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News Nuggets, 06.06.05
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

SEC goes the high-tech route for instant replay

The Southeastern Conference is hoping to improve the Big Ten's model for instant replay, declining to institute Conference USA's plan to leave the final say on affected plays with the referee.

The SEC finalized details of replay at its annual spring meetings in Destin, FL, last week, adopting the same procedures used by the Big Ten last season but opting to use more sophisticated, touch-screen equipment.

Under the Big Ten system, all reviews and reversals came from the replay booth. Calls could be overturned only if there was ``indisputable video evidence,'' and reviewable plays were more or less limited to those involving scoring, fumbles and possession on receptions.

SEC school presidents, chancellors, athletic directors and coaches voted to use the same version as the Big Ten, although final approval of which plays are reviewable will come next week.

The decision means that neither the SEC nor the Big Ten will implement the policy C-USA is poised to adopt that would place the final decision involving a replay in the hands of the referee on the field.

The only change the SEC made in the Big Ten model was upgrading the replay equipment, choosing to use a nine-panel replay screen similar to the one used in the NFL. The Big Ten relied solely on TiVo.

The SEC will join the Pac-10, Big 12, Big East, Mountain West and Atlantic Coast conferences in using replay for 2005. Conference USA's proposed replay procedures still must be approved by the league's board of directors.

Most conferences are jumping on the bandwagon due in large part to the success of the Big Ten system. In the Big Ten, replay was used in 28 of the 57 games last season. Of the 43 calls questioned, 21 were overturned. Games in which instant replay was used were three minutes longer on average, with reviews taking an average of 2 minutes and 39 seconds.

The biggest concern among SEC coaches was making sure they would not have to make the decision on whether a play gets reviewed. The conference agreed, deciding that a three-person team working the booth — a replay official, a technician and a communicator — would be responsible for making the call.

The replay experiment could cost the SEC about three-quarters of a million dollars this season, including $240,000 for hardware and software, thousands more for training and additional personnel, and about $250,000 for production costs for games that aren't televised.

Region recaps involving C-USA, Carolinas teams

NCAA Baseball Capsules
By The Associated Press

South Carolina 4, Michigan 3

ATLANTA — Neil Giesler hit a three-run homer and South Carolina eliminated Michigan from the NCAA tournament with a 4-3 victory Sunday, a game that took 6 1/2 hours to complete because of heavy rain and lightning.

The Gamecocks' already long day wasn't over. Less than an hour after staying alive in the Atlanta Regional, they were scheduled to meet host Georgia Tech in the nightcap of a doubleheader.

South Carolina (40-22) needed a win to force a decisive game Monday night. The Yellow Jackets were poised to wrap up their home regional with one more victory.

Giesler's sixth homer capped a four-run third inning that accounted for all of South Carolina's offense. Zac McCamie (9-4) gave up 10 hits in 7 2-3 innings and was in trouble much of the game, but Michigan (42-19) stranded 10 runners and had another picked off to ruin a potentially big inning.

South Carolina 8, Georgia Tech 3

ATLANTA — After a long day — and night — South Carolina was still alive in the NCAA baseball tournament, while Georgia Tech must have been wondering if it's headed for another crushing disappointment.

Steve Pearce homered twice and Andy Lambert came through in just his second start of the season, leading South Carolina past the Yellow Jackets 8-3 Sunday night to extend the NCAA Atlanta Regional to a deciding game.

The Gamecocks (41-22), who are trying to reach the College World Series for the fourth year in a row, began the day facing elimination. First, they edged Michigan 4-3 in a game that was interrupted more than 3 1/2 hours by heavy rain.

Then, South Carolina knocked off the unbeaten host team, the final pitch coming almost 10 1/2 hours after the first pitch of the day.

The Gamecocks forced another contest Monday night against the Yellow Jackets (44-17), with the winner advancing to meet Tennessee in the Super Regionals.

Wichita State 3, Winthrop 2

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tyler Hill's RBI double in the bottom of the ninth Sunday capped a rally that gave Wichita State a 3-2 victory over Winthrop in an elimination game of the NCAA Regional.

Wichita State (51-23) advanced to play Tennessee on Sunday evening. If the Shockers win, the teams will play again for the regional title on Monday.

Winthrop (44-22) led 2-0 in the fourth. But Wichita State scored in the bottom of the inning when Derek Schermerhorn scored on a sacrifice fly by Matt Brown, and tied it in the sixth when Nick McCool scored on Danny Jackson's sacrifice fly.

