BA - Saturday Roundup: Oregon State's Rasmussen Is Just Perfect
Oregon State freshman Drew Rasmussen knew something was up from how Andrew Moore was acting.
Moore, the Oregon State junior righthander, flirted with a perfect game on Feb. 27. So when Rasmussen would return to the dugout Saturday after each spotless inning against Washington State, Moore epitomized baseball superstition by doing the same thing each time.
Whatever it was must have worked as the righthander Rasmussen pitched the Beavers' first-ever perfect game, striking out 10 and needing only 103 pitches to whitewash the Cougars, 3-0.
Rasmussen said his teammates' behavior changed as the game went on.
"They went from talking to me a lot to just kind of leaving me alone," the Spokane, Wash., native told the Corvallis Gazette Times. "I would get high fives walking in and then as soon as I sat down not really anything except Andrew (Moore). Andrew came up did the same thing between every single inning. That was the hint."
In addition to the first Oregon State perfect game, it was just the fourth perfect in Pac-12 history and the first since Washington State's Joe McIntosh turned the feat in 1973.
Rasmussen improved to 3-0, 1.36 and he's walked only five and struck out 40 in 39 2/3 innings.
"Unreal," Rasmussen told osubeavers.com. "It's been an unreal day. It's been awesome. It's been so much fun. Not much more I can say. Pretty surreal right now. It was a fun game and I had a lot of help behind me and let's go get a series sweep (Sunday)."
K.J. Harrison gave the Beavers a 1-0 lead in the first with an RBI single and OSU added two runs in the seventh on a RBI single by Michael Gretler and a squeeze bunt by Trever Morrison.
Top 25 Showdowns
(13) Florida State at (14) Virginia
Freshman Dylan Busby ripped a two-run, go-ahead homer off Virginia closer Josh Sborz in the ninth inning and Danny De La Calle added an insurance run with a solo shot in Florida State's 12-10 win Saturday. "Our freshmen are beginning to come of age," Florida State head coach Mike Martin told seminoles.com. "So many things transpired in today's game but we showed the mental toughness to hang in there and battle until the very end." Junior lefthander Dylan Silva (3-1) got the final five outs, working around a walk and a single to close out the win. John Sansone hit a grand slam and D.J. Stewart also homered for the Seminoles. Virginia starter Connor Jones (4.1 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 BB, 3 K) did not allow a hit through four innings before the Seminoles erupted for six runs in the fifth.
(16) Arizona State at (15) Oregon
Junior lefthander Ryan Kellogg allowed only three hits and struck out seven to outduel touted freshman David Peterson in Arizona State's 2-1 win. It was the third career complete game for Kellogg (4-0). Shortstop Colby Woodmansee broke a 1-1 tie in the eighth with a RBI single. Peterson (7.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 6 K), who was drafted by the Red Sox in the 28th round last June but opted to go to Oregon, fell to 2-2.
Top 25 Splits
(2) Florida at Mississippi: The Gators dropped Game One to Ole Miss 5-2 as the Rebels clinched the series, but rebounded in the nightcap as freshman Dalton Guthrie had three hits and three RBIs in an 8-4 win. Florida senior lefthander Bobby Poyner pitched 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief for the win. In Game One, Sikes Orvis hit a three-run homer off A.J. Puk in the first as Ole Miss jumped out to a 5-0 lead and cruised to the win.
(5)Texas A&M at Alabama: After the Aggies extended their season-opening win streak to 24 games in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday, Alabama bounced back to hand Texas A&M its first loss in the nightcap, 6-2. In the opener, Alabama led 5-3 entering the eighth, only to see the Aggies score four times en route to a 10-5 win. Game Two saw Tide sophomore righthander Geoffrey Bramblett (7 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 3 K) improve to 4-1 as Chandler Avant had three hits for the winners. Catch all the highlights here.
