Omaha Sky - A College Baseball Blog

There's Mr. White

2009-04-17T23:34:00.001-04:00

North Carolina ace Alex White has had a very good season, the kind befitting of a projected top-10 pick like him.

But in a year where the pitching story-lines have been dominated by the dominating performances of guys like Stephen Strasburg and Ryan Berry, White hasn't made the huge headlines. He's plugged away with solid starts. Heading into Friday's game against No. 7 Miami, White had a 3.53 ERA. Pretty good.

Tonight, pretty good turned into great.

White struck out 10, walked one and faced just one batter over the minimum in a complete-game, one-hit shutout of the Hurricanes. That's his best start of the year and the first one-hitter by a North Carolina pitcher since 1994.

White went 8.2 innings last Friday against Florida State, but was a hard-luck loser.

He did not mess around this time.

Down in Tiger Town

2009-04-15T23:05:00.001-04:00

LSU, ranked No. 1 in three polls, became the latest No. 1 to hit a mid-week pothole as Nicholls State handed the Tigers a 3-1 loss tonight at Alex Box Stadium.

It seems like this happens every week. It doesn't, of course, but I was curious enough to check into it. Of the nine weeks played so far, No. 1 teams have lost mid-week games in four of those weeks. That seems like kind of a lot.

In this case, the Tigers had to deal with eight different Nicholls pitchers, and got very little off any of them. The Tigers finished with just four hits. On the other side, LSU starter Chris Matulis was solid, but the three runs he gave up proved to be too many.

Nicholls State, who improved to 17-18 with the win, hadn't beaten LSU since 1994, a stretch that included 17 LSU victories.

Elsewhere

North Carolina may be one of the best teams in the country, but the Tar Heels also seem to be one of the most up-and-down teams in the country. A day after losing to High Point -- their third loss in four games -- the Heels beat up on a good Winthrop team today, winning 20-4. Ben Bunting had three hits and three RBI from the leadoff spot, and the Heels had 11 players drive in runs. Nate Striz relieved starter Bryant Gaines in the second inning and worked four scoreless frames to pick up the win.

With struggles in his last few starts, Texas righty Brandon Workman got a little mid-week work today and turned in a solid showing as the Longhorns beat Texas A&M Corpus Christi 8-1. Workman struck out three and didn't walk anybody in three innings of work. The bigger story for the Longhorns might be the continued emergence of the offense. The Longhorns still aren't going to blow people out of the water, but they've won 10 of their last 11 games while averaging more than seven runs per game. Alan Trubow of the Austin American-Statesman posted some good notes yesterday on that and more.

It took some extra work, but Arkansas is back on the winning track. The Hogs snapped a three-game losing streak today with a 10-9, 10-inning victory over Louisiana-Monroe. Scott Lyons hit a walk-off two-run homer to give Arkansas the victory.

Kent State, everybody's favorite mid-major in the preseason, scored perhaps its best win of the season with an 8-7 triumph over Ohio State. Fresh off a series win over Toledo that included Brad Stillings' no-hitter, the Flashes stayed hot thanks to a big offensive day and some solid bullpen work. Anthony Gallas and Cory Hindel each delivered three RBI to pace the offense, with Hindel's seventh-inning RBI single proving to be the game-winner. Justin Gill, Jon Pokorny and Andrew Chafin combined for 3.2 innings of scoreless relief.

Jackets Over Bulldogs

2009-04-15T07:59:00.001-04:00

They were scheduled to meet when they were both in the top five.

Instead, their first meeting came last night, with Georgia Tech ranked 11th and Georgia ranked second.

Tech still ended up on top.

The Jackets opened up an early lead and never looked back en route to an 11-6 victory.

Eight pitchers toed the rubber for the Bulldogs, but Tech kept hitting regardless of who was in there. Matt Skole, Jason Haniger and Cole Leonida each had home runs, with Leonida delivering a three-run blast. Jed Bradley got the ball for Tech and allowed five runs in six innings but never surrendered the lead.

This is obviously a good win for the Yellow Jackets, who had been having some ups and downs lately. They had lost five out of their last nine games. Still, Boyd Nation's Psuedo RPI had them rated third, and this win should only propel them higher.

Another in-state match-up awaits tonight, when Tech visits Georgia State. The first time the teams met, Georgia State posted a surprising 10-1 victory.

Elsewhere

Georgia wasn't the only top-five team losing a Tuesday game. No. 3 Rice and No. 4 North Carolina also took losses. Texas A&M, losers of four out of six, came into Houston and rode five strong innings by Barrett Loux to a 7-3 win. North Carolina's loss hurts a little more. High Point, a team with a 14-17 record, scored six runs in the final three innings on their way to an 11-9 victory.

Louisiana-Monroe got a complete game from Keith Christensen and upset Arkansas 3-2. Boomer Blanchard (fantastic name) hit a solo home run in the eighth that proved to be the game-winner. After their mid-week sweep of Arizona State, Arkansas has now lost three in a row.

Checking in on the ACC

2009-04-13T22:23:00.001-04:00

Because I have a lot of catching up to do . . .

So there's a bit of parity in the college baseball world, particularly in conference play. The ACC might not be the capital -- the Big 12 probably takes the cake -- but it's close. When your flagship team has been ranked No. 1 in the country for several weeks but sits in a tie for third in its division, you've got some craziness.

Of course, that team -- North Carolina -- isn't exactly in a distant third. The Heels are one of five teams with seven conference losses. Georgia Tech has the fewest losses with five, but the Yellow Jackets have also played three fewer games.

It'll be pretty interesting to see how it all shakes out. I had a passing thought that if these good teams keep beating up on each other, they'll hurt themselves come seeding time, but if you check out Boyd Nation's RPI right now, Georgia Tech and North Carolina sit at two and three, with Miami, Virginia and Clemson also in the top 15.

So at least for now, they look just fine.

Clemson had itself a nice little weekend, taking two of three from Miami to vault into first place in the ACC's Atlantic Division.

One of the best performers of the weekend was also the busiest.

Kyle Parker started his Saturday by out-shining the rest of the quarterback competition in Clemson's spring football game. He completed 13 of 21 passes for 171 yards and a touchdown.

Soon after, he was changing into a different uniform and torching Miami on the baseball field. A sophomore outfielder, Parker missed the first few innings of a Saturday doubleheader, but checked in and promptly went 3-for-7 with two home runs. He finished the week 8-for-18 with 11 RBI. When you factor in the football exploits, you've got one hell of a weekend. Parker was named ACC Player of the Week, and deservedly so.

You can read about the whole thing here.

Parker wasn't the only Tiger picking up an ACC honor. Freshman left-hander Chris Dwyer tossed a complete game two-hitter in the second game of that Saturday doubleheader. Dwyer had a career-high 10 strikeouts.

While fellow freshman pitcher Danny Hultzen of Virginia might get more ink in the ACC and around the country, Dwyer is putting together a very solid freshman campaign. Though his ERA is a little high at 4.40, he has 46 strikeouts in 47 innings. He also has a WHIP of 1.13.

The kid's good.

Without looking first, I would have pegged Hultzen as the likely choice for ACC Pitcher of the Year. He's got 63 strikeouts and a 2.39 ERA.

But Duke's Andrew Wolcott could certainly make a case. The 6'6 senior righty leads all ACC starters with a 2.18 ERA. He has 42 strikeouts against 10 walks in 53.2 innings.

Scanning the offensive leaderboard, it's Virginia's Jarrett Parker who really jumps out. He's in the top three in the league in every offensive category, from average to on-base percentage to triples and home runs. All in all, he's hitting .409 with 11 home runs and 43 RBI.

Those are pretty amazing numbers, considering what Parker did last year as a freshman. He hit .264 without a home run.

The big series this weekend pits Miami against North Carolina. Both have been consensus top-10 teams all season.

The (Mid) Week Ahead

2009-04-05T21:54:00.001-04:00

Some nice little match-ups on tap this week, with Arizona State-Arkansas looking real good. The highlights:

Tuesday
Georgia Southern at Georgia Tech
Florida Atlantic at Miami
UNC Wilmington at NC State
TCU at Texas
Loyola Marymount at Cal State Fullerton
Pepperdine at UC Santa Barbara
Arizona State at Arkansas

Wednesday
South Carolina at Clemson
Oklahoma at Wichita State
Winthrop at Georgia
Arizona State at Arkansas
Mississippi State vs Southern Mississippi

I won't do Thursday, because it looks like Easter is making Thursday the first day of the weekend for most conferences.

Rebel Yell

2009-04-05T21:43:00.001-04:00

Ole Miss stretched its win streak to six today when it completed a sweep over Kentucky today with an 8-0 win.

I think you could call it the most impressive of the six victories.

Senior righty Scott Bittle -- one of the best relievers in the country before he moved to the rotation last weekend -- tossed a complete-game, three-hit shutout with 13 strikeouts and no walks. Statistically, that's the best performance of Bittle's season and, probably, of his career. It was the first complete game shutout of his career, and the 13 strikeouts are a new career-high.

"He was really terrific today," Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco told OleMissSports.com.

Bittle, a second-round pick last year, has been terrific all season, but before last weekend's start against LSU, he had worked exclusively out of the bullpen. On his way to becoming one of the nation's best closers, Bittle hadn't made a start since 2007. When he got the start last Friday against LSU, he tossed seven innings of one-hit, shutout ball, striking out 10 and walking just two.

With this performance added in, Bittle has gone 16 innings in two starts. He has allowed four hits, struck out 23 and walked two. Pretty amazing.

Elsewhere

UC Irvine was on the verge of a really, really impressive weekend, but Cal State Fullerton rallied from a 4-1 deficit and won in extra innings to salvage the third game of the series. The Titans had lost the first two, but won this one on a walkoff single by Matthew Fahey. Still a really impressive weekend for the Anteaters, though.

LSU beat Georgia 7-5 to take the rubber game of the season's most high-profile SEC series. As was the case in each game of the series, neither team's pitching staff really shined, but the Tigers outlasted Georgia thanks to some late offense and a gritty performance by Louis Coleman, who allowed five runs in the first five innings but added three more scoreless frames.

Like LSU, North Carolina won the rubber game of a marquee conference set, outlasting Georgia Tech 13-10. Dustin Ackley had two home runs and four RBI to pace the Tar Heels.

Freshman Mitchell Lambson struck out nine in a complete game as Arizona State completed a sweep of Washington with a 6-2 victory. For the series, ASU pitchers allowed three runs and struck out 36. Lambson actually pitched 1.1 innings in Friday's game, but apparently wasn't tired. Sunday's game was his first start, and he delivered.

I'll be back . . . I am back

2009-04-05T19:58:00.001-04:00

So it's been awhile. Sorry. I was in Indianapolis last weekend for the Sweet 16. My team (Louisville) lost. I was in mourning and then mired in a busy week.

But I'm back, and I don't plan to lose the thread again.

Some catching up later this evening.

Oh My Sweet Carolina

2009-03-25T22:56:00.001-04:00

North Carolina lost its fifth game of the year today. All five have come at the hands of other teams from the Carolinas.

First it was Coastal Carolina, then Clemson. The Heels' own state got in on the act this weekend as Duke took two of three. Today, it was Charlotte pulling the upset. The 49ers got a strong start by Patrick Lawson and just enough offense to beat UNC 2-1 in Chapel Hill.

Charlotte, perhaps the favorite in the A-10 this year, came in with a 13-6 record, so like UNC's other losses, this one isn't a major upset.

Lawson tossed 5.1 innings for Charlotte, allowing just a run on three hits and striking out seven. A junior transfer, Lawson is part of a quartet of 49er starters who have sub-3.00 ERA's.

The bullpen was also strong for Charlotte, with Sam Pierce tossing three innings of no-hit ball.

Charlotte's offense was powered by Ryan Rivers, who hit a pair of solo home runs.

The win is Charlotte's first over UNC in Chapel Hill in 21 years.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Brett Eibner

Brett Eibner, the Arkansas sophomore two-way player who was one of the highest unsigned picks in the 2007 draft, has not had a great start to his sophomore season. At the plate, Eibner has hit .156. On the mound, he had a 5.59 ERA in four starts.

But today, things turned around.

Eibner got the start against Missouri State and struck out seven while allowing just two hits in four shutout innings. That performance set the stage for a 10-0 Arkansas victory. Sam Murphy, who has also struggled, was brilliant in relief of Eibner, delivering three scoreless innings and five strikeouts.

The Razorbacks moved to 17-4 and you can bet they like what they saw on this day, particularly from Eibner.

Elsewhere

Miami bounced back from its loss to Ohio State with a 13-6 victory over Florida Atlantic. The Hurricanes improved to 19-5. Scott Lawson, the team's leading hitter, had two RBI, as did freshman Harold Martinez, who leads the team in RBI. Jason Santana made his first start of the year and allowed three runs in 5.2 innings.

After a 17-13 game yesterday, Washington and UC Irvine toned it down a bit today, as the Huskies ended up with a 13-12 victory after losing yesterday's slugfest. In this one, Aaron Russell hit two home runs and drove in six. Kyle Conley hit his eighth home run of the year and drove in four. Andrew Kittredge took the loss yesterday but picked up the save today. In all, 17 pitchers took the hill for the teams in the two-game set. Yikes.

UCLA, still in the doldrums with an 8-13 record, picked up a solid win today as freshman pitcher Trevor Bauer delivered a strong mound performance to lead the Bruins past No. 17 Pepperdine 7-2. Bauer, who has a 2.38 ERA this season, allowed two runs in eight innings this time out. He struck out eight and walked one. Gavin Brooks also pitched for the Bruins, working one perfect inning. Matt Bywater allowed six runs in six innings for the Waves.

