College Baseball 360 » Oklahoma Sooners

Top College Baseball Moments Of 2009 #16

Sean Stires — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:50:28 +0000

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(With the end of the year fast approaching, we’re counting down some of the top moments from the 2009 college baseball season. We’ll have one a day through New Year’s Eve.)

It was unique enough just to have Arizona State (22-5) playing at Arkansas (22-6) in a pair of mid-week games, but the two teams’ rankings made the match-up even more special. Arizona State was ranked #1 in the nation in three polls: Baseball America, NCBWA and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll. Arkansas was number one in the Collegiate Baseball Poll.

The games were just the second regular season meetings between the two teams after ASU had swept two games in Tempe in 2008. The Tuesday/Wednesday April 7 & 8 games also represented the first ever #1 vs. #1 match-up in the history of Arkansas’ Baum Stadium.

Arizona State scored first in game one when Zack MacPhee stole home in the 3rd inning and then Kole Calhoun singled-in Carlos Ramirez an inning later to make it 2-0 ASU. Arkansas got on the board with a run in the 4th inning, but Ramirez blasted his 11th home run of the year in the top of the 6th to put the Sun Devils up 3-1.

The Razorbacks would erupt for five runs in the 7th inning, capped by a pinch-hit Scott Lyons 2-run single to right-centerfield to put Arkansas up 6-3. The Hogs added a run in the 8th inning for a 7-3 win in front of a crowd of 8,342.

A record crowd of 11,434 packed Baum Stadium the next night only to see the Sun Devils jump out to a 6-1 lead through three innings. Jason Kipnis’ 10th home run of the year was among the early damage inflicted by ASU, but for a second straight night the early lead would not hold.

Arkansas capitalized on an Abe Ruiz error at first base to plate a total four runs in the 4th inning to its deficit to 6-5. Three of the runs were unearned.

ASU added a run in the top of the 5th to make it 7-6, but the Razorbacks scored three more runs, all with two outs, in the bottom of the frame. Andrew Darr’s single plated the first run, and then Tim Carver drove-in Darr and Brett Eibner with another single to give Arkansas an 8-7 win and the two-game series sweep.

Zack Cox was one of six pitchers sent to the mound by Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn. He gave-up just two hits in three shutout innings to earn the win. Stephen Richards tossed a perfect 9th inning for his 6th save of 2009.

17,300 fans came through the turnstiles for the historic two-game series at Baum Stadium. It broke the record of 15,919 set earlier in the season vs. Nebraska.

Both teams would make it to the College World Series in 2009, but they took distinctly different roads to Omaha.

Pat Murphy’s Sun Devils won 22 of their last 26 games to close the regular season. They were a combined 5-0 in the Regional and Super Regional games they hosted vs. Kent State, Oral Roberts and Clemson.

Arkansas was just 10-16 (including 2-2 at the SEC Tournament) down the stretch, but they caught fire after getting into the NCAA Tournament. The Razorbacks were 3-0 at the Norman, OK Regional with a win over Washington State and two victories over the host Sooners. They won both of their Super Regional games vs. Florida State in Tallahassee, FL to advance to Omaha.

Other Top Moments Of 2009

17. Rhode Island Beats Miami And Oklahoma State

18. Kansas State’s A.J. Morris beats Arizona State’s Mike Leake

19. North Carolina’s Mike Fox Wins His 1,000th Game

20. Illinois Shocks #1 LSU In Baton Rouge

21. Alabama’s Kent Matthes Launches Longballs

22. Freshman Levi Michael Starts In North Carolina’s Season Opener

23. LSU Opens The New Alex Box Stadium

24. Oregon Brings Back Baseball

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Kansas State Baseball Schedule Announced

Sean Stires — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 12:37:28 +0000

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MANHATTAN, Kan. - A 13-game homestand during the month of March and 29 games against 2009 NCAA Regional competition highlight Kansas State’s slate as head coach Brad Hill released the Wildcats’ 2010 baseball schedule on Thursday.

