It’s always a bonus when college baseball’s opening day is brimming with drama, upsets and rare feats – and such was the case on Friday, as most of the nation’s teams began their 2013 seasons. As is the case in most sports, many of the nation’s top teams are easing into 2013 with easier opponents … but several of those elite squads got stung by opening-day upsets.
Jordan Betts (Duke)
All but two of the top-50 teams in the CB360 Composite National Rankings (#43 Florida Atlantic and #50 Notre Dame, who both start on Sat.) were in action on Opening Day, spanning 43 games that featured six head-to-head matchups (2012 CWS team Kent State placed twice). Exactly one-third of the CB360 top-50 games that were played on Friday (14 of 42) resulted in upsets, with one rainout (Rutgers at Miami).
Austin Kubitza (Rice)
CB360 is in the process of posting a full release page for the Composite National Rankings, including a preseason projection for the 2013 NCAA Tournament field (based on the CNR … CLICK HERE for the 2012 CNR preseason release). But here’s a quick rundown of the CB360 top-50 heading into 2013 (based on formula currently consisting of eight elements: Baseball America & Perfect Game rankings combined with their 64-team NCAA projections; polls/rankings from the coaches, writers/NCBWA and Collegiate Baseball magazine; and a small projected strength-of-schedule bonus, based on figures from Boyd Nation).
CB360 Composition National Rankings (2013 preseason)
1-Arkansas … 2-North Carolina … 3-Vanderbilt … 4-LSU … 5-UCLA
6-Stanford … 7-South Carolina … 8-Oregon … 9-Oregon State
10-North Carolina State … 11-Kentucky … 12-TCU … 13-Mississippi State
14-Florida … 15-Florida State … 16-Louisville … 17-Oklahoma
18-Georgia Tech … 19-Arizona … 20-San Diego … 21-Rice … 22-Mississippi … 23-Cal State Fullerton
24-Texas … 25-Texas A&M … 26-Miami … 27-Arizona State … 28-Clemson … 29-Virginia
30-UC Irvine … 31-Baylor … 32-New Mexico … 33-Southern Mississippi … 34-Coastal Carolina
35-Missouri State … 36-Kent State … 37-Wichita State … 38-East Carolina … 39-Dallas Baptist
40-Tulane … 41-Sam Houston State … 42-Georgia … 43-Florida Atlantic … 44-St. John’s
45-Pepperdine … 46-Virginna Tech … 47-College of Charleston … 48-Auburn … 49-Elon … 50-Notre Dame
Jaylin Davis (Appalachian State)
All but three of Friday’s 14 upsets within the CB360 top-50 came from teams outside the top-50, with the head-to-head upsets including (21) Rice 5-1 over visiting (6) Stanford, as Austin Kubitza earned the win opposite fellow ace Mark Appel. Opening Day’s other more noteworthy upsets included:
• Minnesota surging late for 6-2 win at (5) UCLA, in 10 innings …
• Appalachian State launching three home runs vs. lefthanded ace Carlos Rodan in 6-3 win at (10) North Carolina State …
• Duke holding off homestanding (14) Florida, 4-3 …
• Indiana winning 2-0 vs. (16) Louisville in Big East/Big Ten tournament action (Dunedin, Fla.) …
• San Diego State spoiling the first game for (20) San Diego at its beautiful new facility, Fowler Field (8-1) …
• and Illinois-Chicago shutting out host (25) Texas A&M, 2-0
Ethan Mildren (Pittsburgh)
Friday’s other CB360 top-50 upsets were as follows:
• at (22) Mississippi 1-0 vs. (12) TCU
• (46) Virginia Tech 10-9 vs. (36) Kent State (at UNCW)
• Oklahoma State 4-2 at (32) New Mexico
• at UNC Wilmington 7-6 vs. (36) Kent State (10 inn.)
• Pittsburgh 6-4 at (37) Wichita State
• Creighton 11-9 at (39) Dallas Baptist
• at Florida Gulf Coast 6-0 vs. (44) St. John’s
Virginia’s Kenny Towns had a couple big home run trots in the opening-day win at East Carolina, after smacking grand slams in both the 1st and 7th innings.
In addition to three of the games referenced above (Rice-Stanford; Ole Miss-TCU; and Va. Tech-Kent), the other three head-to-head openers between CB360 top-50 teams played out as follows: (29) Virginia 14-4 at East Carolina, on the strength of two grand slams from DH/3B (6-hole hitter) Kenny Towns … (30) UC Irvine holding off visiting (31) Baylor, 6-4 (kudos to UCI & Bears playing such a challenging opener) … and (40) Tulane edging (41) Sam Houston State, 2-0, in tournament action at Texas State.