North Carolina at (23) Georgia Tech: Benton Moss pitched for the first time since March 8 after dealing with a forearm issue and struck out eight in six innings as the Tar Heels split a doubleheader with Georgia Tech by winning the second game 5-1. Korey Dunbar homered for UNC in Game Two. Georgia Tech won the first game 6-5, rallying from a 5-0 deficit against touted freshman J.B. Bukauskas and the Heels' bullpen after Alex Raburn's grand slam gave UNC the early lead. Georgia Tech lost star freshman Kel Johnson to a leg injury in the fifth inning of the second game.
Top 25 Upsets
(6) South Carolina at Missouri: The Tigers rallied twice, including scoring twice in the 10th inning capped by freshman Trey Harris' game-winning single, to beat South Carolina 4-3. The win clinched Missouri's first series win over a top-10 team since May 16, 2008, when the Tigers swept fifth-ranked Nebraska. Some 2,032 fans packed Taylor Stadium on Saturday, the largest crowd since the stadium had been remodeled prior to the 2013 season.
Presbyterian at (7) UCF
The Knights scored four times in the first, but Presbyterian came roaring back with seven runs in the third and held off UCF 8-6 Saturday. The Blue Hose got two hits and two RBIs from Ryan Hedrick and Jay Lizanich to back junior David Sauer (6 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 5 K). Erik Barber homered twice, including a three-run homer in the four-run first for UCF.
(10) Rice at Old Dominion: The Monarchs upended Rice for the second straight day, scoring six runs in the fourth to overcome a 5-1 deficit. Senior Mike Perez homered and senior Taylor Ostrich cleared the bases with a double in the uprising. The rally came against Blake Fox (3.2 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 2 BB, 3 K) who was knocked out but did not get the loss, thus keeping his 20-0 career record intact. Old Dominion reliever Thomas Busbice got the win despite allowing seven hits in 3 2/3 innings.
(20) Mississippi State at Kentucky
Ka'ai Tom homered in the first inning and Kyle Barrett tied his career high with four hits as Kentucky beat Mississippi State for the second straight day, 9-7. Kentucky starter Dustin Beggs (6 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 2 K) improved to 3-2 and senior Spencer Jack got the final out after the Bulldogs scored four times in the ninth to close to 9-7. The Bulldogs have gone just 4-8 since starting the year 13-0 and have lose two straight SEC series and three straight overall.
Other Top 25 Results
(1) Louisiana State at Arkansas
Jared Foster and Conner Hale homered to back freshman righthander Jake Godfrey as LSU beat Arkansas 7-4.
Godfrey (5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 5 K) improved to 5-0 and Jesse Stallings got the final five outs for his 10th save.
"This was a great win for us in a very tough place to play," LSU coach Paul Mainieri told lsusports.net. "I'm very proud of the way our guys competed to come back and win this series after we fell short in the first game on Thursday night. We faced some very good pitching from Arkansas today, and we came through with several big hits. Jake Godfrey did a tremendous job in his first SEC road start, giving us the five innings we need from him, and we played excellent defense throughout the game."
Arkansas junior righthander Trey Killian (6 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 1 K) took the loss.
Oklahoma State at (3) Texas Christian: Preston Morrison (7.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 9 K) became TCU's leader in career innings pitched and improved to 5-0 and Derek Odell doubled home a run and scored in a two-run first as the Horned Frogs beat Oklahoma State 7-4. With the second out in the sixth inning, Morrison became TCU's leader in innings pitched, passing Clayton Jerome's (2001-04) career mark of 386 innings.
(4) Vanderbilt at Auburn
The Commodores bounced back from Friday's loss to take two games from Auburn on Saturday. In Game One, Vandy racked up 12 hits-including two each from Zander Wiel, Bryan Reynolds, Will Toffey and Tyler Campbell-to back Walker Buehler, who muddled through 5 2/3 innings (8 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 5 K) for the win. In Game Two, Vandy ran out to a 5-1 lead, but Auburn tied it at 6-6 in the ninth with three runs off reliever Ben Bowden. The Commodores completed the sweep on Reynolds' sacrifice fly in the 10th.
"My heart really hurts for our guys, it really does," Auburn head coach Sunny Golloway told auburntigers.com. "What I told the guys, I said, `Look, my heart is broken for you, I feel for you, but please don't hang your head.'
