Here’s a rundown of key results from the third week of the 2014 college baseball season, involving top-50 teams from the CB360 Composite National Rankings … (postgame links may be added to this page later, time permitting)
Chris Mariscal (Fresno State)
• Roughly one-fourth of the games involving CB360 top-50 teams resulted in upsets (31 of 115; 27%).
• There were 29 head-t0-head matchups between CB360 top-50 teams, and 10 of them were won by the lower-ranked teams.
Grayson Greiner (South Carolina)
The 31 upsets over the weekend included five underdogs who won their series:
• Fresno State swept visiting (22) Texas A&M: 5-0, 6-5, 1-0
• Seton Hall similarly won all three of its games at (29) Arizona: 9-1, 3-2, 11-2
• South Alabama won 2-of-3 at (25) Arkansas: 2-1, 5-3
• and The Citadel took 2-of-3 vs. visiting (35) Nebraska: 6-3, 12-8
• Belmont won the first two games vs. visiting (41) Mercer, 4-3 and 6-5 to take that series
Grant Watson (UCLA)
Four of the upsets resulted in CB360 top-10 teams losing to unranked (2) or lower-ranked (2) opponents:
• (15) Miami opened its season at CB360 #1 Florida State with a 3-1 win
• Yale, despite playing its season opener two days earlier, won the series finale at (3) LSU, 8-7
• Wright State won one of its four games at (5) Oregon State, 6-2
• (14) UCLA pulled the mild upset over (9) NC State and ace lefthanded Carlos Rodon, 2-0 (in Cary, NC)
The annual Houston College Classic at big-league Minute Maid Park featured CB360 top-50 teams comprising the entire six-team field, with the nine games producing several pitchers duels – while five of the nine final scores represented upsets within the CNR (two of them won by Sam Houston State):
• (23) Texas 2-0 vs. (11) Rice
• (32) Texas Tech 2-1 vs. (11) Rice
• (41) Sam Houston State 9-4 vs. (20) TCU
• (41) Sam Houston State 10-6 vs. (32) Texas Tech
• (41) Houston 9-0 vs. (32) Texas Tech
Tyler Eppler (Sam Houston State)
In addition to games already referenced above, here are the five other upsets from the weekend that resulted in losses by top-25 teams in the CNR:
• (24) Indiana won a 6-2 game at (13) Louisville, the only game played over the weekend between the pair of 2013 College World Series teams
• Illinois faces tournament host (21) Florida twice during the weekend, and knocked off the Gators both times: 6-0 and 5-1
• (39) USC was a big winner, 16-0, to earn a split of its home doubleheader vs. (16) Cal Poly
• (26) Alabama won the series finale at (18) Louisiana-Lafayette, 12-6
Finally, these five upsets, most of them from near the bottom of the CB360 top-50, rounded out the weekend’s upsets:
• St. John’s 4-3 at (31) Florida Atlantic
• Long Beach State 4-0 at (47) Wichita State, earning a split of their two games played
• One day after its season opener, Dartmouth won 3-0 at (48) Florida International
• California 8-5 vs. (49) Baylor (at San Diego)
• Gonzaga 6-4 vs. (50) Oklahoma (in Surprise, AZ)
Thomas Eshelman (Cal State Fullerton)
Several of the weekend’s 29 head-to-head games between CB360 top-50 teams are mentioned above, with the other results including the following:
• (5) Cal State Fullerton won all three games at (7) Oregon: 0-2, 3-2 and 5-4
• (8) South Carolina rallied late in gm-3 for a huge sweep of its in-state rival (12) Clemson: 9-6 (at SC), 10-2 (in Greenville) and 5-3 (in Clemson)
• Speaking of rivalries, the CNR’s top team Florida State bounced back from the gm-1 loss vs. (15) Miami to take the series: 10-2 and 13-6
• (11) Rice 1-0 vs. (20) TCU (Minute Maid Park)
• (16) Cal Poly opened its Sunday doubleheader at (39) USC with a 5-1 win
• (18) Louisiana-Lafayette clinched its home series vs. (26) Alabama by winning the first two games: 2-0 and 6-0
• (19) Oklahoma State won 6-1 vs. (28) Arizona State, during tournament action in Surprise, AZ
• (20) TCU 2-1 vs. (41) Houston (Minute Maid Park)
• (23) Texas followed up its win over Rice by beating Houston 3-2 and Sam Houston State, 3-2 (both were tied for 41st in the CNR)
• (37) San Diego beat (49) Baylor, 8-0, while (36) UNC Wilmington also topped the Bears, 5-3 (also at USD)
Dillon Peters (Texas)
The assortment of 3-game (or 4-game) series during the weekend yielded 13 sweeps, three included above, plus these (all at home): (2) Virginia vs. Monmouth … (6) Vanderbilt vs. Stanford … (17) North Carolina vs. North Florida … (30) Ole Miss vs. UCF … (33) Kentucky vs. Eastern Michigan … (38) Georgia Tech vs. Bowling Green … (40) UC Santa Barbara vs. Princeton … (44) Western Carolina vs. La Salle … (45) New Mexico vs. Northern Colorado (four games) … and (46) Tennessee vs. Quinnipiac.
