#collegegames

In an early-season regional showdown, Clemson swept South Carolina, which enabled the Tigers to rise up to No. 11 while the Gamecocks slid to No. 13 from No. 4. LSU fell from third to seventh, and defending national champion Coastal Carolina dove from 9th down to 22nd and is now just 9-5 on the season.

Any doubters of the staying power of TCU’s NCAA Men’s college baseball team were settled and then some last wee. The Horned Frogs rolled over ranked opponents LSU Houston and Texas A&M at the Shriners College Classic in Houston.

As a result, the Horned Frogs, now 10-1, retained their No. 1 spot in the latest USA Today Coaches’ Poll and racked up 30 of the available 31 first-place votes.

Last Friday, the Frogs showed their mettle by rallying past No. 3 LSU 9-6 after trailing 4-1 early. In the top of the second, TCU rallied back with five runs thanks to a three-run home run by Austen Wade and a two-run blast by Luken Baker.

After the four-run first, the combination of Brian Howard (2-1) and Charles King kept LSU off the scoreboard until the bottom of the ninth, by which point the Frogs had built a 9-4 lead.

The next day brought back a return to the Southwest Conference battles of old as the Horned Frogs powered their way past No. 15 Texas A&M 11-10 in 15 innings, sending the game into extra frames with five runs in the bottom of the ninth.

Ryan Merrill won the game with a RBI double in the bottom of the 15th. The Frogs traded 5-0 after the top of the first, 7-1 after the top of the fifth, and 10-5 headed to the bottom of the ninth.

Patience at the plate brought TCU back in the last of the ninth as they drew five straight walks to score two runs. Elliott Barzilli tied the game at 10 with a two-run double.

The Frogs knocked off Ole Miss 5-3 on Sunday to sweep their schedule for the weekend. Jared Janzcak pitched 7-⅓ innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out a career-best 10 batters.

Florida got the other No. 1 vote by winning four times to improved to 10-2. Florida State is No. 3 and is 9-2.

Oregon State climbed up to No. 4 at 10-1, and undefeated Louisville improved to No. 5. The Cardinals, at 11-0, are the only undefeated team in the top 25.

The Arizona Wildcats, Texas Tech Red Raiders, and Virginia Cavaliers both surged into the top 10 this week. Arizona jumped from 15th to 6th, Virginia from 18th to 8th and Tech from 19th to 9th.

Tech knocked off LSU and Ole Miss at the Shriners Classic in Houston. Arizona moved to 10-0 with wins over Arkansas (3-0) and Oklahoma State (10-9) before losing 1-0 to Nebraska. Against the Cowboys, the Wildcats built a 6-0 lead, then watched Oklahoma State score nine runs in three innings,