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OWH: One mistake pitch spells one-run Nebraska loss
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OWH: One mistake pitch spells one-run Nebraska L
LJS: Eighth-inning homer gives Aggies edge over Sinclair, Huskers
HOUSTON - Chance Sinclair was cruising. The Nebraska right-hander had retired 17 straight batters in a tie game against the No. 14 Texas A&M Aggies.
Then the Aggies' J.B. Moss turned the game around with one swing on a high fastball. Moss' one-out home run in the bottom of the eighth inning gave the Aggies a 2-1 win Friday in the Houston College Classic at Minute Maid Park.
"I had command of all three pitches, but I let one pitch get away," Sinclair said. "It ran back over the plate and he put a good swing on it."
Until Moss' third home run of the season, the Aggies hadn't had a hit off Sinclair since the second inning, when the Aggies (14-0) took a 1-0 lead.
"The home run was the farthest thing from my mind," said Moss, who had two of the Aggies' five hits. "We had a hard time in the middle of the game, it was getting late, and it was a tied ballgame.
"I was just trying to get a good pitch to hit and get on base and try to make something happen. Both pitching staffs did a great job. I was just trying to put a good swing on it and it just happened to go out."
Moss, the No. 9 hitter, drove in both of the Aggies' runs.
Nebraska scored its run in the fourth on an unearned run to tie the game off Aggies starter A.J. Minter, who went five innings. Ben Miller's two-out single up the middle scored Ryan Boldt, who was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning.
In the top of the eighth, the Huskers stranded Christian Cox at third base. Pinch hitting for Luis Alvarado, Cox led off the inning by being hit by a pitch. With Cox on third with two outs, Boldt flied out to center.
Nebraska (6-5) managed just four hits, all off Minter. Miller had two hits and Jake Schleppenbach and Austin Darby each had one.
"When you're facing a quality pitching staff, you're going to have to make something happen, and we weren't able to do that," Nebraska coach Darin Erstad said. "We're going to need to find more offense from someplace.
"We didn't get a big hit when we needed it."
And the Aggies did get the big hit to remain undefeated. The win went to Andrew Vinson (2-0), the Aggies' third pitcher.
Sinclair (1-3), who was effective on a good mix of pitches, went the distance, allowing only two runs and five hits in eight innings. He struck out five and walked only one.
"Chance pitched his tail off," Erstad said. "That's as good as I've seen him in a long time. He was rolling."
The Huskers played flawless defense, not committing an error. Left-fielder Alvarado made a sliding catch, robbing Ryne Birk of a hit leading off the bottom of the sixth in a 1-1 game.
Friday's meeting was the first between the Huskers and Aggies since 2011, when both were in the Big 12. The Huskers play Hawaii on Saturday and seventh-ranked LSU on Sunday.
LJS: Eighth-inning homer gives Aggies edge
HOUSTON - Chance Sinclair was cruising. The Nebraska right-hander had retired 17 straight batters in a tie game against the No. 14 Texas A&M Aggies.
Then the Aggies' J.B. Moss turned the game around with one swing on a high fastball. Moss' one-out home run in the bottom of the eighth inning gave the Aggies a 2-1 win Friday in the Houston College Classic at Minute Maid Park.
"I had command of all three pitches, but I let one pitch get away," Sinclair said. "It ran back over the plate and he put a good swing on it."
Until Moss' third home run of the season, the Aggies hadn't had a hit off Sinclair since the second inning, when the Aggies (14-0) took a 1-0 lead.
"The home run was the farthest thing from my mind," said Moss, who had two of the Aggies' five hits. "We had a hard time in the middle of the game, it was getting late, and it was a tied ballgame.
"I was just trying to get a good pitch to hit and get on base and try to make something happen. Both pitching staffs did a great job. I was just trying to put a good swing on it and it just happened to go out."
Moss, the No. 9 hitter, drove in both of the Aggies' runs.
Nebraska scored its run in the fourth on an unearned run to tie the game off Aggies starter A.J. Minter, who went five innings. Ben Miller's two-out single up the middle scored Ryan Boldt, who was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning.
In the top of the eighth, the Huskers stranded Christian Cox at third base. Pinch hitting for Luis Alvarado, Cox led off the inning by being hit by a pitch. With Cox on third with two outs, Boldt flied out to center.
Nebraska (6-5) managed just four hits, all off Minter. Miller had two hits and Jake Schleppenbach and Austin Darby each had one.
"When you're facing a quality pitching staff, you're going to have to make something happen, and we weren't able to do that," Nebraska coach Darin Erstad said. "We're going to need to find more offense from someplace.
"We didn't get a big hit when we needed it."
And the Aggies did get the big hit to remain undefeated. The win went to Andrew Vinson (2-0), the Aggies' third pitcher.
Sinclair (1-3), who was effective on a good mix of pitches, went the distance, allowing only two runs and five hits in eight innings. He struck out five and walked only one.
"Chance pitched his tail off," Erstad said. "That's as good as I've seen him in a long time. He was rolling."
The Huskers played flawless defense, not committing an error. Left-fielder Alvarado made a sliding catch, robbing Ryne Birk of a hit leading off the bottom of the sixth in a 1-1 game.
Friday's meeting was the first between the Huskers and Aggies since 2011, when both were in the Big 12. The Huskers play Hawaii on Saturday and seventh-ranked LSU on Sunday.
LJS: Eighth-inning homer gives Aggies edge
NU: Huskers Drop Houston College Classic Opener, 2-1
Houston, Texas - Chance Sinclair went a season-high 8.0 innings for the Nebraska baseball team (6-5, 0-0 Big Ten) against the undefeated No. 14 Texas A&M Aggies on Friday afternoon at the Houston College Classic, but it wasn't enough, as the Aggies improved to 14-0 on the year with a 2-1 victory.
Texas A&M No. 9 hitter J.B. Moss drove in both Aggie runs on the day with a bases-loaded RBI single in the second and a solo home run in the eighth. Moss and Nebraska's Ben Miller were the only players with multiple hits on the day, as the two teams combined for nine hits.
After not making it out of the sixth inning in any of his first three starts of the season, Sinclair notched the second-longest outing of his career, trailing only his complete-game effort against Ohio State on April 5, 2014. Following a RBI single in the second, the senior retired 17 straight Aggies before Moss untied the game in the eighth with his third of the season.
Aggie starter A.J. Minter went 5.0 innings, allowing one unearned run on four hits and no walks, while striking out six. Three TAMU relievers combined to throw 4.0 no-hit innings of relief. The bullpen allowed just one base runner, a hit-by-pitch in the eighth.
The Aggies loaded the bases in the second with one out, but were only able to notch one run. After the third single of the inning drove in a run, the bases remained loaded for the top of the Aggies lineup. Following a visit to the mound from pitching coach Ted Silva, Sinclair got Blake Allemand to bounce into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.
Sinclair responded with a 1-2-3 inning in the third, and the Husker offense evened the game, 1-1, in the fourth. Ryan Boldt was hit with Minter's first pitched and moved to second on a throwing error by first baseman G.R. Hinsley on a pick-off attempt. Minter then struck out Tanner Lubach and got Blake Headley to fly out, but couldn't retire Miller, who delivered a game-tying RBI single for his second hit of the game.
The Huskers had their leadoff man on in both the fifth and eighth innings, but were unable to cash in on either opportunity.
After being sat down in order in the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings, the Aggies retook the lead, 2-1, in the eighth on Moss's home run. Mark Ecker closed the game with a perfect ninth inning for his second save of the season.
The Huskers and Hawaii will open the second day of the Houston College Classic tomorrow at 12:05 p.m. Greg Sharpe and Lane Grindle will have the call on the Husker Sports Network and the game will also be broadcast on ROOT Sports Southwest.
NU: Huskers Drop Houston College Classic Opener
Houston, Texas - Chance Sinclair went a season-high 8.0 innings for the Nebraska baseball team (6-5, 0-0 Big Ten) against the undefeated No. 14 Texas A&M Aggies on Friday afternoon at the Houston College Classic, but it wasn't enough, as the Aggies improved to 14-0 on the year with a 2-1 victory.
Texas A&M No. 9 hitter J.B. Moss drove in both Aggie runs on the day with a bases-loaded RBI single in the second and a solo home run in the eighth. Moss and Nebraska's Ben Miller were the only players with multiple hits on the day, as the two teams combined for nine hits.
After not making it out of the sixth inning in any of his first three starts of the season, Sinclair notched the second-longest outing of his career, trailing only his complete-game effort against Ohio State on April 5, 2014. Following a RBI single in the second, the senior retired 17 straight Aggies before Moss untied the game in the eighth with his third of the season.
Aggie starter A.J. Minter went 5.0 innings, allowing one unearned run on four hits and no walks, while striking out six. Three TAMU relievers combined to throw 4.0 no-hit innings of relief. The bullpen allowed just one base runner, a hit-by-pitch in the eighth.
The Aggies loaded the bases in the second with one out, but were only able to notch one run. After the third single of the inning drove in a run, the bases remained loaded for the top of the Aggies lineup. Following a visit to the mound from pitching coach Ted Silva, Sinclair got Blake Allemand to bounce into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.
Sinclair responded with a 1-2-3 inning in the third, and the Husker offense evened the game, 1-1, in the fourth. Ryan Boldt was hit with Minter's first pitched and moved to second on a throwing error by first baseman G.R. Hinsley on a pick-off attempt. Minter then struck out Tanner Lubach and got Blake Headley to fly out, but couldn't retire Miller, who delivered a game-tying RBI single for his second hit of the game.
The Huskers had their leadoff man on in both the fifth and eighth innings, but were unable to cash in on either opportunity.
After being sat down in order in the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings, the Aggies retook the lead, 2-1, in the eighth on Moss's home run. Mark Ecker closed the game with a perfect ninth inning for his second save of the season.
The Huskers and Hawaii will open the second day of the Houston College Classic tomorrow at 12:05 p.m. Greg Sharpe and Lane Grindle will have the call on the Husker Sports Network and the game will also be broadcast on ROOT Sports Southwest.
NU: Huskers Drop Houston College Classic Opener
A&M: Moss' eighth-inning whammy leads A&M to 2-1 win over Nebraska
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M junior JB Moss hit a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to lead the Aggies to a 2-1 win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the first day of action at the Houston College Classic at Minute Maid Park on Friday afternoon.
With the late heroics, the Aggies improved to 14-0, the best start since 1993 when A&M also started 14-0. It also matches their third best start, behind a 26-0 start in 1989 and a 15-0 start in 1976.
Nebraska starting pitcher Chance Sinclair was cruising when Moss' dinger arrived in the eighth inning. Before the decisive home run, the Nebraska right-hander had recorded 18 consecutive outs. Moss put an end to the string when he punched a 1-0 offering over the fence down the leftfield line to stake the Aggies to a 2-1 lead.
Mark Ecker entered the game in the ninth and sandwiched two fly outs around a groundout for his second save of the season.