Drasen Johnson (Illinos)
Rather than playing in multi-game series vs. a single opponent, some of the CB360 top-50 were competing at multi-team tournaments over the weekend and some of them went undefeated at those events: (10) Mississippi State was 4-0 in its home tournament (2-0 vs. both Michigan State and Eastern Illinois) … (14) UCLA won all three of its games at the Irish Baseball Classic in Cary, N.C. (vs. Notre Dame, NC State and Michigan) … (27) Arizona State similarly went 3-0 during tournament play in Surprise, Ariz. (games vs. Gonzaga, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State) … (28) Kansas State picked up a couple wins over Grand Canyon and also beat Missouri State (in Abilene, Texas) … and East Carolina went 3-0 at its home tournament (vs. Western Kentucky, Pitt and Ohio State).
WEEKEND TOP-50 MATCHUPS (Feb. 28–March 2, 2014)
(both in the CB360 Composite National Rankings) upsets in italics
Chris Diaz (Miami)
• gm-1 – (15) Miami 3–6–1 … won at (1) Florida State 1–5–3
• gm-2–at (1) Florida State 10–8–1 … def. (15) Miami 2–7–0
• gm-3–at (1) Florida State (8-1) 13–15–1 … def. (15) Miami (5-5) 6–9–3 … FSU won series, 2-1
• gm-1 – (4) Cal State Fullerton 9–14–0 … won at (7) Oregon 2–4–2
• gm-2– (4) Cal State Fullerton 3–5–0 … won at (7) Oregon 2–7–0
• gm-3 – (4) Cal State Fullerton (7-3) 5–7–1 … won at (7) Oregon (8-3) 4–8–0
• gm-1 – at (8) South Carolina 9–13–1 … def. (12) Clemson 6–8–4
• gm-2 – (8) South Carolina 10–10–2 … def. (12) Clemson 2–9–4 (Greenville, SC)
• gm-3 – (8) South Carolina (10-0) 5–10–0 … won at (12) Clemson (6-4) 3–11–2 … series sweep
• (14) UCLA (6-4) 2–3–1 … def. (9) North Carolina State (8-2) 0–4–1 (Cary, NC)
Chris Sadberry (Texas Tech)
Houston College Classic (Minute Maid Park)
• Fri. – (23) Texas 2–6–1 … def. (11) Rice 0–6–0
• Fri. – (41) Sam Houston State 9–12–1 … def. (20) TCU 4–12–0
• Fri. – (41) Houston 9–10–0 … def. (32) Texas Tech 0–6–0
• Sat. – (11) Rice 1–5–0 … def. (20) TCU 0–6–0
• Sat. – (23) Texas 3–4–2 … def. (41) Houston 2–9–4
• Sat. – (41) Sam Houston State 10–15–2 … def. (32) Texas Tech 6–8–0
• Sun – (32) Texas Tech (9-3) 2–2–3 … def. (11) Rice (7-5) 1–7–0
• Sun – (20) TCU (7-4) 2–7–1 … def. (41) Houston (8-2) 1–5–3
• Sun – (23) Texas (9-3) 3–10-3 … def. (41) Sam Houston State (10-2) 2–8–1
tournament records: TX 3-0 … SHSU 2-1 (Rice TCU, TT & HOU all 1-2)