Three pitchers combined on a shutout as East Carolina beat UNC-Wilmington 3-0. Brad Mincey went 5.1 innings, striking out four. Kevin Brandt struck out three in 1.2 innings and Seth Maness struck out three in two innings for the save. Tough one for Wilmington, who lost to North Carolina on Tuesday.

What They're Saying

2009-03-25T20:46:00.001-04:00

Checking up on some CBB internet stuff

Razorback Nine: Well, Wow. Auburn thoughts.
Arkansas is 6-0 and Charlie is impressed.

The College Baseball Blog: UMass cuts Baseball
Brian Foley reporting that UMass will cut baseball at the end of the year.

Stripes and Seams: Should Jamieson bunt?
Andrew DeWitt has an interesting take on whether Mizzou should turn to small ball.

Project Prospect: College Baseball Review
Pretty solid weekly feature running down top prospect showings.

College BaseBlog: Strasburg under the microscope now
Kirk Kenney looks at all the attention Stephen Strasburg is getting.

College Baseball 360: Of Polls and Schedules
Sean offers up some scattered observations.

Boo Rain

2009-03-25T20:27:00.001-04:00

Today's big match-up between Georgia and Georgia Tech got postponed because of bad weather in Atlanta.

No make-up date yet, but Tech's web site says every effort will be made to reschedule.

Checking in with the Big 12

2009-03-25T20:21:00.001-04:00

Conference play around the country is still in its infancy, but the early returns suggest that they're won't be a more intriguing conference out there than the Big 12.

Consider: Five teams that have been ranked in various top 25s at some point this year currently have .500 records or below in conference play. That's Baylor (3-3), Texas A&M (3-3), Missouri (3-3), Oklahoma State (1-2) and Texas (2-4). Texas and Texas A&M have both been top-five teams, but they've hit the skids in early conference action.

Will the parity continue? I see no reason why it won't. Yes, the cream will rise to the top, but the teams that are posting upsets are no slouches. I don't think there's a team in this league that's going to get run over. You could legitimately see a highly-thought of team like Oklahoma State or Missouri end up near or at the bottom of the standings.

So it's going to be fun.

Let's take a little tour of what we've seen so far.

Kansas is 3-0 in the conference, and they didn't beat up on an also-ran to get their three. The Jayhawks scored the biggest series upset of the season when they swept Texas. All three games were of the one-run variety, but Kansas found a way to win each one. The name of the game for the Jayhawks was pitching, and more specifically relief pitching. In the three-game set, Kansas relievers worked eight innings and allowed nary a run to cross the plate. Senior closer Paul Smyth was the headlining act, picking up three saves in the series to up his season total to six.

So are the Jayhawks legit? I don't know, but I wouldn't want to bet against them right now. With these wins against Texas and earlier victories over Arizona State and Arkansas, they've shown they can hold their own against some of the nation's top teams.

The key, just as it was in the Texas series, appears to be pitching. Their lineup is led by Buck Afenir and Casey Lytle, who are both above .400, but there are only a handful of other guys hitting .300. The Jayhawks will have to win on the mound, and they've done it so far. Shaeffer Hall has a no-hitter to his name, and he's posted a 2.16 ERA so far. Lee Ridenhour has a 1.82 ERA in five starts and T.J. Walz has also been solid.

Looking at the stats, it seems that one of the biggest reasons for Kansas' pitching success is that the Jayhawks won't beat themselves. The team's starting pitchers boast a combined strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.95. They're not going to give you many extra opportunities, so you'll have to create your own.

We'll see what the Jayhawks do from here, and they'll get another quick litmus test this weekend when they visit Texas A&M.

Texas was as impressive as any team in the country during the early-season slate, but the Kansas sweep was quite a little how do you do. The offense, which has been weaker than the pitching from the start, had its worst three-game stretch of the season against the Jayhawks. The Longhorns left 21 men on base in the series and didn't score after the seventh inning in any of the games.

"Sometimes baseball's really hard on you, and this was one of those times," Augie Garrido told the Austin American-Statesman.

I wouldn't expect the sweep to keep the Longhorns down for long. Their pitching is just too good, and because of that, they'll stand a good chance to be in every game they play. Even in the sweep, they got quality starts.

The offense will have to come around, though. One player is currently hitting over .300 (David Hernandez at .333), and as a team, the Longhorns have hit only seven home runs.

Before the season he wouldn't have gotten a lot of mentions before Texas' aces, or Brooks Raley or Kyle Gibson, but Kansas State's A.J. Morris is putting his name in that category. A 6'2 junior righty, Morris was the No. 4 prospect in the West Coast Collegiate League this summer, and he's more than picking up where he left off. Morris is 6-0 with a 0.48 ERA. Opponents are hitting .158 against him, and he's allowed just one home run. In 37.1 innings, he's got 39 strikeouts. As a body of work -- without the fireworks of spotless starts like we've seen with Workman or Ryan Berry -- that's about as good as it gets in the non-Strasburg division.

Speaking of K-State, the Wildcats have 11 players hitting above .300, and they've got a .343 team average. Good as that is, the conference's best belongs to Oklahoma. The Sooners are hitting .348 with an obscene 42 home runs, 14 more than K-State, who sits in second. Makes Texas' home run total look that much smaller, doesn't it?

Not surprisingly, Kansas State and Oklahoma are all over individual leaderboards as well. K-State's Drew Biery leads the league with a .423 average. OU's Bryant Hernandez is right behind him at .422. All in all, I think the most impressive hitter in the league is OU's Jamie Johnson, who's got a .394 average to go with nine home runs and 25 RBI. He's also got nine doubles and three triples. Oklahoma State's Neil Medchill isn't far behind Johnson, with a .387 average, eight home runs and 30 RBI. Nebraska juco transfer Adam Baily has also been very impressive (.352, 9 HR, 33 RBI).

Along the same lines in the pitching department, there's no shortage of aces. The aforementioned Morris leads in ERA, with Kyle Gibson right behind him at 1.15 and boasting more strikeouts (54 compared to Morris' 39). Baylor freshman Logan Verrett has also made a huge splash with a 6-0 record. He's pitched mostly out of the pen and has posted a 2.08 ERA with 35 strikeouts against five walks in 26 innings. Verrett actually made his first start in last week's Texas Tech series and allowed a run in seven innings despite giving up 11 hits.

The Weekend

Kansas at Texas A&M
Kansas State at Baylor
Missouri at Oklahoma State
Nebraska at Oklahoma
Texas Tech at Texas

I'll be curious to see how Texas handles itself with an 0-3 conference record. That Kansas-A&M series should also be interesting, and watch for a Kendal Volz-A.J. Morris Friday duel in the Baylor-Kansas State series.

College Baseball Loses a Voice

2009-03-25T17:17:00.002-04:00

Sad news out of Houston today, where it's been reported that the Houston Chronicle is cutting all of its college beats -- Rice, Texas A&M and Houston.

This sucks for college baseball coverage.

The Rice beat is one of the few major newspaper beats in the country where college baseball is a primary focus. MK Bower did an outstanding job with it, and his stories and blog were daily reading for me. Apparently, Bower will be let go as a result of the cuts. From my little corner, I'd like to wish him the best.

Rice student Casey Michael has penned a nice tribute to Bower.

As for the Houston Chronicle, you guys suck. How is this going to help you, exactly? Why do newspapers insist on saving the printed page when all these cuts are eventually going to leave them with nothing of value to put on the printed page?

Devil Went Down to Georgia

2009-03-24T22:44:00.001-04:00

The mid-week upset bug arrived today in Georgia and took a pair of victims. Wright State beat No. 1 Georgia 8-5 while Georgia State toppled No. 3 Georgia Tech 10-1. Interestingly enough, the Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets are getting together tomorrow for a marquee mid-week game, but they won't be riding quite as high as they have been.

The Bulldogs, who moved back to No. 1 in several polls this week after dropping from that spot with two losses to Alabama, had one bad inning against the Raiders. Wright State's web site is calling it the biggest win in program history, and it probably is. The Raiders got the victory thanks in large part to a seven-run fourth inning. After being held scoreless through three by Chase Hawkins, the Raiders got to Hawkins in the fourth, touching him up for four runs. Cecil Tanner came on in relief and was charged with the other three runs. Four different players had RBI in the inning for Wright State, with Jeff Mercer driving in two.

Travis Lamar and Michael Schum kept Wright State in front with 3.1 scoreless innings of relief. Wright State moved to 10-12 with the win. For Georgia, the loss was just the third of the year.

As for the Yellow Jackets, they were never really in the game against Georgia State. They fell behind 5-0 after three innings and couldn't muster a comeback. John Locklear allowed one run in five innings, and Will Palmer and Will Campbell combined for four scoreless innings of relief.

Tech is now 16-3. They also lost a game in last weekend's series with Virginia Tech.

Elsewhere

Ohio State bounced back from its loss to Rollins College with an impressive 7-1 victory over No. 2 Miami. Typically a weekend starter, Buckeyes ace Alex Wimmers got the ball for this one and worked five hitless innings on the heels of a 14-strikeout complete game on Friday. Pitching on three days' rest, Wimmers walked five and struck out only two, but he did enough to keep the Hurricanes at bay. Drew Rucinski pitched three scoreless frames out of the pen and Jake Hale tossed one perfect inning.

North Carolina scored a nice win over a UNC-Wilmington team that came in with a 17-3 record. Redshirt sophomore Bryant Gaines allowed a run on three hits in 4.2 innings. Brian Moran and Matt Harvey combined for 4.1 scoreless innings. Freshman Levi Michael hit his ninth home run for the Heels, who now sit at 18-4.

LSU edged Harvard 4-3 in what could be described as an ugly one. Four pitchers shut down the Crimson over the last four innings to keep the Tigers in front.

Austin Dicharry turned in a dominant performance as Texas shut out Dallas Baptist 3-0. Dicharry, a freshman who's been good all year, struck out eight and allowed four hits in 7.1 scoreless innings.

Some Leaders

2009-03-24T21:57:00.001-04:00

So I guess the NCAA's web site waits until March to put national stat leaders up. They've got it all there now. I just noticed this today, so I figured I'd run through some of the leader boards.

Batting Average

Ryan Honeycutt, New Mexico, So. - .534
David Arredondo, Texas Southern, Sr. - .510
Justin Wilson, Charlotte, So. - .509
Ross Babineaux, Delaware State, Sr. - .509
Richie Derbak, Eastern Illinois, Jr. - .500
Alton Ellison, Alabama A&M, Sr. - .500
Earnerst Rhone, Texas Southern, Sr. - .500
Tyler Townsend, Florida International, Jr. - .500
Brett Nommensen, Eastern Illinois, Sr. - .493
Marvin McWhorter, Jackson State, Jr. - .486

Honeycutt is a transfer from Central Arizona Community College and he's been tearing things up for the red-hot Lobos . . . McWhorter's numbers include four home runs to go with the .486 average . . . Eastern Illinois is the only team on here twice. Nommensen also has seven home runs to lead the Panthers, who are 14-5.

Home Runs

Kent Matthes, Alabama, Sr. - 15
Bryan Marquez, New Mexico St., So. - 11
Chad Cregar, Western Kentucky, Sr. - 10
Blake Forsythe, Tennesee, So. - 10
Trent Mummey, Auburn, So. - 10
Mike Spina, Cincinnati, Sr. - 10
Adam Bailey, Nebraska, Jr. - 9
Troy Channing, St. Mary's, Fr. - 9
Cody Hawn, Tennessee, So. - 9
Sam Honeck, Tulane, Sr. - 9
Jamie Johnson, Oklahoma, Jr. - 9
Leon Landry, LSU, So. - 9
Kevin Sandberg, Northern Colorado, Sr. - 9
Joseph Sanders, Auburn, Jr. - 9

If you're looking for the most impressive player on this list, start at the top. In addition to his 15 home runs in 21 games, Matthes is hitting .439 with 41 RBI and making a strong case to be the SEC Player of the Year . . . Marquez is a second baseman for New Mexico State and he only hit six home runs all last season . . . Auburn is among the most powerful teams around so it's no surprise that the Tigers have two on this list . . . Bailey is listed as a freshman on the NCAA site but is actually a juco transfer. He also happens to be hitting .368 . . . Hawn is also listed as a freshman, but he's actually a sophomore . . . How about the one actual freshman on this list? Channing was a 40th round pick out of high school, and he's buttressed his home run total with a .449 average. That's pretty impressive.

Earned Run Average

Austin Wood, Texas, Sr. - 0.45
A.J. Morris, Kansas State, Jr. - 0.48
Tom Ebert, Florida International, Jr. - 0.61
Daniel Garcia, Southern, Fr. - 0.82
David Gutierrez, Miami, Jr. - 0.88
Michael Bugary, California, Jr. - 0.90
Eric Harrington, Lamar, Fr. - 0.95
Stephen Owens, Richmond, Jr. - 1.02
Matt Way, Washington State, Sr. - 1.09
Mike Recchia, Eastern Illinois, So. - 1.13

Wood has worked exclusively out of the pen for the Longhorns and has been lights out, with a .159 opponents' average . . . Tom Ebert seems like a guy to watch. He's a junior college transfer who stands 6'6", and so far this year, he's got 36 strikeouts and just five walks to go with the sub-1.00 ERA . . . Morris is quietly making himself into one of the top two or three pitchers in a stacked Big 12 . . . Gutierrez has been a revelation for Miami, and a much-needed one. The Hurricanes didn't figure to have a lot of depth in their rotation, but Gutierrez has given them a big boost.