Texas A&M drew first blood in the bottom of the second inning. The rally started with Nick Banks and Logan Taylor bouncing back-to-back singles up the middle. After GR Hinsley struck out for the first out of the inning, Michael Barash drew a five-pitch walk to load the bases. JB Moss worked the count full before slapping the sixth pitch into rightfield, plating Banks for the 1-0 lead. Nebraska escaped further damage getting Blake Allemand to ground into an inning-ending double play.
The Cornhuskers took advantage of a Texas A&M error to tie the game at 1-1 in the fourth. Ryan Boldt was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Boldt was caught wandering off first base, but a throwing error allowed him to advance to second base on the play. After a strikeout and a fly out, Ben Miller drove a single up the middle to score Boldt with the equalizer.
Aggie starting pitcher AJ Minter was solid, but did not factor in the decision. He allowed one unearned run on four hits while striking out six over 5.0 innings.
The A&M bullpen put forth an excellent effort once again, retiring 12 of the 13 batters they faced in four innings. Ty Schlottmann retired all six batters he faced in the sixth and seventh innings. Andrew Vinson (2-0) picked up his second consecutive win out of the bullpen. He hit the first batter he faced, but retired the next three to get out of the eighth without yielding a run.
Moss was the lone Aggie to register multiple hits, going 2-for-3 with one run and two RBI.
Sinclair was the hard-luck loser for Nebraska. He allowed two runs on five hits and one walk while striking out five over 8.0 innings in the complete-game effort.
Nebraska (6-5) managed just four hits on the afternoon. Miller led the attack going 2-for-4 with one RBI.
Texas A&M returns to action on Saturday when they play the No. 13 Houston Cougars in a game slated for 7:05 pm at Minute Maid Park.
Texas A&M Quotes
Head coach Rob Childress
On the game
"We had them on the ropes early, but once we hit into that double play he retired 17 or 18 in a row. He pitched like a veteran. Fortunately for us he made a mistake in the eighth and JB (Moss) was able to make him pay for it and our bullpen was able to make it stand up."
On the pitching today
"They were fantastic. AJ (Minter) gave us a big-time start and our bullpen did what they've been doing all year - go out and hang zeros on the board."
Junior outfielder JB Moss
On the clutch win
"That was just another step in our journey. We're trying to take it one game at a time. Playing a good opponent like Nebraska, you can't help but to be pumped up a little."
On Nebraska's Chance Sinclair
"You have to tip your hat to Sinclair. He was changing elevations really well. He was locating all three pitches for strikes."
On his day at the plate
"I was fortunate to see my name in the lineup today. I told myself not to try to do too much. I was just trying to help the team out and make something happen. Even in the last at-bat, a home run was the furthest thing from my mind."
A&M: Moss' eighth-inning whammy leads A&M to 2-1 W
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M junior JB Moss hit a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to lead the Aggies to a 2-1 win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the first day of action at the Houston College Classic at Minute Maid Park on Friday afternoon.
With the late heroics, the Aggies improved to 14-0, the best start since 1993 when A&M also started 14-0. It also matches their third best start, behind a 26-0 start in 1989 and a 15-0 start in 1976.
Nebraska starting pitcher Chance Sinclair was cruising when Moss' dinger arrived in the eighth inning. Before the decisive home run, the Nebraska right-hander had recorded 18 consecutive outs. Moss put an end to the string when he punched a 1-0 offering over the fence down the leftfield line to stake the Aggies to a 2-1 lead.
Mark Ecker entered the game in the ninth and sandwiched two fly outs around a groundout for his second save of the season.
Texas A&M drew first blood in the bottom of the second inning. The rally started with Nick Banks and Logan Taylor bouncing back-to-back singles up the middle. After GR Hinsley struck out for the first out of the inning, Michael Barash drew a five-pitch walk to load the bases. JB Moss worked the count full before slapping the sixth pitch into rightfield, plating Banks for the 1-0 lead. Nebraska escaped further damage getting Blake Allemand to ground into an inning-ending double play.
The Cornhuskers took advantage of a Texas A&M error to tie the game at 1-1 in the fourth. Ryan Boldt was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Boldt was caught wandering off first base, but a throwing error allowed him to advance to second base on the play. After a strikeout and a fly out, Ben Miller drove a single up the middle to score Boldt with the equalizer.
Aggie starting pitcher AJ Minter was solid, but did not factor in the decision. He allowed one unearned run on four hits while striking out six over 5.0 innings.
The A&M bullpen put forth an excellent effort once again, retiring 12 of the 13 batters they faced in four innings. Ty Schlottmann retired all six batters he faced in the sixth and seventh innings. Andrew Vinson (2-0) picked up his second consecutive win out of the bullpen. He hit the first batter he faced, but retired the next three to get out of the eighth without yielding a run.
Moss was the lone Aggie to register multiple hits, going 2-for-3 with one run and two RBI.
Sinclair was the hard-luck loser for Nebraska. He allowed two runs on five hits and one walk while striking out five over 8.0 innings in the complete-game effort.
Nebraska (6-5) managed just four hits on the afternoon. Miller led the attack going 2-for-4 with one RBI.
Texas A&M returns to action on Saturday when they play the No. 13 Houston Cougars in a game slated for 7:05 pm at Minute Maid Park.
Texas A&M Quotes
Head coach Rob Childress
On the game
"We had them on the ropes early, but once we hit into that double play he retired 17 or 18 in a row. He pitched like a veteran. Fortunately for us he made a mistake in the eighth and JB (Moss) was able to make him pay for it and our bullpen was able to make it stand up."
On the pitching today
"They were fantastic. AJ (Minter) gave us a big-time start and our bullpen did what they've been doing all year - go out and hang zeros on the board."
Junior outfielder JB Moss
On the clutch win
"That was just another step in our journey. We're trying to take it one game at a time. Playing a good opponent like Nebraska, you can't help but to be pumped up a little."
On Nebraska's Chance Sinclair
"You have to tip your hat to Sinclair. He was changing elevations really well. He was locating all three pitches for strikes."
On his day at the plate
"I was fortunate to see my name in the lineup today. I told myself not to try to do too much. I was just trying to help the team out and make something happen. Even in the last at-bat, a home run was the furthest thing from my mind."
A&M: Moss' eighth-inning whammy leads A&M to 2-1 W
D1 - Ten Thoughts: Friday, March 6
1. Vanderbilt plays like the top-ranked team in the country.
Vanderbilt University logoOne of the season's most anticipated games took place here in Los Angeles on Friday, as No. 1 Vanderbilt (the 2014 national champion) took on No. 4 UCLA (the 2013 national champ) in a matchup between two teams with an aggregate record of 21-3 heading into the day. It was a battle between two hot offenses and two marquee junior righthanders, and Vanderbilt's Carson Fulmer got the better of UCLA's James Kaprielian, as the Commodores won 6-0. The reigning champs looked like the part of the juggernaut, stringing together quality at-bats, playing strong defense (especially in the middle infield) and holding UCLA's potent offense scoreless.
Kaprielian was not sharp in the first two innings, and Vandy capitalized. He walked leadoff man Bryan Reynolds to start the game, then surrendered back-to-back singles to Rhett Wiseman and Dansby Swanson, as the Commodores jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first and never looked back. Kaprielian struggled to locate his 88-91 mph fastball early in the game and also left his 83-85 slider up in the zone. He found his feel for his 78-81 curveball starting in the second inning and relied upon it heavily. He kept UCLA in the game with three consecutive strikeouts in the second to strand runners at second and third, and the last two punchouts in that frame were on very good back-foot curveballs to lefthanded hitters Reynolds and Wiseman. He struck out four more batters over the next two innings before serving up a homer to Wiseman on a changeup in the fifth, and allowing a leadoff double to Will Toffey in the sixth. That turned into a two-run rally that effectively put the game out of reach. But the tone was set in the first inning.
"We know the kid has a lot of confidence in his secondary pitches, but you had to stay on fastball and you had to keep the zone," Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin said of his team's plan of attack against Kaprielian. "We had to keep command of the strike zone as much as possible offensively, and if he was going to throw the secondary pitches away from us or down, then we had to do a nice job of not offering. I think we were fortunate to get a great first at-bat by Reynolds to get eight pitches, then we executed the hit-and-run, and from there we kind of threw the first punch, so to speak, and after that there were some add-on runs. But he's just a guy that you just have to hang in there with because he's not going to give in, so you just have to stay with him. There were some innings later that were a little quicker, but we did some nice damage in the first three innings."
Fulmer's stuff was more electric; he held his 91-94 mph velocity throughout his 6 1/3-inning outing and touched 95 several times. As the game wore on, he did a better job finishing his 79-82 mph power curveball and also showed good feel for his 86-88 changeup, which he occasionally threw right-on-right. UCLA had its share of scoring opportunities against Fulmer, who issued five walks and hit a batter, but he made big pitches in tight spots, as he usually does, to escape unscathed. The biggest spot came in the second, when he struck out dangerous Kevin Kramer on a 93 mph fastball to strand the bases loaded.
"I really thought Vanderbilt outplayed us in every phase," UCLA coach John Savage said. "They out-pitched us; now, we did get good swings off Fulmer early, and we had some chances. He didn't crack. He bent, but he didn't crack. You've got to give him credit because he walked five, and we chased a couple 3-2 pitches that were, you know, balls. He hit a guy. But he didn't give up one run. So you've got to give him credit for making pitches when he had to. I thought they clearly had better at-bats throughout the game, and they pecked away. So they outplayed us in every phase. And they deserved to win, and we deserved to lose."
I'll have plenty more on the always-entertaining Fulmer in the next few days.
2. USC shows resilience.
Southern California logoIn the other game at the Dodgertown Classic, Southern California won a wild 7-6 affair in 12 innings against No. 6 TCU. The Trojans carried a comfortable 6-2 lead into the ninth with bullpen ace Kyle Davis on the mound to close it out, but two errors in the ninth helped TCU score four runs to force extra innings. But the Trojans did not fold, as Davis kept the Frogs scoreless over the next three innings, and USC won it on a walk-off squeeze play in the bottom of the 12th. Our Shotgun Spratling was on hand for that one and will have more details, but the primary takeaway is that USC showed admirable toughness by not folding after blowing that four-run ninth inning. However, later this weekend the Trojans could regret having to burn Davis, who threw 68 pitches over 4 1/3 innings.
3. Thomas Eshelman must be the pitcher of the day
Cal State Fullerton's Thomas Eshelman (Shotgun Spratling)
Cal State Fullerton's Thomas Eshelman (Shotgun Spratling)
Eshelman might wind up being the pitcher of the year, too, because he never has a bad outing. Even when he loses, he only gives up a run or two, and no pitcher in college baseball can match his superb command. He was at his very best on Friday, striking out a career-high 14 and walking one in a five-hit shutout against an explosive Texas Tech offense that had outscored its opponents 85-45 heading into the weekend. Eshelman (2-2, 1.23 with 39 strikeouts and four walks in 29.1 innings) smothered the Red Raiders with strikes, as is his way: He threw 119 pitches, and 89 of them were strikes. (For the sake of comparison, Fulmer threw 112 pitches over 6 1/3 innings, and only half of them-56-were strikes. Two pitchers could not be more different stylistically, but both are extremely effective and fun to watch.)
