Upsets on the diamond for NCAA baseball
The GIST: Still reeling from an absolutely wild weekend on the diamond? Same. No. 2 Wake Forest, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Vanderbilt, and No. 5 Arkansas were all upset by lower-ranked or unranked teams, and not all were one-off losses — the latter three dropped their whole dang series. Let’s slide into the scores you have to see to believe.
No. 4 Vanderbilt vs. Tennessee: Preseason–No. 2 Tennessee struggled in SEC play, tumbling out of the Top 25 last week — and they took it personally. They thrashed intrastate rival Vandy this weekend, from Friday’s 12-inning, 4–3 walk-off win to Saturday’s drama-filled 17–1 spanking to last night’s 10–5 finale. Wonder what they did to the stadium this time?
No. 3 Florida vs. No. 6 South Carolina: Also shaking up the SEC standings were the South Carolina Gamecocks, who swept the Florida Gators in dominant fashion. The Gamecocks have quickly emerged as one of the best teams in a viciously competitive conference, and they’re all but ensured a rankings reward later today.
Oklahoma vs. No. 14 Texas: With two other ranked teams dropping their series to unranked squads, the SEC took the chaos cake this weekend. But the Big 12 was no stranger to anarchy — Oklahoma took a page from their No. 1 softball team and smacked Texas around, hooking their first-ever sweep on the Longhorns’ home dirt. You go, road warriors.
On deck: Tomorrow at 7 p.m. ET, No. 12 Louisville hosts No. 13 Kentucky for what is now a must-win non-conference rivalry game after both were bested by unranked squads this weekend. With both heading into huge Top-25 conference matchups this weekend, buckle up to see who bags momentum and a morale boost.