Strikeouts

Stephen Strasburg, San Diego State, Jr. - 74
Kyle Gibson, Missouri, Jr. - 54
Anthony Ranaudo, LSU, So. - 51
Alex Wilson, Texas A&M, Sr. - 49
Rex Brothers, Lipscomb, Jr. - 48
Mike Leake, Arizona State, Jr. - 48
Tyler Blandford, Oklahoma State, Jr. - 47
James Paxton, Kentucky, Jr. - 47
Alex Wimmers, Ohio State, So. - 47
Kyle Blair, San Diego, So. - 46
Chris Rusin, Kentucky, Sr. - 46
Josh Spence, Arizona State, Jr. - 46
Danny Hultzen, Virginia, Fr. - 45

Is any category more reflective of prospect status than this one? I think not . . . Strasburg also leads in K/9 at 19.42 . . . The Arizona State duo of Mike Leake and Josh Spence is proof that you don't need a 95 mph fastball to strike a lot of people out . . . With Paxton and Rusin at the top of the rotation, Kentucky could make some noise down the line . . . Hultzen is the only freshman up this high. Gerrit Cole has 36 Ks.

"Tightness" for Berry and Ojala

2009-03-23T22:33:00.001-04:00

The Houston Chronicle's MK Bower had a brief update yesterday on Rice pitchers Ryan Berry and Mike Ojala, both of whom had short outings in their last starts.

Rollins beats Ohio State

2009-03-23T22:24:00.002-04:00

As I have learned, that is not in fact Jimmy Rollins. Though, since he can stop baseballs with his chest, maybe he can single-handedly beat a team if given a chance.

But no, this was D-II Rollins College of Winter Park, Fla., that may have caught the Buckeyes napping.

They're probably tired. Ohio State has played each and every one of its 20 games in the state of Florida. The final one is Tuesday against Miami. That's a big finish, and maybe the Buckeyes were looking ahead to it. Whatever happened, they lost to Rollins 4-1, which ended a nine-game winning streak and dropped OSU to 17-3.

Whether OSU was looking past them or not, give Rollins some credit for this one. Marc Hewett allowed one run on five hits in six innings, and Robbie Pagano worked three hitless innings to keep the Buckeyes in check. At the plate, Rollins got a home run, a double and three RBI from Bryan Bennett.

In other Buckeye news, Alex Wimmers was named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week after his 14-strikeout gem on Friday against Indiana.

Elsewhere

I can't imagine it was very pretty but Cal Poly beat Cal State Bakersfield 18-15 today. Eight different pitchers took the hill, and only two of them had much success. Thankfully for Poly, both were wearing Mustang uniforms. Mark DiVincenzi tossed three scoreless innings and Eric Massingham tossed two scoreless frames as Poly held Bakersfield scoreless over the final five innings. Poly moved to 15-4 with the win.

Cal beat Stanford 11-4 on the strength of four RBI from Blake Smith. The Bears are hovering at 12-8, but they've now taken two of three from the Cardinal, which puts them at 2-1 in the Pac-10. Stanford fell to 4-10 overall.

The (Mid) Week Ahead

2009-03-23T22:02:00.001-04:00

Let's take a gander at some games that might be interesting. Very interesting in bold.

Tuesday
Ohio State at Miami
Georgia State at Georgia Tech
North Carolina at UNC-Wilmington
Dallas Baptist at Texas
Elon at Clemson
San Jose State at Cal Poly
South Carolina at College of Charleston
Penn State at Kent State
Kentucky at West Virginia
UC Irvine at Washington
Cal State Northridge at Loyola Marymount

Wednesday
Georgia at Georgia Tech - Double bold?
Charlotte at North Carolina
TCU at Baylor
UC Irvine at Washington
Mississippi at Southern Mississippi
UNC-Wilmington at East Carolina
Elon at Clemson

Nonsense And Some Fullerton Love

2009-03-23T21:50:00.001-04:00

Two days later . . .

When I went to work Monday, it was the first time I had left the house since Friday. The NCAA basketball tournament does this to me. Opening weekend, I literally cannot pull myself away from it. The blogging suffered, and though I'm not sure anybody really noticed, I'm sorry anyway. It will suffer again as long as Louisville is still in the tournament. I've been a fan since birth and not even the sweet thoughts of sunny baseball can pry me away. Come April, though, I will throw myself into this blog.

In the meantime, I'm trying to keep a toe in, while also trying to figure out the best way to actually chronicle all of this college baseball madness. I'm not sure about the Omaha Sunrise thing, namely because I often wake up too late and leave myself no time. Laziness aside, I'll come up with something. This blog is not what I want it to be yet, but it'll get there. If you like what you see, bear with me. If you don't, come back in a few months.

Enough with the self-indulgent nonsense. You don't care, and I don't really care. To the baseball.

So Cal-State Fullerton is pretty good. I don't need to be pronouncing this, of course. It's been pronounced, and this particular weekend wasn't particularly spectacular, or spectacular enough to make me think: Wow, look at them. But as bodies of work go, it does not get better than what the Titans have done.

I guess I knew this all along. But they lost two games on opening weekend, while other teams were still perfect, and in recent weeks, it's been news in my mind when the perfect teams have lost.

Fullerton hasn't really lost.

That should be news.

If you check out Boyd Nation's RPI, you'll see that the Titans are at the top by a pretty wide margin. In fact, the difference in rating between No. 1 Fullerton and No. 2 Miami is bigger than the gap between Miami and No. 11 Rice.

It's a combination of a strong schedule and some pretty impressive victories. After losing the opening series to TCU, Fullerton won 11 games in a row. Included in that stretch were wins over Stanford, Texas A&M, Southern Mississippi and Oklahoma State. After a loss to the Cowboys on March 14, the Titans have won their last four. They swept Oral Roberts by pretty impressive scores -- 8-3, 10-6 and 7-1.

Those run totals are nothing new. The Titans are averaging more than eight runs per game, and they're getting it done in a lot of different ways. They've got 36 steals and 25 home runs. Individual stars include Josh Fellhauer (.438, 3 HR), freshman Nick Ramirez (.391, 6 HR), Christian Colon (.390, 2 HR), Khris Davis (.368, 7 HR) and Jared Clark (.352, 4 HR). As a team, the Titans are hitting .338.

As for the pitching, I thought the rotation might be a bit of a concern this season, but it's been good enough, and lately it's been better. Daniel Renken has a 2.25 ERA, while freshman Tyler Pill just turned in his best start, with 10 strikeouts in eight innings on Sunday.

So the Titans are good, and they appear to be getting better. They also have mustaches, which is awesome.

Read the mustache link from Eric Sorenson for much more on the Titans. Also, check out the tremendous Fullerton Baseball Blog. If every team had a blogger that mimicked Don Hudson's "What did we learn today?" section, the world be a better place.

That's all I've got for now, but tomorrow is another day. And hey, there's no basketball on, so we've got that going for us.

Omaha Sunrise: Proof

2009-03-21T10:36:00.001-04:00

If it rains all weekend again and two games get postponed, then the Virginia Cavaliers will sit somewhere in the unknown region, an unbeaten team that hasn't had all that many tests.

But if doesn't rain, the Cavaliers might just be proving something this weekend.

So far, so good.

Hosting No. 4 Miami, the Cavaliers pounded out 11 hits against Chris Hernandez and got a solid start from Danny Hultzen to win 9-4. Just like last weekend, when the Cavaliers won a Friday game with Florida State, they've gotten their weekend off to a roaring start.

Jarrett Parker delivered the spark in the third inning with a two-run homer that tied the game, and from there, the Cavs just kept scoring, toughing up Hernandez -- last year's national freshman of the year -- for six earned runs. Parker finished with four RBI.

It looks like Hultzen wasn't at the top of his game, but he was still pretty good. He went six and allowed three runs on seven hits, striking out six. Kevin Arico and Matt Packer combined for three shutout innings of relief, which is not a surprise at all. Virginia's bullpen is legit, and as the year goes on, we might see it as one of the best in the country.

And so the Cavaliers move to 19-0. Still perfect, but with two more tests coming this weekend. It should be a great pitching match-up tonight as Andrew Carraway (3-0, 1.27 ERA) goes for Virginia against Miami's David Gutierrez (2-1, 0.72 ERA).

Gibson doing what he can

Kyle Gibson is not messing around.

For Missouri to turn around its early-season struggles, everyone knew Gibson would have to be good. His last few outings, he's been a little better than good.

Last night, for the second straight start, Gibson twirled a complete-game against a top-10 opponent. This time, he struck out a career-high 16 and allowed two runs on five hits in leading the Tigers past Texas A&M 3-2. Gibson had to out-duel Brooks Raley and did so in style.

"It’s fun to be in a pitchers’ duel like that," Gibson told the Columbia Daily Tribune.

Last week, Gibson tossed a complete-game shutout as the Tigers beat Texas. His ERA is currently 1.15, and he's got 54 strikeouts in 39 innings.

While Gibson can't singlehandedly save the Tigers -- they're currently 10-10 -- his presence makes them a threat. If some other weekend starters can step up and the offense can get going, I think they'll have a chance to make some noise.

The usual for Strasburg, but a loss for SDSU

Stephen Strasburg struck out 15 in seven shutout innings, but the bullpen couldn't hold a lead as BYU rallied for a 4-2 victory over the Aztecs.

Strasburg upped his season strikeout total to 74.

Interesting note from the San Diego Union-Tribune's Kirk Kenney, who's got a nice blog going, too. Kenney says that BYU's Kasey Ko became just the second position-player starter all year who has faced Strasburg and hasn't struck out. That's kind of crazy.

Other Stuff From Friday

Alex White did not have his best start, allowing five runs in seven innings, but North Carolina still came away with an 8-5 victory over Duke. Levi Michael his his eighth home run.

Shaeffer Hall, he of the opening-night no-hitter, turned in a solid start as Kansas beat No. 2 Texas 5-4. Hall allowed four runs in seven innings, striking out five. Kansas touched up Chance Ruffin for all five of its runs.

No. 3 Georgia got out-hit 14-7 but still beat Mississippi State 5-3. Mississippi State left 12 men on base, and at least one in every inning. Trevor Holder went six for Georgia and allowed two runs on eight hits.

Eleven pitchers took the hill for the two teams as No. 5 Georgia Tech out-slugged Virginia Tech 10-9 on the strength of a six-run ninth inning. Tony Plagman had a two-run double and Matt Skole hit a three-run homer to power the rally.

No. 8 Arizona State won the battle for Arizona behind a dominant performance by Mike Leake. The junior struck out a career-high 15 and walked just one in a complete-game effort as the Sun Devils beat Arizona 4-1.

South Carolina toppled No. 9 LSU 7-3. Sam Dyson, despite six walks, allowed just a run in seven innings. The Gamecocks broke open a close game with five runs in the eighth off the Tiger bullpen.

Wayne Graham picked up his 800th D-I win as the Owls beat Southern Miss 4-3. Rick Hague scored the go-ahead run in the ninth on a wild pitch.

Nebraska beat No. 11 Oklahoma State 11-4. The Huskers got seven runs off Andy Oliver.

Daniel Bibona struck out 11 and allowed one hit in seven shutout innings as UC Irvine beat Nevada 1-0. The lone run came when Eric Deragisch doubled in Francis Larson, who had tripled, in the fifth.

A.J. Morris struck out 12 and surrendered four hits in eight shutout innings as Kansas State beat Oklahoma 9-1.

Finally, on a night full of great pitching performances, Ohio State's Alex Wimmers may have delivered the best. Wimmers struck out 14, didn't walk anybody and allowed five hits in a complete-game shutout over Indiana. The Buckeyes have won seven in a row and Wimmers has a 1.85 ERA.

Saturday Reading
Charlottesville Daily Progress: UVA wins series opener
Wrapping up the Cavs' big win over Miami.

Columbia Daily Tribune: Gibson gets 16 K's
Nice recap of Gibson's performance.

Arizona Republic: ASU baseball tops UA in Pac-10 opener
And for Leake's performance.

Fullerton Baseball: Christian beats Oral Roberts
Don Hudson with a detailed report on Fullerton's win over Oral Roberts.

Omaha Sunrise: Madness

2009-03-19T09:32:00.001-04:00

Today is my favorite day of the year. It's the first day of the NCAA basketball tournament, and though college baseball has my heart, college basketball shares it and has been there a little bit longer. And for as long as I've watched the NCAA tournament, I've been in love with upsets.

Might be why I like mid-week college baseball. Every day, you see the unexpected.

And sometimes it's not a one-hit wonder.

On Wednesday, for the second straight day, New Mexico came into College Station, Texas and beat Texas A&M, a consensus top-10 team. After winning 10-6 on Tuesday, the Lobos posted a 9-6 victory on Wednesday.

Surprising, yes, but like an unknown team that shows off underrated talent in the Big Dance, the Lobos might not be playing that far over their heads.

They're currently 18-3 with wins in 14 of their last 15 games. They have the best record in the Mountain West, and all the stats to back it up. Some higlights:

The Lobos are hitting .399 as a team, and though they haven't hit may home runs (14), they're averaging more than 11 runs per game.

Six players are hitting .398 or higher. Junior college transfer Ryan Honeycutt leads the team with a .540 average, to go along with two home runs and 19 RBI.

On the pitching side, the team ERA is 3.64.

New Mexico's top-two starters -- John Hesketh and Bobby Moore -- both have ERAs under two.

While those stats are impressive, there's something else at play that could also mean a lot: The Lobos are a senior-laden bunch. A lot of their major contributors have been in the fold for awhile. They know what it takes, and it's probably one of the reasons why they can go into College Station and come away with two impressive victories.

Texas A&M was the first real tough team the Lobos have played this season, so as with many teams, you have to reserve a little bit of judgment. But for now, I wouldn't hesitate to call the Lobos the Mountain West favorite.

