Austin Super Regional

TCU Next Faces Florida State At CWS

TCU has done the seemingly improbable.  The Horned Frogs beat Texas 4-1 Sunday to win their Super Regional series

2-1 to make the first trip to the College World Series in program history.  The Longhorns entered the nation with the best ERA in the nation, but TCU managed to win games one and three of the series by giving-up just a run in each game.  Texas notched its only win by a 14-1 margin on Saturday.

While TCU is making its first CWS appearance, Texas has the most trips to Omaha of any other program with 33.

By clicking the “Austin Super Regional” link above this page will expand to fully support the table below.

CLICK HERE for our Super Regional Central page where you will find links to other Super Regionals.

Best two of three series (All Times Eastern)

Gm 1 – Friday - FINAL: TCU 3, Texas 1 | Final Stats
TCU Recap | UT Recap * TCU leads series 1-0
* HIGHLIGHT:  Fr. Matt Purke 11 Ks, improves to 14-0

Gm 2 – Saturday – FINAL: Texas 14, TCU 1 |  Final Stats
TCU Recap | TX Recap Series Tied (1-1)  Series Notes
* HIGHLIGHTS: Taylor Jungmann 9 K in 8 1/3 IP
Tant Shepherd (4-5) HR, 3 RBIs

EXCLUSIVE postgame video interviews.

Gm 3 -Sunday FINAL: TCU 4, Texas 1 |  Final Stats
TCU Recap | TX Recap
Series Notes
* TCU wins series (2-1)

CB360 Podcast with TCU catcher Bryan Holaday

The Skinny

Texas: (#2 National Seed) A year after finishing as the runner-up at Omaha not much has changed for Augie Garrido’s Longhorns.  There was no signature 25-inning Regional game this year, but Texas still swept through the Austin Regional with wins over Rider, Louisiana-Lafayette and Rice by outscoring those three 19-3.  That 3-0 stretch followed three losses at the Big 12 Tournament, which was the team’s only 3-game losing streak this year.

The Longhorns lead the nation in both ERA (2.44) and fielding percentage (.980).  Closer Chance Ruffin leads the nation with a 0.73 ERA.  He has 14 saves and a 6-1 record in 36 appearances.  Taylor Jungmann (7-3, 2.10), Cole Green (11-1, 2.63) and Brandon Workman (12-1, 3.43) are nearly unrivaled as a weekend rotation, but the rotation they’ll see this weekend will give them a run for their money.

Texas is batting just .289 heading into the weekend, but Russell Moldenhauer’s .341 average leads six regulars who are hitting .305 or better.  The home run total (79) is up from a year ago, but small ball is still in play.  Texas ranks 4th in the nation with 72 sac bunts, with Brandon Loy’s 16 sac bunts tied for 6th nationally.  The Longhorns set an NCAA single game record with seven sac bunts in a Super Regional game vs. TCU last year.

TCU: TCU has hosted Regionals the last two years going a combined 6-0 in the process.  This is the second straight and overall Super Regional appearance for Jim Schlossnagle and the Horned Frogs.  TCU was in the conversation for one of the top eight national seeds, but finds itself at #2 national seed Texas for Super Regional play for a second straight year.

While pitching is the biggest strength of the Longhorns, TCU’s staff gives them a run for their money.  Starters Matt Purke (Louisville Slugger National Freshman of the Year), Kyle Winkler and Steven Maxwell are a combined 35-2 with 293 strikeouts and just 88 walks.  Meanwhile, Kaleb Merck (2-1, 1.08) and Tyler Lockwood (6-2, 2.06) have combined for eight save in 43 relief outings.

Jason Coats leads the TCU offense with a .377 avg. and 65 RBIs, Matt Curry has 17 HR and a team-best 12 SB and catcher Bryan Holaday (podcast above)  provides the leadership to go along with his 12 HR.

The Question:  Will anyone score any runs?

Austin Super Regional

TEAM	RECORD	CONF.	BA	Runs/ Gm.	HR	Slg%	OBP	SB-Att.	Fld%	ERA	CG	SV	K	BB	Opp. BA
Texas	49-11	Big 12	.289	6.8	79	.479	.378	85-109	.980	2.45	9	15	530	169	.219
TCU	49-11	Mountain West	.345	8.9	90	.566	.420	71-102	.972	3.48	3	10	497	173	.252

College Baseball Notebook-Week 12

A By The Numbers Look At Week 12 Action…

42…Game hitting streak by Florida International’s Garrett Wittels, who singled in the eighth inning of Sunday’s 5-4 loss to Arkansas State.  He’s now in fourth place in Division One history with Chuck Abbott of Austin Peay, who hit safely in 42 straight games in 1996.

58…NCAA record hitting streak set by Oklahoma State’s Robin Ventura in 1987.  Wittels needs hits in five more games to to Wichita State’s Phil Stephenson (1981) for the second longest streak in D1 history.

3 & 7…Home runs and RBIs by Wittels’ teammate, Mike Martinez, in the same game Wittels hit safely for the 41st game to help FIU down Arkansas State 15-4.

21…Game winning streak by Texas snapped in Friday’s 2-1 loss at Kansas State.  It’s the first ever home win against a number one ranked team for the Wildcats.

2…Consecutive Big 12 regular season titles for the Longhorns (41-8, 21-3), which clinched this year’s championship with wins in the last two games of the series with the Wildcats (32-15, 11-9), who are in third place in the Big 12.  Texas Tech (26-12, 12-9) is in second place.

50…Mile per hour wind gusts Saturday afternoon in the Buffalo, NY area where Canisius beat Manhattan 23-20.

68…RBIs this season by Canisus’ Steve McQuail-a new Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference single-season record-after the junior drove in 6 runs with the help of a grand slam in the Griffs’ win.  The previous record of 67 RBIs had stood since 1993.

3…Grand slams hit this season by McQuail, who is 8-for-9 with 24 RBIs this season with the bases loaded.

9…Saves this season by UCLA pitcher Dan Klein-the most for a Bruin pitcher since 1993.

28…Innings pitched without allowing an earned run by # 32 New Mexico’s Willy Kesler prior  to allowing a one out two run home run in the top of the 9th inning in Saturday’s 3-2 win over #12 TCU.

140…Pitches needed by Kesler (5-1) to pick-up his third complete game of the season.

6…Straight games New Mexico had lost to TCU prior to Saturday’s victory.

9 & 67…Home runs and total bases by TCU in Sunday’s series-clinching 26-4 win over New Mexico in Albuquerque.  The home runs ties a new single-game program record, while the total bases sets a new school record.  In addition to the nine long balls, the Horned Frogs tallied 20 singles, four doubles and a triple.

2 & 7…Home runs hit and RBIs by TCU’s Aaron Schultz, who was 4-for-4 with a double in the victory.

16…Straight series wins by the Horned Frogs dating back to last season.  TCU (36-10, 13-4) leads New Mexico (31-17, 13-7) by three games in the Mountain West Conference standings.

24-1…Record of TCU’s weekend pitching rotation.  Kyle Winkler (7-1) suffered his first loss Saturday to the Lobos, while Matt Purke (9-0) and Stephen Maxwell (8-0) remain unbeaten.

13…Combined earned runs given-up by Vanderbilt’s Sonny Gray and LSU’s Anthony Ranaudo in Friday’s 15-16 game won by the Tigers.

15…Strikeouts by San Diego’s Kyle Blair in Friday’s 2-0 win over Portland. Blair (7-3) gave-up just one hit in the complete game effort.

2…Outs in the 9th inning when Blair’s no-hit bid ended thanks to a double by Portland’s Kris Kauppila.

14…Wins with no losses in WCC play for San Diego after winning the first two games of the series.

3…Outs recorded on a ground ball off the bat of #30 Texas State’s Jeff McVaney in Saturday’s 5-2 upset loss to McNeese State.  Steven Irvine, Matt Fontenot and Bryn Thompson combined on the 5-4-3 triple play.

1…NCAA bid officially locked-up when Dartmouth beat Columbia 11-5 in Sunday’s deciding game three of the Ivy League Championship Series.

4…Pitchers, Cole Green of Texas, Anthony Meo of Coastal Carolina, Quintavious Drains of Jackson State, and Pittsburgh’s Cory Baker, who share the Division One lead with 10 wins this season.

