Thursday Recap/Analysis (tournaments & top-50; 5/27)

Flies in the Ointment? …

The upsets kept flowing on Thursday, based on the CB360 Composite National Rankings, as more than half of the games (14 of 26) involving CB360 top-50 teams ended up in upsets. Most notably, five of the CNR’s top-10 teams (#2-3-7-8-10) all were knocked off, while several other teams emerged as potential “flies in the ointment” – underdogs that could win a conference automatic bid to the NCAAs (and, in the process, burst the bubble of an NCAA at-large hopeful). 

CLICK HERE for CB360’s Conference Tournament Main Page

(Note – Scores for all games involving the CB360 top-50 are listed at the bottom of this page, with the customary links provided for the one non-tournament game … also be sure to access CB360’s conference tournament main page via the link posted above.)

There were 26 games on Thursday involving CB360 top-50 teams, including seven head-to-head match-ups (33 total top-50 teams in action). The only top-50 game outside a conference tournament setting was #1 Arizona State’s 4-2 series-opening win at #32 Stanford.

Here are teams from five leagues (seven teams total) that have the makings for NCAA-bid spoilers (the potential flies in the ointment):

• Mercer (Atlantic Sun) – The #2-seeded Bears were nowhere close to being in the discussion for an NCAA at-large bid, with a #157 official NCAA RPI this week (trailing six other A-Sun teams), but Mercer sits in the catbird seat as the only 2-0 squad at the six-team A-Sun Tournament … should the Bears win this event, the focus then will shift to whether Florida Gulf Coast still would get into the NCAA’s as an at-large (effectively making the A-Sun a two-bid league and taking a spot from some unfortunate budble team) … many tournament projections had FGCU as a solid at-large possibility (the Eagles ran away with the A-Sun regular-season title and entered the week with a #45 NCAA RPI, plus a #36 standing in the CNR top-50) … Thursday’s key results saw #4 seed North Florida knock off FGCU in shockingly easy fashion (13-2), while Mercer beat #3 seed East Tennessee State (10-7) in the day’s only match-up of teams that won on Wed. … next up: FGCU faces ETSU today in a noon elimination game, followed by another elimination game at 4:00 (UNF vs. Jacksonville) and Mercer’s 8:00 game vs. the FGCU-ETSU winner.

• Rutgers ad St. John’s (BIG EAST) – There teams have earned a day off on Friday, as each is 2-0 following their Thursday upsets (#6 seed RU beat #2 seed UConn, 9-6, one day after knocking off #3 seed Pittsburgh in a 9-5 opening-day game … #4 seed SJU knocked off top seed Louisville, 11-4) … if Rutgers or St. John’s win the BIG EAST Tournament, the league likely will have locked up three bids to the NCAAs … Pitt has been hoping to be that third entrant, but that was far from certain following the Panther’s first-day loss to #7 seed Cincinnati (9-6) …Louisville entered the tournament as the #5 team in the official NCAA RPI (#7 in the cb360 CNR) while UConn was the #24 RPI (CNR #18) and Pitt’s tenuous situation included a #47 RPI and #42 CNR … Friday’s games: Pitt and UConn will meet in a 4:00 elimination games, as will Louisville and #5 seed South Florida (7:00).

• Lamar and Texas Arlington – This is a similar situation to the one above, as these teams have started 2-0 in the Southland Conference Tournament … #5 seed UTA benefited from the day-1 upset that saw #8 seed Nicholls State beat regular-season champ Texas State, as the Mavericks then rallied to beat Nicholls (5-4) … on the other side of the bracket, the #7 seed Lamar stopped surging Northwestern (La.) State on Wed. and the earned its day off with a Thursday win over #6 seed McNeese State, 10-7 (McNeese earlier had edged #3 seed Southeastern Louisiana, 8-7) … should Lamar or UTA win the tournament, it’s likely that the Southland still could be a one-bid league for the NCAAs – as each of the top seeds have shaky at-large credentials (Texas State #48 NCAA RPI/#46 CNR … SLU #40 RPI, #50 CNR … NWLA #76 RPI and now eliminated from the Southland Tour.) … Friday’s games include a 10:00 a.m. CT elimination game (SLU-McNeese), followed by another elimination game between Texas St. and Nicholls … Lamar and UTA will be awaiting the winners in the night games (starting at 5:00).

• Arkansas State (Sunbelt) –The #7 seed has joined top seed Florida Atlantic as the 2-0 teams, but a Trojans title at this tournament might simply solidify the end of the season for #2 seed Louisiana (Lafayette)  … UL-L entered the Sunbelt Championship with a #33 RPI (matching its spot in the CNR), but the regular-season co-champs already have been bounced back home and have to be considered a bubble team (especially if Arkansas State were to snatch the automatic bid) … the #3 and #4 seeds – Middle Tennessee and Florida International – entered the week as longshots for the NCAAs, with each facing elimination gaames on Friday (FIU plays #5 seed South Alabama in the brutal 9:00 AM game, followed by MTSU and #6 seed Troy) … #8 seed Western Kentucky was a top-25 team on the national scene at the midseason point, but the Hilltoppers wrapped up their second-half swoon by going 0-2 this week) … FAU will be awaiting the FIU-USA winner on Friday afternoon (4 ET), followed by Ark. St. s. the MTSU/Troy winner.

• Western Carolina (SoCon) – Speaking of teams that had strong starts to the season and then faded, WCU could jump back into the picture following its Thursday rally from a 6-0 deficit to upset CNR #28 College of Charleston (7-6) … #6 seed WCU joins regular-season champ The Citadel as 2-0 starters in the Southern Conference Tournament … #2 seed CofC (#29 RPI) may be secure for NCAA at-large consideration, meaning that a WCU tournament title could ensure three NCAA bids for the SoCon (WCU entered the event 57th in the official NCAA RPI) … #3 seed Elon (#51 RPI/#44 CNR) is another SoCon hopeful for the NCAAs, but the Phoenix likely need to win their Friday elimination game vs. #5 seed Samford (7 ET; winner has to beat Citadel twice on Sat.) … Friday’s 3:00 elimination game will pit C of C vs. #7 seed Appalachian State (winner has to beat WCU twice on Sat.).

In addition to games mentioned above, Thursday’s other top-50 upsets included:

• Texas Tech 4,  #2 Texas 1 (Big 12)
• #17 Florida State 11,  #3 Virginia 4 (Big 12)
• #25 Virginia Tech 6,  #8 Georgia Tech 2
• #14 Auburn 3,  #10 South Carolina 1 (Big 12)
• Boston College 12,  #12 Miami 10 (Big 12)
• #34 LSU 7, #16 Vanderbilt 5 (Big 12)
• #29 Alabama 6,  #23 Mississippi 3 (Big 12)
• Middle Tennessee State 3,  #33 Louisiana-Lafayette 0 (Big 12)
• Florida International 7,  #47 Western Kentucky 3 (Sunbelt)
• High Point 2,  #49 Liberty 1 (Big South)

TOP TEAMS – Texas (0-2) already is out of title contention at the Big 12 Tournament, while Virginia now has a tougher road to repeating as ACC Tournament champion (in order to reach the title game, the Cavs first need BC to beat FSU on Friday, then UVa has to defeat Miami on Sat.). Note that the Big 12  and ACC both use a round-robin format in their tournaments. The losses by Texas and UVa, coupled with Arizona State’s win over Stanford, can only strengthen ASU’s position as the potential #1 national seed.

