Opening night in the SEC did not disappoint. Five of the eight games on Friday were decided by one run, with two ending on walk-off home runs in the bottom of the ninth and another on a walk-off sac fly in the 10th.
But for pure drama, nothing tops what happened at Foley Field in Athens on Sunday afternoon. With the series on the line, Georgia led Tennessee 8-7, but the Vols had a runner on first base with two outs in the top of the ninth. Pinch-hitter Stone Lawless hit what looked to be — and based on his celebration, what Lawless clearly thought was — a go-ahead two-run home run. But Cole Johnson had other plans.
MY GOD A FRESHMAN!!!!!!!!!#GoDawgs | @williamColejoh2 pic.twitter.com/rovl3YjMuB
— Georgia Baseball (@BaseballUGA) March 15, 2026
Hat tip to the Georgia social media team for the callback to Larry Munson’s iconic call of Herschel Walker’s run against Tennessee over four decades ago.
With the win, Georgia improves to 17-4 overall and 1-2 in the SEC. The Bulldogs, though, have played 20 of their first 21 games at home, with the other coming at Kennessaw State in a midweek game. They host The Citadel on Tuesday before heading to Texas A&M next weekend for their first game out of the state in 2026.
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Around the horn
Georgia Tech continues to look like a true national championship contender. The Yellow Jackets took two of three at Clemson to improve to 17-3 overall and 4-2 in the ACC. Tech leads the nation in batting (.393), on-base percentage (.511) and runs scored (254) and ranks second in slugging (.683). The Jackets are outscoring their opponents 254-83, including a 55-18 advantage away from home.
Catcher Vahn Lackey leads the attack with a .479/.602/.972 slash line and nine home runs. He is one of four regulars hitting over .420. Surprisingly, outfielder Drew Burress is not among that group. The preseason All-American is off to a relatively slow start (for him), hitting .313 with five home runs and 17 RBIs.
Mississippi State lost two of three at Arkansas in Brian O’Connor’s first SEC series with the Bulldogs.
On Friday night, Arkansas third baseman TJ Pompey, who entered the game in the seventh inning as a defensive replacement, hit a walk-off home run to open the bottom of the ninth to give the Hogs a 5-4 win. This came after the Bulldogs tied the game on a two-run, two-out home run by shortstop Ryder Woodson in the top of the ninth. The teams played a doubleheader on Saturday, with MSU winning 7-2 in Game 1 and Arkansas clinching the series with a 7-3 win in Game 2.
Mississippi State hosts Vanderbilt next weekend, while Arkansas visits South Carolina.
UCSB right-hander Jackson Flora, the No. 2 prospect in Keith Law’s most recent 2026 MLB Draft rankings, has been brilliant through the first month-plus of his junior season. The 6-foot-5, 205-pound Northern California native is 5-0 with a 1.15 ERA and 0.860 WHIP. On Friday night, Flora allowed two hits and struck out 11 with only one walk in 7 1/3 innings in the Gauchos’ 4-0 win over UC Davis.
Flora, whom Law calls “by far the top pitching prospect in the class, college or high school,” is in position to be the second UCSB pitcher to be picked in the top five in the past two drafts. Last year, righty Tyler Bremner went No. 2 overall to the Angels.
And then there were … none. Texas and USC — the final two undefeated teams in the nation — suffered their first losses of the 2026 season over the weekend.
On Friday night, Texas led Ole Miss 7-3 heading into the top of the ninth and appeared well on its way to improving to 17-0 under second-year coach Jim Schlossnagle. But the Rebels rallied for five runs, the final blow coming on a two-out grand slam by right fielder Tristan Bissetta. Texas tied it with one run in the bottom of the ninth, but Ole Miss won it with one run in the top of the 11th. The Longhorns won the final two games of the series and are 18-1 overall and 2-1 in the SEC.
USC’s first loss occurred in the second game of a doubleheader at Northwestern on Saturday. It’s safe to say that the Trojans aren’t used to playing in these conditions.
You cant see anything pic.twitter.com/2XMQku6s17
— 11Point7 College Baseball (@11point7) March 14, 2026
USC’s pitching continues to be the story. The Trojans allowed a total of three runs in the series and have given up two runs or fewer in 14 of their 20 games.
Florida State rebounded from a midweek loss to rival Florida with an impressive sweep at Wake Forest. The Seminoles’ pitching dominated the first two games, limiting the Deacons to a combined three hits en route to wins of 10-0 on Friday and 2-0 on Saturday. On Sunday, Florida State completed the sweep with a 12-6 win.
It was a sobering week for Wake Forest, which saw its 15-game winning streak end on Tuesday with a 10-4 loss at Coastal Carolina. The Deacs have allowed at least nine runs in five of their last six games, dating back to Game 2 of the Stanford series two weeks ago. In a scheduling quirk, Wake opened with two consecutive ACC series at home and now will play nine of its next 12 league games on the road.
In 2023, Kole Klecker went 10-4 with a 3.72 ERA as a freshman for a TCU team that reached the College World Series. He took a significant step back in 2024, going 1-3 with a 5.96 ERA and allowing 60 hits in 48 1/3 innings. Last season, he was limited to 10 games and 19 1/3 innings, due in part to an oblique injury.
He entered the transfer portal in the offseason and landed at Arizona State, not far from his home in Chandler, Ariz. On Sunday, he got the start against his former team, and it couldn’t have gone better. Klecker allowed only two hits in seven shutout innings as the Sun Devils beat TCU 4-0 to clinch the series in Tempe.
For the season, Klecker is 3-0 with a 3.00 ERA and a .178 batting average against.
And finally
• Florida’s pitching limited South Carolina to three runs and 11 hits in its three-game sweep in Gainesville. Sophomore Aidan King has yet to give up an earned run in 23 1/3 innings.
• There were two other sweeps in the opening weekend of the SEC: Auburn at Missouri and Kentucky over Alabama in Lexington.
• It was a tough weekend for the Butler pitching staff — or a good weekend for the Wichita State offense, depending on your perspective. The Shockers swept the four-game series by a combined score of 77-15, including wins of 27-3 on Thursday and 30-1 on Saturday. Butler is 4-16 with a team ERA of 10.19.
• Oklahoma recovered from Cameron Johnson’s first poor start of the season (seven walks, three earned runs in 2 1/3 innings) to beat Texas A&M 8-7 on Friday night. The Aggies won Game 2 on Saturday, 9-5, but OU won the series with a 12-11 win on Sunday.
• UTSA’s stay in The Athletic’s top 25 was brief. The Roadrunners, No. 24 last week after a 13-2 start, lost two of three at home to UT-Arlington, giving up a combined 34 runs along the way. This followed a midweek split with Texas Tech in Lubbock.
• Cal Poly and UCLA are the only two teams without a league loss that have played more than one series. Cal Poly is 6-0 in the Big West with sweeps over Hawaii and Cal State Bakersfield. UCLA is 6-0 in the Big Ten with sweeps over Ohio State and Michigan.
• Cal State Fullerton is 5-1 in the Big West after a weekend sweep over UC Irvine.
• Arkansas State recorded the biggest upset of the weekend, taking two of three over Southern Miss in Jonesboro. The Red Wolves are 15-6 and also have a win at Arkansas.
• Corey Muscara’s first ACC series as Duke’s head coach was a success. The Blue Devils took two of three from Miami in Durham to improve to 15-7 overall. Miami opened the season with 10 straight wins but has lost six of its last 10.