

Duke outhit the Tigers, 17-7. Morris (3-for-6) had three hits for the Blue Devils, and Gracia and Ben Miller each had two hits, including home runs. Five Duke players finished with two hits or more.

Hinderleider (2-for-3) was the only Tigers player to finish with two hits in a three-RBI performance.

Purify (1-for-3) drove in two runs. His RBI sac fly in the sixth broke a 2-2 tie and gave Clemson the lead.

Freshman Aidan Knaak started for Clemson and received a no-decision. The right-hander scattered nine hits but finished with nine strikeouts and didn’t allow a walk. Knaak pitched out of trouble by striking out Andrew Yu to end a Duke threat in the sixth. Knaak finished with 86 pitches in the seventh.

The Tigers used six pitchers total, including Marchal who earned his first save. Hughes (1-0) earned the win in relief. Duke also used six pitchers with Charlie Beilenson (0-1) suffering the loss after allowing Obertop’s go-ahead home run.

NEXT UP: Clemson has a pair of midweek contests beginning Tuesday when the Tigers host Winthrop in a scheduled 6 p.m. EDT start at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The Tigers will then travel to Greenville Wednesday for a 6 p.m. start against Presbyterian. The game against Winthrop will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX). Clemson will then welcome Florida State to Doug Kingsmore Stadium next weekend.