Other Stuff From Wednesday

Georgia Tech has been kind of in and out of the daily beat with tons of rainouts, but realize this: The Yellowjackets have won 11 games in a row. They got to 11 with an 11-3 victory over Kennesaw State on Wednesday. Tony Plagman had three RBI in the win and Kevin Jacob worked five scoreless innings.

Nick Osterman and Aaron Bouronich combined for the shutout as the College of Charleston beat Coastal Carolina 3-0. It was just the second loss of the season for Coastal. Charleston improved to 14-3.

Talk about a bounce back. In game one of a doubleheader yesterday, Oklahoma State beat Western Illinois 30-3. In the second game, Western Illinois won 7-4.

A combined no-hitter -- the school's first of any kind since 1984 -- led Clemson past South Carolina Upstate 14-0. Justin Sarratt started and went five innings. Scott Weisman, Kyle Deese, Tomas Cruz and Matt Vaughn each went one inning and did their part to put up a zero in the hit column.

Thursday Reading
Baseball America: 'Hoos in Control
Aaron Fitt's mailbag focuses on Virginia, the nation's only unbeaten.

Fullerton Baseball: Q&A with Baseball America's Aaron Fitt
Fullerton Baseball Q&A's the Q&A'er.

Omaha Sunrise: Texas Showdown

2009-03-18T08:36:00.001-04:00

One of the more intriguing mid-week match-ups of the season came last night when No. 2 Texas visited No. 10 Rice in the first of two meetings this season between the Texas powers.

Round one went to the Owls.

I wrote last week that Rice's mid-week slate could make for some tough sledding, primarily because of a lack of pitching depth. But the Owls got what they needed Tuesday as Matthew Reckling turned in a solid start with good relief work from four different guys. Jordan Rogers picked up the win with 2.2 innings, while weekend starter Mike Ojala got the save with 1.2 perfect innings. Ojala struck out four of the five batters he faced.

On paper, I would have given the edge to Texas in this game. If pitching depth is what you're looking for, the Longhorns seem to have as much of it as any team in the country. But after allowing just a run in the first four innings, Texas starter Austin Dicharry ran into trouble in the fifth, and ended up getting charge with two runs before leaving the game. Andrew McKirahan allowed two more runs as Rice turned a 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 lead. The Owls didn't trail again.

Rick Hague hit a two-run home run to power the fifth-inning rally. Diego Seastrunk also had an RBI, while Anthony Rendon scored the fourth run on a wild pitch.

Interestingly, this was just the second time all season that the Longhorns have allowed six runs or more in a game. They lost the other time, as well, a 7-1 decision against Stanford.

Rice improved to 11-5 while Texas dropped to 14-3.

Other Stuff From Tuesday

North Carolina beat up on Princeton 17-0 behind a season-best five home runs. Seth Baldwin accounted for two and drove in six runs while fellow freshman Levi Michael hit his sixth home run and drove in four. Baldwin, making his first career start, went 4-for-5 with four runs scored and the six RBI. Four pitchers combined for the shutout with starter Patrick Johnson going five innings without allowing a hit.

New Mexico improved to 17-3 with a marquee win over Texas A&M. The Lobos won 10-6 on the strength of a 17-hit attack and strong work from the bullpen. After A&M put up six runs in the first six innings, Daniel Grubbs, Cole White and Clinton Cox held the Aggies scoreless the rest of the way.

LSU needed a run in the bottom of the ninth to beat Northwestern State 2-1. Micah Gibbs delivered the game-winning hit.

In another nice top-25 match-up, No. 14 Oklahoma rallied past No. 22 TCU 8-7. The Sooners scored four in the top of the ninth, with J.T. Wise's two-run single delivering the big blow.

Florida beat Florida state 5-4 in an in-state battle. The Gators won it in the ninth on a walkoff RBI single by Buddy Munroe.

Virginia stayed perfect with a nip-and-tuck 5-4 victory over Marshall. After getting just one run off Marshall starter Greg Williams in the first six innings, the Cavaliers scored four in the seventh to take the lead.

Wednesday Reading
Houston Chronicle: Record crowd sees Rice top Texas 6-3 in baseball
Game story from Tuesday's match-up.

Charlottesville Daily Press: Balk lifts Cavs over Herd
Recounting Virginia's rally over Marshall.

College Baseball Today: Teams of the Week
Eric Sorenson unveils his weekly look at the teams he was most impressed with.

Belated Weekend Leftovers

2009-03-17T21:50:00.001-04:00

My apologies if anyone was looking for a little Omaha Sunrise today. I couldn't get around to it, but I'll try not to let that happen again. I'm kind of enjoying the format and I hope the three of you are, as well. With less real-world commitments on my plate the next few weeks, I should actually be able to mix in the daily morning feature with some other stuff. So keep checking back.

On to the weekend.

So Georgia's stay atop the polls was brief. The Bulldogs lost two of three to Alabama in their first SEC series, and it looks on paper, at least, that the big culprit was pitching. Georgia scored 20 runs in the series, but allowed 28. In their previous 14 games, they'd allowed 47 runs.

Give Alabama some credit, too. The Tide have looked for awhile now like a team that can make some noise in the SEC, and their offense proved it belongs this weekend, getting 27 hits against a Georgia pitching staff that's been pretty good. For the series, Alabama hit .345 with seven home runs. As usual, Kent Matthes led the way, going 5-for-13 with 6 RBI. Leadoff man Taylor Dugas went 6-for-15 with four RBI.

North Carolina didn't have a huge weekend but ended up as the de facto No. 1 in most polls. The Tar Heels had two of their four games with Virginia Tech postponed. In the other two, North Carolina won 7-3 and 13-5. Dustin Ackley was strong in both games, going 6-for-9 with four RBI. For the season, Ackley is hitting .431 with five home runs. Kyle Seager leads the team with a .451 average while freshman Levi Michael is hitting .324 with six home runs.

LSU won two of three against Kentucky, but the last week has been pretty up and down for the Tigers. After winning their first 10 games, the Tigers have alternated wins and losses over their last eight games.

Texas A&M took two out of three against Big 12 rival Baylor. The Aggies are sitting at 13-5.

No. 8 Georgia Tech won its ninth straight game on Friday but didn't have a chance for 10 and 11 as rain washed out the rest of the series with Boston College.

After an impressive 15-2 victory over Florida State on Friday, Virginia also saw the rest of its series get postponed. Still, the one win helped the Cavaliers vault into the top 25 in all the major polls.

Missouri got a win from Kyle Gibson but Texas took the series with a 4-3 win on Sunday. Taylor Jungmann threw four no-hit innings of relief to lead the Longhorns in the series finale.

Poor Michigan. The Wolverines were one of the big stories of the opening weekend when they dominated the Big East-Big 10 invitational. Since then, they've been up and down and they hit a big low spot this weekend when they got swept at Arizona. The Wildcats won two of the games in shutout fashion, taking the series finale 14-0.

Apparently closers pitch eight innings now? San Diego's A.J. Griffin came on in the second inning of Sunday's game against Rice and pitched the rest of the way as the Toreros won 8-0. He got the win, of course, and not the save.

Wichita State took two of three from Pepperdine. It might be a grind this year for the Shockers, but they won't be going quietly.

Omaha Sunrise: Golden

2009-03-16T07:53:00.001-04:00

If you consider the RPI a good gauge of a team's success, then TCU has been among the most impressive teams in the country this year. The Horned Frogs are currently ranked third in Boyd Nation's rankings. They're just behind Cal State Fullerton, who they took two of three from on opening weekend. That makes TCU the only team to win a series against a top-five RPI team.

Until yesterday. And it was the Horned Frogs themselves who ended up as the victims.

For the second straight day after the first game of the series was postponed, Minnesota posted a victory over the homestanding Horned Frogs, this time winning 7-2. They won 6-4 on Saturday.

The Big 10 has had its share of impressive wins, most notable Illinois' series victory over LSU, but these ones are pretty good, too.

On Sunday, Minnesota got a strong start from senior Tom Buske, who improved to 3-0. The righty allowed two runs in 6.1 innings, striking out seven and walking two. Buske now has a 1.44 ERA.

The offense got a lift from several sources, with A.J. Petterson and Nick O'Shea each driving in two runs.

As for Saturday's game, the Gophers overcame four errors with three big runs in the eighth inning. Chauncy Handran started for Minnesota and allowed four runs, but none of them were earned. He left with Minnesota trailing 4-3, but the eighth inning rally turned things around. A two-run double by Kyle Knudson was the big blow, with O'Shea also delivering an RBI.

The Horned Frogs will have a chance to salvage a game today when they play the makeup from Friday.

That's all I've got for today. This will have to be an abbreviated version. Back tonight with some weekend wrapping up.

Omaha Sunrise: Roll Tide

2009-03-15T10:46:00.001-04:00

The Georgia Bulldogs came into the week riding as high as any team in the country. Still unbeaten and rising to No. 1 in several polls.

And then SEC play started.

After a rainout Friday, Alabama swept a doubleheader from the visiting Bulldogs on Saturday, handing Georgia its first two losses of the season.

While yesterday's results are pretty notable from a "Georgia loses" standpoint, they're also pretty big from an "Alabama wins" view.

The Tide is now 11-4 with wins in six of their last seven games. They won yesterday's games the way they usually do -- with a lot of offense. For the year, they're averaging nine runs per game. They won 9-5 and 11-5 yesterday.

In game one of the doubleheader, the 9-5 win, it was Kent Matthes who led the Tide and continued a torrid start. The senior went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBI. On the year, Matthes is hitting .458 with 12 home runs and 30 RBI. Those are probably the best all-around numbers in the SEC.

While Matthes led the offense in game one, Austin Hyatt turned in a quality start on the mound. The senior with a 2.00 ERA allowed two earned runs in eight innings, striking out six and walking one.

In game two, the Tide roughed up Georgia starter Justin Grimm for four runs in the first inning and never looked back. A grand slam by Brandon May provided all the first-inning offense, and staked starter Adam Morgan to the lead. Morgan allowed four runs in 7.1 innings.

And that was that. A nice little doubleheader sweep. I think Georgia will be fine, and it may have just been a bad day. But for Alabama, it was a very good day, and if they keep it up, they might be making some noise in the SEC.

Other Stuff From Saturday

A lot of aces took the mound yesterday in Austin, and we ended up with a split decision. In the first game of a doubleheader, Missouri's Kyle Gibson out-dueled Chance Ruffin as the Tigers beat Texas 2-0. Gibson tossed the complete-game shutout -- his best performance of the year -- with 11 strikeouts, four walks and six hits. Ruffin allowed two runs in the third inning, and they proved to be the difference. In game two of the twin bill, Texas' Brandon Workman tossed seven shutout innings with seven strikeouts as the Longhorns won 5-0.

Surprise, Az., has not been very kind to Arizona State. The Sun Devils lost their second game in four tries in their five-game Surprise set. This one came at the hands of the Kansas Jayhawks, who got a strong start from T.J. Walz to win 3-2. A Buck Afenir RBI single in the seventh delivered the go-ahead run for Kansas. Mitchell Lambson took the loss for ASU, but he did strike out 12 in just 5.2 innings.

Brooks Raley struck out nine in eight innings as Texas A&M beat Kendal Volz and Baylor 6-2. Volz struck out nine but allowed four runs in seven innings.

Duke shut out Miami 2-0, stopping a seven-game Hurricane win streak. Andrew Wolcott and Michael Ness combined for the shutout.

Oklahoma State stopped Cal State Fullerton's 11-game win streak with a 10-6 victory. Michael Dabbs, Tom Belza, Neil Medchill and Tyrone Hambly each had two RBI for the Cowboys.

Tulane beat UC Irivne 6-3. Former North Carolina pitcher Matt Petiton allowed three runs in six innings, and Nick Pepitone closed with three scoreless frames.

UCLA held on for an 8-6 win over East Carolina in the resumption of Friday's suspended game. After that, East Carolina bounced back with a 7-5 win in the series finale.

Bad weather caused postponements at Virginia Tech, Rice, LSU, Georgia Tech and Virginia, among other spots.

Sunday Reading
Tuscaloosa News: Tide takes two from top-ranked, unbeaten Bulldogs
Game story from Alabama's wins over Georgia.

Austin American-Statesman: UT splits baseball doubleheader against Missouri
Summing up the twin bill sweep between the Longhorns and Tigers.

Fresno Bee: Bulldogs unleash a torrent of runs on Buffalo in 20-0 victory
Yeah, Fresno State won by a little.

Omaha Sunrise: Berry Again

2009-03-14T11:30:00.001-04:00

When I clicked on the Rice box score from Friday and saw Ryan Berry's line, I legitimately wondered if I had clicked on the wrong Friday.

Then I realized Berry actually allowed a run, so that was different.

But still ridiculous.

Berry, he of the back-to-back complete game shutouts, tossed another complete game Friday, striking out eight and allowing one unearned run on one hit to lead Rice past San Diego 4-1. Berry took a perfect game into the seventh inning when he hit a batter in the seventh inning. An error later in the inning led to San Diego's only run.

It's another remarkable performance by Berry, who at this point, has to be the second-best pitcher in the country. If not for Stephen Strasburg, maybe the best prospect ever, Berry would be my No. 1.

Rich coach Wayne Graham told the Houston Chronicle, "I've never seen anybody in that good of a rhythm. I've never played with or coached anybody in that good of a rhythm. You've got no earned runs in 27 innings, and no walks in 27 innings. Nobody does that. Three complete games at this level, and he would have had three straight shutouts if we hadn't made an error."