SEC – One day after all four SEC Tournament games resulted in upsets, Thursday’s slate saw the underdogs (based on the CNR) win three more times – including Auburn’s win that eliminated South Carolina. Two teams that filled the final two SEC spots – #8 seed Alabama and #7 LSU – now find themselves on the inside tracks to the title game.

BUBBLE SEEKERS – Boston College (#46 RPI) and Texas Tech (#48) kept alive their hopes for making the NCAAs. All four teams in BC’s bracket at the ACC Tournament (#1 seed Virginia, #4 Miami, #5 Florida St. and #8 BC) have started 1-1, with one team ultimately advancing to Sunday’s title game. BC will face FSU on Friday at noon, while UVa and Miami will meet on Sat. (also at noon). In order to reach the Big 12 title game, #5 seed Texas Tech need to beat #8 seed Missouri on Saturday while getting help in two others games (Missouri beating #4 seed Texas A&M on Fri. and top seed Texas then beating A&M on Sat.).

MORE BUBBLE WATCH – Liberty’s loss could extinguish the Flames’ hopes for an NCAA at-large spot (#44 official NCAA RPI, but lost on Wed.). Several other NCAA bubble teams also are 1-1 at their conference tournaments, after winning on Thursday:

• #38 New Mexico 7,  BYU 6
• #42 Pittsburgh 13,  Cincinnati 4
• #46 Texas State 8,  Stephen F. Austin 2
• #50 Southeastern Louisiana 10,  Northwestern (La.) State 4

THURSDAY’S TOP-50 RESULTS (5/27/10; upsets in italics)
(based on the CB360 Composite National Rankings)

Reminder – follow THIS LINK for CB360’s Conference Tournament Main Page (with links to all of the conference tournament  central pages that include complete info., links, etc.)

• #1 Arizona State 4,  at #32 Stanford 2 (Pac-10 reg.-season)  |  Final Stats
ASU Recap |  STAN Recap

• Texas Tech 4,  #2 Texas 1 (Big 12)

• #17 Florida State 11,  #3 Virginia 4 (ACC)

• #4 Coastal Carolina 11,  Radford 9 (Big South)

• #5 Florida 5,  #13 Arkansas 4 (SEC)

• St. John’s 6,  #7 Louisville 5

• #25 Virginia Tech 6,  #8 Georgia Tech 2

• #14 Auburn 3,  #10 South Carolina 1 (SEC)

• Boston College 12,  #12 Miami 10 (ACC)

• #34 LSU 7, #16 Vanderbilt 5 (SEC)

• Rutgers 6,  #18 Connecticut 5 (BIG EAST)

• #22 Rice 24,  Houston 3 (C-USA)

• #29 Alabama 6,  #23 Mississippi 3 (SEC)

• #27 Texas A&M 7,  Missouri 2 (Big 12)

• Western Carolina 7,  #28 College of Charleston 6

• Middle Tennessee State 3,  #33 Louisiana-Lafayette 0 (Sunbelt)

• #35 Florida Atlantic 10,  South Alabama 9 (Sunbelt)

• North Florida 13,  #36 Florida Gulf Coast 2 (Atlantic Sun)

• #38 New Mexico 7,  BYU 6 (Mt. West)

• #39 The Citadel 6,  #44 Elon 3 (SoCon)

• #42 Pittsburgh 13,  Cincinnati 4 (BIG EAST)

• #46 Texas State 8,  Stephen F. Austin 2 (Southland)

• Florida International 7,  #47 Western Kentucky 3 (Sunbelt)

• High Point 2,  #49 Liberty 1 (Big South)

• #50 Southeastern Louisiana 10,  Northwestern (La.) State 4 (Southland)

May Madness: Weekend College Baseball Preview

May is upon us, and my questions is:  What happened to April?  The last 30 days just flew right by.  Oh well, I guess that’s what happens.  You know what they say “April showers bring May Madness”…so maybe they don’t really say that, but they should.

Conference baseball tournaments are just a little more than a month away, and league baseball races are tightening-up.  There are some big match-ups around the country this weekend that will go a long way toward determining which teams have a shot at at-large NCAA berths a month from now and which teams are hitting the showers until next year.

Before I run down some of this weekend’s match-ups I want to take a second to give a shout to have been providing some great content for us this season:  Pete LaFleur is the co-editor at Collegebaseball360.com and he cranks out those CB360 Composite National Rankings in his lab each week and he also works tirelessly (maybe a little tired) on the daily Match-Ups and Results pages, which include pitching match-ups and other great information.  Chase Titleman provides us with great coverage of the Pac 10 at Road2rosenblatt.com, Chris Webb from Buckeyestatebaseball.com continues to give us great Big Ten coverage and Randy Rosetta from the Baton Rouge Advocate always has great insight on the SEC and LSU.  We have had recent podcasts with all of them, and we’ll have more as we go forward.

Now, on to the weekend…

(All rankings are based on the exclusive CB360 Composite National Rankings.  RPI is based on the official NCAA rank.)

#1 Arizona State (35-5, 11-4) RPI-3 at #4 UCLA (30-7, 7-5) RPI-8

This is the series we’ve been waiting for all season.  The two Pac 10 teams that started the season with a combined 46-0 record will play three this weekend at Jackie Robinson Stadium.  The six probable starting pitchers in the series have a combined 41-5 record.  UCLA entered the week with the second best team ERA in the nation (2.80), while ASU’s (3.21) was the fifth best.  The Sun Devils lead the Pac 10 with a .350 batting average and 84 stolen bases.

How High? The last time a top-five UCLA team played a top-five opponent was April 1997, when the #6 Bruins took two of three games from #2 Stanford.  Both of those teams advanced to the ‘97 College World Series.

#13 LSU (32-10, 11-7) RPI-11 at #7 Florida (28-11, 12-6) RPI-2

LSU has won 17 of its last 20 SEC series, but the defending national champions were swept last weekend at Ole Miss.  The Tigers are in second place in the SEC Western Division, two games behind Arkansas.  The Gators are coming off possibly their biggest series win of the season after taking two of three from the Razorbacks, which extended their winning streak to 13 games prior to losing the last two games of that series.  Florida is in second place in the SEC Eastern Division, two games behind overall SEC leader South Carolina.

Gator Bait: Florida has won three of the last four series between the two teams, including the last two series in Gainesville.  READ MORE about this week’s match-up.

#15 Cal State Fullerton (25-13, 10-2) RPI-20 at Pacific (25-14, 7-5) RPI-93

Pacific has never been to an NCAA Regional, which makes this weekend’s series in Stockton vs. Fullerton possibly the

biggest series in the history of the program.  Pacific sits in third place in the Big West, three games behind perennial bully Fullerton.  If they have any chance to make a Regional this year, they have to win this series.  Since a sluggish start to the season, Dave Serrano’s Titans have won seven straight and 13 of their last 15 games heading into this key conference series vs. Ed Sprague’s Tigers.  The Tigers made a statement two weeks ago when they won two of three games at UC Irvine.  Pacific took two of three from the Titans in Fullerton last year, but the Tigers have never won a home series vs. the Titans.  Fullerton is 72-11 all-time vs. Pacific.