Utah at (9) UCLA: Senior righthander Grant Watson (6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K) and three relievers combined on the Bruins' fourth shutout this season in a 3-0 win over Utah. David Berg struck out two in the ninth for his fourth save this season and the 40th of his career. Luke Persico was 2-for-3 and Christoph Bono, Chris Keck and Ty Moore each drove in a run.
(11) Louisville at Notre Dame: Sophomore Corey Ray led off the 18th inning with his third homer of the season as Louisville outlasted Notre Dame 6-4 Saturday, matching the longest game in Cardinals' history in terms of innings played. Ray went 4-for-8 in the marathon contest.
"Coach McDonnell challenged me before the final at-bat to not try to do too much and to instead to just put a good swing on it," Ray told gocards.com. "As the game got deeper and deeper, our focus was on having good at-bats, stuffing on defense and for the pitchers to throw strikes. We knew we'd have a chance to break through for the win if we stayed mentally tough. Our pitchers did a great job today and we feel like our pitching staff can stand up against any in the country."
Freshman righthander Sean Leland got his first win with two scoreless innings. Making his second collegiate start, freshman Brendan McKay had 12 strikeouts while allowing three runs on three hits in seven innings. The runs were the first allowed in the short career for McKay, who had his scoreless streak snapped at 22 2/3 innings with Notre Dame's two runs in the fourth.
(8) Southern California at Cal Poly: The Trojans rebounded from Friday's loss by pounding out 15 hits to back a strong Kyle Twomey in a 13-0 blanking of Cal Poly. Twomey, the junior lefthander, allowed only two hits and walked one with four strikeouts over six scoreless innings. Six Trojans had multi-hit games, led by Bobby Stahel's three and David Oppenheim drove in four runs as USC pulled away with seven runs in the eighth.
(12) Texas Tech at Oklahoma
Sophomore righthander Alec Hansen pitched the Sooners' first complete game since Jon Gray in the 2013 Blacksburg regional in a 5-2 upset of Texas Tech. Hansen struck out 10 and allowed three hits and three walked.
"I think guys have to grow up and the only way to grow up is to push through the tough times," head coach Pete Hughes told soonersports.com. "It could backfire on you too; but (Hansen) did it against Oregon State, we left him in there when he was just a bit uncomfortable and he fought through and he got to a really good performance level. We did it last weekend at Hawaii, same thing. Let him pitch through some tough times so it's not new to him, so it doesn't speed up to him when he sees it out there like today. He did. I thought he stepped back, regrouped, and executed."
Junior first baseman Kolbey Carpenter, hitting leadoff for the first time in his career, went 4-for-4 and hit a three-run homer in the fifth.
(17) Miami at Wake Forest: The Hurricanes had 15 hits for the second straight game, led by freshman Carl Chester's three hits and homer, as they ripped Wake Forest 12-7. Miami scored enough to get the win for redshirt junior lefthander Andy Suarez (5 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 3 K).
(18) Dallas Baptist at Evansville: Justin Wall had four hits, including a three-run homer in the first, and David Martinelli also homered as Dallas Baptist won its 12th in a row-matching its best streak since joining Division I in 2004-in a 10-2 win Saturday. Six-foot-2, 252-pound junior righthander Cory Taylor (5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 8 K) worked out of a third-inning jam to help secure the win.
Texas-Arlington/Dartmouth at (19) UC Santa Barbara: Junior Robby Nesovic-who also pitched three scoreless innings-broke a 1-1 tie with the game-winning single in the 11th inning in a 2-1 win over Texas-Arlington in the opener before the Gauchos erupted for 17 runs in the nightcap to blast Dartmouth 17-2 to sweep the split doubleheader. In the second game, senior Scoutt Quinlan went 4-for-6 with a homer and redshirt sophomore Paddy O'Brien hit his first career homer and drove in five runs. Sophomore Andrew Calica had four hits over the two games for the winners.