Race Parmenter (UC Irvine)
On the same day that Chris Pollard began his tenure as Duke head coach with the upset at Florida, the team he previously coached (Appalachian State) was fashioning its own upset of a top-15 team, at NC State.
The 2012 College World Series teams combined to go only 4-4 on the 2013 Opening Day, with Kent State suffering the two upset losses while UCLA and Florida also were surprised at the start of 2013 (Arkansas, South Carolina, Florida State and Arizona all won, while Stony Brook was rained out).
Tomas Michelson (Illinois-Chicago)
Full Opening-Day results for the CB360 top-50 are included below, with an assortment of postgame links – final stats (HTML & PDF), recaps from both teams, photo galleries, video highlights, and postgame video/audio).
For easy reference, here are groupings of Opening Day photos and video (highlights & postgame), plus some postgame audio, from throughout the CB360 top-50:
PHOTOS – Rice | Ole Miss | TCU | East Carolina | Arkansas
North Carolina | Vanderbilt | LSU | South Carolina
Hawaii (vs. Oregon) | Appalachian State (at NC-St) | Florida
Florida State | Oklahoma | Georgia Tech | Fullerton | Texas
Texas A&M | Clemson | UNC Wilmington (vs. Kent State) | Auburn
VIDEO (some audio, as noted) – Rice | Ole Miss | Virginia
East Carolina | Arkansas (highlights) | Arkansas (postgame-1) | Arkansas (postgame-2) | North Carolina (audio) | Vanderbilt | LSU
NC State | Mississippi State | Georgia Tech | Texas A&M |
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
(A&M audio) | Bethunc-Cookman (at ASU) | Georgia Southern (vs. UGa) | Pepperdine
FRIDAY’S TOP-50 MATCHUP RESULTS (opening day – Feb. 15, 2013)
based on the CB360 Composite National Rankings
upsets in italics
Brett Huber (Ole Miss)
• at (21) Rice 5 … def. (6) Stanford 1 | Live Stats | Live Video
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | Rice Recap | STAN Recap | Photos | Video Recap
• at (22) Mississippi 1 … def. (12) TCU 0 | Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio: OleMiss & TCU
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | OleMiss Recap | TCU Recap | Postgame Notes (TCU) | Photos (OleMiss) | Photos (TCU) | Video Highlights
• (29) Virginia 14 … won at (38) East Carolina 4 | Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF (plus play-by-play) | UVa Recap | ECU Recap | Photos | Video Highlights (UVa) | Postgame Video (ECU)
Brendan Middleton (Tulane)
• at (30) UC Irvine 6 … def. (31) Baylor 4 | Live Stats | Live Audio (BAY)
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | UCI Recap | BAY Recap
• (40) Tulane 2 … def. (41) Sam Houston State 0 (at Texas State)
Live Stats | Live Audio (Tulane)
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | Tulane Recap | SHSU Recap
Chad Pinder (Virginia Tech)
• (46) Virginia Tech 10 … def. (36) Kent State 9 (at UNC Wilmington)
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | VT Recap | Kent-St. Recap
_____________________________
FRIDAY’S OTHER TOP-50 RESULTS (opening day – Feb. 15, 2013)
based on the CB360 Composite National Rankings
upsets in italics
• at (1) Arkansas 9 … def. Western Illinois 1 | Live Stats | Live Video & Audio
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | ARK Recap | WIU Recap | Photos
Video Highlights | Postgame Video: Coach & Players
• at (2) North Carolina 1 … def. Seton Hall 0 | Live Stats | Live Video
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | UNC Recap | SHU Recap | Photos | Postgame Audio
• at (3) Vanderbilt 10 … def. Long Beach State 4 | Live Stats + Video & Audio
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | VAN Recap (w/ video links) | LB Recap | Photos
• at (4) LSU 1 … def. Maryland 0 | Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | LSU Recap | MD Recap | Photos | Video Highlights
Dan Olinger (Minnesota)
• Minnesota 6 … won at (5) UCLA 2 (10 inn.) | Live Stats | Live Audio
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | MN Recap | UCLA Recap
• at (7) South Carolina 4 … def. Liberty 3 | Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | SC Recap | LIB Recap | Quotes | Photos
• (8) Oregon 3 … won at Hawaii 0 | Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio: UH & OR
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | OR Recap | Hawaii Recap | Photos
• (9) Oregon State 5 … def. Utah Valley 2 (Palm Springs, CA) | Live Stats | Live Audio
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | OR-St. Recap | UV Recap
• Appalachian State 6 … won at (10) North Carolina State 3
Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | App.-St. Recap | NC-St. Recap | Photos (App-St) | Video Highlights