Just The Stats: The Titans and Tigers rank first and second, respectively, in the Big West in batting average (.336/.333) and fielding percentage (.976/.973).  Fullerton has the second beast ERA (3.89) in the league, while Pacific (5.00) ranks fourth.

#18 UConn (34-8, 14-2) RPI-23 at #34 Pittsburgh RPI-39

This season’s Big East Conference race wasn’t supposed to be a race.  It was supposed to be Louisville and everyone else.  Someone forgot to tell UConn and Pittsburgh.  The Huskies and Panthers site in first and second place, respectively,  in the conference standings heading into the weekend.  UConn’s only Big East series loss was at Louisville, and started a program best 22-game winning streak

(snapped earlier this week by Central Connecticut State) by winning the finale of that set (they lost the first two games 1-0 & 4-2).  Meanwhile, Pittsburgh was a 9th inning rally away from sweeping Louisville a week after losing two of three to Rutgers.  Pitt’s Corey Baker (9-1, 4.40 ERA) shares the NCAA wins lead.  He is expected to match-up with Elliot Glynn (4-2, 2.16 ERA) in the series-opener.  Glynn’s ERA ranks 18th nationally.

Among The Best: Pitt’s .368 team batting average is second in the nation to Georgia State’s .375 average, while UConn’s 3.67 ERA ranks 10th nationally.  The Huskies also have an amazing five players who have stolen at least 20 bases.  They entered the week ranked fourth in both overall stolen bases (117 now 123) and stolen bases per game (2.93).

Ohio State (23-13, 7-5) RPI-91 at Michigan (25-14, 7-5) RPI-65

This would obviously be a much more attractive national match-up if it were football and not baseball, but this is a big series for both teams.  They enter the weekend in a four-way tie for first place in the Big Ten Conference standings.  OSU ace Alex Wimmers (9-0, 1.61 ERA) is tied for the NCAA lead with his nine wins, and his ERA also ranks sixth in the nation.  Wimmers started last year’s series vs. Michigan by pitching the first 9-inning no-hitter in Ohio State history, helping the Buckeyes take two of three games from their bitter rivals.  Michigan had won 18  of the previous 24 meetings between the two teams.

X-Factor: Michigan Preseason All-American Ryan LaMarre has played in only 18 games this season after injuring his hand during opening weekend at Texas Tech.  LaMarre is now back in the line-up, and has batted .500 (34-for-68) with two home runs, 24 runs, 17 RBIs, and a 1.286 OPS.

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.

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.

College Baseball Notebook-Week 8

A By The Numbers Look At The Latest Week’s Action

2…Wins by Washington State over #1 Arizona State.  By taking two of three games in the series in Pullman the Cougars won their first series in program history over the Sun Devils.

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6…Cougars who were hit by pitch in Sunday’s 9-5 series-clinching win over ASU.  Garry Kuykendall was plunked three times.

6…RBIs by Clemson second baseman Mike Freeman in Wednesday’s win over Georgia.  Freeman played for the Bulldogs in 2007 before transferring to Georgia.

300…Career wins by Georgia head coach Dave Perno with a 6-5 Sunday win over Ole Miss-UGA’s only win in the series. Perno is in his 9th season at the helm at his alma mater.

15…Strikeouts in 8 IP by Ole Miss pitcher Drew Pomeranz in Friday’s 4-1 win over Georgia.  It’s the second time this season Pomeranz has fanned 15 in a game.

14…School record runs scored in the first inning by Arkansas in Wednesday’s 32-8 win over visiting St. Louis.  The Razorbacks also combined to tie a school record with 30 RBIs in the game.

2…Men named Fred Hill who were head coaches at Rutgers last week.  Fred Hill, Sr.-of the RU baseball team and Fred Hill, Jr.-of the Scarlet Knight men’s basketball team.

1…Fred hill who is currently coaching at Rutgers after Fred Hill, Jr. was dismissed as basketball coach last week.  The younger Hill’s dismissal was in part precipitated in part by an alleged profanity laced tirade directed at Pittsburgh baseball coach Joe Jordano during an April 1 9-8 win by RU.

2…Wins at Notre Dame over the weekend by Rutgers.  Saturday’s 25-5 win gave the elder Hill and his team its first win at Notre Dame since 2002.  The road series win at Eck Stadium is RU’s first since the Irish and Scarlet Knights joined the Big East together in 1996.

7…Home runs hit by Rutgers in Saturday’s 25-5 onslaught.  Outfielder Michael Lang had two of the long balls with 7 RBIs.

3…Wins needed by Fred Hill, Sr. to reach 1,000 for his career.  He’s been the head coach at Rutgers since 1984.

1…Closer the Jersey coach could not use in Friday’s 9-8 loss to the Irish due to a jersey flap.  His closer, Tyler Gebler, was wearing jersey #4 instead of his usual #43 in the game and with the tying run at 2nd base and two outs in the bottom of the 8th Hill went to the pen to the freshman.  However, Gebler was ruled an illegal substitution in the game, because Hill had crossed-out Steve Nyisztor’s #41 instead of Gebler’s #43 on the line-up card he turned-in before the game.  Hill had to go to Kevin Lillis, who gave-up back-to-back RBI hits, including Adam Norton’s game-winning triple.  Gebler has a 1.50 ERA, while his 6 saves are tied for second-best in the Big East.

2…Triples hit and innings pitched by Notre Dame’s David Mills in Tuesday’s 13-6 win over Oakland.  The lefty started the game as the Irish DH and later entered the game on the mound.  He had 2 RBIs and pitched 4 innings in relief to earn another win on Friday in ND’s only win of the Rutgers series.

2…Wins by Pittsburgh over fifth-ranked Louisville in their weekend series at Pitt’s Trees Field.  Losses Friday and Saturday to start the series, combined with a midweek loss to Kentucky, gave the Cardinals their first back-to-back setbacks of the season as well as their first series loss.

4…Runs scored in the top of the 9th inning of Sunday’s series finale to give Louisville a 9-7 win and avoid the series sweep.  Adam Duvall and Ryan Wright each belted two-run home runs to provide the offense.

17…Combined runs surrendered 13 1/3 by Louisville starting pitchers Thomas Royse, Dean Kiekhefer and Gabriel Shaw in the three games vs. Pitt.  Royse (6-1) suffered his first loss in the series-opener.  Shaw was making his first start of the season in Sunday’s finale after 14 relief outings.

36…Combined runs that same trio had surrendered in 104 1/3 previous innings pitched this season.

14…Strikeouts with no walks by Ohio State’s Alex Wimmers (7-0) in Friday’s 7-1 win over Indiana.  Hoosier outfielder Alex Dickerson went 0-for-4 in the game to end his 21-game hitting streak.

4…Home runs in as many games to end the week by Duke’s Will Currier.  His 8 RBIs over the weekend helped the Blue Devils take two of three games from #12 Clemson.