Spratling detailed Fullerton's offensive improvement in a great piece leading into the weekend, and the Titans continued to rap out hits Friday, tallying 10 hits in a 4-0 win. Jake Jefferies and A.J. Kennedy led the way, combining to go 7-for-7 with three RBIs.
4. Unless Andrew Moore was the pitcher of the day.
Oregon State logoOregon State's junior ace righthander did not match Eshelman's shutout, but he did hold Fresno State to just a run on three hits and a walk while striking out 10 over 10 innings, and the Beavers won it 2-1 on K.J. Harrison's walk-off homer in the 11th. Moore was even more efficient than Eshelman, throwing just 112 pitches over his 10 innings of work (81 for strikes). Moore sometimes seems to fly under the radar, but he is similar stylistically to Eshelman-both have good command of solid four-pitch repertoires that include fringe-average fastballs, and both pound the strike zone. Moore is now 1-0, 1.76 with 31 strikeouts and three walks in 30.2 innings this season.
Harrison, meanwhile, might be the leading candidate for national Freshman of the Year honors after the season's first month. He is now hitting .426/.523/.889 with five homers and 19 RBIs. He sure looks like a worthy successor to Michael Conforto as a fearsome presence in the heart of the OSU order.
5. Hold on-what about Carson Cross?
UConn Huskies logoFine; nobody gets to be pitcher of the day-it's too hard to choose just one. Connecticut ace Carson Cross was masterful in a 4-1 win against Florida International, striking out 15 without issuing a walk while allowing just a run on two hits in a complete game. It was the most strikeouts by a UConn pitcher in head coach Jim Penders' 12-year tenure. Cross gave up a double to the first batter of the game and then retired 27 of the next 29, including a streak of 18 straight. And he did it against an FIU lineup that has plenty of talent and scored 46 runs in four games against Manhattan last weekend. Cross now has 41 strikeouts in 26.2 innings on the season. The further removed he gets from the shoulder surgery that cost him all of last season, the better his stuff should get.
But the senior's savvy is special. In a postgame interview with UConn's official website, Cross said he noticed early in the game that FIU's hitters were hunting fastballs, so he attacked them with his slider. The second and third time through the lineup, he said the Panthers were anxious about the slider, so he came back after them with fastballs. Scouts who have seen Cross early this year said he had not shown his best stuff, but his ability to set hitters up and sit them down is very advanced, as he showed once again Friday.
6. Dillon Tate continues to dominate.
UCS Santa Barbara logoLast week against Oregon, the UC Santa Barbara ace righthander carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning but wound up taking the loss. A crosschecker who was on hand called him "unreal" and said he carried his 94-97 mph velocity throughout his start and showed an excellent hard slider. His new role as a starting pitcher certainly seems to suit him well.
He was even better this week against Sacramento State, striking out 10 and allowing three walks and five hits over seven shutout innings to lead the Gauchos to a 2-0 win against Sacramento State and ace Brennan Leitao (5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER). Tate improved to 3-1, 0.96 with 35 strikeouts and 11 walks in 28 innings. A month into the season, Tate looks like a leading candidate for national pitcher of the year honors, along with Eshelman and Moore.
7. Illinois continues its hot start.
Illinois Fighting Illini logoThe Fighting Illini got a second straight strong outing from ace lefty Kevin Duchene (7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) and a big game from leadoff man Adam Walton (3-for-5 with a two-run homer and an RBI triple) to win the opener of its big series at Oklahoma State, 6-2. The Illini out-hit the Cowboys 10-5 and played error-free defense, and Tyler Jay shut the door with 1 2/3 innings of shutout relief. Illinois improved to 10-2-1, its best start since it opened the 2009 season 11-2. As I wrote in Thursday's Weekend Preview, this is a very dangerous club.
8. Wolf Pack wins Silver State showdown.
Nevada logoUNLV entered the season as one of the leading contenders to win the Mountain West Conference, but the tide may be turning in the Silver State. Nevada overcame a 4-1 deficit with four runs in the seventh inning Friday to beat the Revels 5-4 in Las Vegas. The Wolf Pack improved to 12-1 overall and 4-0 in the MWC, while the Rebels fell to 6-6 overall and 0-4 in conference play. Nevada's win snapped its six-game losing streak against UNLV.
The Wolf Pack has shown toughness in the late innings several times already this year-this team has real moxie. On Friday, Nevada had just one hit though the first six innings against D.J. Myers before rallying in the seventh. Two-way player Christian Stolo made his first plate appearance of the season and delivered a go-ahead two-run single to cap the rally.
"This was great perseverance by our guys tonight," second-year Nevada head coach Jay Johnson said. "We overcame a lot of adversity early in the game in a hostile environment. I am proud of them for staying with it and focusing on their play."
9. New Mexico strikes first in other big MWC clash.
New Mexico LogoThe Lobos got nice performances from Chris DeVito and Cory Voss, who each went 2-for-4 with three RBIs to lead UNM to a 6-2 win against San Diego State. Toller Boardman (6.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER) continues to shine in his first year in Albuquerque, giving the Lobos an ace who can match up with any Friday starter in the Mountain West-including San Diego State's accomplished bulldog, Bubba Derby (5.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K). These two clubs entered the weekend with a combined 19-3 record, so this series is a nice measuring stick for both of them. This conference race is sure to have plenty of twists and turns; stay tuned.
10. Favorites mostly take care of business in opening day of ACC play.
Florida State's Mike Compton (Ross Obley/FSU Athletics)
Florida State's Mike Compton (Ross Obley/FSU Athletics)
The opener of the big Miami-Louisville series was postponed by weather until Saturday, but the other four games on the ACC schedule all went down as scheduled, and the higher-profile team won three of them. North Carolina got a brilliant outing from righthander Zac Gallen (7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 12 K) and a big game from Skye Bolt (3-for-5, 3 R, 2 RBI)-hitting leadoff in his return to the starting lineup after a two-game absence-to beat Duke 8-1. Clemson got another strong effort from ace lefty Matthew Crownover (7 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K) and broke open a close game with five runs in the seventh to beat NC State 6-4. And Florida State rode a two-hit shutout from Mike Compton (who struck out seven and issued just one walk) to a 7-0 win against Boston College.
The lone "upset" was Notre Dame's 3-2 win against Georgia Tech in 10 innings. Brad Bass and Peter Solomon combined for 3 2/3 innings of two-hit, shutout relief of Scott Kerrigan (6.1 IP, 6 H, 2 ER), and Kyle Fiala delivered a tie-breaking RBI single in the 10th. The Fighting Irish improved to 11-1 overall, and one more win this weekend would serve notice to the rest of the ACC that Notre Dame will be a force to be reckoned with this spring.
D1 - Ten Thoughts: Friday, March 6
1. Vanderbilt plays like the top-ranked team in the country.
Vanderbilt University logoOne of the season's most anticipated games took place here in Los Angeles on Friday, as No. 1 Vanderbilt (the 2014 national champion) took on No. 4 UCLA (the 2013 national champ) in a matchup between two teams with an aggregate record of 21-3 heading into the day. It was a battle between two hot offenses and two marquee junior righthanders, and Vanderbilt's Carson Fulmer got the better of UCLA's James Kaprielian, as the Commodores won 6-0. The reigning champs looked like the part of the juggernaut, stringing together quality at-bats, playing strong defense (especially in the middle infield) and holding UCLA's potent offense scoreless.
Kaprielian was not sharp in the first two innings, and Vandy capitalized. He walked leadoff man Bryan Reynolds to start the game, then surrendered back-to-back singles to Rhett Wiseman and Dansby Swanson, as the Commodores jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first and never looked back. Kaprielian struggled to locate his 88-91 mph fastball early in the game and also left his 83-85 slider up in the zone. He found his feel for his 78-81 curveball starting in the second inning and relied upon it heavily. He kept UCLA in the game with three consecutive strikeouts in the second to strand runners at second and third, and the last two punchouts in that frame were on very good back-foot curveballs to lefthanded hitters Reynolds and Wiseman. He struck out four more batters over the next two innings before serving up a homer to Wiseman on a changeup in the fifth, and allowing a leadoff double to Will Toffey in the sixth. That turned into a two-run rally that effectively put the game out of reach. But the tone was set in the first inning.
"We know the kid has a lot of confidence in his secondary pitches, but you had to stay on fastball and you had to keep the zone," Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin said of his team's plan of attack against Kaprielian. "We had to keep command of the strike zone as much as possible offensively, and if he was going to throw the secondary pitches away from us or down, then we had to do a nice job of not offering. I think we were fortunate to get a great first at-bat by Reynolds to get eight pitches, then we executed the hit-and-run, and from there we kind of threw the first punch, so to speak, and after that there were some add-on runs. But he's just a guy that you just have to hang in there with because he's not going to give in, so you just have to stay with him. There were some innings later that were a little quicker, but we did some nice damage in the first three innings."
Fulmer's stuff was more electric; he held his 91-94 mph velocity throughout his 6 1/3-inning outing and touched 95 several times. As the game wore on, he did a better job finishing his 79-82 mph power curveball and also showed good feel for his 86-88 changeup, which he occasionally threw right-on-right. UCLA had its share of scoring opportunities against Fulmer, who issued five walks and hit a batter, but he made big pitches in tight spots, as he usually does, to escape unscathed. The biggest spot came in the second, when he struck out dangerous Kevin Kramer on a 93 mph fastball to strand the bases loaded.
"I really thought Vanderbilt outplayed us in every phase," UCLA coach John Savage said. "They out-pitched us; now, we did get good swings off Fulmer early, and we had some chances. He didn't crack. He bent, but he didn't crack. You've got to give him credit because he walked five, and we chased a couple 3-2 pitches that were, you know, balls. He hit a guy. But he didn't give up one run. So you've got to give him credit for making pitches when he had to. I thought they clearly had better at-bats throughout the game, and they pecked away. So they outplayed us in every phase. And they deserved to win, and we deserved to lose."
I'll have plenty more on the always-entertaining Fulmer in the next few days.
2. USC shows resilience.
Southern California logoIn the other game at the Dodgertown Classic, Southern California won a wild 7-6 affair in 12 innings against No. 6 TCU. The Trojans carried a comfortable 6-2 lead into the ninth with bullpen ace Kyle Davis on the mound to close it out, but two errors in the ninth helped TCU score four runs to force extra innings. But the Trojans did not fold, as Davis kept the Frogs scoreless over the next three innings, and USC won it on a walk-off squeeze play in the bottom of the 12th. Our Shotgun Spratling was on hand for that one and will have more details, but the primary takeaway is that USC showed admirable toughness by not folding after blowing that four-run ninth inning. However, later this weekend the Trojans could regret having to burn Davis, who threw 68 pitches over 4 1/3 innings.