Berry now has a 3-0 record and a 1.42 ERA. His ERA would be zero if not for the five runs he allowed in his first outing.

These are Berry's lines from his last three starts:

Feb. 28 vs. Texas A&M - 9 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 12 K, 0 BB
March 7 vs. Notre Dame - 9 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 8 K, 0 BB
March 13 vs. San Diego - 9 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 8 K, 0 BB

So that's 27 innings, 5 hits, no earned runs, 28 strikeouts and no walks.

Crazy. I can't get over it.

Other Stuff From Friday

Speaking of pitching, Stephen Strasburg turned in another dominant performance yesterday, though he did allow a few more runs than Berry. Facing UNLV, Strasburg struck out 14 and walked one in seven innings. He surrendered two runs on six hits. Strasburg now has a 1.98 ERA with 59 strikeouts and five walks in 27.1 innings. Want a ridiculous stat? Strasburg's K/9 is 19.6, which is pretty close to 10, which is Major League Baseball's standard for best-ever strikeout games.

How about another dominant start? Virginia freshman Danny Hultzen continued his fantastic first season with arguably his best showing to date. The lefty struck out 13 and walked two, allowing a run on four hits in seven innings as the Cavaliers beat up on Florida State 15-2. Hultzen's ERA now sits at 1.04. More importantly from a team standpoint, undefeated Virginia now has a signature win, and it's a bold one. Certainly, the Noles have had their struggles, but this is pretty emphatic for Virginia. Dan Grovatt and John Hicks each hit home runs to lead the Cavaliers.

LSU started SEC play with a 5-3 victory over Kentucky. Anthony Ranaudo out-dueled Kentucky ace James Paxton, striking out 13 and allowing three runs. Paxton struck out 14 and also allowed three runs, but the Kentucky bullpen gave up two late runs as LSU grabbed the win.

Cal State Fullerton had a nice little day. Playing in the Oklahoma State tournament, the Titans beat Rhode Island 17-3 and Oklahoma State 8-4 to stretch their win streak to 11 games. Jared Clark finished the twin bill 7-for-9 with four RBI.

Wichita State got strong outings from Tim Kelley and Grant Muncrief to beat Pepperdine 2-1. Kelley and Pepperdine starter Nate Newman each struck out eight, but the Shockers got to Newman for two runs. Muncrief came out of the pen and kept the lead intact with three scoreless innings.

UCLA and East Carolina combined for 10 runs in the first inning, and the Bruins eventually out-lasted the Pirates for a 10-9 victory in the first game of a doubleheader. Cody Decker had five RBI to lead the Bruins. The second game was suspended in the sixth with UCLA leading. Gerrit Cole struck out 12 in five innings before the rain came.

Clemson swept a twin bill from Wake Forest behind strong starts by Casey Harman and Trey Delk, who each allowed just a run.

Arizona shut out Michigan 2-0. Preston Guilmet tossed six shutout innings, and Jason Stoffel picked up his fourth save with three scoreless frames.

Alex Wimmers struck out 15 in a complete game as Ohio State crushed Pittsburgh 20-3. The Buckeyes are now 10-2.

After last weekend's series win over LSU, Illinois beat Akron 10-1 on Friday. Phil Haig allowed just a run in six innings.

Saturday Reading
Charlottesville Daily Progress: Virginia stays unbeaten
Hultzen, according to FSU coach Mike Martin: "Gorgeous."

San Diego Union Tribune: Fans fall in line to watch 'Strassy'
Strasburg can draw a crowd.

Daily Reflector: UCLA, rain slow down baseball Pirates
Recounting the action from Friday night at ECU.

Rivals: San Diego loses ace pitcher for the year
Sammy Solis down with an injury. Bad for San Diego and for Solis, one of the nation's best sophs.

Omaha Sunrise: Better on Weekends

2009-03-13T12:31:00.001-04:00

It's not really sunrise at 12:30 p.m., but staying up to watch that six-overtime basketball game, plus a day off today has left me all out of sorts. Anyway . . .

Pitching depth appears to be the biggest concern this season for the Rice Owls, and their season results reflect that. When their top starters struggled in the opening-weekend series, the bullpen couldn't do much of anything as the Owls lost two of three against Cal Poly. Since then, Ryan Berry & Co. have been great, but Rice has still had a few mid-week hiccups.

Thankfully for the Owls, there weren't any extra games to worry about this week.

Off since Sunday, Rice started its four-game series with San Diego on Thursday and came away with a 9-2 victory. Mike Ojala continued his strong start to the season with 7.2 good innings. He struck out four, walked two and allowed two runs.

That's the kind of quality start the Owls have been getting lately from their big guns -- Ojala, Berry and Taylor Wall. Ojala now has a 1.67 ERA with 33 strikeouts and only eight walks. Berry sits at 1.99, with 23 strikeouts and five walks. If you take away his rough first outing, he actually hasn't allowed a run.

Wall has been pretty solid, too, with a 4.26 ERA. If you take away his first start, his ERA is 1.77.

So the Owls clearly have a good top three, and in a weekend, they're going to be tough. The questions revolve around everybody else. Jordan Rogers and Mark Haynes have been their most reliable arms out of the bullpen. Haynes hasn't allowed a run in eight innings and Rogers has surrendered two in 12.2 innings. But as for the guys who have made starts, it's a lot more shaky. Andrew Benak's 4.26 ERA is the best among that group of swing guys.

I have a feeling that Rice will eventually settle in, and that some of the guys who have struggled will get it going. For now, those mid-week games might be a little more interesting than the Owls would like them to be.

Other Stuff From Thursday

Fresno State had its five-game winning streak snapped with a 4-2 loss to Portland in the Pepsi Johnny Quik Classic. Freshman Kyle Kraus turned in a complete-game to lead Portland, striking out five and allowing two runs.

In the same event, Buffalo beat up on Cal State Bakersfield 23-10. Bobby Pizzuto had six RBI to lead Buffalo.

Down in Winter Haven, Fla., Bowling Green's Brennan Smith tossed eight shutout innings in a 1-0 win over Sacred Heart. Smith struck out 10, walked one and allowed just one hit. Smith, a 6'3 sophomore, has a 2.61 ERA this season, with 20 strikeouts in 20.2 innings.

Kevin Macdonald's walkoff single in the 10th led Hawaii to a 6-5 victory over Loyola-Marymount.

Friday Reading

Athens Banner-Herald: Diamond Dogs sticking with what works
Jeff Cochran previews Georgia's series with Alabama, probably the best match-up of the SEC's opening weekend.

Austin American-Statesman: Tucker expected to test ankle in Big 12 opener
Notes leading into Texas' series with Missouri.

Daily Reflector: ECU to play 2 versus UCLA
Ronnie Woodward looks ahead to ECU's series with UCLA. The Pirates are 10-2, UCLA 3-11.

Omaha Sunrise: Meet Virginia

2009-03-12T11:30:00.001-04:00

When I wrote earlier this week that Georgia and San Jose State were the only unbeaten teams in the country, I was incorrect. Maybe it was the whole trying to write coherent thoughts at 6:30 a.m. thing, but I somehow forgot Virginia.

I should have not forgotten.

The Cavaliers improved to 14-0 on Wednesday with a 10-3 victory over VMI. Though the Cavaliers won't be near the top of any strength of schedule lists, they've been thoroughly impressive in the games they've won.

Try these stats on for size:

The team batting average is .402. As you know, that's kind of ridiculous. Even the best hitting teams don't usually get over .400. For comparison's sake, the highly-touted LSU offense is hitting .348.

Five players are hitting over .400, most of them well over .400.

The Cavaliers have 69 extra-base hits and 63 strikeouts.

Five players have more than 15 RBI.

On the pitching side, the team ERA is 1.93.

Cavalier pitchers have struck out 146 and walked just 41 in 126 innings.

Opponents are hitting .184.

So where is this coming from? Virginia was a good team last year and finished third at the Fullerton regional, but they also stumbled to a mediocre 15-15 record in ACC play.

But the Cavaliers also returned a pretty strong group. Their two leading hitters from last year -- John Barr and Dan Grovatt -- are back, as are Phil Gosselin, Jarrett Parker, Tyler Cannon and Franco Valdes. Among those six, four are hitting over .400, with Grovatt checking in at .491.

As for the pitching, the Cavaliers lost some good starters in Pat McAnaney and Jacob Thompson, but starter Andrew Carraway is back after a great summer in the Cape League, and the bullpen is as strong as any in the country with Matt Packer and Neal Davis. So far, Carraway has been very good with a 3-0 record and a 1.47 ERA.

Two freshmen have made Virginia's staff that much better. Danny Hultzen, a lefty who came in with a lot of hype, has been as impressive as any freshman in the country. He's got a 3-0 record, a .95 ERA and 26 strikeouts against three walks in 19 innings. Fellow freshman Will Roberts, a 6'4 righty, isn't far behind with a 2-0 mark, a 2.40 ERA and 22 strikeouts against four walks in 15 innings.

All in all, it looks it'll be just a matter of time before the Cavaliers start getting a lot of attention. Right now, they're outside the top 25 in three polls, and in the top 25 in two other polls. With a big weekend coming -- Virginia hosts Florida State in a three-game set -- the Cavaliers will have a chance to really make some noise.

And I will not forget about them anymore.

Other Stuff From Wednesday

Louisiana-Lafayette got a run in the top of the ninth to upset No. 5 LSU 10-9. A solo home run by Scott Hawkins proved to be the difference. The Tigers had rallied from an 8-1 deficit, before Lafayette got the lead back.

Georgia moved to 14-0 with a 12-0 victory over LeMoyne. Rich Poythress had five RBI and Chase Hawkins went five shutout innings.

A day after losing to Kansas State, Arizona State responded with a 12-1 win over the same Wildcat team. Matt Newman and Josh Spence combined for seven strong innings, and Jordan Swagerty picked up the save.

Miami rallied from a 6-0 hole to beat Pittsburgh 11-6. Yasmani Grandal had four RBI.

Cal Poly handed previously unbeaten San Jose State its second loss in as many days. Adam Buschini had a home run and two RBI as Poly won 3-2. Buschini also scored the go-ahead run in the ninth.

Kansas got eight shutout innings from frosh Lee Ridenhour to beat Wichita State 8-0.

Auburn beat Western Kentucky 11-7 for its ninth straight win. The Tigers struggled out of the gate this year, but have picked it up lately. Kevin Patterson and Justin Hargett each had three RBI in Wednesday's win.

What I'm Watching Today
No. 23 San Diego at No. 10 Rice, 7:30 p.m. - First game of a four-game set.

Thursday Reading
BA Draft Tracker: Early Movers and Shakers
Boxberger, Raley among those on the rise.

Charlottesville Daily Progress: Hultzen opens for UVA
A little old, but a nice piece on Danny Hultzen.

Wichita Eagle: Ridenhour, Kansas frustrate Wichita State
A nice taste of the Kansas-Wichita State rivalry.

Omaha Sunrise: Surprise, Arizona State

2009-03-11T07:21:00.001-04:00

Playing in the first game of the Coca-Cola Classic in Surprise, Arizona, the Arizona State Sun Devils got surprised on Tuesday.

Kansas State, who seems to be making a pretty big push for the upper echelon of the Big 12, handed the Sun Devils just their second loss of the year, this one by a 6-2 score. Both teams are now 11-2, and Kansas State, currently unranked, might start getting some attention in the polls.

For the Sun Devils, it was their first nine-inning loss of the year. Their only previous defeat came at the hands of Missouri in a game that ended early because of a travel curfew.

The difference in this one was K State starting pitcher A.J. Morris. The junior righty has been dominant this season, and he took that trend to another level with a big performance against the powerful Sun Devils. Morris pitched into the ninth, and though he walked five and only struck out two, he allowed just two runs in five hits. He ended up going 8.1 innings, with Thomas Rooke and James Allen getting one out each in the ninth.

Morris now has a 4-0 record and a .68 ERA.

Mike Leake got the start for ASU and was more dominant than Morris, striking out three and allowing only one earned run in seven innings. But K State got to the Sun Devil bullpen, scoring four runs in the eighth to break open a 2-1 game. A three-run homer by Jason King was the big blow. King finished the game with five RBI.

Other Stuff From Tuesday

North Carolina survived a big charge from Appalachian State to win 9-8. Brian Moran, Nate Striz and Colin Bates turned in solid bullpen work, which set the stage for a Tar Heel comeback. Trailing 7-4, the Heels scored four in the seventh, three coming on a Levi Michael home run. Bates went 1.1 innings without allowing a run, and he picked up the win.

The most intriguing match-up of the day turned into a blowout as No. 9 Cal State Fullerton beat No. 6 Texas A&M 15-5. The Titans roughed up Aggie pitchers for four home runs, one each from Gary Brown, Christian Colon, Josh Fellhauer and Khris Davis. Joe Scott had four RBI.

Senior C.J. Blue tossed a complete-game shutout to lead Oklahoma past Houston Baptist. Blue struck out three, walked none and allowed six hits, as the Sooners cruised to a 6-0 win.

What I'm Watching Today
No. 13 Baylor at No. 3 Texas, 7 p.m.

Wednesday Reading
College Baseball Today: Q&A with LSU's Paul Mainieri
Eric Sorenson catches up with the Tigers' head man.

College Baseball Insider: A Perfect 10
Texas pitcher Keith Shinaberry has a diary going.

ESPN: Is Strasburg the best prospect ever?
Buster Olney asks the question. Short answer: Yes. (The article is ESPN insider, but the preview gives you a pretty good chunk of it).

Omaha Sunrise: Georgia On My Mind

2009-03-10T07:56:00.001-04:00

They're not a consensus No. 1. North Carolina still holds the top spot in two polls, Texas in another poll.