• Sat. – (24) Indiana (4-5) 6–10–2 … won at (13) Louisville (7-3) 2–9–1
Kyle Schwarber (Indiana)
• Sun. – (16) Cal Poly 5–10–1 … won at (39) USC 1–6–1
• Sun. – at (39) USC (8-2) 16–16–1 … def. (16) Cal Poly (8-2) 0–2–1 … 2-gm series split
• gm-1 – at (18) Louisiana-Lafayette 2–2–0 … def. (26) Alabama 0–7–3
• gm-2 – at (18) Louisiana-Lafayette 6–10-0 … def. (26) Alabama 0–3-3
• gm-3 – (26) Alabama (5-5) 12–21–1 … won at (18) Louisiana-Lafayette (10-2) 6–9–2 … ULL won series (2-1)
• Sun. – (19) Oklahoma State (10-2) 6–11–0 … def. (27) Arizona State (6-4) 1–3–0 (OK-St. went 2-0 in Surprise, AZ)
• Sun. – (36) UNC Wilmington (5-5) 5–11–1 … def. (49) Baylor (5-4) 3–8–0 (at Univ. of San Diego) … UNCW went 1-1 at USD tournament
• Sun. – at (37) San Diego (8-1) 8–11–0 … def. (49) Baylor (5-5) 0–3–1 (USD started 0-2 at its tournament
_____________________________
OTHER WEEKEND TOP-50 RESULTS (Feb. 28–March 2, 2014)
(based on the CB360 Composite National Rankings) upsets in italics
• gm-1 (Sat.) – at (2) Virginia 6–9-2 … def. Monmouth 3–8–0
• gm-2 (Sat.) – at (2) Virginia 5–10–0 … def. Monmouth 3–9–1
• gm-3 (Sun.) – at (2) Virginia (9-2) 6–3–1 … def. Monmouth (1-5) 2–5–0 … series sweep
Green Campbell (Yale)
• gm-1 – at (3) LSU 19–16–0 … def. Yale 0–7–0
• gm-2 – at (3) LSU 3–8–0 … def. Yale 0–4–1
• gm-3 – Yale (1-2) 8–13–2 … won at (3) LSU (9-2) 7–14–2 … LSU won series (2-1)
• gm-1 – at (5) Oregon State 7–10–0 … def. Wright State 0–2–1
• gm-2 (Sat.) – at (5) Oregon State 6–15–0 … def. Wright State 4–10–4
• gm-3 (Sat.) – Wright State 6–8–1 … won at (5) Oregon State 2–5–4
• gm-4 – at (5) Oregon State (9-3) 13–8–1 … def. Wright State (3-8) 2–5–0 … Beavs won series (3-1)
• gm-1 – at (6) Vanderbilt 4–8–0 … def. Stanford 1–4–1
• gm-2 – at (6) Vanderbilt 5–7–0 … def. Stanford 1–3–0
• gm-3 – at (6) Vanderbilt (10-2) 4–4–1 … def. Stanford (4-7) 2–7–3 … series sweep
• Fri. – (9) NC State (8-1) 3–9–0 … def. Michigan (1-6-1) 0–5–0 (Cary, NC)
• Sun. – (9) NC State (8-1) 16–13–1 … def. Youngstown State (1-7) 1–10–3 (Cary, NC; NC-St. went 2-1 at Irish Baseball Classic)
• Fri. – at (10) Mississippi State 4–8–0 … def. Michigan State 2–5–1
• Sat. – at (10) Mississippi State 4–11–0 … def. Eastern Illinois 3–8–3
• Sat. – at (10) Mississippi State 7–13–0 … def. Michigan State (4-5) 1–4–3