3. Thomas Eshelman must be the pitcher of the day
Cal State Fullerton's Thomas Eshelman (Shotgun Spratling)
Cal State Fullerton's Thomas Eshelman (Shotgun Spratling)
Eshelman might wind up being the pitcher of the year, too, because he never has a bad outing. Even when he loses, he only gives up a run or two, and no pitcher in college baseball can match his superb command. He was at his very best on Friday, striking out a career-high 14 and walking one in a five-hit shutout against an explosive Texas Tech offense that had outscored its opponents 85-45 heading into the weekend. Eshelman (2-2, 1.23 with 39 strikeouts and four walks in 29.1 innings) smothered the Red Raiders with strikes, as is his way: He threw 119 pitches, and 89 of them were strikes. (For the sake of comparison, Fulmer threw 112 pitches over 6 1/3 innings, and only half of them-56-were strikes. Two pitchers could not be more different stylistically, but both are extremely effective and fun to watch.)
Spratling detailed Fullerton's offensive improvement in a great piece leading into the weekend, and the Titans continued to rap out hits Friday, tallying 10 hits in a 4-0 win. Jake Jefferies and A.J. Kennedy led the way, combining to go 7-for-7 with three RBIs.
4. Unless Andrew Moore was the pitcher of the day.
Oregon State logoOregon State's junior ace righthander did not match Eshelman's shutout, but he did hold Fresno State to just a run on three hits and a walk while striking out 10 over 10 innings, and the Beavers won it 2-1 on K.J. Harrison's walk-off homer in the 11th. Moore was even more efficient than Eshelman, throwing just 112 pitches over his 10 innings of work (81 for strikes). Moore sometimes seems to fly under the radar, but he is similar stylistically to Eshelman-both have good command of solid four-pitch repertoires that include fringe-average fastballs, and both pound the strike zone. Moore is now 1-0, 1.76 with 31 strikeouts and three walks in 30.2 innings this season.
Harrison, meanwhile, might be the leading candidate for national Freshman of the Year honors after the season's first month. He is now hitting .426/.523/.889 with five homers and 19 RBIs. He sure looks like a worthy successor to Michael Conforto as a fearsome presence in the heart of the OSU order.
5. Hold on-what about Carson Cross?
UConn Huskies logoFine; nobody gets to be pitcher of the day-it's too hard to choose just one. Connecticut ace Carson Cross was masterful in a 4-1 win against Florida International, striking out 15 without issuing a walk while allowing just a run on two hits in a complete game. It was the most strikeouts by a UConn pitcher in head coach Jim Penders' 12-year tenure. Cross gave up a double to the first batter of the game and then retired 27 of the next 29, including a streak of 18 straight. And he did it against an FIU lineup that has plenty of talent and scored 46 runs in four games against Manhattan last weekend. Cross now has 41 strikeouts in 26.2 innings on the season. The further removed he gets from the shoulder surgery that cost him all of last season, the better his stuff should get.
But the senior's savvy is special. In a postgame interview with UConn's official website, Cross said he noticed early in the game that FIU's hitters were hunting fastballs, so he attacked them with his slider. The second and third time through the lineup, he said the Panthers were anxious about the slider, so he came back after them with fastballs. Scouts who have seen Cross early this year said he had not shown his best stuff, but his ability to set hitters up and sit them down is very advanced, as he showed once again Friday.
6. Dillon Tate continues to dominate.
UCS Santa Barbara logoLast week against Oregon, the UC Santa Barbara ace righthander carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning but wound up taking the loss. A crosschecker who was on hand called him "unreal" and said he carried his 94-97 mph velocity throughout his start and showed an excellent hard slider. His new role as a starting pitcher certainly seems to suit him well.
He was even better this week against Sacramento State, striking out 10 and allowing three walks and five hits over seven shutout innings to lead the Gauchos to a 2-0 win against Sacramento State and ace Brennan Leitao (5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER). Tate improved to 3-1, 0.96 with 35 strikeouts and 11 walks in 28 innings. A month into the season, Tate looks like a leading candidate for national pitcher of the year honors, along with Eshelman and Moore.
7. Illinois continues its hot start.
Illinois Fighting Illini logoThe Fighting Illini got a second straight strong outing from ace lefty Kevin Duchene (7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) and a big game from leadoff man Adam Walton (3-for-5 with a two-run homer and an RBI triple) to win the opener of its big series at Oklahoma State, 6-2. The Illini out-hit the Cowboys 10-5 and played error-free defense, and Tyler Jay shut the door with 1 2/3 innings of shutout relief. Illinois improved to 10-2-1, its best start since it opened the 2009 season 11-2. As I wrote in Thursday's Weekend Preview, this is a very dangerous club.
8. Wolf Pack wins Silver State showdown.
Nevada logoUNLV entered the season as one of the leading contenders to win the Mountain West Conference, but the tide may be turning in the Silver State. Nevada overcame a 4-1 deficit with four runs in the seventh inning Friday to beat the Revels 5-4 in Las Vegas. The Wolf Pack improved to 12-1 overall and 4-0 in the MWC, while the Rebels fell to 6-6 overall and 0-4 in conference play. Nevada's win snapped its six-game losing streak against UNLV.
The Wolf Pack has shown toughness in the late innings several times already this year-this team has real moxie. On Friday, Nevada had just one hit though the first six innings against D.J. Myers before rallying in the seventh. Two-way player Christian Stolo made his first plate appearance of the season and delivered a go-ahead two-run single to cap the rally.
"This was great perseverance by our guys tonight," second-year Nevada head coach Jay Johnson said. "We overcame a lot of adversity early in the game in a hostile environment. I am proud of them for staying with it and focusing on their play."
9. New Mexico strikes first in other big MWC clash.
New Mexico LogoThe Lobos got nice performances from Chris DeVito and Cory Voss, who each went 2-for-4 with three RBIs to lead UNM to a 6-2 win against San Diego State. Toller Boardman (6.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER) continues to shine in his first year in Albuquerque, giving the Lobos an ace who can match up with any Friday starter in the Mountain West-including San Diego State's accomplished bulldog, Bubba Derby (5.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K). These two clubs entered the weekend with a combined 19-3 record, so this series is a nice measuring stick for both of them. This conference race is sure to have plenty of twists and turns; stay tuned.
10. Favorites mostly take care of business in opening day of ACC play.
Florida State's Mike Compton (Ross Obley/FSU Athletics)
Florida State's Mike Compton (Ross Obley/FSU Athletics)
The opener of the big Miami-Louisville series was postponed by weather until Saturday, but the other four games on the ACC schedule all went down as scheduled, and the higher-profile team won three of them. North Carolina got a brilliant outing from righthander Zac Gallen (7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 12 K) and a big game from Skye Bolt (3-for-5, 3 R, 2 RBI)-hitting leadoff in his return to the starting lineup after a two-game absence-to beat Duke 8-1. Clemson got another strong effort from ace lefty Matthew Crownover (7 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K) and broke open a close game with five runs in the seventh to beat NC State 6-4. And Florida State rode a two-hit shutout from Mike Compton (who struck out seven and issued just one walk) to a 7-0 win against Boston College.
The lone "upset" was Notre Dame's 3-2 win against Georgia Tech in 10 innings. Brad Bass and Peter Solomon combined for 3 2/3 innings of two-hit, shutout relief of Scott Kerrigan (6.1 IP, 6 H, 2 ER), and Kyle Fiala delivered a tie-breaking RBI single in the 10th. The Fighting Irish improved to 11-1 overall, and one more win this weekend would serve notice to the rest of the ACC that Notre Dame will be a force to be reckoned with this spring.
D1 - Ten Thoughts: Friday, March 6
BA - Friday Roundup: Heels Utilize Zac Attack
Zac Gallen got the baseball version of the "it's not you, it's me" speech just before North Carolina's season began.
As a true freshman, Gallen was the Tar Heels' Sunday starter last season. He ended up leading the team in starts, posted a 4.64 ERA and earned a spot in the Cape Cod League last summer.
Those kind of credentials usually earn a promotion to Saturday starter as a sophomore with an eye on possibly becoming the Friday starter as a junior.
Instead Gallen was sent to the bullpen. Before the first weekend of the season, the coaching staff told Gallen that he was no longer in the Tar Heels' weekend rotation. It wasn't anything Gallen had done, but electric freshman J.B. Bukauskas, one of the top recruits in the country, had earned the weekend role.
Gallen admits that he was shocked, a little hurt and more than a little angry. Pitching coach Scott Forbes told Gallen to trust that things would work out and three weeks later, they did.
After two weeks in the 'pen, an injury to reliever Reilly Hovis led to a shuffled rotation and a Saturday start for Gallen. He responded by allowing one earned run and striking out a career-best nine batters in a loss to Rhode Island.
This week, a decision to push back Benton Moss to Sunday for added rest gave Gallen the Friday start against conference rival Duke. And for the second straight week, Gallen set a career high for strikeouts. Gallen struck out 12 in seven strong innings as No. 20 North Carolina picked up an easy 8-1 win over the Blue Devils.
"He didn't pout. He wasn't happy about it but he didn't pout," North Carolina coach Mike Fox said. "He was prepared and he pitched great."
You can see the highlights here.
Even though he was sent to the 'pen to start the season, Gallen looks to be a significantly better pitcher than the one who started 17 games for North Carolina last year. He added a cutter last summer to give him a different look than the slider/changeup-heavy approach he used last year.
On Friday, Gallen was able to carve up Duke hitters by largely pitching off his fastball and cutter, using his changeup and slider sparingly. He didn't throw a pitcher harder than 90 mph all day, and he generally sat at 86-88 mph on a sunny day with temperatures just above freezing, but he consistently took advantage of Duke's hitters tendency to look for a pitch on the outer half late in the count, freezing them with pitches in on their hands.
Gallen struck out the side in the first and picked up 10 strikeouts in his first four innings. He didn't exit until after he faced one batter in the eighth. Gallen now has 23 strikeouts and two walks in 16 innings.
It's hard to see Gallen's strikeout wizardry continuing over the entire season. He saw his velocity jump to 92-94 mph for a while as a high school senior, but he's back to hitting his spots with a high 80s fastball in college.
But his new cutter, and his ability to hide the ball in a closed delivery, were baffling to Duke.
"It's kind of weird. I've never struck guys out. I've always been a pitch-to-contact guy," Gallen said.
With Bukauskas set to pitch on Saturday (against Michael Matuella) and Benton Moss starting on Sunday, North Carolina (9-3, 1-0 in the ACC) is now set up quite well in its first ACC series.
- J.J. Cooper
Maine at (4) Florida
Sophomore Logan Shore extended his scoreless streak to 23 1/3 innings dating back to the Gainesville Regional last year with eight scoreless innings and freshman Christian Hicks hit his first homer as the Gators blanked Maine 5-0.
You can see the highlights here.
Shore (3-0) allowed five hits and struck out five and junior Eric Hanhold closed it out in his first appearance of the season.
