College Baseball 360 » Joey Rickard

Has The Real Oregon Stood-Up?

Sean Stires — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 13:24:30 +0000

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Ducks Take Two Of Three From Arizona…

By CB360 Contributor Kris Anderson

This was the Oregon baseball team many expected to see this year- just two months later than expected.

For Oregon (21-17, 4-8 Pac-10) and the No. 23 Arizona Wildcats (24-25, 6-9 Pac-10), it was arguably the most pivotal series of the year for both teams to this point. The Ducks had failed to win a Pac-10 Conference series this season and believed that any hopes of an NCAA regional rested on the result of this weekend. The Wildcats, who had lost six of their last ten games and had lost two out of three against UCLA a week ago, thought this series would be an opportunity to get back to their winning ways.

The starting pitching for both teams highlighted the first two games of the series. With that being the case, there was little margin for error for the guys starting on the hill. In the final game of the series, it was the Oregon bats—including five freshmen in the starting lineup—that propelled the Ducks to the win, as they took two out of three from the Wildcats.

On the hill Thursday night was Kurt Heyer for Arizona, who ranks fourth in the Pac-10 in earned run average. Oregon countered with Tyler Anderson, who ranks fifth in the Pac-10 in the same category.

Anderson out-dueled Heyer by going the distance, with 9 strikeouts. He scattered three hits and allowed only two earned runs, while showing why he is a projected first round draft pick. He retired Arizona batters in order in the first three and last three innings of the game. Anderson showed tremendous confidence in his curveball, as he used that pitch to get ahead of hitters early—often throwing it for a first pitch strike.

The 6’4 junior from Las Vegas turned to the fastball to strike hitters out. Anderson found himself in a little trouble in the fourth inning after allowing a leadoff walk to Joey Rickard and then a double to Cole Frenzel that scored Rickard from first.

Solid starts for Anderson are sometimes haunted by one bad inning—such was the case in his last start at home against the Washington Huskies. Anderson pitched seven innings, but showed how costly one bad inning can be with a struggling Oregon offense. The Ducks would loose that game in extra innings.

On this night, Anderson was in ace-like form, and he only seemed to get better as the night progressed.

Heyer pitched well in his own right, but didn’t have his lights-out stuff that has made him one of the most dominant pitchers in the Pac-10 this year. He went 7 2/3 innings, while allowing three earned runs on nine hits, walked two batters and struckout four. The strike out total was lower than expected for the pitcher who ranks second in the conference in strikeouts—did I forget to mention that Anderson in third in the same category?

Heyer’s best pitch was without-a-doubt his curveball. In the eighth inning with the game tied at two and a runner at second, the Wildcats made a mound visit with thoughts of pulling Heyer from the game. He told the coach to leave him in, as he believed he would strikeout Oregon’s Tyler Kuresa in a critical situation. And he did just that—with a curveball.

Heyer’s fastball was effective against a rather weak Oregon lineup, but his location was prone to becoming inconsistent at times. His slider was used at times when hitters forgot that he had that weapon in his holster. But it was the changeup that let him down on this night. When used, it was ineffective, and he said it’s the pitch that needs the most work.

Friday night’s match up proved even more impressive than the previous nights. With scouts on hand to watch Oregon junior Madison Boer, the starter did not disappoint. He earned his first career complete game, while allowing two earned runs on six hits and struckout five.

Boer, who ranks eighth in the Pac-10 in earned run average, got ahead of hitters early and often. He threw first-pitch strikes to more than 18 batters that he faced. Boer was not weary of the Arizona hitters who crowded the plate. He used his fastball to pound the inside part of the plate and generated a lot of balls off the handle. Once ahead of hitters, Boer went to his slider to expand the zone. But on this night, one mistake could mean all the difference, and that was the case when Arizona left fielder Johnny Field was at the plate. Field led off the seventh inning with a home run to take a one run lead—it would prove to be the game-winning run. Boer showed his maturity by striking out the next two batters and didn’t allow a hit the rest of the way.

