College Baseball Primetime Performers of the Day (May 22)

May 23, 2012
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CB360 has expanded its honor-roll awards feature to recognize postseason Primetime Performers of the Day, starting with Tuesday, May 22. Six total players have been selected for their contributions on Tuesday in games with NCAA tournament implications. The top honorees from that group include: Creighton junior lefthander Ty Blach (Centennial, Colo.) … Army senior catcher J.T. Watkins (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) … and Kentucky freshman RHP/DH A.J. Reed (Terra Haute, Ind.). front-page photo courtesy of Army

As with the CB360 Primetime Performers Weekly Honor Roll, this daily recognition goes beyond the raw stats – also taking into account quality of opponent (i.e. upsets and high-end matchups), significance towards NCAA qualification/seeding, all-around play, clutch efforts and other situational factors.

Three other players round out the CB360 Primetime Performers Daily Honor Roll for Tues., May 22: Bradley junior leftfielder Mike Tauchman (Palentine, Ill.) … Southern Illinois senior first baseman Chris Serritella (Glenview, Ill.) … and Washington State freshman lefthander Joe Pistorese (Kalispell, Mont.). See below for photos and info. on each of the six honorees (listing of Tuesday’s key results also included, at bottom of page).

Blach is the CB360 Primetime Pitcher of the Day, Watkins the Primetime Player of the Day, and Reed the Primetime 2-Way Threat of the Day, for May 22, 2012.

CLICK HERE for CB360 Primetime Performers Weekly Honor Roll for the past week (May 14-20)
Previous CB360 Primetime Performers (2012) … Week-1 … Week-2 … Week-3
Week-4 … Week-5 … Week-6 … Week-7 … Week-8 … Week-9
Week-10 … Week-11 … Week-12 … Week-13

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CB360 PRIMETIME PITCHER OF THE DAY
#31 TY BLACH

Creighton … LHP … Jr
Centennial, CO

The Bluejays ace logged his third straight complete game in impressive fashion, posing a -hit shutout of Missouri Valley regular-season champion Indiana State, 5-0, in the opening game of the MVC Tournament held in Springfield, Ill. (an 8-seed upset of the #1 seed) … the 6-foot-1, 200-pound lefty faced only 30 batters in the 109-pitch outing, with a pair of walks and six strikeouts … his only hit allowed was Rob Ort’s  2nd-inning, infield single that was stopped going up the middle … retired 18 straight from the 3rd-8th innings … his string of three straight complete games includes a recent win over a potent Dallas Baptist team (UER-5H-BB-5K), earning Blach a spot on the CB360 Primetime Honor Roll for that week … has not allowed an earned run during the current streak of three complete games (10H-3BB, in 27.1 innings) … his 2.67 career ERA would rank first in the Creighton record book … has a 2.39 ERA, 6-5 record and .208 opp. batting avg. (76 K, 27 BB in 109.1 IP) … hails from the same hometown (Centennial, Colo.) as LSU sophomore ace and elite MLB draft prospect Kevin Gausman (Blach attended Grandview HS and Gausman went to Regis Jesuit).

 

CB360 PRIMETIME PLAYER OF THE DAY
#4 J.T. WATKINS

Army … C … Sr.
Tuscaloosa, AL … 5-hole … bats: R

Blasted a three-run home run late in the Patriot League Championship Series finale vs. Holy Cross, providing final 8-4 margin as Black Knights won league title (and NCAA automatic bid) for sixth time (four in past nine years) … delivered in the 7th inning of that game, driving a 2-out/full-count pitch over the leftfield fence shortly after that game had been resumed … the teams had split a doubleheader on Sat. (May 19) and then saw the decisive third game suspended on Sunday (4-4, top-7th) … ended up hitting 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored in the 2-day third game (also reached on a hit-by-pitch) … team captain and veteran director of pitching staff that is fronted by ace Chris Rowley (who leads nation in wins, at 11-0) … batting .318 while ranking second on team in RBI (31) and sharing team home run lead (5) … has  three more free-passes (12 BB + 8 HBP) than strikeouts (17).