But the Georgia Bulldogs, ranked first in two polls, can lay claim to something else.

They're currently one of just two undefeated Division I teams in the country. San Jose State is the other.

I was actually surprised when I discovered this. There are more than 300 D-I teams. I figured someone, somewhere, had navigated an easy schedule and stayed perfect. Not so. It's just the Bulldogs and the Spartans.

And with all due respect to San Jose State, the Bulldogs have been a little more impressive. Sure, they walked over some lesser competition, but they've also gone on the road and swept Arizona, which might be the best weekend series performance any team has turned in all season.

So it's been a special start. I think everyone knew that the Bulldogs would be good this year, but there were questions. How would they replace Gordon Beckham's production? How would they deal with the loss of Josh Fields?

The answers have come with surprising ease.

Rich Poythress is looking like the best middle-of-the-order hitter in the country. The junior currently has a .438 average to go with five home runs and 24 RBI. Atop the order, freshman Johnathan Taylor has been a revelation -- and maybe the best leadoff man in the country. He's got a .486 average, a .633 on-base and 11 steals in 13 tries.

The rest of the lineup doesn't lag far behind. Two more regulars -- Bryce Massanari and Joey Lewis -- are hitting above .400, while Adam Fuller and Lyle Allen are hitting over .400 coming off the bench. In all, among players with more than 20 at-bats, only one Bulldog is hitting below .300.
The Bulldogs are averaging nearly 12 runs per game.

With that kind of offense, you don't need a whole lot of pitching, but the Bulldogs have gotten that, too. Trevor Holder, Justin Grimm and Alex Jason Leaver and Alex McRee, their top four starters, all have ERA's under three. Two bullpen guys -- Dean Weaver and Michael Palazzone -- have yet to allow a run.

It all adds up to a team that's hotter than anybody, and one that maybe should be a consensus No. 1.

But if things keep going like this, the Bulldogs will get there eventually.

Other Stuff From Monday

Not a whole lot of action, but in one of the better match-ups, Oklahoma out-lasted Cal for a 9-6 win. Cameron Seitzer, the son of former big leaguer Kevin Seitzer, went 3-for-3 with four RBI.

Highly-touted freshman Josh Poytress made the first start of his career and tossed five shutout innings to lead Fresno State past Portland. Poytress allowed two hits and struck out four.

What I'm Watching Today
Cal-State Fullerton at Texas A&M, 7:35 - The best match-up of the mid-week, and a nice little test for both teams.
Creighton at Coastal Carolina, 4 p.m.

Tuesday Reading
Athens Banner-Herald: Diamong Dogs climb to No. 1 in nation
A look at Georgia's run to the top of the polls, with some nice quotes from coach David Perno.
The Norman Transcript: Sooners still streaking
Game story from Oklahoma's win over Cal.

Omaha Sunrise: Illini Fighting

2009-03-09T08:06:00.001-04:00

So on Saturday, Friday's game looked like a fluke.

Not on Sunday.

The Illinois Fighting Illini grabbed a series victory over top-ranked LSU with a 6-2 victory in Sunday's series finale. That's a remarkable bounce back for a team that won the series opener but lost the middle game 22-10.

The Illini have senior righty Ben Reeser to thank. Getting the start a day after your team gives up 22 runs can't be easy. Reeser told Randy Rosetta of the Baton Rouge Advocate that his mindset was a basic one.

“I was thinking I have to do something different,” Reeser said.

This would qualify. Reeser fired 8.2 very strong innings, allowing two runs on six hits and striking out nine. Both the runs he allowed came with two outs in the ninth inning, when he was just one out away from a complete game. After giving up a home run to Sean Ochinko and a pair of doubles, Reeser was pulled and Nick Chmielewski came on to shut the door. He got a strikeout to end it.

The Illini offense got enough to stay in front the whole way as Casey McMurray went 2-for-5 with two RBI. Illinois got three runs off starter Austin Ross and three more in the eighth against the Tiger bullpen.

As we said Friday, this is a big win for the Illinois program, and the series win is even bigger. A veteran team that has some very good pitching, the Illini really have something to build on as they head toward conference play. They also might get some top-25 consideration, now that their 7-2 record includes two really, really good wins.

Illinois head coach Dan Hartlieb told the Champaign News Gazette, ""I would hope we'd get some looks. Our guys go in and beat the No. 1 team in a series on their home field, I think you deserve some looks."

Other Stuff From Sunday

I imagine LSU will drop out of the top spot in most polls, but it's not clear who's going to jump in. North Carolina got a series win over Clemson but it wasn't easy. The Heels clinched it with a 9-8 win on Sunday after a bullpen implosion nearly cost them. The Heels led 7-3 going into the ninth before the Tigers put up five runs, most of them on a three-run blast by Jeff Schaus. But North Carolina got two runs in the ninth, with the game-winner coming on an RBI single by pinch-hitter Greg Holt.

Georgia could end up being the team that slides to No. 1. The Bulldogs completed an easy sweep of Quinnipiac with a 7-2 victory in Sunday. Rich Poythress, who's now hitting .438, went 4-for-4 to lead the Bulldogs, who now sit at 12-0.

After taking its first loss of the season on Saturday, Texas toppled Stanford 5-1 on Sunday. Cole Green allowed just a run in seven innings of three-hit ball.

Florida State opened up ACC play with a series loss to Boston College. The Eagles took game two and won game three on Sunday thanks to 5.1 scoreless innings from the bullpen. BC is now 10-3 while FSU sits at 7-5.

Rice was also an upset victim on Sunday, losing to Oral Roberts 5-3. The Owl bullpen, a bit of an achilles heel this year, allowed two ninth-inning runs that proved to be the difference. Rice, which at times has looked like the best team in the country this season, nonetheless dropped to 8-4.

UC Riverside handed No. 11 Oklahoma State a 7-0 loss on the shoulders of a complete-game shutout from Paul Applebee. Applebee allowed three hits, struck out six and didn't walk anybody. That's the second complete game of the season for the junior lefty, who has a 2.81 ERA.

In what has to be the most lopsided game of the season, Coastal Carolina beat Stony Brook 36-3 on Sunday. Thirteen different Chanticleers drove in multiple runs, led by Dustin King, who knocked in six. This game is a little bit of an outlier, I think, but the Chants have still won nine in a row, and they've got a 12-1 record.

TCU completed a nice sweep of Wichita State with a 12-3 victory on Sunday.

Morning Reading

Baton Rouge Advocate: Cold, hot and cold again
Randy Rosetta sums up LSU's series loss.

Big Ten Hardball: It's all about Illinois
Breaking down Sunday conference action, with a focus on the Illini.

Georgia Sports Blog: Top Ranked Diamond Dawgs?
Is Georgia your new No. 1?

Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri gets mad, even
The Tigers took three of four from Ball State, a much-needed series win.

Myrtle Beach Sun News: Chants beat Stony Brook 36-3
Coastal coach Gary Gilmore: "We just happened to hit the ball hard. I can't apologize for that."

Ryan Berry: Still Good

2009-03-07T20:49:00.001-05:00

Lots of interesting happening on your Saturday.

Down in Houston, Rice's Ryan Berry turned in his second consecutive dominant start. After a 12-strikeout, two-hit, complete-game shutout against Texas A&M last week, Berry turned in another complete-game shutout today against Notre Dame in the Rice Invitational. This time, he allowed two hits again, but only struck out eight, so clearly, he's slacking.

Pretty amazing back-to-back performances, especially considering Berry's so-so first start against Cal-Poly. I'll say this: For all the attention Strasburg, White, et. al get, Berry has to be mentioned among the top two or three pitchers in the country.

Speaking of the next start after a great performance, Texas' Brandon Workman didn't have as much luck as Berry. After a no-hitter last week, Workman got the start today at Stanford and gave up four runs -- two earned -- in 5.2 innings as the Cardinal handed Texas its first loss. For Stanford, this is a pretty big win. The Cardinal had been reeling, but Jordan Pries delivered a strong start to turn things around. Pries, a freshman righthander who was making his first career start, struck out four and allowed just a run in 7.2 innings.

Elsewhere, LSU may have been angry about the way things went yesterday against Illinois.

The Tigers, fresh off their first loss of the season, hung 22 on the Illini today in a 22-10 victory. I checked in on this game early, when Illinois was leading 2-0, and I thought we might be on the verge of another stunner, but then the Tigers exploded for five runs in the second and six more in the third. The onslaught never really stopped.

LSU was led by Leon Landry, who hit two home runs and drove in five. Nick Pontiff, Micah Gibbs and Tyler Hanover all added four RBI for the Tigers. Illinois got three home runs from Willie Argo.

They Said It Would Be A Test . . .

2009-03-06T23:36:00.001-05:00

LSU did not pass it.

Facing maybe their toughest opponent thus far, the top-ranked Tigers got beat by Illinois 3-1 tonight. Illini starter Phil Haig, who came in with great numbers against some lesser competition, delivered seven innings of one-run ball. He allowed eight hits and only struck out two, but managed to keep LSU's high-powered offense off the board. Aaron Johnson broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run home run in the top of the ninth.

Interestingly enough, Anthony Ranaudo was as dominant as he's been his whole career. He struck out 12, walked one and allowed just an unearned run on four hits in seven innings. But Louis Coleman came out of the pen, and the Illini touched him up for the two runs that proved to be the difference.

Obviously, this is a big win for Illinois. The Illini have some serious pitching and this game is another piece of early evidence in favor of their status as Big 10 contenders.

As for the Tigers, it appears this was one of those nights. And after all, they weren't going to go undefeated.

TGIF: March 6

2009-03-06T15:22:00.001-05:00

For three top-10 teams, the third weekend of the season brings the first tough test as LSU hosts a 5-1 Illinois team, North Carolina opens conference play with No. 18 Clemson and Texas heads west for a series with No. 23 Stanford.

This could be one of those weekends that teaches us a little something. By Monday, we might have a better understanding of where these teams stand.

One For The Books - No. 18 Clemson at No. 3 North Carolina

The Texas-Stanford series could certainly go here, but this one takes precedence because it's conference play. The ACC likes to get things started early, and they're starting with a bang in this one.

The Tar Heels haven't had any trouble with their weekend opponents thus far, but they did lose a mid-week game against Coastal Carolina, a defeat that bumped them from the top spot in several polls. As Clemson comes to town, the Heels find themselves facing a much different kind of series than they've faced this far, against the likes of Seton Hall and VMI.

For starters, Clemson is a conference rival, so these games will have much more of an impact than the non-conference tilts of the first two weeks.

Clemson is also good.

The Tigers are 5-2, with both of their losses coming by just two runs. They look more impressive when you take a gander at their pitching statistics. The three pitchers who have made two starts -- Chris Dwyer, Trey Delk and Kevin Brady -- have combined to allow just four earned runs in 30 innings of work. Dwyer, a true freshman, leads the way with a 0.00 ERA. He's also struck out 12 and walked just one in 11.2 innings. Dwyer is expected to start Sunday, with Delk and Graham Stoneburner going Friday and Saturday.

The Heels will counter with perhaps the best weekend rotation in the country, at least in terms of reputation. Alex White and Matt Harvey are two of the top prospects in the land, and Adam Warren actually is ahead of them in ERA.

It should be an interesting series. I'd give the edge to North Carolina. The pitching could end up being a wash, but the Heels' offense has some big hitters who have been red hot at the start of the season.

Others to Watch
Illinois at No. 1 LSU - The Illini are 5-1 with two very good arms atop their rotation. Nice test for the Tigers.
No. 4 Texas at No. 23 Stanford - Longhorn pitchers have been untouchable so far. Stanford has been struggling. Will the trends continue?
No. 12 Cal State Fullerton at Souther Mississippi - The Golden Eagles are off to an 8-1 start, but the competition really picks up with the Titans in town.
No. 16 San Diego vs. San Diego State - This one started Thursday with the Aztecs taking game one.
Wichita State at No. 21 TCU - The Shockers have quietly started 6-2.
UCLA at No. 22 Oklahoma - The Bruins got overpowered in Houston, and the Sooners would like to do the same.

Friday Reading

2009-03-06T13:18:00.001-05:00

Eugene Register-Guard: Oregon ready to battle Broncs and elements
The Eagle: Shofner off to hot start in new jersey number
Austin American-Statesman: Green big part of Longhorn pitching staff
Tallahassee Democrat: Seminoles kick off ACC play vs. Eagles
Baton Rouge Advocate: LSU gears up for Illinois
San Diego Union Tribune: Strasburg treats fans to special K performance

So 20 next time?

2009-03-06T12:43:00.001-05:00

After striking out 11 batters in his first start and 16 in his second outing, San Diego State's Stephen Strasburg racked up 18 strikeouts Thursday night to lead the Aztecs past San Diego 5-3.

Strasburg was actually touched up for two runs, one of them coming on a home run by Nick McCoy, just the second home run Strasburg has given up in his career. But from that point on, Strasburg retired 11 batters in a row, nine by way of the strikeout. He ended up going eight innings, his longest outing of the year. He struck out 18, walked one and allowed the two runs on five hits.

For the season, Strasburg is 8-0 with a 1.77 ERA. He has struck out 45 and walked four in 20.1 innings. I'll be honest, I wondered whether his production would be this great this early, considering how many scouts are watching and how much hype rides on every pitch. But the man is clearly up to the task.

Elsewhere last night, Mike Leake struck out 10 and walked one in seven shutout innings as Arizona State rolled Holy Cross 15-0.

Oklahoma State got a nice victory over Gonzaga behind a solid start from Tyler Lyons (6.0 IP, 1 ER, 7 K).