That one mistake was all it took for Arizona to escape with a 2-1 victory.

As good as Boer was, Kyle Simon was just a little better. Like Boer, Simon went the distance and scattered three hits, allowed one earned run and struck out five—and he did it on only 94 pitches. He took advantage of the overly aggressive Oregon hitters by challenging them early in the count. Simon used that aggressiveness to induce many ground balls. In fact, the Ducks were only retired four times on fly balls.

Emerging as the offensive MVP for the Ducks is second baseman Danny Pulfer. He has established himself as a leader off the field, as well as at the top of the Ducks’ order. Pulfer has reached base safely in 24 consecutive games. Against Simon, Pulfer earned two of the ducks three hits. In that game, Pulfer led off the game with a single that he earned early in the count. After the game, he said that he set the wrong tone for the rest of the hitters by being overly aggressive in his first at-bat.

He’s the only player I’ve ever heard apologize for a hit—but the more I talk to him, the more I learn that’s just the kind of guy he is. He is also one of the best base runners in the Pac-10—if not the country. Pulfer is a perfect fit for Oregon head coach George Horton’s small-ball and aggressive base running style of play.

On the other side of the diamond, Arizona’s leadoff hitter Joey Rickard—leading the Pac-10 with a .409 batting average entering the series—struggled at times with Oregon’s stellar pitching. While reaching base five times in 13 at-bats, it was not one of his better series’ at the plate. No better was that seen than during Thursday nights game, when with a runner on first with one out in a tie game, Anderson got the better of Rickard, getting him to hit into a 6-4-3 double play.

By weekend’s end, the Oregon bats were just a little better than Arizona’s—who would have guessed that after looking at the numbers of both teams? It’s a testament, not only to the potential of Oregon’s young offense, but the depth of the Pac-10 conference. Oregon finds itself riding the wave of a little momentum built from recent clutch performances, while Arizona has hit the skids. For the Ducks, every series from here on is a must win. For Arizona, time will tell if they are in the midst of a slump or were merely the recent victims of the Oregon and UCLA pitching staffs.

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College Baseball Weekend Preview-April 15

Sean Stires — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 17:13:14 +0000

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Big SEC Series Headlines Weekend Action…

There are a handful of big conference series on tap around the country this weekend in college baseball action. The biggest of those series has #3 Vanderbilt at #4 South Carolina, with Sunday’s series finale scheduled to be televised on ESPNU.

Here’s a look at some of this weekend’s action(all rankings are based on the latest College Baseball 360 Composite National Rankings).

CLICK HERE for Friday’s College Baseball 360 Top 50 Matchup/Scoreboard coverage page.

Click this link to find out how to save 50-75% on college baseball caps and 2010 College World Series gear and memorabilia at Dugouthats.com!!

#3 Vanderbilt (31-3, 10-2 SEC) @ #4 South Carolina (26-6, 10-2 SEC)

Christian Walker

The new bat standards have made many college offenses look quite mortal this season, but not these two powers. Christian Walker (.344, 7 HR, 37 RBIs, 1.031 OPS) leads the offensive charge for the defending national champion Gamecocks. Jackie Bradley, Jr.’s average sits at .286, but he’s still belted 6 HR as well. Vanderbilt’s balanced offensive attack is hitting .316, with seven players who have started at least 20 games batting .303 or better. Anthony Gomez (.379), Jason Esposito (.320) and Curt Casali (.319) share the team RBI lead with 27 each. Aaron Westlake (.397, 5 HR, 25 RBIs) has been the top overall Commodore hitter. The Friday pitching match-up is one to see. South Carolina send 2010 College World Series hero Michael Roth (7-1, 1.25 ERA) to the mound, while Vandy counters with Sonny Gray (7-1, 1.54 ERA). The two teams have closers who have been lights-out as well. Commodore Navery Moore has a ridiculous 0.46 ERA with 7 saves in 18 appearances, while the Gamecocks counter with Matt Price (3-2, 2.82 ERA, 10 saves). SC set-up man John Tayler is 2-0 with a 0.60 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 29 1/3 IP.