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CB360 PRIMETIME 2-WAY THREAT OF THE DAY
#18 A.J. REED
Kentucky … Fr. … RHP/DH
Terra Haute, IN … cleanup … bats: L 

Two-way talent who proved up to the challenge on the mound and at the plate, picking up SEC Tournament win in tight 2-0 battle vs. Mississippi (opposite Ole Miss ace Bobby Wahl) while batting 4-for-4 with solo home run that opened scoring in the 4th … win helped keep Kentucky firmly in the mix for an NCAA Regional #1 seed (and hosting status) … midweek starter who was making his first start of the season vs. an SEC team, responding with 5.2 shutout innings (5H-BB-HB-3K) before giving way to the team’s aces Taylor Rogers (3.1-2K-111BF, who picked up the save in only the second relief appearance of his three-year college career) … erased his recent 3-for-22 slump in a big way, batting 4-for-4 from his usual cleanup spot in win over the Rebels … third on team with .311 batting avg. and second in RBI (40; 4 HR) … owns 2.62 ERA, 5-2 record and 6.1 K-to-walk ratio (43 K, 7 BB in 44.2 IP)  AP Photo – Dave Martin

 

CB360 PRIMETIME PERFORMERS
DAILY HONOR ROLL
#10 MIKE TAUCHMAN
Bradley … Jr. … LF
Palentine, IL … 2-hole … bats: L 

Came through on a full-count with 1-out in the top of the 9th, sending 2-run single to center field to break
3-3 deadlock and give 6-seed Braves a 5-3 win over Missouri Valley #2 seed Missouri State (putting a late dent in the Bears’ NCAA hopes) … the clutch hit came vs. closer Tyler Burgess, who ended the regulars season with a 1.27 ERA, .144 opp. batting avg. and 11 saves … hit 2-for-5 from the 2-hole in the postseason opening win … second on team with .301 batting avg. (22 RBI, 25 runs).

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CB360 PRIMETIME PERFORMERS DAILY HONOR ROLL
#21 CHRIS SERRITELLA
Southern Illinois … Sr./Jr. … 1B
Glenview, IL … 3-hole … bats: L 

Had lead role in yet another upset at the Missouri Valley Tournament, batting 3-for-4 with a solo home run, two RBI, a pair of runs scored and a stolen base as SIU knocked off 3rd-seeded Wichita State, 6-3 … opened game with RBI single, stolen base and run scored – as Salukis jumped out to a 2-0 lead … later hit his 12th home run of season, tying him with teammate Jordan Sivertsen for first among MVC players … has fashioned a dominating season at the plate, leading SIU in batting avg. (.400), RBI (58), home runs (12), slugging (.682), doubles (24), runs (54), on-base (.473) and walks (33).

 

CB360 PRIMETIME PERFORMERS DAILY HONOR ROLL
#31 JOE PISTORESE
Washington State … Fr. … LHP
Kalispell, MT

Logged seven shutout innings in rare scoreless game that extended to extra-innings, with WSU winning 1-0 in the 10th
to hand Gonzaga costly loss in its quest for NCAA at-large berth … faced 27 batters in the 87-pitch start,allowing only three hits, two walks and a hit batter while striking out five … leads staff with 2.55 ERA (3-3, .265 opp. batting avg.).

CLICK HERE for the CB360 Conference Tournament Central home page

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TUESDAY’S KEY GAMES (schedule & results; May 22, 2012)

upsets in italics

SEC Tournament  (Hoover, AL) … Tournament Central
• 4-seed Kentucky 2 … def. (9) Mississippi 0
• 7-seed Mississippi State 9 … def. (6) Arkansas 1
• 3-seed Florida 6 … def. (10) Auburn 1
• 5-seed Vanderbilt 4 … def. (8) Georgia 1

Big South Tournament  (High Point, NC) … Tournament Central
• 5-seed Gardner-Webb 8 … def. (4) Gardner-Webb 2
• 1-seed Coastal Carolina 9 … def. (8) Charleston Southern 8
• 3-seed Liberty 9 … def. (6) UNC Asheville 2
• 7-seed High Point vs. (2) Campbell – suspended to 5/23( (HP leads 2-1, t3)

Missouri Valley Tournament  (Springfield, MO) … Tournament Central
• 4-seed Illinois State 10 … def. (5) Evansville 3
• 8-seed Creighton 5 … def. (1) Indiana State 0
• 6-seed Southern Illinois 6 … def. (3) Wichita State 3

• 7-seed Bradley 5 … def. (2) Missouri State 3

Patriot League  (title series; gm-3/final)
• at 1-seed Army 8 … def. (2) Holy Cross 4
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF  |  Army Recap  |  HC Recap  |  Photos

Great West  (no auotomatic NCAA bid; 8-team tournament)  Tournament Central
•  1-seed Utah Valley 17 … def.  (8) New York Tech 10

Non-Conference
• Oregon at Portland – rainout (no makeup; still set to play Wed., May 23 at Oregon, 6 PT)
• UCLA 6 … won at UC Irvine 1
• Stanford 10 … won at Santa Clara 5
• at Washington State 1 … def. Gonzaga 0  (10 inn.)

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