Creighton 11, N.C. State 9

LINCOLN, Neb. — Tony Daniel's grand slam in the seventh inning — his second home run of the game — gave Creighton the lead for good in an 11-9 victory over North Carolina State in an NCAA Lincoln Regional elimination game Sunday afternoon.

The Bluejays (48-16) advanced to a night game against in-state rival Nebraska (53-13). Creighton, once-beaten in the regional, would have to defeat the Cornhuskers Sunday night and again Monday to advance to a super regional. Nebraska, the No. 3 national seed, would win the regional with one victory over the Bluejays.

NC State's season ended at 41-19.

Oral Roberts 6, College of Charleston 0

CLEMSON, S.C. — Dennis Bigley drove in three runs and Oral Roberts starter Nick Jones handed College of Charleston its second straight NCAA shutout as the Golden Eagles advanced to the regional championship with a 6-0 victory Sunday.

Oral Roberts (42-19) faces Clemson later Sunday. Should the Golden Eagles win, they'd play the Tigers again Monday night to see who moves on to an NCAA super regional series. The Cougars were eliminated.

Charleston, which came into the regional batting .364, continued its NCAA struggles at the plate. The Cougars (48-15) had only four hits against Jones (8-2) and 11 in their three tournament games.

Clemson 8, Oral Roberts 3

CLEMSON, S.C. — Kris Harvey's two home runs led Clemson (42-21) back to the NCAA super regional with an 8-3 win over Oral Roberts on Sunday night.

Starter Robert Rohrbaugh (8-2) had another top-notch performance for the Tigers, shutting down Oral Roberts (42-20) on seven hits and a run before coming out after seven innings.

Clemson reached its fifth super regional series since the NCAA started the format in the 1999 tournament.

Notre Dame 3, UNC-Chapel Hill 0

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — North Carolina picked a bad time to struggle at the plate.

Dan Kapala threw eight shutout innings, Craig Cooper drove in two runs and Notre Dame eliminated the Tar Heels from this NCAA regional, 3-0 Sunday.

The Fighting Irish (38-23-1) advanced to play top-seeded Florida later Sunday. Notre Dame will have to beat the Gators twice, including once Monday, to win the regional.

The Irish also set an NCAA record when Brett Lilley was hit by a pitch in the first inning. Lilly became the 126th Irish player to be hit this season, breaking the previous NCAA record set of 125 set by Nevada in 1997.

But the mark didn't help the Irish get by North Carolina (41-19-1). Solid pitching and clutch hitting did.

Baylor 8, Texas Christian 3

WACO, Tex. — Chase Gerdes went 3-for-4 and collected four RBIs to lead Baylor to an 8-3 win over Texas Christian in the second round of the NCAA Waco Regional on Sunday.

The Bears (41-21) move into the championship game Monday against the winner of Sunday's late game between TCU (41-19) and Stanford (33-24).

Arizona State 9, Coastal Carolina 5

TEMPE, Ariz. — Colin Curtis hit a three-run home run to help Arizona State defeat Coastal Carolina 9-5 Sunday in the Tempe regional of the NCAA baseball tournament.

The Sun Devils now advance to the super regionals. Arizona State (37-22) will meet the winner of the Fullerton regional next weekend in its second super regional appearance in three years.

With the score tied at 2 in the fourth, Coastal Carolina's Michael DeJesus and Tommy Baldridge hit back to back home runs to give the Chanticleers (50-16) the lead.

Then, in the fifth, Jeff Larish and Travis Buck singled, and Curtis followed with a shot that hit just left of the right field foul pole to give the Sun Devils a 5-4 lead.

Coastal Carolina 14, Nevada-Las Vegas 10

TEMPE, Ariz. — Michael DeJesus drove in four runs, including a three-run triple during a nine-run fourth, as top-seeded Coastal Carolina eliminated No. 4 UNLV 14-10 Sunday at the Tempe regional of the NCAA baseball tournament.

Coastal Carolina (50-15) faced a rematch with second-seeded Arizona State later Sunday needing a win to force a deciding game on Monday night. A Sun Devil win would put them in the super regionals. Arizona State beat Coastal Carolina 11-3 in the second round on Saturday night.

UNLV, which got past East Carolina in a Saturday elimination game, finishes the season 35-29.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically based on material supplied by staff members; data published by ECU, Conference USA and its member schools; and reports from Associated Press and other sources. Copyright 2005 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Page Updated: 02/23/2007 12:24 PM