Oklahoma (25-8, 6-5 Big 12) vs. Oklahoma State (26-8, 8-4 Big 12)

Dane Phillips

Bedlam. That’s what they call it when these two programs get together, and it should be no different when they square-off this weekend. For years Oklahoma State was the perennial baseball power in the Sooner State, but it’s Oklahoma that’s coming-off a trip to Omaha. However, OSU is back on track in 2011. The Cowboys need three wins to match their overall 2010 win total and they already have as many wins in conference play as they did last year. The series features a pair of .400 hitters. Dane Phillips (.404, 3 HR, 26 RBIs, 1.096 OPS) leads the Oklahoma State offense and Garrett Buechele (.401, 7 HR, 42 RBIs, 1.046 OPS) tops an OU that’s batting .330. Brad Propst (6-1, 1.25 ERA) tossed his (and OSU’s) second complete game of the season in last week’s sweep of Missouri. Michael Rocha (7-1, 1.02 ERA, 2 CG) fronts the Oklahoma staff. Game one of the series in in Tulsa, with the last two games are in Oklahoma City.

#13 Oregon State (24-7, 5-1 Pac-10) at #16 Stanford (16-9, 3-3 Pac-10)

Mark Appel

Stanford’s record is anything but spectacular, but the Cardinal has played some pretty spectacular competition so far. Consider this, Stanford Friday starter Mark Appel is just 2-3, but he has gone head-to-head with Vanderbilt’s Sonny Gray and Taylor Jungmann of Texas. Both are expected to be high first round draft picks in June. It won’t get much easier for Appel this weekend when he faces OSU’s Sam Gaviglio (6-1, 1.34 ERA, 3 CG). Both pitching staffs are solid, but neither has “strikeout” pitchers. The Stanford staff has a 3.28 ERA with 116 Ks and 85 BB in 217.0 IP, while the Beavers have 228 punchouts and 79 walks in 277 2/3 innings. Oregon State has 33 sac bunts, compared to just 13 home runs. Andrew Susac (.364, 25 RBIs) and Parker Berberet (.256, 27 RBIs) share the team lead with 4 HR each. Stanford has gone yard just 14 times. Kenny Diekroger (.373) has the top Cardinal average, while Brian Ragira (.304, 3 HR, 24 RBIs) is the RBI leader. In a series where a lot of balls will be put in play defense could be the x-factor. Oregon State has a slight edge with a .973 fielding percentage, compared to Stanford’s .965.

Click Here to read more about this series.

#22 Arizona (22-11, 4-5 Pac-10) @ #25 UCLA (17-11, 7-2 Pac-10)

Kurt Heyer

This sneaky series features three of the top power pitchers in the country, let alone the Pac-10. UCLA’s Trevor Bauer (6-1, 1.67 ERA) and Gerrit Cole (4-2, 1.74 ERA) don’t sneak-up on anyone, but Arizona’s Kurt Heyer (5-1, 1.38 ERA) also checks-in with 80 strikeouts in 65.0 innings pitched as well. Bauer leads the nation with 97 strikeouts, Heyer’s 80 ranks third and Cole’s 64 Ks is 13th. Arizona’s .342 team batting average has defied the national offensive downward trend. The Wildcats, led by Joey Rickard (.428) and Cole Frenzel (.408) took two of three last weekend from Cal against, arguably, the second-best pitching staff in the Pac-10, but they’ll face the top staff in the conference this week. UCLA has struggled to score enough runs to support its vaunted hurlers in 2011. The Bruins have actually brought their team batting average up to .258 in recent weeks, but they’ve still managed to win their first three conference series against USC, Washington and Washington State. Dean Espy (.318) is the only UCLA regular batting over .300.