1,022…Career wins by Ohio State’s Bob Todd, who announced his retirement last week after 27 years as a college baseball head coach.  Todd has 898 wins in his time in Columbus.  His Buckeyes dropped two of three games to Illinois over the weekend after he announced his intentions to step down at the end of this season.

13…Runs scored by Tennessee in Saturday’s 25-5 win at Georgia.  The Vols hit four home runs in the inning and scored 9 runs before an out was recorded.

52…Total bases for the Vols in the game to break the previous program record of 47.

0 & 11…Runs allowed and strikeouts recorded in 8.0 IP by Arkansas’ Mike Bolsinger in Sunday’s 7-0 series-clinching win at Ole Miss.  The Rebels’ 1-7 batters combined to go 0-for-22 in the loss. The win has the Razorbacks (36-11, 15-8) tied with the Rebels (34-14, 15-8) tied for first place in the SEC’s Western Division.

2…Wins by #44 Kentucky ( 25-21, 8-15) over South Carolina (36-10, 17-6) to keep the Wildcats’ NCAA hopes alive.  The SEC series win is just the second of the season for the Wildcats.

10…Consecutive SEC series South Carolina had won (dating back to last season) prior to losing two of three games in Lexington.  The Gamecocks are now tied for first place in the SEC’s Eastern Division with Florida (33-11, 17-6), which took two of three games vs. Alabama over the weekend.  The Gamecocks and Gators meet in Columbia in two weeks in the final weekend of the regular season.

3…Games won by #47  Oregon State (24-17, 7-11) over # 20 Oregon (30-18, 10-11) to give the Beavers just their second Pac 10 series win of 2010.

11 of 12…Games Oregon State had lost prior to sweeping its weekend series vs. the Ducks.

8…Teams within three games of one another in the Pac 10 Conference race.  Arizona State is 39-5 overall and leads the conference race with a 14-4 mark.  Cal (11-9) UCLA (10-8) and Stanford (10-8) are all tied for second place at four games back, followed by Arizona (9-9), Oregon (10-11), Washington State (8-9), Washington (8-10), and Oregon State (7-11).

4…Games won by Fresno State (30-20, 11-5) at #48 New Mexico State (35-16-1, 13-6-1) to move ahead of the Aggies and into first place in the WAC standings.

23…Years since Auburn (33-15, 15-9) had swept a series from Mississippi State prior to taking three games from the Bulldogs over the weekend.  The Tigers are in second place in the SEC East.

3…Consecutive SEC series lost by defending national champion LSU (34-14, 12-11) after dropping two of three vs. Vanderbilt of the weekend. The Bayou Bengals  are in fourth place in the SEC East.

11…Home runs hit this season by Notre Dame outfielder Ryan Connolly, who is the only Irish player with double digit long balls.  Connolly also leads the Irish with a .367 batting average and 1.140 OPS.

4…Home runs hit by Connolly from 2006-2009.  The fifth-year senior missed all of 2006 and most of the next three seasons due to shoulder injuries.  All four of his previous career home runs were hit over the last 13 games of the 2009 campaign.

10…RBIs by West Virginia’s Grant Buckner in Saturday’s 22-6 win over the Irish.  The third baseman was 4-for-5 with three home runs, while setting a new school record for single-game RBIs to help the Mountaineers to their first Big East series sweep of the season.

College Baseball Notebook-Week 10

A By The Numbers Look At Another Week Of Action

20 & 16…Touchdown passes thrown and home runs hit, respectively, during the current academic year by Clemson’s

Kyle Parker.  The quarterback/outfielder threw 20 touchdowns for the Tigers last fall and became the first “20-15″ player in Division One history after belting a grand slam in Tuesday’s 22-4 win over USC Upstate.  He also tallied his 16th homer of the season in Sunday’s win over North Carolina.

3 & 7…Home runs hit and RBIs by Parker’s teammate, John Stinson, in that same Tuesday game.  The three HR tied a Clemson single-game record.  Clemson scored 17 of its 22 runs in the first three innings alone.

5…Former college football/baseball players taken in the weekend’s NFL draft- Stanford’s Toby Gerhart (#51-Minnesota Vikings), Notre Dame’s Golden Tate (#60-Seattle Seahawks), LSU’s Chad Jones (#76 New York Giants), Minnesota’s Eric Decker (#87-Denver Broncos), and Florida’s Riley Cooper (#159-Philadelphia Eagles).  Gerhart and Tate were second round picks, Jones and Decker went in the third round, while Cooper was tabbed in the fifth round.

5…At-bats, hits, runs scored, and RBIs by Georgia Tech’s Thomas Nichols, whose two home runs were among his five hits, in Wednesday’s 18-4 win over Georgia Southern.

48…Consecutive seasons Arizona State has won at least 30 games.  The current campaign also marks the 50th time overall the Sun Devils have reached the 30-win mark.

11…Teams, including ASU (33-5), that notched their 30th win before losing their 10th game this season.  Virginia (34-9), Texas (34-7), Georgia Tech (34-7), LSU (32-9), Arkansas (33-8), Coastal Carolina (36-5), South Carolina (32-8), Connecticut (33-7), Louisville (32-7), Vanderbilt (32-10), and TCU (30-8) also accomplished the feat.  UCLA (29-7) and Appalachian State (29-8-1) still have the chance to do it as well.

6…Home runs surrendered in 9.0 innings by UCLA in Tuesday’s 16-5 loss to Long Beach State.  Dirtbag  DH Jordan Cases connected for two of the long balls.

17….Home runs surrendered by UCLA pitchers in the previous 295.0 innings prior to Tuesday’s loss.  The 16 runs and 18 hits allowed by the Bruin pitching staff were also season-highs.

2…Wins by Kansas State over intrastate rival Wichita State both this season and last season.

1952 & 1953…The last time K-State took back-to-back season series from the Shockers.

1…Batter who reached base vs. Christian Bergman in Sunday’s 13-0 UC Irvine win over UC Davis.  Aggie center fielder Daniel Cepin singled on the first pitch he saw, and Bergman then proceeded to retire the next 26 batters he faced.  Cepin was thrown out on a stolen base attempt.

12…Combined errors (six each) by North Carolina State and East Carolina in the Wolfpack’s 8-6 Wednesday win over the Pirates.  The miscues led to a total of eight unearned runs scored.

1977…The last time Notre Dame played in Ann Arbor prior to Michigan’s 3-2 home win on Tuesday.  (The teams played several neutral site games near Grand Rapids, MI over the years.)

13…Two-out runs scored by the Wolverines in Wednesday’s 13-1 win over the Irish in their return trip to Notre

Dame.

17…Straight wins by Coastal Carolina after a 3-game sweep of VMI.  It’s the second longest winning streak in program history, and the best since the 1983 team won 19 straight.

21…Straight wins by Connecticut-a program record and the third longest winning streak in the nation in 2010-after the weekend’s 3-game sweep of Rutgers.  UConn (33-7, 13-2) entered the weekend tied with the Scarlet Knights for first place in the Big East Conference, but now owns sole possession of the top spot.

300…Career hits by Bryant’s Nick Campbell, who reached the school-record milestone with a double in Saturday’s win over Fairleigh Dickinson.

56 & 2…Respective strikeouts and walks in 64.0 IP this season by Minnesota’s Seth Rosin.  The right-hander had 7 Ks and no walks in 7 2/3 innings in Friday’s 14-0 win over Indiana, the top offensive team in the Big Ten entering the weekend’s action.

15…Strikeouts by North Carolina’s Matt Harvey in Friday’s complete game 5-3 win over Clemson.

156…Pitches thrown by Harvey (including 101 for strikes) to pick-up the victory.

13…Game winning streak by #6 Arkansas that was snapped when #9 Florida won the last two games of their series in Gainesville.

0…Earned runs surrendered in 12 2/3 combined innings by Gator starters Brian Johnson and Hudson Randall Florida’s wins in games two and three of the series.

3 1/3…Scoreless innings pitched by Gator reliever Greg Larson to earn his third save of the year in Saturday’s win that ended the Razorbacks’ 13-game streak.

9…Runs allowed in 6 2/3 innings by Pittsburgh’s Corey Baker en-route to his 9th win of the season.  The Panthers led West Virginia 12-1 going into the bottom of the sixth inning and then held-on to win 13-9.

3…Pitchers, including Baker, who lead the nation with nine victories.  He is tied with Ohio State’s Alex Wimmers and Cole Green of Texas.