Wednesday Notes and a Look Ahead

2009-03-05T16:13:00.001-05:00

The sunshine state's smaller schools weren't very friendly to the big boys on Wednesday as North Florida handed No. 5 Florida State its third loss in a row and Florida Atlantic edged No. 17 Florida 7-6.

Florida State, who lost to Auburn on the weekend and Jacksonville on Tuesday, trailed for most of Wednesday's game against the Ospreys. The Noles managed to tie it in the eighth before Steve Hillan hit a solo home run to give North Florida the lead. Florida State dropped to 6-3 with the loss. Though it's not panic time yet, I can't imagine the Noles are too happy. They've given up 24 runs in the three losses.

As for the Gators, they blew a four-run lead when Florida Atlantic exploded for six runs in the sixth inning. Florida tied the game soon after, but a sac fly by Nick Criaris brought in the go-ahead run for Florida Atlantic in the eighth. Florida Atlantic moved to 8-1, but this is certainly the best win of the year for the Owls. The Gators have lost four of five since starting the season with five straight wins.

Other top-25 action:

LSU used a seven-run rally in the eighth inning to rally past Mississippi Valley State 10-4. Up until the eighth, the Tigers looked vulnerable for the first time all season, but a grand slam by Sean Ochinko erased that feeling. Ochinko, who had an up and down sophomore season, has returned to form recently, which makes a potent LSU offense that much better.

In probably the game of the day, No. 15 Baylor beat No. 21 TCU 2-1. Aaron Miller, an everyday outfielder who pitched all of five innings last year, got the start for the Bears and worked five shutout innings. True freshman Logan Verrett picked up the save.

Coastal Carolina picked up a 3-1 win over the Citadel thanks to a pitching performance they had to very happy to see. Senior Bobby Gagg, who struggled mightily in his first start, tossed seven strong innings this time, allowing a run three hits and striking out five.

Tonight, the weekend gets started a bit early, and it's a pretty nice little how do you do. San Diego State's Stephen Strasburg is scheduled to make his third start of the season tonight as the Aztecs open a four-game series with San Diego. The Toreros haven't named a starter, but if it's Sammy Solis or Kyle Blair, we could end with a pretty serious pitching match-up. Game time tonight is set for 5 p.m. Eastern.

Watch For Potholes

2009-03-03T23:09:00.001-05:00

The first two mid-week slates have been a little more interesting than they looked on paper.

After a series of upsets last week, Tuesday's action brought a few more:

Jacksonville beat No. 5 Florida State 9-4 on the strength of five solid pitching performances. It looked essentially like a staff day for the Dolphins, but three of their four pitchers came away without allowing a run. Kyle Kriech came away with the win after delivering three perfect innings to start the game. Brad Simmons went 2-for-2 with three RBI. For Florida State, Mike McGee took the loss after allowing four runs in 5.1 innings.

No. 8 Rice, fresh off a dominant performance in the Houston College Classic, lost to Sam Houston State 8-6. The Bearkats put up four runs int he fourth, and after Rice battled back, they put up a three-spot in the eighth. Tyler Knight went 2-for-4 with four RBI to lead Sam Houston. Rice got a 4-for-4 day from Rick Hague.

Rhode Island toppled No. 9 Miami 3-0 behind a dominant start from Eric Smith. The junior tossed eight shutout innings, striking out five and allowing just two hits. Luke Demko came on in the ninth and worked a scoreless frame for the save. Rhode Island's official site calls it arguably the biggest win in the program's history. Said head coach Jim Foster: ""This is just an unbelievable win for us. To come out and shut down a team that was ranked No. 1 in the country last year says a lot about our guys. They have been playing so well. I couldn't be happier right now."

That's it for the upsets so far. A few other teams narrowly avoided the same fate, with Texas edging Texas State 6-5 and Texas A&M beating Stephen F. Austin 2-1. On that Texas game, that's the first time the Longhorns have allowed more than three runs in a game this season. Austin Dicharry still turned in a decent start, though, allowing three of the runs. As for A&M, a two-run rally in the sixth made the difference and made a winner out of Clayton Ehlert, who certainly deserved it. Ehlert, a junior right-hander, struck out nine and walked just one in seven innings. He allowed a run on five hits.

That's all I've got for now. I hope to have another conference roundup done tomorrow night.

Enjoy your Wednesday. Baylor vs. TCU, 7:30 p.m. Should be interesting.

SEC Roundup: March 2

2009-03-02T23:35:00.001-05:00

Records So Far

Georgia	8-0
LSU	8-0
South Carolina	4-0
Mississippi State	8-1
Arkansas	5-1
Alabama	5-2
Kentucky	4-2
Florida	5-3
Vanderbilt	5-3
Mississippi	3-3
Auburn	3-4
Tennessee	1-4

Best Team Performance of the Week

While their compatriots atop the conference LSU steamrolled a quality Central Florida team, the Georgia Bulldogs get the nod here because they pulled off their sweep on the road at Arizona.

If there was any question that the fourth-ranked Dogs were ready for a tough opponent on the road, they answered the question in resounding fashion. They won by scores of 11-5, 12-5, and 10-5. While it's true that Arizona probably isn't an elite team this season -- the Cats are now 4-4 -- those are still impressive numbers.

The Bulldogs now sit at 8-0. Their smallest margin of victory? Sunday's 10-5 game.

Top Individual Performers of the Week

Kent Matthes, Alabama - The senior outfielder hit a home run in each of Bama's four victories this week, giving him six on the season. He finished the week going 9-for-16 with four home runs, nine runs scored and 11 RBI. For good measure, he hit for the cycle on Wednesday.

Joseph Sanders, Auburn - Sanders, a junior infielder, hit home runs in each game of the Florida State series, finishing the week 7-for-15 with four home runs, five runs scored and 12 RBI.

D.J. LeMahieu, LSU - The sophomore led a host of Tigers who had a good weeks. In four LSU victories, LeMahieu went 10-15 with two home runs, 10 runs scored and seven RBI.

Connor Powers, Mississippi State - He didn't have a great start to the week but made up for it with a huge doubleheader Saturday. He finished the week 7-for-15 with three home runs, five runs scored and eight RBI.

Aaron Westlake, Vanderbilt - Not quite as much production as the other guys, but he finished the week 10-for-15 with six runs scored and three RBI.

Anthony Ranaudo, LSU - Making his first Friday night start, Ranaudo struck out 10 and allowed a run on three hits in six innings against Central Florida.

Austin Ross, LSU - Not to be out-done, Ross went six shutout innings and matched Ranaudo's 10 K's on Saturday.

Nick Christiani, Vanderbilt - Getting the start Sunday, Christiani struck out eight and allowed a run on four hits in six innings.

Team By Team

Alabama (5-2)
The Crimson Tide rebounded from a series loss to Southeast Missouri State on the opening weekend t o win four straight, two over Nicholls State and two over Illinois-Chicago. Offense led the way as the Tide scored 44 runs in the four games. Kent Matthes was the catalyst, hitting .563 for the week. Austin Hyatt turned in the best pitching performance with seven innings against Illinois-Chicago. He allowed two runs and struck out five.

Top Hitters: Kent Matthes(.481, 6 HR, 15 RBI), Ross Wilson (.355, 1 HR, 6 RBI)
Top Pitchers: Austin Hyatt (2-0, 2.08 ERA, 11 K, 0 BB in 13 IP), Adam Morgan (1-0, 3.09 ERA, 7 K, 2 BB in 11.2 IP)

Arkansas (5-1)
After a solid opening weekend that saw the Razorbacks sweep Washington State, it's been a largely uneventful second week in Fayetteville. Arkansas split a mid-week series with Kansas then got just one game of their weekend series with Western Illinois in because of weather. Still, I think the Razorbacks feel pretty good about where they are.

Top Hitters: Andy Wilkins (.333, 3 HR, 7 RBI), Chase Leavitt (.375)
Top Pitchers: T.J. Forrest (2.45 ERA, 10 K, 4 BB in 11 IP), Stephen Richards (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 9 K, 0 BB in 8 IP of relief)

Auburn (3-4)
It's been an up-and-down season for the Tigers, who showed their promise with a win over Florida State on Saturday. They've also had their struggles, namely two losses to Elon on opening weekend. Pitching has been an issue for the Tigers, with only three players currently holding ERA's below 5.00. They've got games coming up against Davidson and Brown, so they should have ample opportunity to get on the right track. Their offense certainly hasn't been hurting -- they've got 17 home runs in seven games.

Top Hitters: Joseph Sanders (.462, 5 HR, 14 RBI), Trent Mummy (.464, 3 HR, 6 RBI)
Top Pitchers: Austin Hubbard (1-0, 2.84, 8 K, 2 BB in 6.1 IP), Dexter Price (1-0, 3.00 ERA, 4 K, 1 BB in 6 IP)

Florida (5-3)
After a fantastic opening week that included a sweep of Louisville and two wins over Eastern Michigan, the Gators came back to Earth at the hands of in-state rival Miami. The Hurricanes came into Gainesville and swept the Gators. Two of the games were close, but the Sunday finale wasn't. Though the losses probably sting, I still think the Gators can be a solid team this year. One thing to be concerned about: the offense has shown very little pop, with only three home runs. Florida will have to play some small ball and play it well if that keeps up.

Top Hitters: Josh Adams (.406, 3 XBH, 5 RBI), Brandon McArthur (.346, 3 XBH, 11 RBI)
Top Pitchers: Patrick Keating (1-1, 3.65 ERA, 11 K, 1 BB in 12.1 IP), Alex Panteliodis (1-1, 3.09, 3 K, 2 BB)

Georgia (8-0)
The Bulldogs are cruising. Picking up where they left off last season, when they surged to the College World Series, Georgia has rolled to wins in its first eight games, most of them coming on the shoulders of a dynamic offense. Though they've only hit three home runs, they have two-thirds of their lineup hitting above .350. The result: four players with double-digit run totals and four with double-digit RBI numbers. Starting pitching, led by Alex McRee, has been pretty solid, and the bullpen has been outstanding, with Michael Palazzone, Dean Weaver and Will Harvil yet to allow a run.

Top Hitters: Johnathan Taylor (.583, 2 XBH, 7 RBI, 6 SB), Joey Lewis (.429, 9 XBH, 2 HR, 10 RBI), Rich Poythress (.371, 3 HR, 17 RBI)
Top Pitchers: Alex McRee (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 12 K, 5 BB in 10.2 IP), Trevor Holder (2-0, 3.48 ERA, 11 K, 1 BB in 10.1 IP)

Kentucky (4-2)
After finishing up tourney play in South Carolina last weekend, the Cats have played just two games since, with two games this weekend postponed due to weather. Both of Kentucky's losses have come to a good Coastal Carolina team, so the Wildcats shouldn't be counted out. They will, however, need to get their offense in gear. They have only nine extra-base hits this season. The good news is the pitching has had some bright spots, namely James Paxton.

Top Hitters: Marcus Niddifer (.333, 1 HR, 3 RBI), Troy Frazier (.286, 1 HR, 5 RBI)
Top Pitchers: James Paxton (2-0, 2.31 ERA, 17 K, 1 BB in 11.2 IP), Tyler Henry (1.93 ERA, 8 K, 1 BB in 4.2 IP)

LSU (8-0)
Like Georgia, the Tigers couldn't be happier with the way they've started the season. With so many players coming back from last year, you knew their offense would be powerful, and it has been. I've been more impressed with their pitching staff. Led by sophomores Austin Ross and Anthony Ranaudo and senior Louis Coleman, the Tigers have shown so far that they've got a pretty strong weekend rotation. It'll be interesting to see how they do once the competition heats up.

Top Hitters: D.J. LeMahieu (.625, 7 XBH, 2 HR, 10 RBI), Jared Mitchell (.455, 2 HR, 12 RBI), Leon Landry (.375, 5 HR, 10 RBI)
Top Pitchers: Austin Ross (2-0, .75 ERA, 14 K, 1 BB in 12 IP), Anthony Ranaudo (2-0, 1.59 ERA, 17 K, 3BB in 11.1 IP)

Mississippi (3-3)
The Rebels had one of the roughest opening weekends of any top-25 team, and they haven't had a huge chance to prove themselves since then. After dropping two games at the Coca Cola Classic tourney, they posted a pair of victories over Central Arkansas. But on Saturday, in the only game of their series with TCU that wasn't canceled, the Rebels lost 19-13. So it hasn't been a pretty start to the year, but the Rebels have at least proven that they can hit. Pitching has been a bit of a different story, although the Rebels have gotten some quality starts. They just have to get through the early-season doldrums.

Top Hitters: Tim Ferguson (.556, 5 RBI), Logan Power (.429, 3 HR, 10 RBI)
Top Pitchers: Brett Bukvich (1-0, 1.29 ERA, 6 K, 2 BB in 7 IP), Phillip Irwin(1.80 ERA, 5 K, 0 BB in 5 IP)

Mississippi State (8-1)
The Bulldogs have run off a very strong start with eight wins in nine games (seven wins if you don't count Sunday's forfeit). Starting pitching has been very good for Mississippi State, and the offense has gotten solid production from several different spots in the lineup. The Bulldogs will get a test this week, but also a nice little trip, when they head to Hawaii for a four-game series that starts Thursday.

Top Hitters: Connor Powers (.357, 3 HR, 14 RBI), Russ Sneed (.440, 2 HR, 9 RBI)
Top Pitchers: Nick Routt (2-0, .64 ERA, 10 K, 1 BB in 14 IP), Forrest Moore (2-0, 1.00 ERA, 11 K, 3 BB in 9 IP)

South Carolina (4-0)
The Gamecocks certainly haven't been slow out of the gate, but they haven't had a lot of track to run on. After a sweep over Duquesne, the Gamecocks have played just one game. But small sample size aside, South Carolina has done good things, including a 3-1 win over rival Clemson. Pitching has been great for the Gamecocks, and the offense hasn't been too far behind.