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Pac 10 Baseball Weekend Preview

Sean Stires — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 12:21:18 +0000

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A Team By Team Look At This Weekend’s Games

Collegebaseball360.com has recently teamed-up with Road2rosenblatt.com to help bring you even more great college baseball information. Chase Titleman has a look at this weekend’s Pac 10 games as well as team capsules. Following are a few of the capsules. CLICK HERE to see more.

P.S.-Chase and I will record a Podcast later today to talk about his new Key Stats Indicator ratings index as well as several west coast teams.

Arizona

After leading Oregon 8-3 with two outs in the Top of the 6th Inning two weeks ago, the Cats have dropped 4 straight, ending what was once a 15 game winning streak.

Cats lead the PAC in Team Batting Average (.358), Runs Scored (247) and Total Bases (500)…WOW!

C – Jett Bandy leads conference in batting average (.450) and is tied for 1st in total bases (77), followed by Steve Selsky (.433), Robert Refsnyder (.423) and Seth Mejias-Brean (.396). Joey Rickard is 2nd in conference in RBI’s with 34.

Kurt Heyer (2.08 ERA, 4-0) leads the pitching staff with 50 strike-outs and just 7 base on balls.

Arizona State

Recent 24 game win streak is a program record for a start to the season, but only the 2nd longest overall behind the 1972 record of 32 in a row.

SS Drew Maggi was named PAC-10 Player of the Week after going 6-13 against Oregon (.462).

Pitching staff is led by starters Jake Borup (2.43 ERA, 6-0) , Seth Blair (3.12 ERA, 5-0) and Merrill Kelly (3.52 ERA, 6-0), while relievers Mitchell Lambson (1.48 ERA, 41K’s/8BB’s), Jake Barrett (4.50 ERA, 28K’s/5BB’s) & Jordan Swagerty (0.93 ERA, 25K’s/7BB’s) shine in closing roles.

UCLA

Bruins lead the PAC in ERA (2.32), Strike-outs (293) and Opponent Batting Average (.191).

So. RHP Gerrit Cole leads conference in opponent batting average (.157) and strike-outs (61), while Sr. RHP Garett Claypool has the best ERA (1.21).

Tyler Rahmatulla & Dean Espy both lead the Bruins with .422 AVE, followed by Justin Uribe .403, and Blair Dunlap .394! Every starter in the starting line-up is hitting .300 or better.

Suffered 2nd loss of the season to Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday after Jordan Pries of Stanford shut down the Bruins on Saturday. The 23-2 record is the best start in school history.

College Baseball Notebook-Week 3

Sean Stires — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:01:22 +0000

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A By The Numbers Look At The Weekend’s Action

Alex Kaminsky (WSU photo)

1…Run allowed in 7 IP by Wright State starter Alex Kaminsky in Friday’s 2-1 win over #1/#2 Virginia. Kaminsky struckout 7 to earn his first win of the season in a head-to-head dual with UVA sophomore ace Danny Hultzen.

2…Wins in the last two years by the Raiders on a top ranked team’s home field. WSU beat #1 Georgia last year in Athens.

10…Runs and hits allowed in 2 1/3 innings by Kentucky starter Taylor Rogers in Saturday’s 14-13 win over Monmouth.

0 & 9…Hits allowed & strikeouts recorded in 4 IP by Wildcat reliever Matt Little, who earned the win in that game after allowing just two hits.

10…Hit batters by Monmouth pitchers in the loss to Kentucky to tie an NCAA record. It’s just the third time a pitching staff has hit 10 batters in a game.

4…Straight hit batters by Monmouth pitchers Andy McDonnell (1) and Stephen Prosapio, who hit Kentucky’s Braden Kapteyn with the bases loaded and the score tied 13-13 to give the Wildcats the winning run.

1…Career home run by 5’9-160 pound Kentucky redshirt junior Neiko Johnson, whose long ball on a 2-2 pitch in the bottom of the 9th inning tied the score at 13 just before the four straight hit batsmen.