2…Hits allowed by Oregon State’s Greg Peavey in Friday’s complete game 4-1 win over #2 UCLA.  Peavy’s efforts handed the Bruins their first consecutive losses after a midweek setback to Cal State Fullerton.

16…Innings needed for UCLA to beat OSU 3-1 in game two of the Pac 10 series on Saturday.  The game lasted 6 hours and 23 minutes.

39…Combined runners left on base by the Bruins (22) and Beavers (17) in Saturday’s marathon.

529…Pitches thrown in the game by a total of 12 pitchers, including eight sent to the mound by Oregon State.

11…Consecutive scoreless innings pitched by UCLA pitchers-with seven scoreless frames to end the 16-inning game combined with four shutout half innings to start Sunday’s series finale, which the Bruins won 8-2.

18…Combined pitchers used by LSU (8) and Southern Mississippi (10) in Wednesday’s 6-5 win in 12-innings in Metairie, LA.

2…Wins by Auburn over defending SEC & National Champion LSU in their weekend series at Auburn’s Samford Stadium.  The Tigers win game three 6-5 after a game-ending squeeze bunt by right fielder Justin Fredejas.

1998…The last time Auburn had won a home series vs. LSU prior to the weekend’s wins.  LSU had swept the last two series between the two teams and had won eight of the previous 11 series since 1999.

0…Outs recorded by Auburn starting pitcher Cole Nelson, who surrendered six earned runs on seven hits in Friday’s 14-10 loss to open the series.

0…Hits by Auburn catcher Tony Caldwell, who still had 3 RBIs in Saturday’s 11-7 Auburn win.  Caldwell was 0-for-1, but drove-in his runs with a bases loaded walk and two sac flies.  He also had a sacrifice bunt on the day.

7…RBIs in the series by Auburn’s Trent Mummey, who made his first three starts of the year after injuring his ankle prior to the start of the season.  Mummey hit two home runs, including his second career grand slam.

2 of 3…Wins by Oregon in its series at Stanford to give the Ducks their first Pac 10 series win since 1980 and their first Pac 10 road series win since 1976 at Washington.

21…Wins by Oregon through 32 games this season after winning just 17 games all of last year-the first year baseball was played at the school after it was disbanded following the 1981 season.

26…Game hitting streak by Kansas State’s Nick Martini-the longest active D1 streak in the nation this season.  A pair of 21-game hitting streaks ended over the weekend.  Martini had at least one hit in KSU’s series vs. Nebraska.  His streak is a school record and the fifth-longest in Big 12 history.

62…Career stolen bases by Martini’s teammate, Adam Muenster, to set a school record that had held since 1995.  Muenster’s record-breaker came in Sunday’s 8-3 win over the Cornhuskers.

8,540…Fans who saw K-State take two of three games from Nebraska to set a 3-game series attendance record at Tointon Family Stadium in Manhattan.

9-0…Kentucky’s lead over Alabama heading into the top of the sixth inning of Sunday’s game in Lexington, KY.

11-9…Final score of Alabama’s win in that game.  Jake Smith’s grand slam capped a 5-run sixth inning and the Tide scored five more runs in the 8th and another in the 9th to cap the biggest comeback in school history.

4…Combined shutout innings pitched by Alabama’s Tyler White and Nathan Kilcrease in Sunday’s improbable comeback.  White got the win to improve to 3-1 while Kilcrease earned his second save.

3…Home runs off three different pitchers by TCU’s Jason Coats in Sunday’s 12-2 win over Houston.   Coats’ efforts helped the Horned Frogs outscore the Cougars 33-3 in the series.

2…Wins by Virginia Tech over #14 Miami in their weekend series.  The Hokies’ first ever series win over the Hurricanes comes a week after their first win over another traditional college baseball power-Florida State.

3…ACC series won by Virginia Tech all of last season.  They have won four of five conference series already this season, with their only loss (a sweep) coming at the hands of Clemson.

2…Walk-off home runs in as many days by Bryant first baseman Jamie Skagerlind to help his team win three of four games vs. Central Connecticut State.  Skagerlind’s shot in the bottom of the 10th inning ended Saturday’s 3-2 win in game one of a doubleheader.  His blast to end Sunday’s 7-inning twin bill opener capped a 5-run Bryant rally.  The game-winning blasts are his only home runs of the season.

3…No-hitters thrown last week.  Fresno State’s Greg Gonzalez and Lehigh’s Greg Angelo each tossed 7-inning no-hitters, while Kevin Johnson of West Florida fired the second 9-inning no-no of 2010.  Gonzalez is the first Bulldog to pitch a no-hitter in 34 years, while Angelo had the first at Lehigh since 1988.

11…Shutout innings pitched across two games by North Florida’s John Atteo.  He earned the win with two scoreless innings in Tuesday’s 3-1 upset of Florida State, and then fired a complete game shutout in Sunday’s 10-0 win over USC Upstate.

1,201…Career wins by UNF head coach Dusty Rhodes-who will retire at season’s end-with Atteo’s Sunday victory.

College Baseball Notebook-Week 7

A By The Numbers Look At The Latest Week’s Action

We comb through hundreds of box scores, game recaps and releases each week to find our Notebooks nuggets.  If there’s something noteworthy you think we need to add drop us an email.

7…Wins apiece for South Alabama pitcher D.D. Hanks and Asher Wojciechowski of The Citadel.  Both earned their nation-leading wins Friday night.

8:13 P.M…The time (Eastern) South Alabama’s 9-2 win over New Orleans ended Friday night, making Hanks (7-1) the nation’s first 7-game winner.  He struck out 9 in his fourth complete game effort of the season.

9:37 P.M…The time (Eastern) The Citadel’s 3-2 win over Wofford ended Friday night, to make Wojciechowski the nation’s second 7-game winner.  He fanned 9 as well in 8 innings of work.

46…Combined wins by Arizona State and UCLA to open the 2010 season.

2…Combined losses by ASU and UCLA Friday night, as they both tasted defeat for the first time to Pac 10 foes.  ASU’s 24-game winning streak and UCLA’s 22-game streak were both respective school records.  Both the Sun Devils and Bruins would win their series finales to win 2 of 3 games on the weekend.

5:24…Time of ASU’s 6-5 loss in 12-innings to Oregon Friday night in Eugene.  The game featured an hour and five minutes of rain and lightening delays.

3…Sun Devil errors in the loss, leading to five of six Duck runs being unearned.  Junior Marcus Piazzisi had the

game-ending RBI single in the bottom of the 12th inning.

1…Career home run by ASU’s Drew Maggi-a solo shot that gave the Sun Devils a 1-0 win over the Ducks in the series-opener to run their record to 24-0.

7…Runs scored by Stanford in the 5th inning en-route to their 8-4 win over UCLA that same night.

6…Of those runs that were unearned due to a throwing error that started the frame.  Four runs crossed the plate with two outs.

9…Innings pitched by Stanford’s Jordan Pries (3-1) who notched the second complete game of the season for both he and his team while handing the Bruins their first loss.

3…Home runs hit by Virginia Tech in Saturday’s 8-7 win at Florida State.  Coupled with Friday’s 10-5 series-opening win over the Seminoles, the Hokies notched their first series win ever over FSU (the lost 9-6 in Sunday’s series finale).

