FSU eliminates top-seeded Louisville in ACC

OSU runs hot for arguably the first time all season, with four straight wins, including two straight at the Big 12 Tournament that have the Cowboys on the brink of Sunday’s championship game.

Friday, however, presented a pause.

With the loser’s bracket games playing out, the two remaining unbeaten — OSU and Texas — waited for their Saturday foes to develop.

“It’s a little positive and negative,” said Cowboys catcher the star of Thursday’s win over West Virginia with a big day at the plate. “It’s nice to stay in a rhythm on the field and keep playing games. But it’s also nice to have an off day to recover and get your body back to 100 percent.”

OSU coach welcomes the day off.

“We got here today at 1 o’clock and we’ll get home at 9 o’clock,” Holliday said Thursday night. “It’s a long day. The kids are putting in the time, they’re competing, they’re putting their hearts into everything they do. So the day (off) will serve to regenerate us.

“The kids will handle it well. Right now, the thing that’s carrying us is how they feel about what they’re doing. That’s not going to vacate us in just one day.”

The greatest benefit of the day off comes on the pitching side, where the Cowboys haven’t been extended.

who has emerged as a late-inning stopper, has pitched four innings in relief of OSU’s two wins and can use a day to reset.

Simpson finds match in WVU

He can’t explain it, yet OSU’s Simpson admits that something clicks when he’s facing West Virginia pitching. And it really clicks. Simpson went 4-for-5 with two home runs, a double and five RBIs to fuel the Cowboys’ 8-4 win over the Mountaineers Friday. He clubbed two home runs against WVU back in April, for his only other multi-homer game.

This time, his big blows — the homers and double — came off three different Mountaineers pitchers.

“I honestly have no clue what it is when I play against them,” the OSU sophomore catcher said, “but I do see the ball better out of their pitchers’ hands than most people.”

Maybe Simpson has more of a clue than he realizes, recognizing a consistent plan in the way the WVU pitchers approach him.

“I pretty much know how they’re going to pitch me,” he said. “They’re going to stick to the outer half (of the plate). So my approach was to hit the ball to left-center. And if they missed over the middle of the plate, react to that and hit it pull-side.” He reacted well Friday. Simpson’s double went to left-center and he drilled homers to dead-center and right-center.

State champions celebrate with trip to Big 12 Tournament

Byng is still finding ways to celebrate its championship.

The Class 4A baseball team was in attendance at the Big 12 Tournament on Friday, taking in a game between Texas Tech and West Virginia.

Coach said the team planned the trip a few months in advance, before beating Heritage Hall to win state. The Pirates played a doubleheader in a tournament in Blanchard on Thursday, freeing up today for them to watch baseball.

“Obviously it worked out that we won a state championship,” Yost said. “We’re just kind of celebrating and relaxing and enjoying each other’s company one last time before some of these guys go to college.”

Yost said he has a few seniors who will play college baseball, including a left-handed pitcher who will attend Oklahoma next season. Although the day is primarily supposed to be fun, Yost hopes his team will take away a few lessons.

“When we got off the bus, I told them to watch their position and how they do things and represent themselves and act out on the field,” Yost said. “It’s good for them to see what it takes to be a Division-I baseball player. Obviously, all of them want to be one someday, but it takes a lot of hard work and these guys are very, very talented.”

Texas couple views Big 12 Tournament as vacation

After graduating from the University of Texas,

was conditioned to loathe Oklahoma.

Years later, she loves visiting the state.

“I never thought I would say that going to Oklahoma would be a vacation spot for us,” she said. “When you go to college in Austin, all you think about is the rivalry. You don’t think about going to Oklahoma for anything.” McLeroy and her husband,

have been coming to the tournament from east Texas since 2009. Seasons ticket holders for Texas baseball, they have made a habit of keeping score cards for each of the games they attend. They have also been to several major league ballparks, including a trip to Seattle. McLeroy was disappointed didn’t field and who was scheduled to pitch, sat out. She credits herself with cursing the Seattle, which narrowly missed the playoffs in 2016.

“I said, ‘I hope the Mariners miss the playoffs by one game,’ and they did,” she said.