103…Runs scored by Georgia State in a 4-game series vs. North Carolina Central.

14…Of the runs scored by Georgia State junior Mark Micowski, who transferred to the school this year after Vermont disbanded baseball last year. Micowski hit for the cycle in the first four innings of Friday’s 32-3 victory. He batted .636 with 10 RBIs in the four games.

17…Combined strikeouts by George Washington pitchers Matt Branham and Scott DeCecco in Friday’s 5-1 win over USC Upstate. The combined effort tied a school record.

210…Career Ks by Branham-whose career high 12 strikeouts in the win made him the 3rd pitcher in GW history to top the 200 K mark.

6…Straight wins by USC Upstate prior to the loss-a record for the Spartans since joining the Division One ranks.

1…Hit allowed by West Virginia’s Jarryd Summers in 8 innings in a 1-0 loss to Western Carolina. Summers fanned 11 in the loss. The only hit he allowed was a solo home run by WCU third baseman Tyler Kirkpatrick.

3…Hits allowed by Catamount starter Jason Sullivan-who struckout 8 in 9 shutout innings to improve to 3-0 on the season with the win over the Mountaineers.

Blake Kelso (Houston photo)

9…Strikeouts by Houston’s Michael Goodnight in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Texas at the Houston College Classic.

1…Wild pitch by Longhorn starter Brandon Workman-after a triple by Houston’s Blake Kelso-which allowed the game’s only run to score.

2…Losses by Cal State Fullerton in a 3-game series at Arizona to fall to 4-6 on the season. The Titans started the year ranked in the top 10 in every poll.

1…Inning pitched by Titan All-American Daniel Renken in Friday’s 8-7 loss to the Wildcats. Renken was lifted after hitting Wildcat CF Joey Rickard to lead-off the 2nd inning.

3…Walk-off wins by Arizona this season after freshman Seth Mejias-Brean singled home classmate Alex Mejia in the bottom of the 11th inning in that win over the Titans.

8…Strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings by Florida starter Alex Panteliodis in Friday’s 7-1 series-opening win over Miami (FL).

7…Strikeouts in 3 1/3 scoreless, hitless innings pitched by Gator reliever Nick Maronde to earn his first save of the season in that same win over the Hurricanes.

Kevin Chapman

4…Shutout innings pitched by Florida reliever Kevin Chapman in Sunday’s series-clinching 4-2 win over Miami. Chapman gave-up just one hit with two strikeouts to earn his second save of 2010.

17…Combined strikeouts in 12 innings pitched by Duke starters Eric Pfisterer (10) and Michael Ness (7) who each tossed six shutout innings to help the Blue Devils to a 3-game sweep of Temple.

11…Strikeouts in 6 IP by Florida Gulf Coast ace Chris Sale in a 7-2 win over Wichita State.

2…Home runs hit over the weekend by Middle Tennessee State’s Bryce Brentz. The outfielder led the nation with 28 HR last year, but he had been shutout through the first two weeks of the season.

1…Loss this season by Washington State after falling 4-1 in Sunday’s finale of a 4-game series with Utah. The Cougars had started 9-0 for their best opening to a season since 1988.

Steve Fernandez

138…Pitches thrown by Santa Clara starter Alex Rivers in a 4-0 win over San Jose State. Rivers scattered seven hits with five strikeouts for his third career complete game.

5…RBIs by St. Louis redshirt freshman Steve Fernandez to help St. Louis down Ohio State 10-9 on Saturday.

109…Pitches thrown by West Virginia’s Chris Enourato, who struckout 9 in seven innings of relief to help the Moutaineers to an 11-8 win over Illinois. Enourato retired 16 of the first 17 batters he faced.

3…Wins by WVU (with seven losses) this season. Enourato has earned two of the wins and a save in his five relief outings.

16…RBIs in five games by New Mexico State’s Wade Reynoso. He batted .522 (12-23) with 3 home runs and 11 runs scored as well in wins over New Mexico and St. Joseph’s.