400…Career wins for Virginia Tech head coach Pete Hughes after the weekend’s two wins over the ‘Noles.  Hughes is in his 14th year as a head coach.

2…Wins by Georgetown in its three-game series with Notre Dame to give the Hoyas their first ever series win over the Fighting Irish.

1…Grand slam hit by North Carolina State’s Andrew Ciencin to help the Wolfpack upset #3 Virginia Sunday.  The win gave NC State its second win over the Cavs in the 3-game series.

9 of 9…Virginia closer Kevin Arico’s record in save opportunities this season prior to his first blown save in Friday’s 6-5 loss in 11 innings to NC State.

500…Wins at NC State by head coach Elliott Avent after the Friday night win.  He’s just the second coach in school history with as many victories.

16…Strikeouts in 9 innings by South Florida’s Andrew Barbosa in Friday’s 5-0 win over Cincinnati.

9…Combined strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings by Cincinnati relievers Brian Garman and Andrew Burkett in Saturday’s 4-3 win over the Bulls.  Garman (3-0) fanned 7 of the 9 batters he faced to earn the win, while Burkett K’d 2 of 3 Bulls in the 9th to notch his 5th save.

3…Grand slams hit in a span of five games by East Carolina’s Zach Wright, who connected on his third slam in Tuesday’s 8-0 win over Elon.

15…Strikeouts by ECU pitcher Zach Woods-a career-high-in that same win over Elon.  He fanned 7 of the first 9 batters he faced to become just the second Pirate pitcher in the last 40 years record 15 punch outs in a game.

20 & 23…Runs scored Thursday and Friday by Cal State Fullerton in wins over UC Davis to give the Titans back-to-back 20-run games for the first time in 30 years.  They won Saturday’s finale 3-2 to open 3-0 in Big West play.

21 2/3…Innings pitched by Texas hurlers prior to surrendering a run to Oklahoma en-route to a 3-game weekend sweep.  The Longhorns won by finals of 5-0, 2-0 and 9-3 in Norman.

11…Game winning streak by #35 Pittsburgh-a school record-heading into last weekend’s Big East series at Rutgers.

5…Runs scored by Rutgers in the bottom of the 9th inning of Thursday’s 9-8 series-opening win to snap Pitt’s streak.  The Scarlet Knights won game two 6-1 to run their winning streak to eight before falling 6-5 to the Panthers in the finale.  Since a 1-8 start to the season RU has won 13 of its last 16 games.

3…Straight complete games pitched by UT Arlington right-hander Jason Mitchell (4-2) after Thursday’s 4-0 win over Nicholls State.

3…Games played away from home this season by Arizona, which opened the season with a 20-5 record at Kindall Field/Sancet Stadium.

3…Losses by Arizona at Cal in their first road trip of the year.  The Golden Bears beat the Wildcats by finals of 7-2, 8-0 & 4-3 in Berkley over the weekend in the second Pac 10 series of the season for both teams.

13…Total bases for Louisville’s Andrew Clark in Thursday’s 12-4 win over Villanova.  The senior first baseman was 5-for-5 with two home runs, two doubles and 5 RBIs in the game.

13…RBIs for Clark in his last seven games since returning from a rib cage stress fracture.  Clark’s 9th inning game-winning HR in Tuesday’s 5-4 win over Indiana is among the four home runs he’s hit in that stretch.

28 2/3…Scoreless innings streak by Indiana pitcher Drew Leininger that ended with Clark’s home run.

26…Runs scored by IU in Sunday’s 26-6 win over Michigan-the most runs ever scored by a Hoosier team in Big Ten play.  The final scored was also the most lopsided win for IU in the 186 game series vs. the Wolverines, who still won the series 2-1.

1…Hit allowed by Rice’s Taylor Wall in Thursday’s 6-0 win over cross-town rival Houston.  Wall struck out seven with one BB to earn the Rice pitching staff’s first complete game of the season.

6…Sacrifice bunts by TCU-a school record-in Thursday’s 4-1 win over visiting San Diego State.

14…Straight batters retired by Horned Frog freshman pitcher Matt Purke from the 3rd through the 7th inning of that game.  Purke struck out 10, but settled for a no-decision in the win.  (TCU won the series 2-1.)

2-1…Score of Pacific’s Big West series-opening win at Long Beach State.

1998…The last time Pacific won a road game at LBSU (the Dirt Bags still won the series 2-1).

12…Strikeouts in 8 innings by UC Irvine pitcher Daniel Bibona in a series-opening 16-2 win over Cal State Northridge en-route to a 3-game sweep to open Big West Conference play.

6…Runs scored with two outs in the 8th and 9th innings of Tennessee’s 10-6 win over Ole Miss on Sunday to win the series 2-1.

7…Straight losses to open SEC play by the Vols before winning the last two games of the series vs. the 12th ranked

Rebels.

2…Home runs by Tennessee outfielder P.J. Polk in Saturday’s 5-2 win over Mississippi.

10…Doubles hit by North Florida-a school record-in a 13-5 win over East Tennessee State.

4…Of those doubles that were hit by UNF catcher David Eldredge.

20…Game hitting streak by Central Florida’s Chris Duffy after recording at least one hit in all five UCF games last week.  Duffy is among the nation’s leaders with a .478 average, 13 HR and 48 RBIs.

12…Strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings in two appearances by Wichita State reliever Cobey Guy.  The senior logged a career-high 3 1/3 innings with 6 Ks after entering the game in the first inning of Sunday’s 17-2 win over Evansville.

1,700…Career wins by Wichita State head coach Gene Stephenson after Sunday’s victory over the Purple Aces, making him just the second coach in Division 1 baseball history to reach that milestone.

College Baseball Notebook-Week 4

A By The Numbers Rundown Of The Latest Action

Things got interesting in week four of the season, with a pair of traditional SEC powers losing home series over the weekend as well as a four time CWS team losing to an arch rival.  Here’s a look at some team and individual performances from week four of the college baseball season.

2…Games won by Kansas at #1 LSU over the weekend to hand the defending Nation Champions their first losses of 2010.

13…Runs in 13 IP by LSU’s three starting pitchers in the series.

0…Hits and runs allowed by Jayhawk closer Brett Bochy in 3 2/3 IP to earn saves in both KU wins.  The son of San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy struckout five with two walks.

13…Straight wins to open the season by Louisville-the best for the program since a 15-0 mark in 1957-after Friday’s 6-1 win at Ole Miss.

5…Runs scored by Louisville in the top of the 12th inning of that game to pick-up the victory.

17…Combined strikeouts by Rebel pitchers Drew Pomeranz (12 in 6 1/3 IP) and Brett Huber (5 in 4 1/3 IP) in the loss.

7…Walks issued by Louisville starter Thomas Royse in 6 1/3 IP.  Royse had walked just 3 batters in 18 innings in his previous three starts this season.

9…Ks by Mississippi starter Drew Barrett in Saturday’s 8-3 win to hand Louisville its first loss of the season.

2…Wins by Louisville (14-1) in the series after winning 10-8 in Sunday’s series finale in Oxford.  Cardinal head coach Dan McDonnell, a former Ole Miss assistant, was making his first trip back to Oxford since becoming Louisville’s head coach in 2007.