• (11) Kentucky 9 … def. UNC-Asheville 2 (at Wofford)
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | KY Recap | UNC-A Recap
• at (13) Mississippi State 16 … def. Portland 1 | Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | Miss.-St. Recap | PORT Recap | Postgame Notes | Postgame Video
• Duke 4 … won at (14) Florida 3 | Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio | TV: Sunshine Network
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | Duke Recap | FL Recap | Photos
• at (15) Florida State 11 … def. Rhode Island 5 | Live Stats | Live Video (ESPN3) | Live Audio
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | FSU Recap | URI Recap | Photos
Evan Bell (Indiana)
• Indiana 2 … def. (16) Louisville 0 (Dunedin, FL) | Live Stats | Live Audio: LOU & IU
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | IU Recap | LOU Recap
• at (17) Oklahoma 10 … def. Hofstra 4 | Live Stats | Live Audio
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | OK Recap | HOF Recap | Photos
• at (18) Georgia Tech 3 … def. Akron 0 | Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | GT Recap | Akron Recap | Photos | Postgame Video
• at (19) Arizona 16 … def. Coppin State 0 | Live Stats | Live Video
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | AZ Recap | COP Recap
• San Diego State 8 … won at (20) San Diego 1
Live Stats | Live Video | TV: Fox Sports San Diego
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | SDSU Recap | USD Recap
Tim Zier (San Diego State)
• at (23) Cal State Fullerton 3 … def. USC 2 | Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | CSF Recap | USC Recap | Photos
• at (24) Texas 6 … def. Sacramento State 5 | Live Stats | Live Audio | Longhorn Network
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | TX Recap | Sac.-St. Recap | Photos
• Illinois-Chicago 2 … won at (25) Texas A&M o | Live Stats | Live Video
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | UIC Recap | A&M Recap | Photos | Video Highlights |
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
• Rutgers at (26) Miami – postponed (DH on Sat., 2/16, at 2 ET)
• at (27) Arizona State 5 … def. Bethune-Cookman 4 (11 inn.) | Live Stats
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | ASU Recap | B-C Recap | Postgame Video (B-C)
Josh Holliday (Oklahoma State)
• at (28) Clemson 2 … def. William & Mary 0 | Live Stats | Live Audio
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | CLEM Recap | W&M Recap | Photos
• Oklahoma State 4 … won at (32) New Mexico 2
Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio (OK-St.)
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | OK-St. Recap | UNM Recap
• at (33) Southern Mississippi 5 … def. Missouri 2 | Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | So.-Miss Recap | Mizzou Recap
Tyler Molinaro (UNC Wilmington)
• at (34) Coastal Carolina 4 … def. James Madison 3
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | CC Recap | JMU Recap
• (35) Missouri State 3 … won at Texas State 2 (11 inn.) | Live Stats
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | Mo.-St. Recap | TX-St. Recap
• at UNC Wilmington 7 … def. (36) Kent State 6 (10 inn.) | Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | UNCW Recap (w/ postgame audio links) | Kent-St. Recap | Photos
• Pittsburgh 6 … won at (37) Wichita State 4 | Live Stats
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | Pitt Recap | WICH Recap
Mike Gerber (Creighton)
• Creighton 11 … won at (39) Dallas Baptist 9 | Live Stats | Live Video & Audio
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | Jays Recap | DB Recap
• (42) Georgia 6 … won at Georgia Southern 5 | Live Stats | Live Audio (UGa)
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | UGa Recap | Ga.-So. Recap | Postgame Video (GS)
• at Florida Gulf Coast 6 … def. (44) St. John’s 0 (Sarasota, FL)
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | FGCU Recap | StJ Recap
Brooks Beisner (Florida Gulf Coast)
• at (45) Pepperdine 11 … def. Western Michigan 1 | Live Stats | Live Video
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | PEP Recap | WMU Recap | Video Highlights
• at (47) College of Charleston 6 … def. Xavier 3 | Live Stats
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | CofC Recap | XAV Recap
• at (48) Auburn 3 … def. Maine 2 | Live Stats | Live Video
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | AUB Recap | Maine Recap | Photos
• at (49) Elon 11 … def. Marist 3
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | Elon Recap | Marist Recap