"The second inning he really bared down," coach Kevin O'Sullivan told gatorzone.com about Shore. "He threw all of his pitches for strikes, didn't misfire and he was really good tonight. That's the outing that we have been waiting for. He hadn't been as crisp his first few starts, but tonight he was really good. He has been working really hard on that breaking ball. It has been getting better and better each time out, but tonight it was probably the best that it has been. He threw it for strikes and down in the zone. Maine came out swinging the bats and they put the ball into play early on. That's why he was able to get through eight innings and stay within his pitch count. He had all three pitches working tonight."
TOP 25 UPSETS
(5) Texas Tech at Cal State Fullerton
Thomas Eshelman set a career best with 14 strikeouts, striking out five of the final six batters as he went the distance to beat Texas Tech 4-0. The Titans (7-5) won their fifth in a row as the junior righthander allowed only five hits and a walk and faced only four over the minimum, throwing 89 of his 119 pitches for strikes. Batterymate A.J. Kennedy was 4-for-4 to support Eshelman, with three doubles. Six of the Titans' 10 hits went for extra bases.
Texas Tech lefthander Cameron Smith held Fullerton scoreless until the sixth when Jerrod Bravo led off with a triple to right field and scored on a wild pitch by Red Raiders reliever Jacob Patterson. Kennedy added a two-run double later in the inning.
San Diego at (9) Mississippi State: The suddenly hot Toreros won their third in a row against a ranked team, holding on to beat the Bulldogs 2-1. San Diego, which swept a doubleheader against Texas in Austin on Sunday, certainly didn't knock the ball around, scoring both runs on wild pitches. But that was enough to send Mississippi State to its second straight loss after 13 wins to begin the season. Seth Heck's RBI single in the eighth brought the Bulldogs within a run, but in the ninth with the tying run on third, Anthony McIver got Ryan Gridley to pop out to seal the win for the Toreros (5-6).
Illinois at (10) Oklahoma State
Redshirt sophomore Adam Walton homered, tripled and knocked in three runs and the Illini beat a top-10 team for the first time in six years in a 6-2 win over the Cowboys. Junior lefthander Kevin Duchene (7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K) spun another gem and Tyler Jay got five outs for his fourth save. Duchene has struck out 15 against one walk in 14 innings so far.
"It was a great college baseball game," head coach Dan Hartleb told fightingillini.com. "I thought you had two very good teams on the field. We got a great start from Kevin who went out and pounded the strike zone. Adam had a great day at the plate and Will set the table for him. We came out with energy today, looked sharp and got the job done."
(14) Texas at Stanford
Taylor Stell hit a three-run home run to give Texas the early lead, but the Cardinal rallied for the upset in a 5-3 win. The Longhorns, swept at home in a doubleheader Sunday by San Diego, have lost four in a row.
TOP 25 MATCHUPS
(1) Vanderbilt vs (4) UCLA: Carson Fulmer won his duel with James Kaprielian and Rhett Wiseman homered as Vanderbilt blanked the high-scoring Bruins 6-0 at the Dodgertown Classic in Los Angeles. Mike Lananna has all the details in his roundup.
(2) LSU vs. (8) Houston
Connor Hale homered in a three-run first inning and Jared Poche' outdueled Andrew Lantrip as LSU beat host Houston 4-2 at the Houston College Classic. Jim Shonerd has more details in his roundup of the event.
(7) TCU vs (25) Southern California
The Horned Frogs rallied from four runs down in the ninth, but Timmy Robinson raced home on Blake Lacey's squeeze bunt in the bottom of the 12th inning as Southern Cal edged TCU 7-6 at the Dodgertown Classic.
USC scratched three runs off TCU starter Mitchell Traver, who had not allowed a run in 16 innings entering the game. A.J. Ramirez's home run in the sixth against TCU reliever Ryan Burnett gave USC a 6-2 lead. But the Horned Frogs rallied against reliever Kyle Davis in the ninth, scoring four times, with the big blow senior outfielder Cody Jones' two-run single.
OTHER TOP 25 RESULTS
Miami, Ohio at (12) South Carolina: Logan Koch accounted for all the scoring with a two-run homer and Wil Crowe, Vince Fiori and Taylor Widener combined on a five-hitter in the Gamecocks' 2-0 win. Crowe, the sophomore righthander, improved to 2-1 as he allowed five hits and three walks with eight strikeouts over seven shutout innings. You can see the highlights here.
"Wil was very effective and we played incredible defense behind Wil," coach Chad Holbrook told gamecocksonline.com. "(Vince) Fiori came in and was perfect and then Taylor (Widener) got the last out. We made some great plays defensively. Fiori made a great play on a bunt that went probably unnoticed; I think that was a great play. Elliott (Caldwell) made a nice play in right field. We pitched and played defense today and that's kind of what we talk about all the time. If you pitch and play defense you have a chance to win and that's what we did. It was just a great college baseball game."
St. John's at (19) Oregon: Matt Eureste scored from second base when St. John's shortstop Jarred Mederos threw Mitchell Tolman's grounder into the Oregon dugout as the Ducks escaped with a 4-3, 12-inning win Friday. Brandon Cuddy's three-run homer in the first looked like it would be enough for the Ducks, but the Red Storm rallied against Conor Harber and closer Garrett Cleavinger to tie it at 3-3. Cole Irvin continued to look solid in his return from Tommy John surgery with four scoreless innings for Oregon. He's allowed just one run in 15 innings this year.
Columbia at (13) Central Florida
The Knights banged out 13 hits-three from sophomore DH Matt Diorio-and senior righthander Zach Rodgers delivered seven solid innings in a 9-1 rout of Columbia. Touted two-way freshman Kyle Marsh knocked in two runs for the winners.
(15) Rice at Charlotte: Senior John Clay Reeves was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and junior righthander Kevin McCanna pitched solidly into the seventh in Rice's 4-2 win. McCanna allowed a run, five hits and three walks while striking out five. Matt Ditman finished up and struck out four for his third save. Reeves doubled home two runs in the first as the Owls got off to a quick start.
(22) Texas A&M at Nebraska: Junior JB Moss homered in the eighth to break a 1-1 tie and the Aggies improved to 14-0 to a 2-1 win at the Houston College Classic. Jim Shonerd has the full recap in his roundup from the event.
Long Beach State at (18) Arizona State
Sophomore righthander Seth Martinez made his first career Friday night start after a pair of midweek starts and was solid as the Sun Devils held off Long Beach State in a 6-4 win. Martinez allowed four hits and Eric Hutting's grand slam in the fourth. Arizona State got two hits each from Johnny Sewald, Jake Peevyhouse, Colby Woodmansee and RJ Ybarra.
(24) UC Santa Barbara at Sacramento State: Dillon Tate is certainly not slowing his rise up draft boards. The hard-throwing junior righthander struck out a career-high 10 batters in seven shutout innings as UC Santa Barbara blanked Sacramento State 2-0. Sophomore Andrew Calica had an RBI single in the fifth for all the runs Tate (3-1) would need. Junior closer James Carter pitched a perfect ninth for his fifth save and has not allowed a run in 9 2/3 innings. Sacramento State senior righthander Brennan Leitao, BA's pick for WAC pitcher of the year, was also solid, allowing six hits and two runs over five.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES
Clemson at N.C. State
Junior lefthander Matthew Crowover stifled the Wolfpack on two hits over seven innings in Clemson's 6-4 win. Crownover struck out seven and walked three to improved to 3-0. Clemson broke open a 1-0 game in the seventh with five runs as Jon Olczak threw three wild pitches to allow runs to score. Olczak had four wild pitches in 2 1/3 innings. Jake Armstrong and Preston Palmeiro homered to make the game close for the Wolfpack
Notre Dame at Georgia Tech: Sophomore Kyle Fiala singled to break a 2-2, 10th-inning tie as the Irish (11-1) won their 10th in a row.
"You get in a situation like that and you want to have a competitive at-bat," Fiala told und.com. "You want to get a hit, but you especially want to have good contact and put a good swing on a ball and give your team a chance to win."
Notre Dame freshman Brad Bass pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of Scott Kerrigan to get the win.
Gonzaga at Tulane: Fireballing sophomore righthander Brandon Bailey took a no-hitter into the sixth and outdueled Tulane's Corey Merrill in a 2-0 Gonzaga win. Bailey, who had Tommy John surgery in 2012, improved to 3-1 with 10 strikeouts in eight innings Friday. He has struck out 28 in 28 innings against just six walks this season. Merrill gave up only four hits and struck out eight in 8 1/3 innings, allowing Justin Jacobs' two-run single in the ninth.
BA - Friday Roundup: Heels Utilize Zac Attack
Zac Gallen got the baseball version of the "it's not you, it's me" speech just before North Carolina's season began.
As a true freshman, Gallen was the Tar Heels' Sunday starter last season. He ended up leading the team in starts, posted a 4.64 ERA and earned a spot in the Cape Cod League last summer.
Those kind of credentials usually earn a promotion to Saturday starter as a sophomore with an eye on possibly becoming the Friday starter as a junior.
Instead Gallen was sent to the bullpen. Before the first weekend of the season, the coaching staff told Gallen that he was no longer in the Tar Heels' weekend rotation. It wasn't anything Gallen had done, but electric freshman J.B. Bukauskas, one of the top recruits in the country, had earned the weekend role.
Gallen admits that he was shocked, a little hurt and more than a little angry. Pitching coach Scott Forbes told Gallen to trust that things would work out and three weeks later, they did.
After two weeks in the 'pen, an injury to reliever Reilly Hovis led to a shuffled rotation and a Saturday start for Gallen. He responded by allowing one earned run and striking out a career-best nine batters in a loss to Rhode Island.
This week, a decision to push back Benton Moss to Sunday for added rest gave Gallen the Friday start against conference rival Duke. And for the second straight week, Gallen set a career high for strikeouts. Gallen struck out 12 in seven strong innings as No. 20 North Carolina picked up an easy 8-1 win over the Blue Devils.
"He didn't pout. He wasn't happy about it but he didn't pout," North Carolina coach Mike Fox said. "He was prepared and he pitched great."
You can see the highlights here.
Even though he was sent to the 'pen to start the season, Gallen looks to be a significantly better pitcher than the one who started 17 games for North Carolina last year. He added a cutter last summer to give him a different look than the slider/changeup-heavy approach he used last year.
On Friday, Gallen was able to carve up Duke hitters by largely pitching off his fastball and cutter, using his changeup and slider sparingly. He didn't throw a pitcher harder than 90 mph all day, and he generally sat at 86-88 mph on a sunny day with temperatures just above freezing, but he consistently took advantage of Duke's hitters tendency to look for a pitch on the outer half late in the count, freezing them with pitches in on their hands.
Gallen struck out the side in the first and picked up 10 strikeouts in his first four innings. He didn't exit until after he faced one batter in the eighth. Gallen now has 23 strikeouts and two walks in 16 innings.
It's hard to see Gallen's strikeout wizardry continuing over the entire season. He saw his velocity jump to 92-94 mph for a while as a high school senior, but he's back to hitting his spots with a high 80s fastball in college.