Kansas State at (21) Texas: Junior righthander Chad Hollingsworth allowed just one run in 7 1/3 innings and Kirby Bellow-who got the win in the first game-retired all five batters he faced as Texas completed a doubleheader sweep with a 3-1 win. In the first game, the Longhorns rallied with three runs in the eighth to overcome a 3-2 deficit for a 5-3 win as Michael Cantu tied the game with a double and Kacy Clemens singled in the go-ahead run.
(22) Houston at New Mexico: Juco transfer Chris Iriart led a balanced Houston offense with two hits and the Cougars won their eighth in a row, 6-5 over New Mexico. Houston starter Kyle Dowdy (6.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 3K) was solid enough to get his second win and Aaron Garza hung on after allowing a run to close out his third save in the past three games.
South Florida at (25) Illinois
Redshirt senior righthander Drasen Johnson pitched solidly into the eighth inning and senior David Kerian and sophomore Matthew James hit back-to-back homers in Illinois' 5-2 win. Senior Casey Fletcher added a three-run homer for the Illini and closer Tyler Jay got his fifth save with a scoreless ninth.
Other Notable Games
Charlotte at Florida International: Junior Edwin Rios hit three homers to tie a school record and drove in six runs as FIU blasted Charlotte 23-1 in a game halted after seven innings due to the Conference USA mercy rule (15-run lead after seven innings). Rios' three homers matched Mike Martinez's FIU record (May 8, 2010 against Arkansas State) and Rios was the first Conference USA player with three long balls since Rice's Anthony Rendon on June 5, 2010. Freshman righthander Andres Nunez (6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 8 K) took advantage of the 20-hit attack for his third win.
Minnesota at Maryland: Jose Cuas homered three times in the doubleheader as the Terps got their first Big Ten wins as they swept the Gophers 5-1 and 12-9, rallying from down 7-0 in the second game. Cuas hit two homers in the nightcap as Maryland rallied after Minnesota scored twice in the first and five times in the second inning. Maryland junior righthander Kevin Mooney got the final five outs in game two to break the school's career saves record with 24, eclipsing major leaguer Brett Cecil's mark.
San Diego at Santa Clara: Junior lefthander PJ Conlon allowed only three hits and a walk over eight strong innings as the Toreros pounded out 10 hits for their 10th win in the past 11 games, 10-1 over Santa Clara.
Pitt at Duke
Sophomore Nick Yarnall homered twice-including the go-ahead shot in the 10th inning-and redshirt freshman Frank Maldonado homered as Pitt knocked off Duke 4-3 Saturday. Duke senior righthander Andrew Istler struck out 12 in 6 1/3 innings but did not figure in the decision. Duke scored once in the 10th to close within 4-3 but Pitt left fielder Jacob Wright threw out Andy Perez-the potential tying run-at the plate to end the game.
Georgia at Tennessee: Georgia broke open a close game with seven runs in the ninth to clinch the SEC road series with a 12-7 win. Andrew Lee had hit a three-run homer for the Vols in the eighth as they closed within 5-4, but Georgia responded with seven runs on six hits and two errors to increase the lead to 12-4 and hung on despite Christian Stewart's three-run homer for Tennessee in the ninth.
Cincinnati at Nevada
Ryan Howell went 4-for-5 with a grand slam and six RBIs as Nevada scored its most runs in nearly five years in a 17-6 win over the Bearcats. The Wolf Pack (20-4) improved to 13-1 in scored their most runs since scoring 18 in an 18-1 victory over Louisiana Tech on May 22, 2010.
N.C. State at Boston College: Logan Ratledge became the first N.C. State player in nine years to hit three doubles in a game, including two in the decisive 15th inning, as the Wolf Pack outlasted Boston College 9-4 at the New England Baseball Complex in Northborough, Mass. N.C. State wriggled out of three bases-loaded jams in a row on its way to the 15th, when Ratledge led off with his second double of the game. After scoring the go-ahead run, Ratledge batted again in the inning as the Wolf Pack scored six runs and drove in two runs. The previous Wolf Pack player with three doubles in a game was Aaron Cone on March 15, 2006 against UNC Greensboro.
BA - Saturday Roundup