4…Hits apiece given-up by Wimmers and Green with respective complete game wins over Penn State and Oklahoma State to earn their ninth wins of the year.  Wimmers recorded 10 strikeouts while Green notched five.

18-2…Wimmers‘ record over the last two seasons.  The junior is just the third Ohio State pitcher in the last 127 years to start a season 9-0.

19 & 1…Strikeouts recorded and runs allowed in his last two starts (16 innings) by Green’s teammate, Taylor Jungmann.

16…Consecutive wins by Texas, including 14 straight Big 12 contests, after a 3-game sweep of Oklahoma State.  The 16 straight wins are the most for the Longhorns in five years.

4…Runs allowed in their last 49 2/3 innings of Big 12 action by Texas starting pitchers.

2…Consecutive wins by Virginia Tech over Georgia Tech to hand the Yellow Jackets (34-7, 16-5) their first back-to-back losses of the season.  GT salvaged a 14-12 win in Sunday’s series finale.

23:40…Hours and minutes of the rain delay of game two of the series, which Va. Tech won 10-3.  The game was halted by rain Saturday with the Hokies leading 6-0 in the middle of the fourth inning.

7-5…Virginia Tech’s (28-14, 11-10) record vs. top-10 teams over the last four weekends.

3…Wins by Ole Miss over LSU in their weekend series in Oxford, MS. It’s the first time the defending national champs have been swept in an SEC set since 2008.

2…Of the Rebel wins that came in walk-off fashion.  They won game two 9-8 in 11 innings after Alex Yarbrough’s game winning single on Saturday, and then capped the sweep on Sunday with a 7-6 win thanks to a game-ending RBI single by Kevin Mort.

14…Combined runs allowed in a total of 4 2/3 IP by LSU’s Anthony Ranaudo (9 R in 1 2/3 IP) and Mississippi’s Drew Pomeranz (5 R in 3.0 IP) in the opener of the series, which was played early Saturday afternoon instead of  Friday night after heavy rains forced postponement.

23…Combined strikeouts by UCLA starters Gerrit Cole (10K in 8 IP) and Trevor Bauer (13K in 9 IP) to help the Bruins take two of three games at Arizona in their three game series.

50…Total runs scored by Texas Tech and Kansas in two games played on Sunday in Lawrence, KS.  The Red Raiders won by finals of 11-8 and 21-10 to win the series 2-1.

12…Doubles hit by the Red Raiders in the 21-10 victory.  The binge of two-baggers ties a Big 12 single-game record.

7…Of those doubles that came in the top of the second inning-one shy of the NCAA record.

CB360 Primetime Performers #9 (April 20)

Stanford’s Kaskow, SC ace Cooper Lead Primtime Honors …

Stanford junior first baseman Jonathan Kaskow (Coppell, Texas) and South Carolina senior righthander Blake Cooper (Neeses, S.C.) lead the way for the ninth group of honorees on CB360’s Primetime Performers Weekly Honor, for action during April 12-18.

CLICK HERE for archive of previous CB360 Primetime award winners (scroll down for earlier weeks).

Kaskow has been named the national Primetime Player of the Week and Cooper is the Primetime Pitcher of the Week, while 15 others join them in comprising the Primetime Performer Weekly Honor Roll (as selected by CollegeBaseball360.com). Cooper delivered a 4-hit shutout in the series opener vs. Mississippi (#20 in the CB360 Composite National Rankings), countering a strong outing by Ole Moss ace Drew Pomeranz – while Kaskow reached base 10 times and drove in/scored 10 runs during the Cardinal’s series sweep at #14 Oregon State.

COOPER delivered in the clutch versus the Rebels, sending South Carolina on to the series win and a spot among the Southeastern Conference leaders. The 5-10, 180-pound righthander racked up a career-high 10 strikeouts in the 5-0 win over Ole Miss and issued only one walk over the course of his fifth career complete game. It marked the first complete game shutout by a South Carolina pitcher since May 13, 2005 (when Aaron Rawl also posted a noteworthy win over Ole Miss, 2-0).

After working out of a bases-loaded jam to open the game, Cooper settled down and posted four 1-2-3 innings (3rd-5th, 7th) to keep the Rebels at bay. A pair of infield errors allowed the first two batters to reach in the 6th, but Cooper quickly responded with a strikeout and double-play groundball to end the threat.

CLICK HERE to listen to an exclusive podcast interview with Cooper.

The SEC co-lead in victories this season (7-0; giving him28 career wins), Cooper owns a 2.44 season ERA and a lowly .185 opponent batting average, along with a 2.7 K-to-walk ratio (57/21) and 40 hits allowed in 62.2 innings.

KASKOW delivered from his cleanup spot throughout the past week, posting multiple hits in all four games (14-0 vs. Santa Clara; 14-6/5-3 in 10/10-7 at Oregon State) as Stanford gave its NCAA Tournament hopes a major bolt. The imposing 6-4, 225-pound righthanded hitter batted .625 during the week (10-for-16; 8 RBI), including a 7-for-12 effort in the OSU series, with five RBI, five runs, a home run, double and three walks.

Currently the Pacific-10 Conference leader in league batting avg. (.500), Kaskow smacked his first home run of the season and had 4 RBI in the opener vs. Oregon State, followed by a 2-hit game in the series clincher and three more hits in the finale. Stanford entered last week barely over .500 (14-13), with only a 4-5 mark in Pac-10 play (now 18-13/7-5).

(note: additional action photos for some of the other honorees on this page may be added later today)

Primetime Performer Award Criteria
• Must have been playing for or against a CB360 top-50 team (in the Composite National Rankings) or performed a high level in a game that could be key to a team’s conference/NCAA postseason qualification.
• Involved in clutch performances, such as late game-winning hits, noteworthy comebacks, game-changing plays, team leadership, key defensive efforts, etc.
• Performing at a top level against a team rated highly nationally (or within its conference), with bonus consideration given for key performances away from home field and vs. traditional rivals.
• Overcoming adversity or extreme circumstances (for the team and/or individual).
• Any accomplishment that is rare, historic, record-setting, etc., on a national level.

The other 15 members of the CB360 Primetime Performer Weekly Honor Roll include: Texas Tech fr. 1B Barrett Barnes (Sugarland, Texas) … Arkansas so. 2B Bo Bigham (Texarkansa, Ark.) … Southeastern Louisiana so. SS Justin Boudreaux (Prairieville, La.) … Georgia Tech jr. RF Chase Burnette (Buford, Ga.) … Univ. of the Pacific so. CF Brett Christopher (Livermore, Calif.) … LSU so. 3B Grant Dozar (Morgan City,  La.) … Texas jr. RHP Cole Green (Coppell, Texas) … Miami sr. RHP David Gutierrez (Miami, Fla.) … Arizona fr. RHP Kurt Heyer (Huntington Beach, Calif.) … Vanderbilt jr. RHP Taylor Hill (Old Hickory, Tenn.) … Auburn so. LHP Cory Luckie (Prattville, Ala.) … Florida Atlantic jr. RF/RHP Andy Mee (Palm Beach, Fla.) … Oregon sr. OF Curtis Raukinaitis (Sacramento, Calif.) … Liberty so. SS Matt Williams (Franklin, Tenn.) … and Ohio State jr. RHP Alex Wimmers (Cincinnati, Ohio).

The 17 honorees include nine pitchers (one of them a LHP and one a two-way player), along with two first basemen, a second baseman, shortstop, third baseman, centerfielder and rightfielder (plus a player who had stints at all three outfield spots during the past week). The selections feature three seniors, six juniors, five sophomores and three freshmen. The honorees hail from 11 different home states, led by three each from California and Texas, and two each from Florida, Louisiana and Tennessee, plus players from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Ohio and South Carolina.

PRIMETIME PERFORMERS WEEKLY HONOR ROLL#9 (April 20, 2010)

(presented by CollegeBaseball360.com)

“It’s not so much what you do, as it is when you do it.”