1 & 1…Win and save by Cardinal pitcher Neil Holland in the series.  Holland pitched a total of four innings in his two appearances with 6 strikeouts and a walk while allowing a run on one hit.

8…Combined home runs hit by North Florida and James Madison in UNF’s 22-19 win over the Dukes.

7…RBIs powered by two home runs by Ospreys shortstop Andrew Hannon in the win.

2…Wins by Duke over North Carolina in its 3-game ACC-opening series.  The Blue Devils also took 2 of 3 games from the Tar Heels last year.

8…Runs scored in the 6th inning of Duke’s 15-11 win, which came a day after falling 21-9 in the series-opener.

1/3…Inning pitched by Illinois starter Brian de la Torriente-who gave-up 6 runs on 5 hits in the Illini’s 11-10 over Coastal Carolina.

5…RBIs by Illinois DH Casey McMurray who doubled and hit his first home run of the season in that game to hand the Chants just their second loss of 2010.

6…Runs scored by Virginia in the top of the 9th inning to rally to beat Florida State 9-8 at Dick Howser Stadium on Saturday.

4…Of the UVA runs that scored with two outs to give the Cavs the first two games of the series and the first series win over the Seminoles in program history.

15…Strikeouts by UCLA’s Gerrit Cole in 7 2/3 innings Friday vs. Texas A&M Corpus Christi at the Whataburger Classic.

41 & 4…Strikeouts and walks by Cole (4-0) in 25 2/3 IP so far this year.

15…Strikeouts by Cole’s teammate, Trevor Bauer, in 8 plus innings in Saturday’s 5-2 win over Mississippi State.

13-0…Record by UCLA after Sunday’s win over 5-2 win over Oklahoma in their finale at the Whataburger Classic.

1969…The last time the Bruins had a 13-game winning streak.  The 13-0 start is UCLA’s best of the modern era (dating back to 1955).

10…Straight games Oklahoma had won prior to Sunday’s loss to the Bruins.

16…Strikeouts in eight innings by Santa Barbara pitcher Mario Hollands in Friday’s 8-1 win over Northern Illinois.  The lefty matched a school record held by Barry Zito (1997) and Walt Rehm (1970).

8…Runs scored by Georgia Tech in the bottom of the 6th inning Saturday to rally for a 15-8 win over Wake Forest.

24…Total runs scored by Rice in the 6th, 7th and 8th innings of Saturday’s 26-11 win over Cal.

12…Of the runs that scored in the 6th inning as the Owls sent 17 batters to the plate in the frame.

7…Times Rice SS Rick Hague reached base in the game to tie a program record.  He was 4-for-4 with two walks with four runs scored and 3 RBIs.

8…RBIs in the game by Owl 3B Anthony Rendon, who homered twice in the victory.

8…Strikeouts in 8 IP by Manhattan’s Tom Costigan in a 13-1 win over West Virginia to help the Jaspers to a Saturday sweep of the Mountaineers.

4 & 3…Strikeouts and walks, respectively, in 8 total IP by Notre Dame’s Brian Dupra in his first two starts against Mississippi Valley State and Ohio State.  The junior surrendered 9 ER as he started the season 0-1 with a 10.12 ERA.

13 & 1…Strikeouts and walks, respectively, in Dupra’s last 14 IP vs. Stetson and Gonzaga to improve to 2-1 and drop his ERA to 4.91.

8…Total errors committed by Pacific in its first 13 games of the season.

5…Errors committed by Pacific in the 7th inning of Saturday’s 10-1 loss to Bradley in San Antonio.  The five miscues led to five unearned runs.

35 & 7…Strikeouts and walks by the Texas pitching staff in a weekend 3-game sweep of Iowa.

17…Strikeouts in 7 2/3 IP by Longhorn starter Taylor Jungmann in Friday’s 2-1 win.  It took a 10th inning walk-off home run by Tant Sheppard to get Texas the victory.

30-24…The score of Sunday’s Georgia State win over New Mexico State.

12…Combined home runs hit in the game by the Panthers and Aggies.

4…Of the home runs that were grand slams.   Ryan Aguayo hit the lone slam for NM State, while Carl Moniz, Bradley Logan and Joey Wood all had them for Georgia State.  The three slams ties an NCAA team record for a single game, while the four combined slams also ties an NCAA record.

14…RBIs in five games last week by Wood.  The sophomore DH batted .640 with an 1.160 slugging percentage for the Panthers.

10…Strikeouts in 8 innings by Ohio State’s Alex Wimmers (4-0) in Sunday’s 2-0 win over Tennessee.

8…Double digit strikeout performances by Wimmers in his 20 career starts.  He also won for the fourth time on the heels of a Buckeye loss.

5…Home runs last week by Tennessee Tech’s A.J. Kirby-Jones.  The junior is now Tech’s all-time home run leader with 33.  Kirby-Jones hit three of the long balls in Friday’s 9-0 win over Buffalo.

2006…The last time an Indiana pitcher tossed a complete game shutout prior to sophomore Drew Leininger accomplishing the feat in Sunday’s 9-0 win over Central Michigan.

17…RBIs in five games by Florida International OF Jabari Henry, who hit five home runs while hitting .500 (9-18) during the week.

6…Home runs in five games by VMI 1B Jordan Ballard who had 14 RBIs in 14 at-bats.  He ended the week with a 1.929 slugging percentage.

7…Extra base hits-3 home runs, 3 doubles and a triple-in four games by Rutgers’ Pat Biserta.  The junior had a grand slam and totaled 13 RBIs to help RU go 4-0 after a 1-8 start to the season.

BIG Ten/BIG EAST Challenge All-Tournament Team

CollegeBaseball360.com – in conjunction with coaches and media-relations representatives from the 20 teams – has selected the all-tournament team for the 2010 Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge (held Feb. 26-28, in the St. Petersburg, Fla., area). The selections include 11 first-teamers, 11 second-teamers and seven honorable mention.

Selections were based on statistics during the three games, in addition to other criteria such as clutch play, defensive contributions, team leadership and other intangibles. The honorees include at least one from all 20 participating teams, led by three from Louisville and two each from seven other teams (Cincinnati, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, St. John’s and Villanova).

Shortstop Joe Panik (pictured) helped St. John’s join Louisville as the only 3-0 teams at the Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge. Panik batted 5-for-8 with 3 walks (also reached twice via HBP) and factored into nearly half of  SJU’s total runs (6 of 13) during the tournament. … Note: eight other teams went 2-1: Cincinnati, Connecticut, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State and Villanova.

The all-tournament selections feature 11 juniors, nine sophomores, five seniors, three freshmen and a fifth-year senior. Four are New Jersey natives and four more are from Ohio, plus three from Kentucky, two each from California, Indiana, Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania – and one each from Florida, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

The honorees include one pure leadoff hitter, two that batted in the #2 spot all weekend, a pair of 3-hole hitters and three cleanup batters (plus two 5-hole hitters, one 6-hole, two 7-hole, one 9-hole and six who batted in multiple lineup spots during the tournament).

Ohio State pitcher Alex Wimers is the only repeat selection to the Challenge all-tournament team. (Note: all class years referenced below refer to academic standing … additional headshots and action photos will be added to this release, time permitting).

