College Baseball 360 » James McCann

College Baseball 360 Weekend Wrapup-April 11

Sean Stires — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 17:00:37 +0000

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A big early April weekend of college baseball is in the books, so consider this your look back at some great action. The April 8-10 weekend saw some great baseball played around the country.

Going back to April 7, it was also the debut of Thursday Night college baseball on ESPNU. Not only was there South Carolina vs. Tennessee baseball on The U Thursday night, but there was also Arkansas vs. LSU Saturday night (drama) and Cal State Fullerton vs. UC Irvine on Sunday (not as much drama, but still good baseball).

The weekend’s action included 39 series that featured College Baseball 360 Top-50 teams, with 12 of those series being won by the lower-ranked/unranked teams. Sunday’s games alone had 41 total games involving top-50 teams, with the higher-ranked teams winning 61% of those games (25-16). In fact, less than one-third of the weekend’s series involving CB360 top-50 teams (12 of 39) resulted in sweeps.

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Here’s a look back at some of the Top 50 highlights:

Big, Bad Beavers…

#19 Oregon State made history by sweeping #5 Arizona State in Corvallis over the weekend. It’s OSU’s first sweep of the Sun Devils at home and also marks its first sweep of ASU since 1966. Arizona State (22-9, 5-4) had not been swept in Pac-10 play since 1999.

Ryan Dunn (courtesy Oregon State).

Oregon State’s Ryan Dunn batted in the 8-hole for the Beavers (24-7, 5-1) all weekend. The shortstop batted 6-for-11 with three doubles, a home run and six RBIs. He helped OSU’s 6-9 batters go 22-for-42 (.523) over the three games, with 12 RBIs and 15 runs. Oregon State’s 24-7 start is the program’s best since its 2007 national championship season. 7,751 fans saw the three games at OSU’s Goss Stadium.

Cavs Cooled…A Little…

Virginia had its 12-game winning streak snapped when it lost 10-8 at Georgia Tech Sunday, but the Cavs still took two of three games from the Yellow Jackets in the big ACC series. Saturday’s 12-9 UVA win to clinch the series extended Virginia’s school record road winning streak to 11 games.

No surprise, Cavalier ace Danny Hultzen (7-0, 1.33 ERA) fanned 12 with just one walk in 8.0 IP in Friday’s 6-2 Virginia win. Hultzen is second in the nation with 90 strikeouts in 54 1/3 IP this season.

Virginia (31-3, 13-2) roughed-up Georgia Tech starters Mark Pope and Jed Bradley in the first two games. The duo combined to give-up 11 runs on 15 hits in 12 1/3 IP on Friday and Saturday. Virginia has won all five of its ACC series this season, including three on the road. It’s only other ACC loss also came on Sunday against Florida State.

Jake Davies was 4-for-4 with 3 RBIs to lead the Yellow Jackets to Sunday’s win. Georgia Tech (24-9, 12-3) suffered its first ACC series loss of the season. Buck Farmer earned his sixth straight win for GT, despite giving-up seven runs (four earned) in 7.0 innings on Sunday.

Woo Pig Sooie…

James McCann

Arkansas swept LSU in their 3-game SEC series in Fayetteville and if you were lucky enough to see any of the action you saw some great baseball. The Razorbacks won each of the last two games of the series in walk-off fashion. Saturday night’s game on ESPNU ended on James McCann’s 3-run home run that gave the Razorbacks a 4-3 win in front of a record 11,103 delirious fans. LSU, after going scoreless over the first 17 innings of the series, had scored three runs in the top of the 9th before McCann’s shot in the bottom of the inning.

Sunday’s game ended on Kyle Robinson’s sac fly to centerfield to score Bo Bigham for a 5-4 win and the series sweep. It’s just the third time Arkansas (23-8, 6-6) has swept LSU since joining the SEC in 1992. The Razorbacks are now a game behind Alabama in the SEC West. LSU (21-11, 3-9) has won just one of its four SEC series this season. Austin Nola’s 6th inning grand slam gave the Tigers their four runs. 28,657 fans packed Baum Stadium for the 3-game set.

Sooner Pain, Cowboys Gain…

Oklahoma State continues to make some noise in the Big 12 after a 3-game sweep of Missouri. The Cowboys’ 7-3 win over the Tigers on Sunday gives the program its first conference series sweep since April 27, 2008.

OSU (24-8, 8-4) are in third place in the Big 12 standings, behind Texas and Texas A&M. The Cowboys finished last season with a 29-26 overall record, including just 8-19 in conference play.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma (24-8, 6-5) dropped two of three games at Kansas State. The series loss is the second for the Sooners in Big 12 play this season, to equal their total from all of last year’s College World Series team. It’s a big series win for K-State (18-12, 4-8), which takes a series from OU for the first time in 10 years and earns its first conference series win of 2011.