But his new cutter, and his ability to hide the ball in a closed delivery, were baffling to Duke.
"It's kind of weird. I've never struck guys out. I've always been a pitch-to-contact guy," Gallen said.
With Bukauskas set to pitch on Saturday (against Michael Matuella) and Benton Moss starting on Sunday, North Carolina (9-3, 1-0 in the ACC) is now set up quite well in its first ACC series.
- J.J. Cooper
Maine at (4) Florida
Sophomore Logan Shore extended his scoreless streak to 23 1/3 innings dating back to the Gainesville Regional last year with eight scoreless innings and freshman Christian Hicks hit his first homer as the Gators blanked Maine 5-0.
You can see the highlights here.
Shore (3-0) allowed five hits and struck out five and junior Eric Hanhold closed it out in his first appearance of the season.
"The second inning he really bared down," coach Kevin O'Sullivan told gatorzone.com about Shore. "He threw all of his pitches for strikes, didn't misfire and he was really good tonight. That's the outing that we have been waiting for. He hadn't been as crisp his first few starts, but tonight he was really good. He has been working really hard on that breaking ball. It has been getting better and better each time out, but tonight it was probably the best that it has been. He threw it for strikes and down in the zone. Maine came out swinging the bats and they put the ball into play early on. That's why he was able to get through eight innings and stay within his pitch count. He had all three pitches working tonight."
TOP 25 UPSETS
(5) Texas Tech at Cal State Fullerton
Thomas Eshelman set a career best with 14 strikeouts, striking out five of the final six batters as he went the distance to beat Texas Tech 4-0. The Titans (7-5) won their fifth in a row as the junior righthander allowed only five hits and a walk and faced only four over the minimum, throwing 89 of his 119 pitches for strikes. Batterymate A.J. Kennedy was 4-for-4 to support Eshelman, with three doubles. Six of the Titans' 10 hits went for extra bases.
Texas Tech lefthander Cameron Smith held Fullerton scoreless until the sixth when Jerrod Bravo led off with a triple to right field and scored on a wild pitch by Red Raiders reliever Jacob Patterson. Kennedy added a two-run double later in the inning.
San Diego at (9) Mississippi State: The suddenly hot Toreros won their third in a row against a ranked team, holding on to beat the Bulldogs 2-1. San Diego, which swept a doubleheader against Texas in Austin on Sunday, certainly didn't knock the ball around, scoring both runs on wild pitches. But that was enough to send Mississippi State to its second straight loss after 13 wins to begin the season. Seth Heck's RBI single in the eighth brought the Bulldogs within a run, but in the ninth with the tying run on third, Anthony McIver got Ryan Gridley to pop out to seal the win for the Toreros (5-6).
Illinois at (10) Oklahoma State
Redshirt sophomore Adam Walton homered, tripled and knocked in three runs and the Illini beat a top-10 team for the first time in six years in a 6-2 win over the Cowboys. Junior lefthander Kevin Duchene (7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K) spun another gem and Tyler Jay got five outs for his fourth save. Duchene has struck out 15 against one walk in 14 innings so far.
"It was a great college baseball game," head coach Dan Hartleb told fightingillini.com. "I thought you had two very good teams on the field. We got a great start from Kevin who went out and pounded the strike zone. Adam had a great day at the plate and Will set the table for him. We came out with energy today, looked sharp and got the job done."
(14) Texas at Stanford
Taylor Stell hit a three-run home run to give Texas the early lead, but the Cardinal rallied for the upset in a 5-3 win. The Longhorns, swept at home in a doubleheader Sunday by San Diego, have lost four in a row.
TOP 25 MATCHUPS
(1) Vanderbilt vs (4) UCLA: Carson Fulmer won his duel with James Kaprielian and Rhett Wiseman homered as Vanderbilt blanked the high-scoring Bruins 6-0 at the Dodgertown Classic in Los Angeles. Mike Lananna has all the details in his roundup.
(2) LSU vs. (8) Houston
Connor Hale homered in a three-run first inning and Jared Poche' outdueled Andrew Lantrip as LSU beat host Houston 4-2 at the Houston College Classic. Jim Shonerd has more details in his roundup of the event.
(7) TCU vs (25) Southern California
The Horned Frogs rallied from four runs down in the ninth, but Timmy Robinson raced home on Blake Lacey's squeeze bunt in the bottom of the 12th inning as Southern Cal edged TCU 7-6 at the Dodgertown Classic.
USC scratched three runs off TCU starter Mitchell Traver, who had not allowed a run in 16 innings entering the game. A.J. Ramirez's home run in the sixth against TCU reliever Ryan Burnett gave USC a 6-2 lead. But the Horned Frogs rallied against reliever Kyle Davis in the ninth, scoring four times, with the big blow senior outfielder Cody Jones' two-run single.
OTHER TOP 25 RESULTS
Miami, Ohio at (12) South Carolina: Logan Koch accounted for all the scoring with a two-run homer and Wil Crowe, Vince Fiori and Taylor Widener combined on a five-hitter in the Gamecocks' 2-0 win. Crowe, the sophomore righthander, improved to 2-1 as he allowed five hits and three walks with eight strikeouts over seven shutout innings. You can see the highlights here.
"Wil was very effective and we played incredible defense behind Wil," coach Chad Holbrook told gamecocksonline.com. "(Vince) Fiori came in and was perfect and then Taylor (Widener) got the last out. We made some great plays defensively. Fiori made a great play on a bunt that went probably unnoticed; I think that was a great play. Elliott (Caldwell) made a nice play in right field. We pitched and played defense today and that's kind of what we talk about all the time. If you pitch and play defense you have a chance to win and that's what we did. It was just a great college baseball game."
St. John's at (19) Oregon: Matt Eureste scored from second base when St. John's shortstop Jarred Mederos threw Mitchell Tolman's grounder into the Oregon dugout as the Ducks escaped with a 4-3, 12-inning win Friday. Brandon Cuddy's three-run homer in the first looked like it would be enough for the Ducks, but the Red Storm rallied against Conor Harber and closer Garrett Cleavinger to tie it at 3-3. Cole Irvin continued to look solid in his return from Tommy John surgery with four scoreless innings for Oregon. He's allowed just one run in 15 innings this year.
Columbia at (13) Central Florida
The Knights banged out 13 hits-three from sophomore DH Matt Diorio-and senior righthander Zach Rodgers delivered seven solid innings in a 9-1 rout of Columbia. Touted two-way freshman Kyle Marsh knocked in two runs for the winners.
(15) Rice at Charlotte: Senior John Clay Reeves was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and junior righthander Kevin McCanna pitched solidly into the seventh in Rice's 4-2 win. McCanna allowed a run, five hits and three walks while striking out five. Matt Ditman finished up and struck out four for his third save. Reeves doubled home two runs in the first as the Owls got off to a quick start.
(22) Texas A&M at Nebraska: Junior JB Moss homered in the eighth to break a 1-1 tie and the Aggies improved to 14-0 to a 2-1 win at the Houston College Classic. Jim Shonerd has the full recap in his roundup from the event.
Long Beach State at (18) Arizona State
Sophomore righthander Seth Martinez made his first career Friday night start after a pair of midweek starts and was solid as the Sun Devils held off Long Beach State in a 6-4 win. Martinez allowed four hits and Eric Hutting's grand slam in the fourth. Arizona State got two hits each from Johnny Sewald, Jake Peevyhouse, Colby Woodmansee and RJ Ybarra.
(24) UC Santa Barbara at Sacramento State: Dillon Tate is certainly not slowing his rise up draft boards. The hard-throwing junior righthander struck out a career-high 10 batters in seven shutout innings as UC Santa Barbara blanked Sacramento State 2-0. Sophomore Andrew Calica had an RBI single in the fifth for all the runs Tate (3-1) would need. Junior closer James Carter pitched a perfect ninth for his fifth save and has not allowed a run in 9 2/3 innings. Sacramento State senior righthander Brennan Leitao, BA's pick for WAC pitcher of the year, was also solid, allowing six hits and two runs over five.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES
Clemson at N.C. State
Junior lefthander Matthew Crowover stifled the Wolfpack on two hits over seven innings in Clemson's 6-4 win. Crownover struck out seven and walked three to improved to 3-0. Clemson broke open a 1-0 game in the seventh with five runs as Jon Olczak threw three wild pitches to allow runs to score. Olczak had four wild pitches in 2 1/3 innings. Jake Armstrong and Preston Palmeiro homered to make the game close for the Wolfpack
Notre Dame at Georgia Tech: Sophomore Kyle Fiala singled to break a 2-2, 10th-inning tie as the Irish (11-1) won their 10th in a row.
"You get in a situation like that and you want to have a competitive at-bat," Fiala told und.com. "You want to get a hit, but you especially want to have good contact and put a good swing on a ball and give your team a chance to win."
Notre Dame freshman Brad Bass pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of Scott Kerrigan to get the win.
Gonzaga at Tulane: Fireballing sophomore righthander Brandon Bailey took a no-hitter into the sixth and outdueled Tulane's Corey Merrill in a 2-0 Gonzaga win. Bailey, who had Tommy John surgery in 2012, improved to 3-1 with 10 strikeouts in eight innings Friday. He has struck out 28 in 28 innings against just six walks this season. Merrill gave up only four hits and struck out eight in 8 1/3 innings, allowing Justin Jacobs' two-run single in the ninth.
BA - Friday Roundup: Heels Utilize Zac Attack
BA - Houston College Classic
HOUSTON-Louisiana State has other pitchers that throw harder or have nastier stuff than lefty Jared Poche'. Yet Poche' is the guy getting the ball on Friday nights for one of the nation's elite teams.
Sure, part of the reason is that Poche', a sophomore, has the edge in experience over his more touted rotation-mates, freshmen Alex Lange and Jake Godfrey, but there's more to it than that. As LSU head coach Paul Mainieri says, Poche' has that "It" factor. He's a winner. He did it in high school, pitching his team to a state title as a senior, and he won nine games as a Tiger freshman last year.
He just does it differently than your classic SEC Friday night ace.
"When (former Tiger Aaron) Nola pitched, it was just artisty," Mainieri said. "He could paint this, put it on the corner. He'd mix up his pitches. He made it look so easy. Poche' doesn't make it look easy. Poche's a grinder. He's just one of those guys that you've got to believe in him, because he's going to get in some jams but he never packs the tent. He never gives up."
Friday night checked both Poche's boxes, then. He won, improving to 4-0 as No. 2 LSU beat No. 8 Houston 4-2 in the showcase game of the first day at the Houston College Classic. And he didn't make it look easy, at least not at first.
The first hitter of the game, Houston's Kyle Survance, doubled to the gap in right-center field, although Poche' was able to fight his way through the inning without him scoring. However, Poche' continued to struggle to find a rhythm commanding any of his pitches-critical to every pitcher's surival but especially his as a guy with a mostly 87-91 mph fastball-and with maintaining the shape of his curveball throughout the early innings.