Player (Pos.) … School … Yr. … Hometown … Stats & Notes
Barrett Barnes (1B) … Texas Tech … Fr. … Sugarland, TX
Hit .500 in series and homered in both wins vs. #19 Oklahoma (1-12/7-3/8-3), as Red Raiders moved into 3rd place in Big 12 (6-12, 3RBI-3R-2B-BB)

Bo Bigham (2B) … Arkansas … So. … Texarkansa, AR
2-hole batter who offset subpar week by team’s top hitters, in 5-game stretch vs. #34 New Mexico (4-3 in 11/5-4) and SEC rival Georgia (10-2/10-2/13-5); hit 11-20 during week and scored 6 times (once in extra-innings), also 2RBI-2BB-SB-SAC

Justin Boudreaux (SS) … Southeastern Louisiana … So. … Prairieville, LA
Homered twice (5RBI) from 2-hole in key Southland Conf. series-clinching win vs. #37 Texas State (10-1/10-12 in 11/9-6); hit 6-14 with 9 RBI in series (3R-SB-SAC)

Chase Burnette (RF) … Georgia Tech … Jr. … Buford, GA
Helped rout in-state rival Georgia (25-6) and then sweep #16 Clemson (8-6 in 10/4-3/11-3) as Tech remained atop ACC; his HR from 6-hole won opener, then 2B & scored go-ahead run in 7th inn. of gm-2; factored into 8 runs during week (4RBI-5R-HR-2B-BB-2 SB-SF)

Brett Christopher (CF) … Univ. of the Pacific … So. … Livermore, CA
Played lead role in series win at #33 UC Irvine (2-4/7-4/7-2), as UOP jumped into race for BIG WEST title; 2-hole hitter’s strong all-around series included batting 4-9 with 6RBI, 4 sac-bunts & 3 extra-base hits (3B-2 2B-R)

Blake Cooper (RHP) … South Carolina … Sr. … Neeses, SC
Tossed 4-hit shutout (5-0) to beat #20 Mississippi in opener, with career-high 10 Ks and only one walk as SC went on to win series; countered strong outing by Ole Miss ace Drew Pomeranz (7IP-2H-4BB-10K)

Grant Dozar (3B) … LSU … So. … Morgan City,  LA
8-hole batter who had game-tying single in 9th and then homered in 14th to win series-sweeping game vs. #26 Alabama (12-5/9-7/6-5); went 2-2 (RBI-R) with 2 walks in opener vs. Tide (SB)

Cole Green (RHP) … Texas … Jr. … Coppell, TX
Crafted 1-hit shutout to beat #32 Texas A&M (14-0) in gm-2 or road sweep vs. rival Aggies (3BB-4K-32BF)

David Gutierrez (RHP) … Miami … Sr. … Miami, FL
Logged 7.0 “perfect-game” innings (21BF,  7Ks) vs. potent Florida Gulf Coast offense (.339 team batting avg.; nearly 9 runs/gm) before leaving due to pitch-count (84); Miami bullpen allowed 1H in 9-0 win

Kurt Heyer (RHP) … Arizona … Fr. … Huntington Beach, CA
Rookie who racked up 14 Ks and ended one out shy of complete game in 5-3 series-opening win at #44 Washington State (5-3; 8.2IP-3R/2ER-4H-BB)

Taylor Hill (RHP) … Vanderbilt … Jr. … Old Hickory, TN
Game-3 starter who turned in near-complete game in 3-2 finale,helping win series vs. #24 Auburn (8.2IP-2R-7H-7K)

Jonathan Kaskow (1B) … Stanford … Jr. … Coppell, TX
Cleanup hitter who Reached base 10 times and drove in/scored 10 runs, during huge Pac-10 sweep (14-6/5-3 in 10 inn./10-7) at #14 Oregon State (7-12; 5RBI-5R-HR-2B-3 BB)

Cory Luckie (LHP) … Auburn … So. … Prattville, AL
Delivered series-tying complete game at #21 Vanderbilt (12-2; 5H-2BB-3K-33BF-115 pitches)

Andy Mee (RF/RHP) … Florida Atlantic … Jr. … Palm Beach, FL
3-hole hitter who paced huge Sunbelt Conference sweep of #18 Western Kentucky (10-3/5-4/9-8), batting 8-13 while factoring into 9 runs (6RBI-4R-HR-2 2B-BB-SF); also saved series finale

Curtis Raukinaitis (OF) … Oregon … Sr. … Sacramento, CA
Delivered key offensive plays from #9 spot, as Ducks won Pac-10 series at #2 UCLA (5-4/8-4/1-5); had 4RBI-HR-3B in series clincher (2RBI in 1-run opener)

Matt Williams (SS) … Liberty … So. … Franklin, TN
5-hole batter who hit .500 (7-14) and played error-free in Big South Conference sweep of #42 VMI (12-9/9-6/13-8), which was coming off upset of #3 Virginia; factored into 10 runs vs. VMI (6RBI-4R-3B-2B-BB-SB)

Alex Wimmers (RHP) … Ohio State … Jr. … Cincinnati, OH
Opened key Big Ten road series with dominating win at #48 Michigan State (10-1; 8IP-R-7H-2BB-7K)

* – Kascow is the CB360 Primetime Player of the Week and Cooper the Primetime Pitcher of the Week … note that rankings above refer to the CB360 top-50 … class years are based on academic standing (some players may have an extra year of eligibility)

College Baseball Notebook-Week 9

Big Pitching Performances Headline The Week

2…Wins by Oregon over #2 UCLA to give the Ducks their second Pac 10 series win of the season (they took two games at Stanford last week).

0…Pac 10 series wins by Oregon last year.  The Ducks are now 6-4 vs. ranked teams in 2010.

1…Loss this season by UCLA’s Gerrit Cole.  It came in Friday’s loss to the Ducks.  Cole (6-1) gave-up five runs in 5 IP.

7…Different pitchers who earned their Division One leading eighth win of the season.  Pittsburgh’s Corey Baker was

the first to do it Friday afternoon.  He was followed by: Alex Wimmers-Ohio St., Cole Green-Texas, Justin Jones-Cal, D.D. Hanks-South Alabama, Merrill Kelly-Arizona St., and Asher Wojciechowski-The Citadel.

1…Freshman among that group of eight game winners-Cal LHP Justin Jones (8-2, 2.62 ERA), who has both of his team’s complete games this season.

12…Strikeouts by Wojciechowski in his Friday complete game 4-2 win over Furman.

4…ACC series lost by North Carolina this season after being swept in Miami over the weekend.

4…ACC series lost by the Tar Heels over the previous three seasons combined.  UNC lost three conference series last year, none in 2008 and one in 2007.  They also lost just two in 2006 for a total of six ACC series defeats from ‘06-’09 en-route to four trips to the College World Series.

7…RBIs by Hurricane catcher Yasmani Grandal, who homered to help his team to the weekend sweep of the Tar Heels.

7…Perfect innings pitched by Miami’s David Guetierrez in Wednesday’s 9-0 win over Florida Gulf Coast.  The senior struck out seven and retired all 21 batters he faced in just his second start of the season before leaving the game after throwing 84 pitches.  Hurricane reliever Eric Whaley lost the perfect game and no-hitter when he hit a batter and gave-up a single in the 8th inning.

3…Wins by #6 Georgia Tech over visiting #16 Clemson.  The sweep was sparked by Friday’s 10th inning walk-off home run by Yellow Jacket right fielder Chase Burnett.

15…Consecutive games in which a Georgia Tech player has homered after second baseman Jacob Esch went deep in Sunday’s 11-3 series finale, which gave Clemson its fifth straight loss.

9…Of Clemson’s 13 losses this season (including three in its five-game slide) which have been decided by one or two runs.

5…Runs scored by #25 Virginia Tech in the top of the 9th inning in Sunday’s 8-5 win over #3 Virginia, which avoided a 3-game sweep.  The rally was capped by Buddy Sosnoskie’s 2-out bases clearing double.

3…Walks issued in just 1/3 of an inning by Cavalier closer Kevin Arico, who had earned his Division One leading 12th save earlier in the series, in that Hokie rally.

4…Walks issued by Arico (0-1)  in 20 innings pitched prior to Sunday’s outing.

0 & 23…Runs allowed and strikeouts totaled in 25 combined innings by Texas starting pitchers Brandon

Workman, Taylor Jungmann and Cole Green in the Longhorns’ weekend sweep of arch rival Texas A&M.  The trio also surrendered a grand total of seven hits on the weekend.

12 & 6…Consecutive wins by Texas and losses by Texas A&M, respectively, after the Aggies’ fourth sweep at the hands of the Longhorns in the last five seasons.  The sweep keeps Texas 2 1/2 games ahead of Kansas State in the Big 12 Conference standings.

14…Big 12 leading home runs hit by Nebraska’s Adam Bailey this season.