2010 Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge All-Tournament Team

(presented by CollegeBaseball360.com)

First-team position players included (top row, from left): Kevin Plawecki, Jerrud Sabourin, Matt Dittman, Adam Duvall and Joe Panik … (bottom row, from left) Stewart Ijames, Michael Stephens and Matt Szczur (the all-tournament first-team pitchers are pictured below).

First Team
C – #26 Kevin Plawecki (Purdue, fr., 7-hole … Carmel, IN)
… hit .700 (7-for-10 … 3 RBI, 2 R, 2 2B, BB, HBP, SB, E)
1B – #35 Jerrud Sabourin (Indiana, jr., 3-hole … San Diego, CA)
… hit .462 (6-for-13 … 4 RBI, 3 R, 2 2B, BB, 2 K)
1B – #17 Matt Dittman (Illinois, jr., cleanup … Libertyville, IL
… hit .667 (6-for-9, 3 RBI, 4 R, 2B, 2 BB, HBP, SB, 3K)
2B – #30 Adam Duvall (Louisville, sr., 2-hole … Louisville, KY)
… hit .500 (6-for-12, 4 RBI, 4 R, HR, 3 2B, BB, SAC, K, E)
SS – #2 Joe Panik (St. John’s, so., 5-hole … Hopewell Junction, NY)
… hit .625 (5-for-8, 2 RBI, 4 R, 3B, 2B, 3 BB, 2 HBP, 2K, E)
LF – #5 Stewart Ijames (Louisville, jr., 7-hole … Owensboro, KY)
… hit .500 (5-for-10, 3 RBI, 2 R, HR, 2B, BB, K, CS)
CF – #24 Michael Stephens (Ohio State, sr., cleanup … Victorville, CA)
… hit .667 (6-for-9 … 4 RBI, 4 R, HR, 2 2B, 2 BB, HBP, SB, SB, 2K, E)
RF – #20 Matt Szczur (Villanova, jr., leadoff … Erma, NJ)
… hit .600 (9-for-15, RBI, 6 R, 3B, 2B, 2K, CS)
UTIL (2B/RHP)–#14 Zach Morton (Northwestern, so., 9-hole; Rothschild, WI)
… hit .429 (3-for-7, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB, SAC, E
… 0.00 ERA, 0-1,  1 GS, 6 IP, 2 UER, 6 H, BB,  BK, 3K, .250 opp. batting
RHP – #18 Thomas Royse (Louisville, jr. … Lexington, KY)
… 0.00 ERA, 1-0, 1 GS, 6 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 9 K, .100 opp. batting
RHP (relief) – #47 Brian Sand (Cincinnati, sr. … Cincinnati, OH)
… 0.00 ERA, 1-0, 1 GP, 5 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 HB, 1K, .000 opp. batting

(from left) The 2010 Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge first team all-tournament pitchers include Northwestern two-way player Zach Morton, Louisville game-1 starter Thomas Royse and Cincinnati’s Brian Sand (whose 5.0 shutout relief innings earned him the win vs. Ohio State).

Second Team
C/DH – #33 Ben Heath (Penn State, jr., cleanup … Huntersville, NC)
… hit .333 (6-for-18, 4 RBI, 6 R, 3 HR, 2 2B, 4K)
1B – #29 Mike Nemeth (Connecticut, jr., 5-hole … Washington, NJ)
… hit .500 (5-for-10, 3 RBI, 3 R, 2B, BB, 2K, E)
2B – #2 T.J. Jones (Cincinnati, so., 3/2-hole … Cincinnati, OH)
… hit .462 (6-for-13, 5 RBI, 4 R, 2B, 2 BB, HBP, 2E)
SS – #1 AJ Pettersen (Minnesota, so., 2-hole/leadoff … Minnetonka, MN)
… hit .455 (5-for-11, 3 RBI, 2 R, 2 2B, BB, HBP, SF)
3B – #12 Andrew Carpenter (Michigan State, so., 7/8-hole … Dayton, OH)
… hit .462 (6-for-13, 4 RBI, 3 R, 2B, SF, 4K)
LF – #18 Jeremy Baltz (St. John’s, fr., 6-hole … Vestal, NY)
… hit .462 (6-for-13, 2 RBI, 2 R, HR, 2K, 2 GDP)
CF/RF – #16 Ryan Durant (Iowa, sr., 3-hole … Eldridge, IA)
hit .545 (6-for-11, 6 RBI, 2 R, HR, 2B, BB, 2 SF, 3K)
RHP – #14 Alex Wimmers (Ohio State … jr., Cincinnati, OH
… 1.12 ERA, 1-0, 1 GS, 8 IP, 2 R/1 ER, 5 H, BB, WP, 6K,  .179 opp. batting
LHP – #32 Jarred Hippen (Iowa, so. … Rock Falls, IL)
… 3.12 ERA, 1-0, 1 GS, 8.2 IP, 3 R, 6 H, BB, 8K,  .188 opp. batting
LHP – #23 Kyle Helisek (Villanova, so. … Cranberry Township, PA)
… 1.29 ERA, 1-0, 1 GS, 7 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 5 BB, 2 K,  .167 opp. batting
RHP (relief) – #32 Chris Enourato (West Virginia, sr. … Bridgeport, WV)
… 0.00 ERA, 1-0, 1 GP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 7 K, .154 opp. batting

Honorable Mention
1B–#38 Casey Martin (Notre Dame, 5th-yr. sr., cleanup/7-hole; Charleston, IN)
… hit .556 (5-for-9, R, BB, E)
LF – #3 Junior Carlin (South Florida, jr., 2-hole … Riverview, FL)
… hit .462 (6-for-13, 2 RBI, 2 R, HBP, K)
LF – #7 Pat Biserta (Rutgers, jr., 2/6-hole … Pt. Pleasant Boro, NJ)
… hit .357 (5-for-14, 3 RBI, 2 R, HR, SB, K)
LF – #34 Quentin Williams (Northwestern, so., 7/8-hole … Pittsburgh, PA)
… hit .556 (5-for-9, 2 RBI, R, HR, 2K)
RHP – #29 Jon Prosinski (Seton Hall, fr. … Skillman, NJ)
… 0.00 ERA, 1-0, 1 GS, 6 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 2 BB, BK, 6K, .211 opp. batting
RHP – #26 Kurt Wunderlich (Michigan State, jr. … Des Peres, MO)
… 0.00 ERA, 1-0, 1 GS, 7 IP, 0 R, 4 H, BB, HB, 6K, .174 opp. batting
RHP (relief) – #17 Brandon Sinnery (Michigan, so. … Worcester, MA)
… 0.00 ERA, 0-0, SV, 2 GP, 5 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 6 K, .067 .opp batting

Day-3 Notebook from Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge

The BIG EAST kept rolling on Sunday, winning 7-of-10 games for the second straight day to claim the series by a 17-13 margin (after trailing 6 games to 1 heading into Friday night).