He faced his biggest challenge in the third, when Houston pushed across one run and had the bases loaded with two outs for hot-hitting freshman Connor Wong. Wong had stung the ball in his first at-bat, only to be robbed by a diving catch by star shortstop Alex Bregman, but this time Poche' buckled down and got Wong to roll over an easy grounder to third base.
The Cougars would never threaten him again.
Poche' got stronger as the game went along. From the fourth inning through when he was pulled with two outs in the eighth, only one Houston hitter reached base.
"When things aren't going your way, as far as feel for your pitches and everything, you just gotta keep battling," Poche' said. "(Pitching coach Alan Dunn) always tells us you're not going to have your best stuff every time, so you just gotta go out there and battle. Eventually it should start working. It started working probably about the fourth, fifth inning today."
Granted, that one Cougar to reach came in the form of a home run just over the right-center field fence by Jacob Campbell, but Poche' knew a solo shot wouldn't beat him. Completely unfazed, he smothered whatever momentum Houston might've gained by retiring the next eight hitters in a row, three via strikeouts.
"He might give up a hit or give up a home run or something, but he's never going to start having self-doubts," Mainieri said. "He reminds me of a lot of (former LSU pitcher and current big leaguer) Louis Coleman that way. Louis would give up a home run because he threw the ball over the plate and it wasn't overpowering stuff, but then the next batter he'd come right back and strike him out. He was just fearless that way. As a coach, you believe in kids that show that kind of character."
Moss Lifts Aggies Past Huskers
J.B. Moss
J.B. Moss' homer made the difference against Nebraska (Photo by Andrew Woolley)
The home run is a weapon again in college baseball. Just look at Texas A&M-they hit them when they're not even trying.
The Aggies entered the Houston College Classic tied for the national lead in homers (17) and among the leaders in scoring, but they were stifled for seven innings by Nebraska senior righthander Chance Sinclair. Sinclair had retired 17 straight Aggie hitters when No. 9 man J.B. Moss stepped to the plate with out in the eighth inning of a 1-1 game.
"I always told myself not to try to do too much," Moss said. "Honestly, I was just trying to help the team out, try to make something happen for the team. My job is to get on base. The home run was the furthest thing from my mind. Eighth inning. Tie ball game. I was just trying to be a spark for the team."
He was a spark, all right. Sinclair left a fastball up with his second pitch to Moss, and the Aggie center fielder drove it into the famous Crawford Boxes above the left field wall at Minute Maid Park. Moss' homer was the Aggies' only hit after the second inning, but it was enough to power them to a 2-1 win and keep their perfect record intact at 14-0.
"Coach was telling us he likes to throw 1-0 changeups," Moss said, "so I was just trying to stay over the baseball, try to hit it hard."
The Huskers have struggled for offense in the early portion of the season and got little off A&M starter A.J. Minter, the converted reliever who's emerged at the front of the rotation as a junior, allowing only two runs now over his first four starts. The Aggie bullpen was even better, as Ty Schlottmann, Andrew Vinson and Mark Ecker combined on four no-hit innings after the Aggie coaches decided to lift Minter at 70 pitches.
The Aggies have put up more than their share of crooked numbers offensively, but now they're showing they can win tight, low-scoring battles as well.
"We're going to be in a lot of close games," A&M head coach Rob Childress said. "When you play good people, that's the way it's going to be. Playing with that pressure, I think, is only going to help us as we continue to move forward as a team."
BA - Houston College Classic
HOUSTON-Louisiana State has other pitchers that throw harder or have nastier stuff than lefty Jared Poche'. Yet Poche' is the guy getting the ball on Friday nights for one of the nation's elite teams.
Sure, part of the reason is that Poche', a sophomore, has the edge in experience over his more touted rotation-mates, freshmen Alex Lange and Jake Godfrey, but there's more to it than that. As LSU head coach Paul Mainieri says, Poche' has that "It" factor. He's a winner. He did it in high school, pitching his team to a state title as a senior, and he won nine games as a Tiger freshman last year.
He just does it differently than your classic SEC Friday night ace.
"When (former Tiger Aaron) Nola pitched, it was just artisty," Mainieri said. "He could paint this, put it on the corner. He'd mix up his pitches. He made it look so easy. Poche' doesn't make it look easy. Poche's a grinder. He's just one of those guys that you've got to believe in him, because he's going to get in some jams but he never packs the tent. He never gives up."
Friday night checked both Poche's boxes, then. He won, improving to 4-0 as No. 2 LSU beat No. 8 Houston 4-2 in the showcase game of the first day at the Houston College Classic. And he didn't make it look easy, at least not at first.
The first hitter of the game, Houston's Kyle Survance, doubled to the gap in right-center field, although Poche' was able to fight his way through the inning without him scoring. However, Poche' continued to struggle to find a rhythm commanding any of his pitches-critical to every pitcher's surival but especially his as a guy with a mostly 87-91 mph fastball-and with maintaining the shape of his curveball throughout the early innings.
He faced his biggest challenge in the third, when Houston pushed across one run and had the bases loaded with two outs for hot-hitting freshman Connor Wong. Wong had stung the ball in his first at-bat, only to be robbed by a diving catch by star shortstop Alex Bregman, but this time Poche' buckled down and got Wong to roll over an easy grounder to third base.
The Cougars would never threaten him again.
Poche' got stronger as the game went along. From the fourth inning through when he was pulled with two outs in the eighth, only one Houston hitter reached base.
"When things aren't going your way, as far as feel for your pitches and everything, you just gotta keep battling," Poche' said. "(Pitching coach Alan Dunn) always tells us you're not going to have your best stuff every time, so you just gotta go out there and battle. Eventually it should start working. It started working probably about the fourth, fifth inning today."
Granted, that one Cougar to reach came in the form of a home run just over the right-center field fence by Jacob Campbell, but Poche' knew a solo shot wouldn't beat him. Completely unfazed, he smothered whatever momentum Houston might've gained by retiring the next eight hitters in a row, three via strikeouts.
"He might give up a hit or give up a home run or something, but he's never going to start having self-doubts," Mainieri said. "He reminds me of a lot of (former LSU pitcher and current big leaguer) Louis Coleman that way. Louis would give up a home run because he threw the ball over the plate and it wasn't overpowering stuff, but then the next batter he'd come right back and strike him out. He was just fearless that way. As a coach, you believe in kids that show that kind of character."
Moss Lifts Aggies Past Huskers
J.B. Moss
J.B. Moss' homer made the difference against Nebraska (Photo by Andrew Woolley)
The home run is a weapon again in college baseball. Just look at Texas A&M-they hit them when they're not even trying.
The Aggies entered the Houston College Classic tied for the national lead in homers (17) and among the leaders in scoring, but they were stifled for seven innings by Nebraska senior righthander Chance Sinclair. Sinclair had retired 17 straight Aggie hitters when No. 9 man J.B. Moss stepped to the plate with out in the eighth inning of a 1-1 game.
"I always told myself not to try to do too much," Moss said. "Honestly, I was just trying to help the team out, try to make something happen for the team. My job is to get on base. The home run was the furthest thing from my mind. Eighth inning. Tie ball game. I was just trying to be a spark for the team."
He was a spark, all right. Sinclair left a fastball up with his second pitch to Moss, and the Aggie center fielder drove it into the famous Crawford Boxes above the left field wall at Minute Maid Park. Moss' homer was the Aggies' only hit after the second inning, but it was enough to power them to a 2-1 win and keep their perfect record intact at 14-0.
"Coach was telling us he likes to throw 1-0 changeups," Moss said, "so I was just trying to stay over the baseball, try to hit it hard."
The Huskers have struggled for offense in the early portion of the season and got little off A&M starter A.J. Minter, the converted reliever who's emerged at the front of the rotation as a junior, allowing only two runs now over his first four starts. The Aggie bullpen was even better, as Ty Schlottmann, Andrew Vinson and Mark Ecker combined on four no-hit innings after the Aggie coaches decided to lift Minter at 70 pitches.
The Aggies have put up more than their share of crooked numbers offensively, but now they're showing they can win tight, low-scoring battles as well.
"We're going to be in a lot of close games," A&M head coach Rob Childress said. "When you play good people, that's the way it's going to be. Playing with that pressure, I think, is only going to help us as we continue to move forward as a team."
BA - Houston College Classic
CBI: Around the Bases (3/6)
Hale homers as LSU tops Houston
Vanderbilt blanks UCLA, USC nips TCU in 12, Fullerton shuts out Tech
No. 5 LSU 4, No. 11 Houston 2
In Houston, Conner Hale ripped a two-run homer to key a three-run first, and Jared Poche' yielded two runs and four hits in 7.2 innings as LSU slipped past Houston at the Houston College Classic at Minute Maid Park. Alex Bregman added two hits and a run, and Hale finished 2 for 4 with two runs and two RBI for the Tigers (13-1). Jesse Stallings tossed the ninth inning to pick up his sixth save. Jacob Campbell went 2 for 4 with a solo homer for the Cougars (8-6). Houston's Andrew Lantrip tossed a complete game with nine hits and three earned runs.
No. 2 Vanderbilt 6, No. 6 UCLA 0
In Los Angeles, Cason Fulmer allowed three hits, walked five and struck out nine in 6.1 scoreless innings as Vanderbilt shut down UCLA. Philip Pfeifer closed with 2.2 hitless innings as the Commodores (11-2) quieted a potent Bruins offense that entered averaging nearly nine runs a game. Karl Elison went 3 for 4 with an RBI, and Rhett Wiseman went 2 for 4 with a solo homer and two runs for Vanderbilt. James Kaprielian (3-1) allowed eight hits, four runs (three earned) and struck out nine in 5.1 innings for the Bruins (11-2).
USC 7, No. 4 TCU 6 (12 innings)
In Los Angeles, Blake Lacey's squeeze bunt plated Timmy Richardson with the game-winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning as USC edged TCU. The Trojans (13-1) led 6-2 entering the ninth, but the Frogs (8-2) rallied for four runs, two coming on Cody Jones' single. Kyle Davis (1-0) tossed 4.1 innings, including working around an error in the ninth, and allowed four hits (one earned) and struck out six for USC. Lacey, David Oppenheim and AJ Ramirez (HR) each drove in two - Lacey's second came when Richardson ran through the catcher to score the winning run. Dante Flores added a 3-for-3 day with a run, and Robinson had two hits, two runs and an RBI for the Trojans. Nolan Brown went 3 for 5 with three runs, and Keaton Jones went 4 for 5 with a run and RBI for the Frogs.
Cal State Fullerton 4, No. 7 Texas Tech 0
In Fullerton, Calif., Thomas Eshelman allowed five hits and struck out 14 in a complete-game shutout of Texas Tech. A.J. Kennedy went 4 for 4 with three doubles and two RBI, and Jake Jefferies went 3 for 3 with a double, RBI and run as the Titans (7-5) won their fifth straight. Eshelman (2-2) struck out a career-high and now has 39 strikeouts and four walks in 29.1 innings. He lowered his ERA to 1.23. The Red Raiders fell to 10-2.