1…Hit by Bailey in 13 at-bats vs. Kansas (not a home run), while the Jayhawks took two of three games in the series from the Cornhuskers.

1996…The last time Kansas won a series in Lincoln prior to the weekend’s wins.

1,000…Career wins by Rutgers head coach Fred Hill after his Scarlet Knights beat South Florida 6-1 Saturday en-route to a 3-game weekend sweep of South Florida.  The wins move RU into a first place tie with Connecticut atop the Big East Conference standing.

1…Home run this season by LSU sophomore Grant Dozer-a walk-off shot that ended Sunday’s 6-5 14-inning win over Alabama to cap a 3-game weekend sweep.

2002…The last time LSU (30-6, 11.4) swept a series from Alabama (22-15, 5-10).

7…Ride or die innings pitched by LSU closer Matty Ott to earn his first win of the season.  The sophomore allowed two runs on four hits in the longest outing of his career.  He gave-up the runs in the 8th inning and then proceeded to toss six scoreless frames.

32…Division One leading wins by Coastal Carolina, which beat Gardner-Webb 13-0 Sunday for its 13th straight win.

4…Third inning home runs hit by UC Riverside in Sunday’s 7-5 win over Long Beach State.

3…Hits by Duke second baseman Marcus Stroman in Saturday’s upset of #8 Florida State.

3…Scoreless innings pitched by Stroman, who moved to the mound and earned his fourth win in relief in that same game.

4…RBIs along with a home run hit by Arkansas’ Brett Eibner in Saturday’s win over Georgia.  He is tied for the team lead with 11 HR this season.

7…Innings pitched in that game by Eibner, who earned his third win in his ninth start of the season.

11…Straight wins by the Razorbacks (31-6, 12-3) after Sunday’s 13-5 win over the Bulldogs.  Arkansas has the most overall wins and conference wins of any team in the SEC.

20…Combined strikeouts by starting pitchers Blake Cooper of South Carolina and Drew Pomeranz of Ole Miss in Friday’s Gamecock win over the Rebels.  Cooper (7-0) scattered four hits with 10 K in the complete game effort to help

South Carolina win two of three games in the series.

9…Straight South Carolina batters who reached base safely in a seven-run 2nd inning-capped by Christian Walker’s grand slam-in Saturday’s 9-5 win over the Rebels.

4…Runs scored by Arizona in the bottom of the 9th inning to rally to beat Washington State 12-11 Sunday in Tucson.

11…Straight wins by the home team in the series between the Wildcats and Cougars.

14…Strikeouts in 8 2/3 IP by Arizona’s Kurt Heyer in Friday’s 5-3 win over Wazzou.

18…Scoreless inning streak by Pepperdine’s Matt Bywater that ended when Gonzaga scored a 1st inning run en-route to a 16-3 win.

8…Runs scored by Miami (OH) in the bottom of the 9th inning of Tuesday’s 12-11 win over Xavier.

CB360 Primetime Performers of the Week #7 – April 6

Louisville’s Clark, Stanford’s Pries Headline Weekly Primetime Honorees …

Louisville senior first baseman Andrew Clark (New Palestine, Ind.) and Stanford sophomore righthander Jordan Pries (Alameda, Calif.) headline CB360’s most recent Primetime Performers Weekly Honor, for action during the end of March/start of April. Clark has been named the national Primetime Player of the Week and Pries is the Primetime Pitcher of the Week, while 16 others join them in comprising the Primetime Performer Weekly Honor Roll (as selected by CollegeBaseball360.com).

PRIES went the distance on April 2 in game-2 of the series at #2 UCLA, as the Cardinal handed the Bruins their first loss of the season (8-4). The 6-0, 190-pound righthander allowed three earned runs on eight hits and four walks, with four strikeouts while facing a potent UCLA lineup that featured four players hitting above .390 for the season.

The 133-pitch complete game saw Pries sparkle through the first 7.2 innings, as he allowed only an unearned run and four hits until late in the 8th inning. Twice in the game, Pries retired seven in a row – and his first six frames featured two 1-2-3 innings and four others in which he induced a double-play ball.

Pries allowed five hits from UCLA’s top-two hitters in the lineup (Blair Dunlap and Beau Amaral), but the sophomore steered clear of any big innings by limiting the other Bruins batters to a combined 3-for-23 in the upset win.

CLARK led Louisville to a 4-0 week, helping keep the Cardinals on course for a possible top-8 seed in the NCAA Championship. The 6-3, 225-pound lefthanded hitter batted at a .556 clip during the week (10-for-18), with four home runs, 10 RBI, nine runs scored, a pair of doubles, a walk and a sacrifice fly (plus a 1.333 slugging pct.).

In a midweek game at Indiana, the 3-hole hitter continued to star in his comeback from a ribcage stress fracture. The Hoosiers opted to send their ace Friday-night starter, LHP Drew Leininger, to the mound for a potential 3-inning save and IU was one out from the upset – but Clark drove a 1-1 pitch over the rightfield fence for a 2-run homer and the winning 5-4 margin. The blast ended Leininger’s impressive shutout streak that had spanned 28.2 innings (Leininger also entered the game with a lowly 0.79 season ERA).

Two days later, Clark single-handedly turned away BIG EAST challenger Villanova by batting 5-for-5, racking up 13 total bases (2 HR, 2 2B) and factoring into seven of the Louisville runs (5 RBI, 4 R) during the 12-4 opener. The Cardinals went on to sweep the Wildcats and remain tied atop the BIG EAST standings (5-1; 24-3 overall).

In his seven games since returning from the ribcage injury, Clark is batting .444 with 13 RBI. His .408 season batting avg. includes 25 RBI, 17 runs scored and six home runs in 14 games played.

Primetime Performer Award Criteria
• Must have been playing for or against a CB360 top-50 team (in the Composite National Rankings) or performed a high level in a game that could be key to a team’s conference/NCAA postseason qualification.
• Involved in clutch performances, such as late game-winning hits, noteworthy comebacks, game-changing plays, team leadership, key defensive efforts, etc.
• Performing at a top level against a team rated highly nationally (or within its conference), with bonus consideration given for key performances away from home field and vs. traditional rivals.
• Overcoming adversity or extreme circumstances (for the team and/or individual).
• Any accomplishment that is rare, historic, record-setting, etc., on a national level.

(from left) Andrew Ciencin (NC St.), Harrry Clark (UAB), Grant Dayton (Auburn), Clayton Farhat (Lamar), Cole Green (Texas) and Justin Jones (Cal).

The other 16 members of the CB360 Primetime Performer Weekly Honor Roll include: N.C. State so. 3B Andrew Ciencin (Cranford, N.J.) … Alabama-Birmingham freshman catcher Harry Clark (Memphis, Tenn.) … Auburn jr. LHP Grant Dayton (Huntsville, Ala.) … Lamar jr. LF Clayton Farhat (Plano, Texas) … Texas jr. RHP Cole Green (Coppell, Texas) … California fr. LHP Justin Jones (Oakdale, Calif.) … Arkansas so. CF Collin Kuhn (Beaver Dam, Wis.) … so. RHP Jacob Lee (Jonesboro, Ark.) … Texas Tech so. RF Scott LeJeune (Austin, Texas) …San Diego St. fr. RHP Ethan Miller (Chino Hills, Calif.) … Coastal Carolina jr. CF Rico Noel (Lawton, Okla.) … Florida so. LHP Alex Panteliodis (Tampa, Fla.) … Oregon jr. LF Marcus Piazzisi (Placentia, Calif.) … Tennessee jr. LF P.J. Polk (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) … Tulane so. catcher Jeremy Schaffer (Bellaire, Texas) … and Virginia Tech jr. RF Austin Wates (Richmond, Va.).

(from left) Collin Kuhn (Arkansas), Jacob Lee (Arkansas St.), Scott LeJuene (Texas Tech), Ethan Miller (San Diego St.), Rico Noel (Coastal Carolina) and Alex Panteliodos (Florida).

The 18 honorees include seven pitchers (three LHPs), three leftfielders, two catchers, a pair of centerfielders, two rightfielders, a first baseman and a third baseman. The selections feature one senior, seven juniors, seven sophomores and three freshmen. Four of the players are California natives are four others are Texas products, along with two from the state of Tennessee and one each from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Virginia and Wisconsin.

(from left) Marcus Piazzisi (Oregon), P.J. Polk (Tennessee), Jeremy Shaffer (Tulane) and Austin Wates (Virginia Tech).