Kansas State will play 28 home games, while the Wildcats face 10 squads that advanced to the previous year’s NCAA Tournament for the third-straight season. Of the Cats’ 29 games against 2009 NCAA Regional participants, 14 come within the final month of the regular season.

Complete 2010 Kansas State Schedule (PDF)

“This will be a challenging schedule,” Hill said. “We open the season with 12 games on the road and will take on 10 NCAA Regional teams from a year ago, including three in our first homestand. The nonconference schedule will help prepare our young squad for the always challenging Big 12 Conference.”

Kansas State Head Coach Brad Hill

The 2009 season opens on Friday, Feb. 19, at The Citadel Memorial Challenge against Delaware. The Cats then face East Tennessee State on Saturday before taking on the host school, The Citadel, on Sunday. K-State will then stay in Charleston, S.C., to face the Bulldogs for an extra game on Monday, Feb. 22.

Kansas State travels to Florida to play eight games in nine days, beginning with the Russmatt Central Florida Invitational at Chain of Lakes Park – the former spring training home of the Cleveland Indians – in Winter Haven, Fla. The Cats will play five games in the invitational, which runs Saturday, February 27 through Wednesday, March 3. K-State will play against a combination of teams in Duquesne, Illinois State, Maine, Northeastern, St. Bonaventure, Valparaiso, Villanova and Western Michigan. The exact schedule for the tournament will be released at a later date.

Following a day off on Thursday, K-State will participate in the Bright House Invitational, hosted by Stetson, beginning Friday, March 5, in DeLand, Fla. The Wildcats will face the Hatters on Friday before squaring off against Notre Dame on Saturday. Kansas State will finish its Florida excursion and 12-game road trip to start the season on Sunday against Harvard. The 12-game road trip is the longest to start a season since 1972.

Kansas State will open its home slate with season-long 13-game homestand beginning on Friday, March 12, against Kent State. The Cats continue their series with the Golden Flashes with a Saturday doubleheader at 12 p.m., while the series finale is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. Following a home contest against Creighton on Tuesday, March 16, the Cats will play another four-game weekend series beginning on Friday, March 19, against UW-Milwaukee.

The season-long homestand also sees the start of Big 12 play for Kansas State as the Wildcats welcome Oklahoma State to Tointon Family Stadium for a three-game series beginning Friday, March 26, at 6:30 p.m. The homestand and the month of March concludes with a visit from in-state rival Wichita State on Tuesday, March 30.

K-State’s first conference road trip is to Lubbock, Texas, as the Cats face Texas Tech, April 1-3, before coming home to take on Nebraska, April 9-11.

K-State, which traveled to BYU two years ago and played the Cougars last season in Manhattan, will travel to Provo, Utah, for a two-game series against the Mountain West Conference school on April 13 and 14.

Following a three-game home conference series against 2009 NCAA Regional participant Baylor, April 16-18, the Cats travel to Eck Stadium in Wichita to conclude their season series against the Shockers on Tuesday, April 20. K-State will then stay on the road as it travels to Columbia, Mo., to face Missouri, April 23-25.

The Wildcats will face Chicago State, Tuesday and Wednesday, April 27 and 28, in Manhattan, before traveling to Oklahoma to end April and begin May as they play the Sooners Friday, April 30, through Sunday, May 2.

The final stretches of the season see Kansas State at home for seven of its final 11 games. The Wildcats will step out of conference play for the final time in 2010 as it hosts 2009 NCAA Regional participant and Big Ten member Minnesota, Tuesday and Wednesday, May 4 and 5.

College World Series runner-up Texas comes calling for a three-game weekend series in Manhattan beginning Friday, May 7.

The Cats will renew their in-state rivalry against Kansas beginning Friday, May 14, in Lawrence, before the series shifts to Manhattan for the Saturday and Sunday contests. The Jayhawks are another 2009 NCAA Regional team.

Kansas State’s regular season concludes in College Station, Texas, with a three-game series at Texas A&M, beginning Friday, May 21.

The 2010 Big 12 Championship will be conducted May 26-30 at Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, Okla., while NCAA Regionals will run June 4-7 at 16 various on-campus sites throughout the country.