No. 10 Oregon 4, St. John's 3 (12 innings)
In Eugene, Ore., Matt Eureste scored on an error in the bottom of the 12th as Oregon slipped past St. John's after losing a three-run lead in the ninth inning. Brandon Cuddy hit a three-run homer in the first inning for the Ducks (11-2), and Cole Irvin (4 IP, 2 H) and Conor Harber (4.1 IP, 3 R) were cruising until the Red Storm (5-5) scored three times to force extras. Bret Dennis delivered a two-run single to tie the game for St. John's, which limited Oregon to four hits, none past the fourth inning.
No. 13 Rice 4, Charlotte 2
In Charlotte, John Clay Reeves went 3 for 4 with two RBI, and Kevin McCanna worked into the seventh inning as Rice got by Charlotte in their Conference USA opener. McCanna (2-1) allowed five hits and one earned run in 6.2 innings before turning it over to Matt Ditman, who closed with 2.1 innings and his third save for the Owls (1-0, 9-6). Brett Netzer went 3 for 4 with a run for the 49ers (0-1, 4-3).
San Diego 2, No. 8 Mississippi State 1
In Starkville, Miss., David Hill allowed four hits and struck out six in seven scoreless innings as San Diego followed up its impressive weekend at Texas by taking the first game of its series with Mississippi State. The Toreros (5-6) scored on wild pitches in the second and fourth innings, and Anthony McIver stranded the tying run at third base in the ninth. Ryan Kirby went 2 for 2 for USD, which was held to six hits. Seth Heck had two hits and an RBI, and Cody Brown had two hits and a run for the Bulldogs (13-2).
No. 3 Florida 5, Maine 0
In Gainesville, Fla., Logan Shore allowed five hits and struck out five in eight scoreless innings, stretching his scoreless-innings streak to 23.1 innings, as Florida blanked Maine. Christian Hicks hit a solo homer and scored twice, and Dalton Guthrie went 2 for 5 with a run as the Gators (12-2) took control with a four-run second inning. Luke Morrill had two hits for the Black Bears (4-10).
No. 9 South Carolina 2, Miami (Ohio) 0
In Columbia, S.C., Logan Koch ripped a two-run homer in the second inning, and Wil Crowe made it stick with seven scoreless innings as South Carolina edged Miami (Ohio). Crowe struck out eight and allowed five hits, and Taylor Widener posted his fourth save for the Gamecocks (10-3). Ryan Powers (1-3) allowed four hits and struck out two in 7.1 solid innings for the RedHawks (2-6).
No. 12 UCF 9, Columbia 1
In Orlando, Zach Rodgers allowed five hits and one run in seven splendid innings as UCF used a four-run seventh inning to pull away from Columbia. Dylan Moore and Jordan Savinon had two hits and two RBI apiece, and Matt Diorio went 3 for 4 with two runs and an RBI for the Knights (12-2). Joey Falcone went 2 for 3 with a solo homer for the Lions (2-3).
Illinois 6, No. 16 Oklahoma State 2
In Stillwater, Okla., Kevin Duchene allowed three hits in seven brilliant innings, and Adam Walton went 3 for 4 with a triple, homer, three runs and three RBI as Illinois won the opener of its series with Oklahoma State. Duchene (2-0) walked one, struck out six and surrendered one earned run, and Tyler Jay earned his fourth save with 1.2 scoreless innings for the Fighting Illini (10-2-1). Will Krug added two hits and two runs for Illinois, which has only allowed more than three runs in a game once this season. Conor Costello had two of the five hits for the Cowboys (7-5).
No. 19 North Carolina 8, Duke 1
In Chapel Hill, N.C., Zac Gallen struck out 12 in pitching into the eighth inning, and Skye Bolt drove in two runs as North Carolina opened ACC play with a win over Duke. Gallen (1-1) allowed four hits and one unearned run for the Tar Heels (1-0, 9-3). Bolt finished 3 for 5 with three runs, and Korey Dunbar added two hits, including a triple, run and RBI for Carolina. Andrew Istler (1-1) suffered the loss for Duke (0-1, 10-2).
CBI: Around the Bases (3/6)
Hale homers as LSU tops Houston
Vanderbilt blanks UCLA, USC nips TCU in 12, Fullerton shuts out Tech
No. 5 LSU 4, No. 11 Houston 2
In Houston, Conner Hale ripped a two-run homer to key a three-run first, and Jared Poche' yielded two runs and four hits in 7.2 innings as LSU slipped past Houston at the Houston College Classic at Minute Maid Park. Alex Bregman added two hits and a run, and Hale finished 2 for 4 with two runs and two RBI for the Tigers (13-1). Jesse Stallings tossed the ninth inning to pick up his sixth save. Jacob Campbell went 2 for 4 with a solo homer for the Cougars (8-6). Houston's Andrew Lantrip tossed a complete game with nine hits and three earned runs.
No. 2 Vanderbilt 6, No. 6 UCLA 0
In Los Angeles, Cason Fulmer allowed three hits, walked five and struck out nine in 6.1 scoreless innings as Vanderbilt shut down UCLA. Philip Pfeifer closed with 2.2 hitless innings as the Commodores (11-2) quieted a potent Bruins offense that entered averaging nearly nine runs a game. Karl Elison went 3 for 4 with an RBI, and Rhett Wiseman went 2 for 4 with a solo homer and two runs for Vanderbilt. James Kaprielian (3-1) allowed eight hits, four runs (three earned) and struck out nine in 5.1 innings for the Bruins (11-2).
USC 7, No. 4 TCU 6 (12 innings)
In Los Angeles, Blake Lacey's squeeze bunt plated Timmy Richardson with the game-winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning as USC edged TCU. The Trojans (13-1) led 6-2 entering the ninth, but the Frogs (8-2) rallied for four runs, two coming on Cody Jones' single. Kyle Davis (1-0) tossed 4.1 innings, including working around an error in the ninth, and allowed four hits (one earned) and struck out six for USC. Lacey, David Oppenheim and AJ Ramirez (HR) each drove in two - Lacey's second came when Richardson ran through the catcher to score the winning run. Dante Flores added a 3-for-3 day with a run, and Robinson had two hits, two runs and an RBI for the Trojans. Nolan Brown went 3 for 5 with three runs, and Keaton Jones went 4 for 5 with a run and RBI for the Frogs.
Cal State Fullerton 4, No. 7 Texas Tech 0
In Fullerton, Calif., Thomas Eshelman allowed five hits and struck out 14 in a complete-game shutout of Texas Tech. A.J. Kennedy went 4 for 4 with three doubles and two RBI, and Jake Jefferies went 3 for 3 with a double, RBI and run as the Titans (7-5) won their fifth straight. Eshelman (2-2) struck out a career-high and now has 39 strikeouts and four walks in 29.1 innings. He lowered his ERA to 1.23. The Red Raiders fell to 10-2.
No. 10 Oregon 4, St. John's 3 (12 innings)
In Eugene, Ore., Matt Eureste scored on an error in the bottom of the 12th as Oregon slipped past St. John's after losing a three-run lead in the ninth inning. Brandon Cuddy hit a three-run homer in the first inning for the Ducks (11-2), and Cole Irvin (4 IP, 2 H) and Conor Harber (4.1 IP, 3 R) were cruising until the Red Storm (5-5) scored three times to force extras. Bret Dennis delivered a two-run single to tie the game for St. John's, which limited Oregon to four hits, none past the fourth inning.
No. 13 Rice 4, Charlotte 2
In Charlotte, John Clay Reeves went 3 for 4 with two RBI, and Kevin McCanna worked into the seventh inning as Rice got by Charlotte in their Conference USA opener. McCanna (2-1) allowed five hits and one earned run in 6.2 innings before turning it over to Matt Ditman, who closed with 2.1 innings and his third save for the Owls (1-0, 9-6). Brett Netzer went 3 for 4 with a run for the 49ers (0-1, 4-3).
San Diego 2, No. 8 Mississippi State 1
In Starkville, Miss., David Hill allowed four hits and struck out six in seven scoreless innings as San Diego followed up its impressive weekend at Texas by taking the first game of its series with Mississippi State. The Toreros (5-6) scored on wild pitches in the second and fourth innings, and Anthony McIver stranded the tying run at third base in the ninth. Ryan Kirby went 2 for 2 for USD, which was held to six hits. Seth Heck had two hits and an RBI, and Cody Brown had two hits and a run for the Bulldogs (13-2).
No. 3 Florida 5, Maine 0
In Gainesville, Fla., Logan Shore allowed five hits and struck out five in eight scoreless innings, stretching his scoreless-innings streak to 23.1 innings, as Florida blanked Maine. Christian Hicks hit a solo homer and scored twice, and Dalton Guthrie went 2 for 5 with a run as the Gators (12-2) took control with a four-run second inning. Luke Morrill had two hits for the Black Bears (4-10).
No. 9 South Carolina 2, Miami (Ohio) 0
In Columbia, S.C., Logan Koch ripped a two-run homer in the second inning, and Wil Crowe made it stick with seven scoreless innings as South Carolina edged Miami (Ohio). Crowe struck out eight and allowed five hits, and Taylor Widener posted his fourth save for the Gamecocks (10-3). Ryan Powers (1-3) allowed four hits and struck out two in 7.1 solid innings for the RedHawks (2-6).
No. 12 UCF 9, Columbia 1
In Orlando, Zach Rodgers allowed five hits and one run in seven splendid innings as UCF used a four-run seventh inning to pull away from Columbia. Dylan Moore and Jordan Savinon had two hits and two RBI apiece, and Matt Diorio went 3 for 4 with two runs and an RBI for the Knights (12-2). Joey Falcone went 2 for 3 with a solo homer for the Lions (2-3).
Illinois 6, No. 16 Oklahoma State 2
In Stillwater, Okla., Kevin Duchene allowed three hits in seven brilliant innings, and Adam Walton went 3 for 4 with a triple, homer, three runs and three RBI as Illinois won the opener of its series with Oklahoma State. Duchene (2-0) walked one, struck out six and surrendered one earned run, and Tyler Jay earned his fourth save with 1.2 scoreless innings for the Fighting Illini (10-2-1). Will Krug added two hits and two runs for Illinois, which has only allowed more than three runs in a game once this season. Conor Costello had two of the five hits for the Cowboys (7-5).
No. 19 North Carolina 8, Duke 1
In Chapel Hill, N.C., Zac Gallen struck out 12 in pitching into the eighth inning, and Skye Bolt drove in two runs as North Carolina opened ACC play with a win over Duke. Gallen (1-1) allowed four hits and one unearned run for the Tar Heels (1-0, 9-3). Bolt finished 3 for 5 with three runs, and Korey Dunbar added two hits, including a triple, run and RBI for Carolina. Andrew Istler (1-1) suffered the loss for Duke (0-1, 10-2).
CBI: Around the Bases (3/6)
