Mississippi State, Vanderbilt Make Strong Statements to Show They're Right There in the National Title Hunt

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We had two fantastic in-state rivalry series this weekend between Top 10 teams that gave a bit more clarity to the SEC standings and national picture as we're now halfway through conference play and well on our way to the college baseball postseason. There was also some fantastic baseball in the Big 12 that vaulted another team from that conference into the national conversation. Let's get into it.

Vanderbilt Takes Two From Tennessee

In what was likely the biggest regular season series in Tennessee history, No. 2 Vanderbilt took two of the three games from the No. 5 Volunteers.

Kumar Rocker had his best stuff on Friday night to pretty much put that game away without ever giving Tennessee a shot, but the Vols bounced back in a huge way on Saturday with an 8-4 win over Jack Leiter and the Commodores. Unfortunately for the home team, however, Vandy flexed its offensive muscle again in the rubber game en route to a 10-4 win to take the series.

Even in a series loss, I came away impressed with where Tennessee is as a program. Vanderbilt is as good as it's ever been and UT found a way to beat the best pitcher in the country in what could be a potential Super Regional preview. Also, the crowds in Knoxville were unbelievable and I can't wait to see what they look like in the postseason.

Mississippi State Handles Ole Miss in Starkville

In the other in-state matchup from the SEC, No. 4 Mississippi State took two of three from No. 6 Ole Miss to secure bragging rights and the inside track to keeping pace with Arkansas in the SEC West.

This series, like Vandy-Tennessee, came down to a deciding game on Sunday in which the Bulldogs got a massive bases-clearing triple from Tanner Allen in the sixth inning to secure the 7-5 victory and the series. Now at 10-5, Mississippi State is just a game back of Arkansas for the lead in the West and has a showdown with Vanderbilt in Nashville coming up this weekend.

TCU Makes a Statement With a Sweep of Oklahoma State

Outside the SEC, the biggest series win of the weekend came from the now-No. 8 TCU Horned Frogs, who secured a sweep over a ranked Oklahoma State team. Obviously the depth of the SEC and how many legitimately elite teams are in that conference has been the story of the season so far, but with Texas and now TCU, the Big 12 certainly has some legitimate national title threats waiting in the wings.

The biggest hit of the series came in the eighth inning of the third game , when Brayden Taylor launched a go-ahead grand slam to give the Frogs a lead they would not relinquish and a sweep for their biggest win of the season thus far. It should be a fun one when they meet up with the No. 3 Longhorns in a few weeks.

Play of the Week: Logan Tanner, Mississippi State

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I've been watching baseball a long time and I don't think I've ever seen a catcher make a throw to gun out a baserunner that looked that cool. Logan Tanner had to go around the batter and still spun it perfectly to get the guy by about 10 feet.

Player of the Week: Evan Russell, Tennessee

Evan Russell was my POTW several weeks ago when he had a three-homer game against Jaden Hill and LSU. So it only seems fitting to give it to him again when he did the same thing off an even better pitcher this time in Jack Leiter.

Russell launched three bombs including the go-ahead grand slam in UT's lone win of the weekend for what was definitely the best moment for UT baseball in at least the last decade or so. Without Russell, the Vols would have likely been swept and feeling very different about their season.

Uniform of the Week: Fairfield

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So I'm cheating here, but it's my blog and I'll do what I want. Fairfield's uniforms are fine I guess, but I just wanted a place to talk about the Stags for a minute.

Fairfield is now 20-0, including 8-0 against teams in the RPI Top 50. The Stags are also now No. 1 in the RPI — as in, ahead of literally every other college baseball team. We'll see how long their undefeated record lasts, but this is certainly a team you do not want to see put into your school's regional.

College Baseball Moment of the Week: Trae Robertson, Missouri

I love this kind of shit. With Missouri and Florida in a rain delay, the Tigers' Trae Robertson went back out onto the field to get his throwing in by playing catch with some kids. Good for that guy for making those kids' day and having fun growing the game to the next generation.