• Sun. – at (10) Mississippi State (10-4) 9–12–0 … def. Eastern Illinois (2-10) 0–10–2 … ‘Dogs went 4-0, EIU 1-3, MSU 1-3 at Diamond Classic)
• Fri. – at (13) Louisville 6–10–2 … def. Toledo 2–5–0
• Sat. – at (13) Louisville (8-3) 8–10-1 … def. Toledo (2-6) 2–5–1
• Fri. – (14) UCLA 2–2–0 … def. Notre Dame (3-5) 1–3–2 (Cary, NC)
• Sun. – (14) UCLA (7-4) 5–10–0 … def. Michigan (2-8-1) 0–2–1 (Cary, NC) … Bruins went 3-0 at Irish Baseball Classic
• gm-1 – at (17) North Carolina 3–5–2 … def. North Florida 0–7-0
• gm-2 – at (17) North Carolina 5–8–1 … def. North Florida 1–6–0
• gm-3 – at (17) North Carolina (7-3) 8–10–2 … def. North Florida (4-6) 5–10–1 … series sweep
• Fri. – (19) Oklahoma State (10-1) 10–9–1 … def. Manhattan (1-5) 7–14–1 (Surprise, AZ) … OK-St went 2-1 in Surprise
• Fri. – Illinois 6–12–1 … won at (21) Florida 0–3–2
• Sat. – at (21) Florida 4–10-1 … def. Florida Gulf Coast (6-6) 0–3–1
• Sun. – Illinois (6-4) 5–9–1 … won at (21) Florida (6-6) 1–9–0 (Gators 1-3 at home tournament 2/27-3/2; ILL 4-0, FGCU 1-3)
Locke St. John (South Alabama)
• gm-1 (Sat.) – at Fresno State 5–7–0 … def. (22) Texas A&M 0–2–0
• gm-2 (Sat.) – at Fresno State 6–8–0 … def. (22) Texas A&M 5–8–1
• gm-3 – at Fresno State (9-2) 1–6–1 … def. (22) Texas A&M (7-4) 0–3-0 … series sweep
• Sat. – (24) Indiana (3-5) 8–12–4 … def. Toledo (2-5) 3–5–1 (at Louisville)
• gm-1 – at (25) Arkansas 12–14–0 … def. South Alabama 1–4–1
• gm-2 (Sat.) – South Alabama 2–5–0 … won at (25) Arkansas 1–8–1
• gm-3 (Sat.) – South Alabama (5-5) 5–9–0 … won at (25) Arkansas (7-2) 3–8–3 … Jags won series (2-1)
• Fri. – (27) Arizona State (5-4) 10–13–0 … def. Gonzaga (2-8) 5–8–0 (Surprise, AZ) … ASU went 3-0 in Surprise
• Fri. – (28) Kansas State 9–14–3 … def. Grand Canyon 4–7–3 (Abilene, TX)
• Sat. – (28) Kansas State 11–11–0 … def. Grand Canyon (4-6) 1–8–0 (Abilene, TX)
• Sat. – (28) Kansas State (4-7) 8–11-0 … def. Missouri State (7-3) 3–8–1 (Abilene, TX) … K-St. went 3-0 at tournament, GC 0-3, Mo.-St. 1-1
Josh Prevost (Seton Hall)
• gm-1 – Seton Hall 9–13–0 … won at (29) Arizona 1–6–3
• gm-2 (Sat.-Sun.) – Seton Hall 3–9–1 … won at (29) Arizona 2–8–0
• gm-3 – Seton Hall (7-2) 11–15–1 … won at (29) Arizona (6-5) 2–7–1 … series sweep
• gm-1 – at (30) Mississippi 4–14–2 … def. Central Florida 3–8–1 (13 inn.)
• gm-2 – at (30) Mississippi 5–10–1 … def. Central Florida 4–7–0 (10 inn.)