But college baseball and the Big 12 Tournament will always hold a special place in the hearts of this couple.

A: “I think what we did last year was fresh in our minds. There’s never a thought in our dugout that we’re out of any game. We overcome an 8-run deficit last year in the championship game and that’s fresh in everybody’s mind. They know when we get down, it’s just a matter of sticking together. We talked about it a month ago that we have a

Tyler Holton scattered four hits over eight innings, Jackson Lueck and Matt Henderson each had tworun hits and Florida State eliminated top-seeded Louisville 6-2 on Friday to advance to the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.

A week after beating Louisville twice here, the eighth-seeded Seminoles (37-20) followed that up by sending the Cardinals (4710) home. Holton (9-2) was helped by two first-inning runs and struck out 10 in the victory.

Florida State had 10 hits, including four doubles. Henderson’s two-run single in the fourth provided a cushion, and Lueck added a two-run double in the ninth.

ACC Player of the Year Brendan McKay had two hits, including a solo homer a day after hitting a grand slam and pitching Louisville to victory over Notre Dame. Kade McClure (7-3) took the loss.

Florida 12, Mississippi State 3

Deacon Liput had two hits and four RBIs during Florida’s 11-run rally in the eighth inning and the Gators beat Mississippi State 12-3 Friday to reach the Southeastern Conference tournament semifinals.

The top-seeded Gators tied an SEC tournament record for runs in an inning.

Mississippi State starter Cole Gordon carried a 3-0 lead into the eighth but left after giving up a leadoff single. Six relievers allowed a combined six hits and six walks in the eighth.

Jonathan India tied the game with a bases-loaded, two-out walk off Riley Self (5-1). Austin Langworthy followed with a two-run single that put Florida ahead for good.

South Carolina 3, Kentucky 1

TJ Hopkins’ pinch-hit, three-run homer in the seventh inning helped South Carolina rally past Kentucky 3-1 on Friday to reach the SEC semifinals.

The 11th-seeded Gamecocks (35-24) face No. 2 seed LSU (41-17) on Saturday.

South Carolina won despite getting just two hits all day.

Kentucky’s Justin Lewis carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning and allowed just one hit in 5 innings, but South Carolina rallied against the Wildcats’ bullpen. The Gamecocks trailed 1-0 until Hopkins hit his three-run shot off Logan Salow (2-6).

South Carolina’s Josh Reagan (6-2) pitched 1 innings of scoreless relief after starter Adam Hill allowed just one unearned run and three hits in six innings. Tyler Johnson got the final two outs for his 10th save.

Kentucky (39-20) stranded runners on second and third in the eighth and left a runner at second in the ninth.

Virginia 10, Clemson 2

Cameron Simmons’ three-run homer highlighted Virginia’s eight-run first inning and the Cavaliers coasted to a 10-2 rout of Clemson on Friday in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

Fourth-seeded Virginia (45-12) concluded Pool D play by reaching Clemson left-hander Pat Krall (8-3) for six straight hits in the bottom of the inning. Adam Haseley, Pavin Smith and Robbie Coman delivered RBI hits before Simmons’ homer to left broke open the game.

Andy Weber and Ernie Clement also knocked in runs as the Cavaliers got nine of their 15 hits in their first at-bat. Four of Virginia’s five extra-base hits were doubles, and eight batters had at least one hit.

Cavaliers left-hander Daniel Lynch (7-4) allowed five hits and a run and struck out two in seven innings for the victory.

Weston Jackson hit a ninth-inning homer and Seth Beer knocked in a run for the fifth-seeded Tigers (39-19).

Iowa 2, Nebraska 0

Ryan Erickson pitched 7 scoreless innings and Iowa beat top-seeded Nebraska 2-0 Friday in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten baseball tournament.

Erickson (3-3) struck out six in holding back the top-seeded Cornhuskers (35-19-1), who had scored 36 runs in their previous two games. Nebraska loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth and ninth innings but instead got shut out for just the second time this season.

Chris Whelan hit a solo homer and Jake Adams had an RBI single, providing Iowa (36-19) with all the offense it would need.

Nebraska finished with 12 hits — but just one came with a runner in scoring position.

FROM WIRE REPORTS