HOOVER, Ala. - Freshman left-hander James Adkins struck out 12 batters in eight innings and Tennessee beat South Carolina 4-1 Friday to stay alive in the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
The Volunteers (41-18) now must beat Mississippi State twice today to advance to the championship game.
Adkins (8-4) allowed only three hits and two walks, matching his career-high for strikeouts despite coping with his great-grandmother's death earlier in the week.
"I just came out and wanted to do good for her, and show what she meant to me," he said.
He traveled to Birmingham only after coach Rod Delmonico told him he needed Adkins to start Friday's game.
The defending champion Gamecocks (38-21) struck out 26 times and managed only three runs in their final two tournament games.
Eric King went 4-for-4 with a double for Tennessee, which started out going 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position over the first six innings and left the bases loaded in the fourth.
MISSISSIPPI 5, ALABAMA 3
In Hoover, Ala., Brian Pettway pitched out of a bases loaded jam in the eighth inning, then hit a two-run homer to lift Mississippi to a victory over Alabama in an elimination game of the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
Pettway's double-duty heroics lifted the Rebels (42-17) into a showdown with top-seeded Florida today.
CLEMSON 5, N.C. STATE 4
In Jacksonville, Fla., a Clemson win quickly went to from sure victory, to a close game, to a nail biter in the span of four at bats in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Trailing by three runs in the top of the ninth, N.C. State rallied, scoring two runs with two outs and had runners at second and first before Jeff Hahn struck out Jonathan Diaz, preserving the Tigers' win at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.
The loss eliminates the Wolfpack from the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, while Clemson will face Virginia at 10 a.m. today.
"My nerves were just like they always are, very calm," Clemson coach Jack Leggett said. "I've just felt that we have been very prepared."
Clemson starter Robert Rohrbaugh got the first two batters out in the ninth inning with little trouble and seemed poised to record his first ever complete game, but a single, an RBI double and a walk forced Leggett to pull Rohrbaugh for Hahn.
Matt Devine, the first batter Hahn faced, grounded a ball to second baseman Taylor Harbin. The ball, which bounced over second base, forced Harbin to attempt a no-look, over-the-shoulder pass to shortstop Stan Widman.
Harbin's flip was off the mark and trickled into the infield. The error allowed Brian Aragon to score, cutting the Clemson lead to one, before Hahn struck out Diaz to end the game.
FLORIDA STATE 7, WAKE FOREST 3
In Jacksonville, Fla., Florida State sophomore pitcher Michael Hyde threw a career-best 7w innings, limiting Wake Forest to three unearned runs in the Seminoles' win in the Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Tournament.
The win sends Florida State (50-17) into today's semifinals against Georgia Tech, the 14th consecutive year that the Seminoles advanced to the semis. FSU must win two games against Tech in order to reach Sunday's championship game.
Wake Forest, playing its fifth tournament game in four days, ended its season with a 28-30 record.
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