• gm-3 – at (30) Mississippi 9–10-0 … def. Central Florida 2–7–0 … series sweep
• gm-1 – at (31) Florida Atlantic 11–13–2 … def. St. John’s 1–4–3
• gm-2 – St. John’s 4–8–1 … won at (31) Florida Atlantic 3–10–1
• gm-3 – at (31) Florida Atlantic (8-3) 5–6–4 … def. St. John’s (2-7) 4–10–1 … FAU won series, 2-1
• gm-1 – at (33) Kentucky 8–13–2 … def. Eastern Michigan 2–3–2
• gm-2 (Sat.) – at (33) Kentucky 9–9–1 … def. Eastern Michigan 5–8–1
• gm-3 (Sat.)– at (33) Kentucky (9-2) 13–17–3 … def. Eastern Michigan (4-7) 2–8–2 … series sweep
• Fri. – at (34) East Carolina 2–4–1 … def. Western Kentucky (6-3) 1–5–2
• Sat. – at (34) East Carolina 4–10–1 … def. Pittsburgh (4-4) 2–2–0
• Sun. – at (34) East Carolina (6-5) 3–5–1 … def. Ohio State (7-3) 2–8–2 … ECU went 3-0 at LeClair Classic
The Citadel’s Tyler Griffin
• gm-1 – at The Citadel 6–9–0 … def. (35) Nebraska 3–5–0
• gm-2 – at The Citadel 12–11–0 … def. (35) Nebraska 8–10–3
• gm-3– (35) Nebraska (5-5) 4–10–0 … won at The Citadel (6-6) 0–7–4 … CIT won series, 2-1
• gm-1 – at (38) Georgia Tech 3–8–2 … def. Bowling Green 2–7–1
• gm-2 – at (38) Georgia Tech 8–10–1 … def. Bowling Green 3–9–3
• gm-3 – at (38) Georgia Tech (7-4) 5–9–2 … def. Bowling Green (2-7) 5–9–2 … series sweep
• gm-1 – at (40) UC Santa Barbara 9–10–0 … def. Princeton 1–6–1
• gm-2 (Sun.) – at (40) UC Santa Barbara 18–14–5 … def. Princeton 10–10–2
• gm-3 (Sun.) – at (40) UC Santa Barbara (7-1) 11–9–0 … def. Princeton (0-3) 0–5–4 … series sweep
Belmont’s Nick Egil
• gm-1 – at Belmont 4–10–0 … def. (41) Mercer 3–6–0
• gm-2– at Belmont 6–11–2 … def. (41) Mercer 5–8–2
• gm-3 – (41) Mercer (10-2) 9–14–2 … won at Belmont (6-5) 4–5–1 … BEL won series, 2-1
• gm-1 – at (44) Western Carolina 6–8–2 … def. La Salle 4–6–0
• gm-2 – at (44) Western Carolina 7–10–2 … def. La Salle 6–15–2
• gm-3 – at (44) Western Carolina (7-2) 20–21–0 … def. La Salle (1-9) 10–13–2 … series sweep
• gm-1 – at (45) New Mexico 5–13–0 … def. Northern Colorado 2–6–1
• gm-2 – at (45) New Mexico 17–18–0 … def. Northern Colorado 1–4–1
• gm-3 (Sun.) – at (45) New Mexico 12–13–0 … def. Northern Colorado 3–9–3
• gm-4 (Sun.) – at (45) New Mexico (8-3-1) 8–15–0 … def. Northern Colorado (2-10) 1–6–1 … 4-gm series sweeo
• gm-1 – at (46) Tennessee 13–13–0 … def. Quinnipiac 2–3–3
• gm-2– at (46) Tennessee 4–8–0 … def. Quinnipiac 3–8–1
• gm-3 – at (46) Tennessee (10-0) 9–12–2 … def. Quinnipiac (0-6) 4–5–2 … series sweep
• gm-1 (Fri.) – at (47) Wichita State 5–11–0 … def. Long Beach State 4–10–1
• gm-2 (Fri.) – Long Beach State (4-6) 7–9–0 … won at (47) Wichita State (7-3) 0–4–1 ... split 2-gm series
• gm-1 – at (48) Florida International 11–9–0 … def. Dartmouth 0–6–3
• gm-2– Dartmouth 3–11–0 … won at (48) Florida International 0–6–1
• gm-3 – at (48) Florida International (11-1) 11–14–1 … def. Dartmouth (1-2) 7–8–0 … FIU won series, 2-1
• Sat. – California (6-2) 8–10–1 … def. (49) Baylor (5-3) 5–10–3 (at Univ. of San Diego) … Bears started 0-3 at USD tournament
• Fri. – (50) Oklahoma 8–12–0 … def. Santa Clara (5-6) 4–7–2 (Surprise, Ariz.)
• Sun. – Gonzaga (3-8) 6–7–1 … def. (50) Oklahoma (7-4) 4–10–2 (Surprise, Ariz.) … OU went 2-1 in Surprise (GON was 1-2)