PRIMETIME PERFORMERS WEEKLY HONOR ROLL (April 6, 2010)

(presented by CollegeBaseball360.com)

“It’s not so much what you do, as it is when you do it.”

Player (Pos.) … School … Yr. … Hometown … Stats & Notes
Andrew Ciencin (3B) … North Carolina State … So. …. Cranford, NJ
6-hole hitter whose 7th-inning grand slam provided winning margin in series-clinching win over #3 Virginia (7-5); hit 2-for-4 and scored game’s first run in earlier win over UVa (6-5)

*Andrew Clark (1B) … Louisville … Sr. … New Palestine, IN
3-hole hitter continued to star after returning from ribcage stress fracture; his 10-for-18/4-HR/10-RBI/9-R week included GW homer at Indiana (ending ace LHP Drew Leininger’s 28.2-inn. shutout streak) and 13 total bases in opener vs. BIG EAST challenger Villanova (5-5, 2HR-5RBI; UL swept)

Harry Clark (C) … Alabama-Birmingham  … Fr. … Memphis, TN
Rookie 8-hole batter hit 3-for-4 with 2 RBI (R, 2B) in 6-4 upset of in-state power #25 Alabama

Grant Dayton (LHP) … Auburn … Jr. … Huntsville, AL
Seven strong innings to win finale of rivalry series at #25 Alabama (1R-7H-6K)

Clayton Farhat (LF) … Lamar … Jr. … Plano, TX
2-hole hitter who led series win vs. #24 SE Louisiana; 4-for-8 with 4 RBI in the two wins (7-4/8-1; R-3B-2B-SAC)

Cole Green (RHP) … Texas … Jr. … Coppell, TX
Dominant outing to win tight game-2 (2-0) in sweep at #16 Oklahoma (which entered game with .323 team batting avg.); faced only 26 batters in 7.2-inn., 112-pitch outing (3H-2BB-6K); only runner to reach 2nd base vs. Green was after late dropped ball on forceout

Justin Jones (LHP) … California … Fr. … Oakdale, CA
Logged 8.0 shutout innings and faced only 28 batters (4H-5K) in game-2 win over #21 Arizona (8-0), as Bears posted their first Pac-10 series sweep since 2007

Collin Kuhn (CF) … Arkansas … So. … Beaver Dam, WI
Leadoff batter who came through with 2-out/2-strike grand slam to beat #49 Kentucky in 17-16 shootout that clinched SEC series (bailed out staff that coughed up 8-run lead); career-high 4 hits in that series finale (3R-2B-BB-HBP), also strong effort in game-2 win (10-1; 2-for-5, 3RBI-2R-HR-2B)

Jacob Lee (RHP) … Arkansas State … So. … Jonesboro, AR
Delivered series-clinching win (3-1) vs. #20 Western Kentucky team that was averaging nearly 10R per game (6.2 shutout IP-5H-3BB-8K)

Scott LeJeune (RF) … Texas Tech … So. … Austin, TX
Cleanup batter who led series win vs. #24 Kansas State (8-5/13-4 wins); hit 6-for-8 in the pair of wins (3RBI-3R-2 2B-BB-HBP)

Ethan Miller (RHP) … San Diego State … Fr. … Chino Hills, CA
Beat #14 TCU with 7.0 shuout innings, in his second start of season (3-1; 8H-BB-3K)

Rico Noel (CF) … Coastal Carolina … Jr. … Lawton, OK
Leadoff batter whose 11th-inning HR delivered 4-3 win at #11 Clemson (2-for-4, 2 RBI, sac. fly)

Alex Panteliodis (LHP) … Florida … So. … Tampa, FL
Won pitchers duel opposite #18 Vanderbilt’s highly-rated ace Sonny Gray, in 3-2 series opener (6.1IP-R-7H-2BB-6K)

Marcus Piazzisi (LF) … Oregon … Jr. … Placentia, CA
2-hole hitter whose 12th-inning single handed #1 Arizona St. its first loss (6-5; hit 3-for-5 with 2RBI, 2 BB); also doubled in 1-0 loss to ASU and had RBI/R as part of early 3-0 lead in finale (3-7 loss)

P.J. Polk (LF) … Tennessee … Jr. … Murfreesboro, TN
Leadoff man who homered twice in game-2 win (5-2) at #12 Mississippi; hit combined 6-for-12 pair of wins during series upset (10-6 finale; 4 RBI-4R)

*Jordan Pries (RHP) … Stanford … So. … Alameda, CA
His 133-pitch complete game handed #2 UCLA its first loss (8-4; 3 earned runs-8H-4BB-4K); allowed only one run (unearned) and four hits until late in the 8th

Jeremy Schaffer (C) … Tulane … So. .. Bellaire, TX
Smacked 1st-inning grand slam in 10-5 win at #36 Tulane (2-for-4; 5RBI-2R-SB-SAC); added 425-ft blast to dead-center in 7-5 clincher of key CUSA series (2RBI-BB)

Austin Wates (RF) … Virginia Tech … Jr. … Richmond, VA
3-hole batter who paced series win at #4 Florida State (VT had not won at FSU since ‘89; 1-25 in previous 26 games vs. ‘Noles) … led 10-5 opening win (4-5, 3RBI-R-2 2B) and scored in gm-2 (8-7; VT’s first-ever series win over FSU)

* – Adam Clark is the CB360 Primetime Player of the Week and Pries the Primetime Pitcher of the Week … note that rankings above refer to the CB360 top-50 … class years are based on academic standing (some players may have an extra year of eligibility)

College Pitcher Of The Year Watch List

Big Names & Lessor Known Hurlers On The List

LUBBOCK, TX — As starting pitchers across the country continue to impact the success of their teams, the College Baseball Foundation has released the first Pitcher of the Year Watch List for 2010.  The Pitcher of the Year Award will be presented in Lubbock, Texas,on July 2 as part of the College Baseball Awards Show.

“This watch list is full of great college pitchers from around the country,” said Landon Holly, who together with Justin Knowles serves as co-chair for the Pitcher of the Year committee.  All the major conferences across the country have multiple representatives on the list, with the Pac-10 leading the way with nine.  Many of the smaller conferences also have representation on the list.

This is the second year the CBF will present the Pitcher of the Year Award.  Deck McGuire of Georgia Tech is the only 2009 finalist to appear on the 2010 watch list.  2009 Stopper of the Year Award winner Addison Reed of San Diego State (now a starter) is on the Pitcher of the Year watch list as well.

The award will be presented on July 2 in Lubbock, TX as part of the College Baseball Awards Show.

2010 College Pitcher of the Year Watch List

Jimmy Nelson-Alabama-SEC

Jake Borup-Arizona State-Pac 10

Mitchell Lambson-Arizona State-Pac 10

Josh Spence-Arizona State-Pac 10

Drew Smyly-Arkansas-SEC

Logan Verrett-Baylor-Big 12

Eric Johnson-California-Pac 10

Asher Wojciechowski-The Citadel-Southern

Matt Rein-Coastal Carolina-Big South

Cody Wheeler-Coastal Carolina-Big South

Alex Panteliodis-Florida-SEC

John Gast-Florida State-ACC

Sean Gilmartin-Florida State-ACC

Deck McGuire-Georgia Tech-ACC

Drew Leininger-Indiana-Big 10

Matt Little-Kentucky-SEC

Shawn Teufel-Liberty-Big South

Anthony Ranaudo-LSU-SEC

Neil Holland-Louisville-Big East

Thomas Royse-Louisville-Big East

Matt Harvey-North Carolina-ACC

Francis Brooke-Northwestern-Big 10

Alex Wimmers-Ohio State-Big 10

Jeremy Erben-Oklahoma-Big 12

Aaron Barrett-Mississippi-SEC

Drew Pomeranz-Mississippi-SEC

Tyler Anerson-Oregon-Pac 10

Greg Peavey-Oregon State-Pac 10

Tanner Robles-Oregon State-Pac 10

Addison Reed-San Diego State-Mountain West

D.D. Hanks-South Alabama-Sun Belt

Trevor Vermeulen-South Dakota State-Summit

Josh Janway-Southeastern Louisiana-Southland

Scott Copeland-Southern Mississippi-Conference USA

Todd McInnis-Southern Mississippi-Conference USA

Cole Green-Texas-Big 12

Taylor Jungmann-Texas-Big 12

Chance Ruffin-Texas-Big 12

Barret Loux-Texas A&M-Big 12

John Stilson-Texas A&M-Big 12

Daniel Bibona-UC Irvine-Big West

Eric Pettis-UC Irvine-Big West

Mario Hollands-UC Santa Barbara-Big West

Trevor Bauer-UCLA-Pac 10

Gerrit Cole-UCLA-Pac 10

Jason Mitchell-UT Arlington-Southland

Sonny Gray-Vanderbilt-SEC

Danny Hultzen-Virginia-ACC

Jesse Hahn-Virginia Tech-ACC

College Baseball 2010 Statistics Leaders-March 19

An Unofficial Look At The National Leaders

The NCAA won’t release its official statistics leaders until after the conclusion of the Final Four, so here’s our “unofficial” look at some individual category leaders.  Pitching Statistics are still a little hard to qualify, so for now we’re sticking with wins, saves and strikeouts.

