If opening day of the 2014 college baseball season is any indication, we could be in store for an action-packed and often unpredictable season. Of the 38 games played on opening day that involved teams from the top-50 of the CB360 Composite National Rankings, nearly 30% of them (11 of 38) resulted in upsets – including losses by a pair of top-5 teams, (3) Virginia and (4) Mississippi State. Mother Nature also was a major player on day-1, as seven different games involving CB360 top-50 teams were affected by the weather (canceled, postponed or suspended).
Only one team in the CB360 top-50, (31) Florida Atlantic, was not slated to play on Opening Day, but eight others did not play (or complete their game) due to weather and/or travel issues: (8) North Carolina State, (12) South Carolina, (13) North Carolina, (33) San Diego, (37) UC Santa Barbara, (40) New Mexico, (43) Coastal Carolina and (46) Mercer.
Jake Johansmeier (Eastern Illinois)
In recent years, several teams from the north and midwest – a.k.a “cold-weather” baseball teams – have gone south on week-1 and delivered noteworthy upsets. There were four such games on 2014 Opening Day, in upsets in involving CB360 top-50 teams:
• Eastern Michigan 6-5 at (16) Clemson 5 (10 inn.)
• Eastern Illinois 5-1 at (24) Louisiana-Lafayette 1
• St. Louis 2-1 at (26) Alabama 1
• Seton Hall 7-5 at (34) Oklahoma 5
Other noteworthy day-1 upsets included Portland knocking off the defending NCAA champions, 1-0 at cb360 #11 UCLA, while (44) Kentucky upended (3) Virginia, 8-3 in tournament action at UNC Wilmington. UVa entered the season as the No. 1 pick atop multiple preseason rankings/polls. Both of the teams that squared off in the 2013 College World Series Championship Series were upset on Opening Day, as (38) Western Carolina won 4-3 at (4) Mississippi State.
Opening Day featured eight head-to-head matchups between CB360 top-50 teams, including (27) Cal Poly‘s 3-0 win over visiting (18) Kansas State (a minor upset, considering the Mustangs’ home-field advantage). Six of the head-to-head matchups were able to be played/completed on Opening Day, with other results including: cb360 #1 Cal State Fullerton’s 12-0 win over visiting (46) Washington State … (15) Rice’s 10-3 win at (42) Stanford … and a minor upset from (50) North Florida, 11-4 vs. visiting (45) Liberty.
In addition to games mentioned above, the two other Opening Day upsets in the CB360 top-50 involved a pair of Pac-12 teams, as Baylor won 9-7 at (21) Arizona State while California shut out visiting (23) Texas, 7-0.
A full rundown of the Opening Day results in the CB360 top-50 is included below (postgame links and additional photos to be added later in the weekend) …
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OPENING DAY TOP-50 MATCHUPS (Feb. 14, 2014)
(based on the CB360 Composite National Rankings) upsets in italics
• at (1) Cal State Fullerton 12 … def. (46) Washington State 0
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | CSF Recap | WSU Recap
Max Kuhn (Kentucky)
• (44) Kentucky 8 … def. (3) Virginia 3 (at UNC Wilmington)
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | KY Recap | UVa Recap
• (38) Western Carolina 4 … won at (4) Mississippi State 2
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | WCU Recap | Miss.-St. Recap
• (8) North Carolina State at (37) UC Santa Barbara – canc. due to weather/travel issues
• (15) Rice 10… won at (42) Stanford 3
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | Rice Recap | STAN Recap
Matt Imhof (Cal Poly)
• at (27) Cal Poly 3 … def. (18) Kansas State 0
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | CP Recap | K-St. Recap
• (40) New Mexico at (33) San Diego – susp. to 2/15 (2-2, b-3rd)
• at (50) North Florida 11 … def. (45) Liberty 4
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | UNF Recap | LIB Recap
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OTHER OPENING DAY TOP-50 RESULTS (Feb. 14, 2014)
(based on the CB360 Composite National Rankings) upsets in italics
• (2) Oregon State 4 ... def. Gonzaga 3 (Tempe, AZ)
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | OR-St. Recap | GON Recap
• Hofstra at (4) Mississippi State – canc. due to weather/travel issues
• at (5) Florida State 13 … def. Niagara 2
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | FSU Recap | NIA Recap
• ar (6) LSU 2 … def. New Orleans 0
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | LSU Recap | UNO Recap
• (7) Indiana 1 … won at Texas Tech 0
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | IU Recap | TT Recap
• (9) Oregon 3 … won at Hawaii 2
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | ORE Recap | Hawaii Recap
• (10) Vanderbilt 5 … won at Long Beach State 2
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | VANRecap | LBSU Recap
Jason Lockwood (Portland)
• Portland 1 … won at (11) UCLA 0
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | PORT Recap | UCLA Recap
• Bucknell at (12) South Carolina – postponed (DH on Sat.)
• College of Charleston at (13) North Carolina – postponed (series now Sat.-Sun.-Mon.)
• (14) Louisville 7 ... def. West Virginia 6 (10 inn.; at The Citadel)
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | LOU Recap | WVU Recap
• Eastern Michigan 6 … won at (16) Clemson 5 (10 inn.)
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | EMU Recap | CLEM Recap
• at (17) Miami 6 ... def. Maine 3
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | Miami Recap | Maine Recap
• at (19) Florida 4 ... def. Maryland 0
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | FL Recap | MD Recap
• (20) Oklahoma State 10 … def. Incarnate Word 5 (at Texas-Arlington)
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | OK-St. Recap | IW Recap
• Baylor 9 … won at (21) Arizona State 7
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | BAY Recap | ASU Recap
• at (22) TCU 5 ... def. Jacksonville 0
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | TCU Recap | JU Recap
• at California 7 … def. (23) Texas 0
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | Cal Recap | TX Recap
• Eastern Illinois 5 ... won at (24) Louisiana-Lafayette 1
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | EIU Recap | ULL Recap
• at (25) Texas A&M 10 … def. Northeastern 2
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | A&M Recap | N’east Recap
Nick Bates (St. Louis)
• St. Louis 2 ... won at (26) Alabama 1
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | SLU Recap | AL Recap
• at (28) Arizona 13 … def. Kent State 1
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | AZ Recap | Kent Recap
• at (29) East Carolina 6 … def. James Madison 5
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | ECU Recap | JMU Recap
• at (30) Arkansas 12 … def. Appalachian State 2
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | ARK Recap | App.-St. Recap
• (32) Mississippi 7 … won at Stetson 0
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | OleMiss Recap | STET Recap
Dillon Hamlin (Seton Hall)
• Seton Hall 7 … won at (34) Oklahoma 5
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | SHU Recap | OU Recap
• at (35) Georgia Tech 6 … def. Old Dominion 5
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | GT Recap | ODU Recap
• at (36) UNC Wilmington 5 … def. VMI 3
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | UNCW Recap | VMI Recap
• (39) Nebraska 5 … def. Univ. of the Pacific (UOP) 3 (Tempe, AZ)
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | NEB Recap | UOP Recap
• at (41) Wichita State 6 … def. SIU Edwardsville (SIUE) 1
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | WICH Recap | SIUE Recap
• Pittsburgh at (43) Coastal Carolina – postponed to 2/16
• High Point at (46) Mercer – postponed (DH on Sat.)
• at (46) Sam Houston State 5 ... deff. Northern Colorado 3
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | SHSU Recap | NC Recap
• at (46) UNLV 5 … def. Central Michigan 0
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | UNLV Recap | CMU Recap
• at (50) Houston 3 … def. Nicholls State 0
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | HOU Recap | NICH Recap