California Crash…

Three California schools, Cal, Stanford and Fresno State, all suffered series upsets over the weekend. Maybe #18 Cal was breathing a sigh of relief after finding out the program had been spared the ax prior to its series at Arizona, but the Golden Bears lost two of three in Tucson to the Wildcats. Cal’s Justin Jones was tagged for 7 ER in 4 1/3 IP in Sunday’s 10-8 loss. Golden Bear Erik Johnson and Wildcat Kurt Heyer each fanned 11 in the series-opener, but neither earned a decision as Arizona scored three in the bottom of the 9th to win 5-4. Arizona pounded-out 40 hits in the series.

Jordan Ribera

#10 Fresno State didn’t lose its series, but that’s due in part to the fact that the WAC plays 4-game conference series. The Bulldogs (22-5, 2-2) dropped two of its first three games at #50 San Jose State (21-11, 2-2) and then pulled-out a 5-3 win in Sunday’s finale to settle for the tie. Last year’s DI home run leader, Jordan Ribera, hit a three-run homer to break out of a season-long swoon, while closer Charlie Robertson earned his 10th save of ’11. Ribera is still batting just .223 with 2 HR and 11 RBIs after belting 27 HR with 69 RBIs last year.

#14 Stanford dropped two of three in its series at USC as well. The Cardinal (15-9, 3-3) has played five of its first six weekend series on the road against the likes of Vanderbilt, Rice, and Texas. They host the aforementioned red hot Oregon State Beavers next weekend. The series win was the first for the Trojans (13-19, 4-5) in their last five series vs. Stanford. Logan Odom tossed 7.0 scoreless innings in Sunday’s 6-2 series clincher. All three of his wins this year have come over ranked teams.

Tallahassee Tar Heels…

#8 North Carolina (29-5, 12-3) did something this weekend that it hadn’t done in 16 years-win a series against #7 Florida State (23-9. 9-6) in Tallahassee. The Tar Heels won 7-6 in Sunday’s series finale to end the Seminoles’ streak of 25 straight Sunday wins. UNC reliever Michael Morin earned saves Saturday and Sunday after relief stints of 1.0 and 3.0 innings, respectively.

Historic Spartans…

Michigan State made history after sweeping reigning Big Ten champion Minnesota for the first time ever. The MSU-Minnesota series dates all the back to 1925, and it also marks the first time the Spartans (20-7, 5-1) took back-to-back series against the Golden Gophers (10-12, 2-4) after taking two of three at Minnesota last year. Brandon Eckerle leads a Spartan offense that’s batting .316 with a .439 average. First baseman Jeff Holm is the top run-producer with a .398 average, 4 HR, 29 RBIs, 13 stolen bases, and an 1.102 OPS. The Michigan State pitching staff sports a 2.70 ERA. Starters Kurt Wunderlich and Tony Bucciferro are each 6-1.

(Front page photo courtesy Arkansas.)

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Top 11 College Baseball Catchers To Watch In 2011

Sean Stires — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 21:26:09 +0000

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We are counting down to college baseball’s 2011 opening day with position-by-position looks at some of the top college baseball players to keep an eye on this year. With some 9,000 Division One players out there, we have pared the list of candidates down as best we can.

Let’s start with the guys who have their eyes on everything that happens on the diamond: Catchers.

1. Peter O’Brien – Bethune-Cookman

The Daytona Beach, FL school is small, but the 2011 list of top catchers starts with this big man. At 6’5, 220 lbs., O’Brien is one of many on this list whose size defies what used to be the mold of the prototypical sub-6’0 squatty catcher. His bat defies most pitchers’ best pitches as well. O’Brien batted .386 with 56 RBIs, while swatting 20 home runs with an 1.193 OPS as a sophomore last season. His efforts helped the Wildcats to an 18-0 MEAC record. O’Brien was also the USA Collegiate National Team’s catcher over the summer.

2. Jett Bandy – Arizona

Bandy batted .356 with six home runs and 42 RBIs in 2010, up from .299 with 39 RBIs as a freshman in 2009. His .982 OPS, helped by a team-high 23 doubles, was the second-best on the Wildcat roster. In fact, he has stroked a whopping 44 doubles in 108 games in his first two seasons in Tucson. The junior was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 41st round coming out of high school, but the preseason All-American looks to be a much higher selection when this June’s draft roles around.

3. James McCann – Arkansas

Catchers are known as “field generals”, but it says something that, as a sophomore, McCann was named a captain of a 2010 Razorback squad that was coming off a trip to the College World Series. The 6’3 backstop started 35 games as a true freshman, including all four of Arkansas’ games in Omaha. He kept that going last year by starting in all but six of his team’s 64 games. The junior batted .286 with nine home runs and 34 RBIs. The 2008 draft pick of the Chicago White Sox has committed just five errors in 108 career games to date.