PS-Don’t look now, but there are a couple early Triple Crown candidates!

Batting Average

1.  Justin Bencsko-Villanova .558  (24-43)

2.  Kevin Tokarski-Illinois State .551 (27-49)

3.  Mark Hill-George Mason .537  (22-41)

4.  Chris Duffy-Central Florida .529  (37-70)

5.  Brandon Padula-Maryland .518  (29-56)

6.  B.J. LaRosa-Bucknell .509  (27-53)

7.  Chad Salem-Manhattan .500  (19-38)

7.  Zach Macphee-Arizona State .500  (27-54)

7.  Garrett Bivone-UT Pan American .500  (18-36)

10.  Carlos Alonso-Delaware .491  (27-55)

RBIs

1.  Chris Duffy-Central Florida  35

2.  Ben Harty-New Mexico St.  33

2.  Joe Leonard-Pittsburgh       33

4.  Connor Powers-Mississippi St. 32

4.  Jake Overstreet-So. Alabama   32

6.  Jacob Tanis-Mercer  31

7.  Danny Brock-St. Louis 30

7.  Sam Roberts-VMI  30

7.  Thomas Carroll-Mercer  30

10.  Jeff Schaus-Clemson  29

Home Runs

1.  Chris Duffy-Central Florida  11

2.  Danny Brock-St. Louis  9

2.  Mike Sodders-New Mexico State  9

2.  A.J. Kirby-Jones-Tennessee Tech  9

5.  Ryan Aguayo-New Mexico St.  8

5.  Stephen Yarrow-San Francisco  8

5.  Paul Hoilman-East Tenn. State  8

5.  Ben Harty-New Mexico St.  8

5.  Connor Powers-Mississippi St.  8

5.  Kyle Parker-Clemson  8

5.  Jordan Ballard-VMI  8

Strikeouts

1.  Taylor Jungmann-Texas  43

2.  Gerrit Cole-UCLA  41

2.  Tanner Peters-UNLV  41

4.  Jason Mitchell-UT Arlington  38

5.  Trevor Bauer-UCLA  38

6.  Barret Loux-Texas A&M  37

6.  Asher Wojciechowski-The Citadel  37

8.  Shawn Tolleson-Baylor  36

9.  Andrew Kittredge-Washington  35

10.  Cody Martin-Gonzaga  35

Wins

The Following 18 Pitchers Are All Tied With 4 Victories

Matt Andress-Appalachian State

Corey Baker-Pittsburgh

Jake Borup-Arizona State

Gerrit Cole-UCLA

Ryan Daniel-Kansas State

Brandon Efferson-Southeastern Louisiana

Cole Green-Texas

D.D. Hanks-South Alabama

Merrill Kelly-Arizona State

Brandon Love-Mercer

Alex Panteliodis-Florida

Marcus Pointer-Pacific

Dayne Quist-UC Davis

Cameron Selik-Kansas

John Stilson-Texas A&M

Brandon Williamson-Dallas Baptist

Asher Wojciechowski-The Citadel

Pete Woodworth-Florida Gulf Coast

Saves

1.  Kevin Arico-Virginia  6

1.  Matty Ott-LSU  6

1.  Chris Patterson-Appalachian State 6

1.  Jordan Swagerty-Arizona St.  6

5.  Wes Alsup-UT Martin  5

5.  Austin Fleet-Coastal Carolina  5

5.  Drew Manhaffey-The Citadel  5

5.  Bruce Pinckard-Baylor  5

5.  Ryne Purcell-Eastern Kentucky  5

5.  Mikel Rodenberg-High Point  5

5.  Chance Ruffin-Texas  5

5.  Chad Sheppard-Northwestern St.  5

5.  Seth Simmons-East Carolina  5

Around The Bases-March 3

A Look At Who’s Hot & Who’s Not In College Baseball

March is here and week three of the college baseball season is underway.  Most parts of the Midwest and Northeast are still digging out of the snow, but it’s only a matter of time before it melts and spring officially gets here.  It won’t be long until everyone is smelling the green grass that’s taken for granted in the nation’s sunbelt states.

With more games under everyone’s belts we’re getting a better gauge for what each team has.  Here’s a look at this week’s Stock-Up/Stock-Down around college baseball.

Stock-Up

TCU:  The Horned Frogs went to Cal State Fullerton and took two of three games from the Titans to improve to 5-1.  They did it by out-scoring Fullerton 13-3 in their two wins.  Those wins were against All-Americans Daniel Renken and Tyler Pill.  TCU is batting .341 with a .943 team OPS, while the pitching staff has a 2.82 ERA with 47 Ks in 51 IP.

Coastal Carolina:  The Chanticleers were already ranked, and then they went and swept two games from UC Irvine last Saturday.  It wasn’t like they were facing the Anteaters’ 3rd & 4th starters either.  Coastal beat Daniel Bibona and Eric Pettis on the same day.  Bibona was 12-1 last year with a 2.63 ERA, while Pettis was 5-2 with 17 saves as Irvine’s closer.

Texas:  After losing two of three games at home to New Mexico to open the season the Longhorns swept a Stanford team that had swept Rice on opening weekend.  The vaunted Longhorn pitching staff showed why it’s considered the best in the nation in the process.  Taylor Jungmann, Cole Green, Chance Ruffin, and  Brandon Workman combined to give-up just two runs with 26 strikeouts in 21 1/3 innings during the series.

East Carolina:  Typically a 4-3 team wouldn’t be considered one whose stock is rising, but the Pirates have essentially played two Super Regionals to open the season.  They lost two of three vs. a loaded Virginia team and then then took two of three from a very good South Carolina squad.   ECU will rack-up a lot of wins by season’s end.

St. John’s:  The Red Storm is off to a 6-0 start with wins over New Orleans (3), Minnesota, Michigan, and Illinois.  They won their three games at the Big Ten/Big East Challenge by a total of four runs.  The biggest long-term question Ed Blankmeyer’s team would appear to have is pitching.   Bruce Kern and Nick Cenatiempo have both been good so far, but while it’s still early, neither has gone deep into a game yet.  In their combined four starts neither has pitched more than five innings.

Washington State:  The Cougars’ 6-0 start is their best since 1988.  They have a staff ERA of 3.74 and a batting average of .363 in those six games.   Wins over the likes of Seattle, Bethune-Cookman and Texas Tech haven’t been the stiffest of tests, but it’s been more than 20 years since they started as well against similar schedules as well.

Southeastern Louisiana:  A 3-game sweep at Mississippi State last week has earned the Lions (8-0) the program’s first ever national ranking (#29 in this week’s Collegiate Baseball Poll).   They’ve done it with good pitching and a well-rounded offense.  Tyler Watkins and Brandon Efferson have each made two starts and have totaled 14.0 and 12.0 innings, respectively.  Three relievers have also combined to post four saves for a staff with a 2.70 ERA.  Meanwhile, the team is hitting .304 and 11 different batters have at least 3 RBIs.

Tim Esmay:  One of the questions we raised coming into the season was whether Esmay could continue what Pat Murphy had done for the last 15 years.  ASU is 7-0 in Esmay’s first seven games as head coach at his alma mater.  Northern Illinois and Towson haven’t provided high-octane competition, but games vs. Cal Poly, Oregon State and Florida International this week should test the Sun Devils more.

Stock Down

UC Irvine:  In addition to the previously mentioned losses to Coastal Carolina the Anteaters also lost to North Carolina State last weekend at the Baseball By The Beach Tournament in Myrtle Beach.  They also lost 6-0 Tuesday

night at Pepperdine to fall to 4-4.  Irvine is built on pitching, but it must improve its 6.75 staff ERA.