BIG TEN/BIG EAST CHALLENGE – Day-3 Results
(Feb. 28, 2010 … BIG EAST 7-3 margin for the day, won series 17-13)
(BIG EAST wins in italics)

GAME 30 – Cincinnati 12, Ohio State 4 (Naimoli Complex)
FINAL STATS |  CIN Recap |  OSU Recap

GAME 29 – St. John’s 6, Illinois 4 (Naimoli Complex)
FINAL STATS |  SJU Recap |  ILL Recap

GAME 28 – Michigan 4, South Florida 2  (Naimoli Complex)
FINAL STATS |  MICH RECAP |  USF Recap

GAME 27 – Iowa 11, Villanova 2  (Jack Russell Stadium)
FINAL STATS |  IOWA Recap |  VILL Recap

GAME 26 – Michigan State 17, West Virginia 5  (Al Lang Stadium)
FINAL STATS |  MSU Recap |  WVU Recap

GAME 25 – Louisville 5, Minnesota 4 (Naimoli Complex)
FINAL STATS |  LOU Recap |  MINN Recap

GAME 24 – Connecticut 9, Indiana 5 (Naimoli Complex)
FINAL STATS |  UConn Recap |  IU Recap

GAME 23 – Notre Dame 9, Penn State 8  (10 innings … Naimoli Complex)
FINAL STATS |  ND Recap |  PSU Recap

GAME 22 – Rutgers 6, Purdue 5  (Jack Russell Stadium)
FINAL STATS |  RU Recap |  PUR Recap

GAME 21 – Seton Hall 3, Northwestern 0  (Al Lang Stadium)
FINAL STATS |  SHU Recap |  NU Recap

• • • • •

CollegeBaseball360.com again is compiling full tournament stats and will be announcing the Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge all-tournament team (hopefully sometime tonight, assuming we have received all the game files), in addition to posting detailed tournament stats (team and individual) in PDF format. Check out the 23 players listed below – led by three each from Ohio State and Villanova – who each were batting .500 or better (min. 5 ABs) through the first two days of competition:

20201 Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge Top Hitters (after day-2)
(tournament stats provided courtesy of CollegeBaseball360.com)

.750 – #35 Jerred Sabourin (Indiana, 3-hole, jr., 1B) … 6–for (4RBI, 2R, 2 2B, BB)

.727 – #20 Matt Szczur (Villanova, leadoff, jr., RF) … 8-for-11 (RBI, 5R, 3B, 2B, 0-1 SB, 2K)

.714 – #17 Matt Dittman (Illinois, cleanup, jr., 1B) … 5-for-7 (3RBI, 2R, 2B, BB, 2K)

.714 – #24 Michael Stephens (Ohio St., cleanup, sr., CF) … 5-7 (2RBI, 3R, 2 2B, BB, SB, SF, 2K)

.714 – #26 Kevin Plawecki (Purdue, 7-hole, fr., C) … 4-for-6 (RBI, R, 2B, BB, HBP, SB)

.667 – #34 Quentin Williams (Northwestern, 7/8-hole, so., LF) … 4-for-6 (2 RBI, R, HR, K)

.571 – #30 Adam Duvall (Louisville, 2-hole, sr., 2B) … 4-for-7 (3 RBI, 3 R, HR, 2 2B, BB, SAC, K)

.571 – #5 Stewart Ijames (Louisville, 7-hole, jr., LF) … 4-for-7 (3 RBI, 2 R, HR, 2B, K, CS)

.556 – #23 Ryan Dew (Ohio St., 5-hole, sr., DH) … 5-for-9 (2 RBI, 4 R, 2B, K)

.500 – #19 Arby Fields (Northwestern, 2-hole, fr., CF) … 5-for-10 (3 RBI, K)

.500 – #30 Jon Moore (Purdue, 2-hole, sr., CF) … 5-for-10 (RBI, 2 R, 2B, 2 K)

.500 – #18 Justin Gominsky (Minnesota, leadoff, so., CF) … 4-for-8 (RBI, R, 2 2B, 2 K)

.500 – #7 Chris Fontenelli (Seton Hall, 5th-yr. sr., 8-hole, 2B) … 4-for-8 (2 R, BB, SAC, 2K)

.500– #23 Michael Glantz (Penn St., 7-hole, jr., SS) … 4-for-8 (RBI, R, BB, SAC, 2K)

.500 – #25 Paul Snieder (Northwestern, 5-hole, so., DH/P) … 4-for-8 (2R, BB, HBP, 4K)

.500 – #44 Matt Fleishman (Villanova, 5-hole, so., LF) … 4-for-8 (RBI, 2R, 2 2B, BB, 2K)

.500 – #1 Drew Haynes (Louisville, 9-hole, jr., CF)  … 3-for-6 (2 RBI, 3R, 2B, BB, CS)

.500 – #2 Joe Panik (St. John’s, 5-hole, so., SS) … 3-for-6 (2 RBI, 2R, 3B, 2B, 2BB, HBP, 2K)

.500 – #3 Brandon Hohl (Illinois, 8-hole, fr., 3B) … 3-for-6 (2 RBI, R, 2K, GDP)

.500 – #9 Trevor Willis (Iowa, 8-hole, jr., LF) … 3-for-6 (3B, 2B, BB, SAC, 2K)

.500 – #1 Tyler Engle (Ohio St., 9-hole, jr., SS) … 3-for-6 (RBI, R, 2B, BB)

.500 – #22 Justin Bencsko (Villanova, 2-hole, sr., CF) … 3-for-6 (5R, 2B, 3BB, 2SB, 2 SAC, GDP)

.500 – #22 Mike Olt (UConn, cleanup, jr., 3B) … 3-for-6 (RBI, 2R, 3BB, SB, SF, 2K)

Day-2 Notebook (2010 Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge)

BIG TEN/BIG EAST CHALLENGE – Day-2 Results
(Feb. 27, 2010 … BIG EAST 7-3 margin for the day, series tied 10-10)
(BIG EAST wins in italics)

GAME 20 – Louisville 17, Michigan State 6  (Jack Russell Stadium)
FINAL STATS |  LOU Recap |  MSU Recap

GAME 19 – St. John’s 2, Michigan 1  (Al Lang Stadium)
FINAL STATS |  SJU Recap |  MICH Recap

GAME 18 – South Florida 12, Illinois 3  (Bright House Networks Field)
FINAL STATS |  USF Recap |  ILL Recap

GAME 17 – Ohio State 10, Notre Dame 2  (Bright House Networks Field)
FINAL STATS |  OSU Recap |  ND Recap

GAME 16 – Northwestern 7, Rutgers 5  (Naimoli Complex)
FINAL STATS |  NU Recap |  RU Recap

GAME 15 – Cincinnati 7, Purdue 6  (Jack Russell Stadium)
FINAL STATS |  CIN Recap |  PUR Recap

GAME 14 – Connecticut 8, Minnesota 2  (Al Lang Stadium)
FINAL STATS |  UConn Recap |  MINN Recap

GAME 13 – West Virgnia 9, Iowa 5  (Naimoli Complex)
FINAL STATS |  WVU Recap |  IOWA Recap

GAME 12 – Penn State 3, Seton Hall  2 … 13 inn.  (Jack Russell Stadium)
FINAL STATS |  PSU Recap |  SHU Recap

GAME 11 – Villanova 8, Indiana 1  (Al Lang Stadium)
FINAL STATS |  VILL Recap |  IU Recap

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