Southeastern Conference baseball -- specifically the SEC East -- made it through the opening weekend of the 2011 College World Series without suffering a loss. The South Carolina Gamecocks survived a 4-4 tie against Texas A&M thanks to Scott Wingo's fourth walk-off hit of the season, sending A&M into an elimination match against the California Golden Bears.
This is the first time in five CWS appearances that USC coach Ray Tanner has avoided the losers bracket through Round 1. The defending champs will advance to take on the Virginia Cavaliers, who beat Cal earlier Sunday in a somewhat more comfortable 4-1 fashion.
The SEC's perfect record isn't going to make it through the night, however, with the Florida Gators and Vanderbilt Commodores scheduled to face each other in Monday night's winners bracket showdown. Looking forward to this one, which pits Vandy's excellent contact batting against Florida's overwhelming power. UNC and Texas tangle in the Bracket 1 loser's battle.
So far, every game has been won by the school closest to Atlanta. Pretty fun fact to me.
The 2011 CWS Round 2 schedule (all times pm ET):
Monday, June 20
UNC vs. Texas, 2, ESPN
Vanderbilt vs. Florida, 7, ESPN2
Tuesday, June 21
Texas A&M vs. Cal, 2, ESPN
South Carolina vs. UVA, 7, ESPN
Check here for complete 2011 CWS scores and schedules, and here for NCAA baseball news and stories. For more SEC sports, join Team Speed Kills.