Cal State Fullerton:  First the Titans lost to Oregon and Pepperdine on opening weekend, then they suffered two more home losses to TCU last weekend.  The four losses at Goodwin Field are half as many as they had all of last year.   Stud pitchers Daniel Renken, Tyler Pill and Noe Ramirez are a combined 1-4, while the offense has hit just .236 during the 3-4 start.

Minnesota:  The Golden Gophers’ 0-3 performance at the Big Ten/Big East Challenge was probably the shocker of the event.  They did face arguably the toughest slate of anyone in the field with losses to St. John’s (5-4), UConn (8-2) and Louisville (5-4).  Those could be the top three teams in the Big East by season’s end.  Minnesota has a solid 2.89 staff ERA, but like St. John’s their starters have not gone deep into games yet.  The offense is hitting just .273 during a 2-4 start, but the Gophers should still be alright once Big Ten play starts.

Oregon:  Yes, I did have the Ducks on the “Stock-Up” list last week after wins over Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State and Loyola Marymount, but I also warned not to get too excited too quickly.  Sure enough, Oregon went to Hawaii and lost 3 of 4 games to the Warriors.  It’s likely to be a roller coaster ride again for the Ducks in George Horton’s second season.

Southern Mississippi:  The curse of a Cinderella going to the College World Series is the expectation(and bulls eye on the back) it brings the following year.  That appears to be what happened to the Golden Eagles after they dropped 2 of 3 home games last weekend to LeMoyne.  They also lost at home to Northwestern State on opening weekend.  USM is hitting and pitching solidly, but they’re going to get the best effort of every team they play all season.

College Baseball Notebook-Week 2

A By The Numbers Look At The First Full Week Of The Season

3…Weekend wins over Stanford by Texas.  The Longhorns had dropped 2 of 3 games at home to New Mexico on opening weekend, while the Cardinal had started the season with a home 3-game sweep of Rice.

20-5…Combined score of Texas’ three wins.

1…Home run by Longhorn DH Russell Moldenhauer in the series.  The single longball surpasses his 2009 regular season total.  All four of Moldenhauer’s home runs last season were at the College World Series.

0…Hits allowed in five innings of relief by UT pitcher Cole Green.  He fanned 6 with no walks in the series finale.

18…Strikeouts by UT Arlington pitcher Jason Mitchell in Friday’s win over Missouri State.  Mitchell lost a no-hitter with one out to go in the game, which the Mavericks won 1-0 in 14 innings.   The 18 Ks breaks a school and Southland Conference record.  He struck out at least two batters in all but the 8th inning (1).

0…Runs allowed in 5 innings of relief in that same game by Arlington reliever Adam Boydston, who fanned 8 himself with just one walk and one hit allowed.

2…Wins in three games  by TCU at Cal State Fullerton over the weekend.

4…Home losses by the Titans already this season.

8…Home losses by Fullerton in 2009.

2…Losses in his first two starts by Cal State Fullerton pitcher Daniel Renken after allowing 3 ER in 6 IP in Friday’s loss to the Horned Frogs.

3…Losses by Renken all of last year.

2…Wins by #19 Coastal Carolina over #4 UC Irvine on Saturday in Myrtle Beach, SC.

9…Runs in the 8^th inning of game two of the doubleheader by the Chanticleers to beat the Anteaters 13-6.

2…Combined losses by Irvine pitchers Daniel Bibona and Eric Pettis in Saturday’s twin bill.

3…Combined losses by Bibona and Pettis in 2009.

109…Pitches thrown in 5 1/3 IP by Bibona in his loss.

119…Pitches thrown in 6 2/3 IP by Pettis in his loss.

5…RBIs by Coastal Carolina catcher Jose Iglesias in the doubleheader sweep.  He was 6-for-8 at the plate in the games.

6…Runs scored by Irvine in the 8th inning on Sunday to beat James Madison 15-9 for their only win in Myrtle Beach.  In addition to their losses to Coastal Carolina the Anteaters also fell to North Carolina State.

8…Strikeouts and earned runs allowed in 3 ½ innings by Tennessee’s Bryan Morgado in Friday’s 17-1 loss

to Oregon State.

0…Runs allowed with 9 strikeouts by Oregon State’s Greg Peavey in Sunday’s 1-0 win over the Vols.  Peavey allowed just three hits with one walk in his first win of the season.

0.64…Peavey’s ERA in his first 14 innings pitched this season.

9…Strikeouts in 6 innings by Louisville pitcher Thomas Royse in Friday’s 2-0 win over Michigan.

10…Strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings by Todd McInnis in 26th ranked Southern Mississippi’s 8-2 loss to LeMoyne.

2 of 3…Games Southern Miss. dropped to LeMoyne after falling 12-11 in the series finale.

20…Runners left on base by the Golden Eagles in the pair of defeats.

5…RBIs by Dolphin LF Chris Edomonson in the 12-11 win over USM.

84…Runs scored by Arizona State in its 7-0 start to the season.

18…Runs allowed by the Sun Devils (two unearned) for a 2.36 staff ERA.

15…Runs and hits by Georgia Tech in Saturday’s 15-0 win over Xavier.

1…Win over a top 10 team in the history of Xavier baseball after Sunday’s 7-6 win over #4 Georgia Tech.

4 & 3…Respective errors and unearned runs allowed by the Yellow Jackets in their first loss of 2010.

13…Errors in three games committed by Notre Dame en-route to a 1-2 weekend at the Big Ten/Big East Challenge.

6…Of those errors committed by the Fighting Irish in Sunday’s 8-7 10-inning win over Penn State.

1…Win this season for Maine (1-5) after Saturday’s 5-3 upset of #12 North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

1…Career win for Black Bear pitcher Jeffrey Gibbs, who earned the win vs. the Tar Heels.  He struckout seven and allowed 2 ER in 5 1/3 IP.

2…Career starts by Gibbs-a 6′4-190 lb. freshman from Toronto, Ontario.

12…Strikeouts in 7 IP by Virginia sophomore Danny Hultzen in a 13-0 win over Rhode Island.  The lefty allowed no runs and no walks on two hits to improve to 2-0.

43…Runs scored by the Cavs in their 3-game sweep of URI while allowing just 7 runs to improve to 6-1.

0…Runs allowed in 4 IP by Manhattan freshman reliever John Soldinger in Sunday’s 12-7 win over the 10th ranked Miami Hurricanes.

7…Earned runs allowed in 5 IP by Jasper starting pitcher Mike Gazzola who got credit for the win after exiting with his team leading 9-5.

7 & 9…Combined runs scored and RBIs, respectively, by Manhattan 2-5 batters Mark Onorati, Mike McCann, Chad Salem, and Austin Sheffield in the upset of the Hurricanes.  The quartet also combined to hit .500 (10-for-20).

6-0…Washington State’s record after Sunday’s 10-7 win over Texas Tech in Lubbock, TX.  It’s Wazzou’s best start since going 9-0 to start the 1988 season.

4, 11 & 13…Home runs, RBIs & runs scored by New Mexico State shortstop Ryan Aguayo.  The junior hit .440 with an 1.120 slugging percentage in six games last week.

3…Of Aguayo’s home runs that came in one game-a 17-5 win over Akron.  He hit half of the Aggies’ 6 HRs in the contest.

4 & 9…Home runs and RBIs by Eastern Kentucky’s Anthony Ottrando in the Colonel’s season-opening 3-game series vs. Western Carolina.

11…RBIs with 3 home runs in 3 games by Auburn’s Brian Fletcher.  His 10th inning walk-off home run gave the Tigers a Friday win over Boston College.

15…Strikeouts in 7 IP by Ole Miss lefty Drew Pomeranz in a win over Oakland.  He allowed just a run on a solo HR.

8-0…The deficit top-ranked LSU faced in the middle of the 6th inning at home Saturday vs. William & Mary. The Tigers scored 8 runs in the bottom of the 6th and then added two more runs in the 7th to win 10-9.

22…Years since LSU had overcome as big a deficit.  They came back from 10 runs down to beat Ole Miss in 1988.

13 1/3…Total innings pitched in two outings last week by Kansas pitcher Cameron Selik.  The junior allowed just one earned run with 10 strikeouts vs. Eastern Michigan and Sacramento State.

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