4. Mac Doyle – Wofford

Doyle grew up in the shadow of Coastal Carolina Conway, SC. However, a move across the Palmetto State has served him well. Doyle smacked a grand slam against Virginia Tech in his first game in a Wofford uniform, and he hasn’t looked back since. Doyle totaled eight home runs and 30 RBIs in 2009 and then batted .375 with 16 HR and 75 RBIs and a 1.204 OPS last year. His long ball total was nearly a fourth of his team’s home run production. After off-season shoulder surgery, Doyle is expected to start the season at DH and transition to catcher as his health allows.

5. Tyler Ogle – Oklahoma

After serving primarily as a part-time DH and pinch-hitter as a freshman in 2009, Ogle took over a more full-time role behind the plate last year. Ogle was OU’s top pinch-hitter in ’09, batting .545 (6-for-11). His overall numbers were even more impressive last year, after batting .336 with 11 HR and 36 RBIs en-route to the program’s first College World Series berth in more than a decade. He made a splash last year by going 5-for-9 in Oklahoma’s Super Regional upset at Virginia. He started behind the plate in all three of those games as well as all four of the Sooner’s games in Omaha.

6. C.J. Cron – Utah

The big man (6’4-230) has split time catching and at first base over his first two seasons at Utah, but no matter where he’s played he has hit…a ton. Cron led the Utes with 11 home runs, 19 doubles and 58 RBIs while batting .337 as a freshman in 2009. He was also the only player in the nation to get three hits in a game off future 2009 overall #1 draft pick Stephen Strasburg. He suffered no sophomore slump last year, batting .431 with 20 HR, 16 doubles and 81 RBIs (all team bests). He also managed an astounding 1.304 OPS. The reigning Mountain West Conference Player of the Year also played for the USA Collegiate National Team last summer.

7. Matt Rice – Western Kentucky

The senior has started in 118 of his team’s 120 games over the last two seasons, and he has been a vital cog in the Hilltopper offense. Rice batted .399 with 10 home runs and 72 RBIs for WKU’s 2009 NCAA Regional team. His sophomore campaign was also highlighted by a school-record 31-game hitting streak. For an encore, the 6’3 backstop hit .369 with 10 HR, 16 doubles and 65 RBIs (all team-highs) last season. He even had three triples and wound-up with a 1.031 OPS.

8. Robert Brantly-UC Riverside

A guy like Brantly might get lost in the shuffle a little in the always competitive Big West Conference, but he made a name for himself as a sophomore in 2010. Brantly was named to the All-Big West First Team after batting .373 with seven home runs, 18 doubles and 39 RBIs for the 32-win Highlanders. Brantly was one of 16 semi-finalists for the Johnny Bench Award last year. The 6’2 junior was also named Baseball America’s top prospect in the Northwoods Summer League.

9. Derek Trent – East Tennessee State

Trent was a 2010 Johnny Bench semi-finalist as well. In 2010, his .348 average made him one of five Bucs to hit .344 or better on the season. Trent launched 13 home runs with 66 RBIs and 17 doubles during his junior campaign. Along with Trent’s bat, ETSU has four players who combined to hit 71 home runs in 2010. He was also one of four Bucs to start all 60 games last season.

10. Kevan Smith – Pittsburgh

Smith split time behind the plate in 2010 with Cory Brownsten, who is now gone. The 6’4, 240 lb. senior earned All-Big East First Team recognition after more than doubling his RBI total to 46 in 2010. He also batted .361 with five home runs and 16 doubles. His efforts helped his team to a 38-18 mark that just missed an NCAA, thanks in part to St. John’s Big East Tournament championship run. Smith looks to pick-up where he left off at the end of a 2010 season that ended with a 20-game hitting streak.

11. Coley Crank – Michigan

Crank was Michigan’s primary DH last season, but he looks to get more playing time behind the plate this year after the departure of 2010 Johnny Bench semi-finalist Chris Berset. Crank got his sophomore season started on the right foot in ’10 when he cranked three home runs in one game on opening day against Jacksonville State. The 6’0, 220 lb. junior batted .324 while leading the Wolverines with 14 HR and 65 RBIs. He was the only player on his team to reach double-digit home runs.

Worth noting…

Curt Casali – Vanderbilt

Casali was Vanderbilt’s primary catcher two years ago, but he delayed arm surgery until after last season so that he could primarily DH and play first base. The move paid-off in spades for both he and his team. He batted .309 with eight home runs and 42 RBIs while helping the Commodores reach the Super Regionals. Casali had an RBI and scored the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning of Vandy’s Regional title game win over Louisville. He also went 7-for-14 with six RBIs, three doubles and a home run in three Super Regional games against Florida State. Now a senior, Casali hopes to get back on the field and behind the plate again this season.

Others To Watch…

Tony Caldwell – Auburn

Chris Cowell – Richmond

Beau Fraser – Portland

Chadd Krist – Cal

Jeremy Rodriguez – Cal State Bakersfield

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