Liner notes in my baseball/softball scorebook. Not just a golf scorecard this time. Everything else is changing in sports, it seems, so why not?
鈥 For perhaps the first time this season, the 91茄子 baseball team got what it needed this past weekend when the Tigers produced a three-game sweep of South Carolina.
Necessity need not be celebrated beyond its station 鈥 the Paul Mainieri-less Gamecocks remain one of the worst teams in the Southeastern Conference, just a notch below 91茄子. Despite the sweep, the Tigers (28-21, 9-15 SEC) are still mired in 14th place in the conference and open the week with a tepid RPI of 55.
Nonetheless, you can only beat who you play and 91茄子 took care of business, going 4-0 including a midweek win over SLU. The pitching looked improved (again, it must be said, against an anemic-hitting South Carolina team), defense generally was better and, most encouraging for 91茄子 baseball fans who have given up on this season, the lineup looks like it鈥檚 starting to bunch hits and get them in a more timely fashion. And with freshmen doing a lot of the hitting, a sign of optimism for 2027.
The 2026 Tigers still have a long, long way to go to get to 13-14 SEC wins, including the tournament, which is what鈥檚 assumed to be needed to get into the NCAA Tournament. Injuries still have lowered this team鈥檚 ceiling 鈥 Jake Brown is out, Cooper Moore is out, previous Friday starter Casan Evans didn鈥檛 pitch last weekend 鈥 but there is finally some optimism.
The future is daunting, though. After Tulane on Tuesday, another must-win game for the Tigers, 91茄子 goes on the road to face SEC leader Georgia and closes the regular season at home against a Florida team fighting to earn an NCAA regional host slot. The Tigers need to find some way to take at least one game off Georgia (the Bulldogs perennially come up short of baseball expectations, so anything鈥檚 possible) and win two, if not three, against Florida. Twelve SEC wins would at least give 91茄子 a shot at an NCAA bid in a road regional, probably as a No. 3 seed.
None of this is remotely close to the Tigers鈥 typical expectations nor their lofty preseason goals when they started ranked No. 2 in most polls. But for the first time in a long time, this 91茄子 season is pointed in a positive direction ... for now.
鈥 Baseball鈥檚 sweep wasn鈥檛 the only one by an 91茄子 team this past weekend. The softball Tigers ended their regular season against Auburn with a 3-0 slate, including an eye-popping and record-breaking 25-0 demolition Saturday of the Tigers from the plains.
Remember all that hot-seat talk about coach Beth Torina going into the season? Well, 91茄子 heads into this week鈥檚 SEC Tournament with a respectable 37-16 record and a No. 11 RPI (the Tigers are the No. 8 seed in the tourney). It all adds up to put 91茄子 in line to again host an NCAA regional, though Torina鈥檚 Tigers have a long way to go to be considered for a top-eight national seed. That would probably mean winning the tournament this weekend in Lexington, Kentucky.
Still, Torina looks to be on solid ground as do her Tigers, though getting through a regional and at least back to a super regional would help her cause immensely.
鈥 The Zurich Classic of New Orleans on Monday announced its tournament dates for 2027: April 19-25. The tournament, like many non-majors or elevated events on the PGA Tour, still faces an unknown future beyond 2027 with talk of the tour revamping its schedule. But with a committed sponsor and a date tournament organizers want to maintain 鈥 balanced between the Masters and the PGA Championship 鈥 things could definitely be much worse. Hopefully the PGA Tour will do one of its solid citizens a favor and spread out the surrounding big purse signature events crowding the Zurich into other parts of the schedule.
From the Much Worse Department, we have LIV Golf. That tour is having its funding pulled by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund after the Saudis dumped at least $5 billion down its rabbit hole over the past four years, proof that even uber-rich people eventually tire of losing money. LIV says with typical 鈥淚gnore the riot behind me, all is well鈥 aplomb that it will try to pivot to other investment streams. But with pitiful TV ratings and stars jumping or considering jumping ship, that looks like a fool鈥檚 errand.
Meanwhile, what of LIV鈥檚 proposed tournament in New Orleans? The June tournament at Bayou Oaks in City Park was scrapped, with some vague talk of a smaller, exhibition-style event coming to the city this fall. Great idea, right in the middle of football and hurricane season.
Hopefully, LIV 鈥 like the hurricanes 鈥 just veers to a different course entirely. The state of Louisiana did no favors to the Zurich, a tournament that began way back in 1938 and funded numerous charities in New Orleanss and Baton Rouge to the tune of a record $3.6 million last year (there were no announced plans of local charitable contributions from LIV) by inviting the competing, if lesser, golf tour into the market.
If there is any silver lining it鈥檚 that there were improvements made to Bayou Oaks, namely its practice facility, a benefit for local public golfers in the Crescent City.
But to put a modern spin on an old Frank Sinatra tune, LIV-ers stay away from my door.