Top Hitters: DeAngelo Mack (.333, 3 HR, 7 RBI), Justin Dalles (.500, 1 HR, 3 RBI)
Top Pitchers: Blake Cooper (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 7 K, 0 BB in 6 IP), Sam Dyson (1-0, .79 ERA, 11 K, 3 BB in 11.1 IP)

Tennessee (1-4)
The Vols started their season with a bang, or at least a somewhat loud noise, when they beat Oregon State 5-4 in walkoff fashion in the season opener. Since then, though, Tennessee has dropped four straight games. They get a bit of a pass since they've played tougher competition than a lot of their conference-mates, but certainly, Tennessee has to get it going soon, and it probably needs to start with pitching. The top pitchers thing below? I had trouble filling it.

Top Hitters: Kentrail Davis (.400, 2 HR, 3 RBI), Blake Forsythe (.368, 2 HR, 6 RBI)
Top Pitchers: Ty'Relle Harris (4.26 ERA, 3 K, 2 BB in 6.1 IP)

Vanderbilt
When's the last time Vanderbilt was flying so low under the radar? It's certainly been awhile, but that doesn't mean the Commodores won't soon make their presence known. While they went 1-3 on their season-opening West Coast trip, they were playing tough competition and still showed some promise. All three of the losses were by a single run. Since returning home, Vandy has gone 4-0, and the way the schedule looks, they might just keep trending upward. Remember: Vandy didn't lose all of its talent.

Top Hitters: Aaron Westlake (.577, 3 XBH, 4 RBI), Steve Liddle (.433, 5 XBH, 10 RBI)
Top Pitchers: Caleb Cotham (2-0, 1.80 ERA, 12 K, 3 BB in 15 IP), Mike Minor (1-0, 2.70 ERA, 10 K, 5 BB, in 13.1 IP)

Weekend Leftovers: Wintry Mixed

2009-03-02T21:53:00.003-05:00

There was probably less baseball played on Sunday than we'll see on any weekend day all season. Snow, sleet, rain and whatever else Mother Nature could come up with wreaked havoc with the schedule, and not just in the slightly northern latitudes. It snowed in Alabama!

But anyway, it was kind of a weird Sunday across this college baseball land, but a pretty good weekend all in all.

The Leftovers

So Shaeffer Hall throws a no-hitter on the first weekend of the season and Brandon Workman turns one in on the second weekend. Is the Big 12 going to keep doing this? I'm looking at you, Kendal Volz.

Workman's performance was another notch in the awesomeness column for the Texas pitching staff. Starting pitchers for the Longhorns have posted some ridiculous combined numbers: 1.12 ERA, .73 WHIP, 8.13 K/9, 3.87 K/BB. In other words, they're really, really good. I know they haven't faced the toughest of tests yet, but there are plenty of top teams who have played lesser teams without getting this kind of pitching. Workman, Green, Jungmann, Dicharry, Ruffin -- these guys are good.

Texas will get its first big test this weekend with a series at Stanford.

So Rice is good, huh? It's amazing that they could lose two of three at Cal Poly and then bounce back with a dominant performance in the Houston College Classic. The difference was pitching, and if you listen to coach Wayne Graham, there was a simple reason for the change. Graham told Eric Sorenson: “Basically it’s because everyone was throwing strikes. We always knew our guys had the stuff, we just had to get the ball over."

LSU's performance against Central Florida showed how good this team can be. Their starting pitching was dominant and their offense was absolutely explosive. Like Texas, the competition hasn't been all that fierce yet, but you have to pencil in the Tigers as the top team in the country right now.

Speaking of competition for LSU, Illinois comes to town this weekend off a strong performance in the Al Ogletree Classic, a Texas tournament. The Illini are currently 5-1.

How about Wisconsin-Milwaukee? After getting blown out repeatedly on a road trip to Arizona State, the Panthers won the Jacksonville Invitational, and they beat up on a riding-high Michigan team on their way to the crown.

Oregon's performance this weekend -- taking two of three from Fresno State -- proves that the Ducks aren't going to be easily beaten this year. I think most people assumed that a program in its first year couldn't possibly compete, but that's exactly what the Ducks are doing.

Georgia continues to roll, with an impressive series sweep on the road at Arizona now on their resume. That offense is looking pretty special, and I have to think freshman Johnathan Taylor is a big reason why. Thrust into the leadoff spot from day one, Taylor has hit a team-best .583, scored 13 runs and stolen six bases.

Hey, Missouri. Glad you're still with us. The Tigers had a nightmarish trip to Arizona, losing seven games in a row before finally snapping out of it with a win over Arizona State on Sunday. They're a team with some potential, but they clearly have some work to do.

Ohio State improved to 7-0 with four wins at the Kennel Club Classic in Jacksonville. The Buckeyes have allowed 42 runs in their seven games, but they've scored 67. The Buckeyes have hit 15 home runs already this season, and six players have two. Zach Hurley leads the team with a .484 batting average.

Alabama's Kent Matthes had about as good a week as you can have. In four games, he went 9-for-16 with four home runs and 11 RBI.

If Miami is going to contend, someone has to emerge in the rotation behind Chris Hernandez. In a weekend sweep over Florida, two guys started to emerge. David Gutierrez tossed seven scoreless innings on Saturday and Iden Nazario allowed two runs in five innings on Sunday. If those guys can stay at that level, the Canes will be in very good shape.

If Texas is carrying the torch on the parade of great starting pitching in the top 25, Pepperdine can't be far behind. The Waves are 5-2, and their starters, while not quite as overpowering as Texas', have been solid. Matt Bywater has yet to allow a run, Nate Newman has a 1.29 ERA, Aaron Gates sits at 2.35, and Robert Dickmann is at 1.80. Even Scott Alexander, with his 4.35 ERA, has turned in quality starts.

Poll Watching

2009-03-02T21:08:00.001-05:00

There changes atop several of the major polls as LSU ascended to the top spot with its sweep over Central Florida, and losses by Texas A&M and North Carolina. Only Kendall Rogers at Rivals kept the Tigers out of the top spot, leaving North Carolina as his No. 1.

Baseball America
Collegiate Baseball
National Collegiate Baseball Writers
USA Today/ESPN Coaches
Rivals

The (Mid) Week Ahead

2009-03-02T09:58:00.001-05:00

I'm not particularly intrigued, but since it's snowing where I live, I will keep tabs on these games and pine for spring.

Tuesday
Florida State at Jacksonville
Florida at Stetson
Lipscomb at Vanderbilt
Cal State Bakersfield at UC Davis
Cal State Fullerton at San Diego State
Loyola Marymount at UC Irvine
Rice at Sam Houston State
Pepperdine at UCLA
LSU at New Orleans
Western Carolina at San Diego

Wednesday
Baylor at TCU
Fresno State at UC Davis
Dallas Baptist vs Rice
Oregon at Washington

Thursday
San Diego State at San Diego (Part of Weekend Series)

On The Road Again . . .

2009-03-01T23:28:00.001-05:00

There's a wonderful article in the New York Times today about the University of Maine at Presque Isle's baseball team. The school is so far north that the team regularly goes an entire season without playing a home game. Their last home game was in 2005.

I loved this quote from team member Tyler Delaney: “You can either complain that the baseball field is buried under six feet of snow, or you drive to where you can play baseball. We don’t complain.”

Well said.

Wrapping Up Your Sunday

2009-03-01T22:55:00.001-05:00

Cliff's Notes
Brandon Workman pitches a no-hitter . . . LSU dominates . . . Georgia completes a sweep over Arizona . . . Missouri snaps a seven-game skid and hands Arizona State first loss . . . Rice makes another statement.

No. 2 LSU 16, Central Florida 0
They're 8-0, but this might be as good as it's been for the Tigers. Austin Ross struck out 10 in six shutout innings. Leon Landry hit his fifth home run, while D.J. LeMahieu, Jared Mitchell, Sean Ochinko, Tyler Hanover and Chad Jones all had multi-hit games.

No. 3 Texas A&M 5, Houston 3
The Aggies survived a scare from Houston, who led 3-2 through four innings. The Aggies took the lead in the fifth on an RBI groundout by Dylan Petrich and added two in the sixth on a two-run homer by Kyle Colligan.

No. 4 Georgia 10, Arizona 5
The Bulldogs completed a pretty impressive sweep behind three hits from Johnathan Taylor, Matt Cerione and Rich Poythress.

Missouri 5, No. 6 Arizona State 2
Mizzou finally snapped out of their slide with a comeback win over the Sun Devils. Trevor Coleman had two hits and two RBI and Nick Tepesch turned in a solid start.

No. 7 Texas 9, Penn State 0
Brandon Workman tossed the 21st no-hitter in Texas history. The sophomore faced the minimum and struck out 10 in a dominant performance. Tant Shepherd had three hits and two RBI to pace the offense.

No. 9 Rice 8, Baylor 3
The Owls completed a perfect run through the Houston College Classic with the win over Baylor. Brock Holt had four hits, Anthony Rendon had four RBI and Taylor Wall struck out eight and allowed a run in 6.1 innings.

No. 10 Miami 16, No. 13 Florida 2
The Canes made it a sweep with a lopsided win. Dave DiNatale had four hits and three RBI. Nick Maronde took the loss for Florida.

No. 16 Cal State Fullerton 9, No. 11 Stanford 3
Khris Davis had one of the best days anybody's had all year, going 4-for-4 with three home runs and six RBI. Frosh Tyler Pill got the start and picked up the win with 5.1 solid innings.

No. 14 UC Irvine 7, UCLA 4
Ryan Fisher had four hits and three RBI and Crosby Slaught turned in a solid start as Irvine completed a 3-0 Houston College Classic showing.

No. 15 Fresno State 10, Oregon 3
Fresno finally took the wind out of Oregon's sails, getting a strong outing from Jake Floethe and two home runs from Tommy Mendonca to avoid the sweep.

No. 17 San Diego 6, Nevada 4
San Diego outlasted a Nevada team that keeps pushing teams to the brink. Darrin Campbell allowed two runs in five innings, and James Meador went 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBI.

Washington State 10, No. 22 Oklahoma 6
The Cougars worked to a series split on the strength of two home runs from Shea Vucinich.

No. 25 Michigan 10, Akron 7
Michigan gave coach Rich Maloney his 500th career win. Ryan LeMarre went 3-for-4 with four RBI. Mike Dufek worked three scoreless innings of relief to shut the door on Akron. The Wolverines ended up splitting their four Jacksonville Invitational games.

Catamounts Take Series from Trojans

2009-03-01T22:52:00.001-05:00

There's still one stop left, but Western Carolina has already made its trip to California worthwhile.

The Catamounts, who were picked to finish in the middle of the pack in the Southern Conference, won the rubber game Sunday to take two out of three from USC on the Trojans' home field. Brent Greer and Tyler Kirkpatrick each had three hits and Corey Martin worked five scoreless innings as the Catamounts posted a 9-3 victory in the series finale.

They won game one behind a solid performance behind a solid performance from the pitching staff. Mike Tavernier started and allowed two runs in 4.2 innings. Garrett Ozar and Daniel Ottone combined for 4.1 scoreless innings of relief.

Though the Trojans haven't been at the top of their game yet this season -- they committed five errors Sunday -- these are still big wins for Western Carolina. They're a team that's been on my radar because they've had a couple of guys play in the Cape League. Based on that, I assumed they were a little more highly-thought of, but at least in the preseason, they were tabbed as a middle of the pack team in the Southern Conference.

We'll see if they can out-jump those predictions.

Their West Coast trip concludes Tuesday with a game at No. 17 San Diego.

More on Workman

2009-03-01T21:27:00.002-05:00

In case you missed it earlier, Brandon Workman tossed a no-hitter today to lead Texas past Penn State.

The 6'5 sophomore right-hander walked two and saw a batter reach on an error, but all those runners were erased. Workman ended up facing the minimum. He struck out 10.

Some quotes from Texas' web site:

Head Coach Augie Garrido: "Brandon Workman was brilliant today and he’s been working toward that. The insight on that is, he and Cole Green are great buddies and they sit and talk between innings every game, whether Cole’s pitching or whether Brandon’s pitching. One of the comments that came out of the bullpen after Cole’s game yesterday was if Workman’s going to do better than that, he’s going to have pitch a no-hitter. Well, there you go. He met the challenge. It’s a very exciting time. Adrian Alaniz [did it] earlier, then we had Kenn Kasparek last year. [Cameron] Rupp is taking all the credit, by the way. You can’t have a no-hitter without a great catcher. That’s what Yogi Berra said and it still holds true today."

Brandon Workman: "I am really excited. I knew it was going on. I can look up on the scoreboard and see that it was going on. About the fifth or sixth, you start thinking I’m getting close. I knew that it was going on the whole time but it didn’t start to get significant until the fifth or sixth inning. I knew the entire time that nobody had gotten a hit but early on, you don’t think anything of it."

Workman, a third-round pick out of high school, didn't have a great freshman season, but I saw him in the Cape League, and you could tell he was figuring it out. Clearly, he's coming into his own right now. In two starts, he hasn't allowed a run, and he's struck out 17, walking only two.

"I think he changed in the fall," Garrido said. "He established a level of confidence in the Cape [Cod League], but he still did not have a great fall for us. I think he really started making the change when he saw that he was being outpitched by the people on this team. All of a sudden he started getting the ball down consistently, getting his breaking ball over consistently, and started pitching instead of throwing."

I would say it's working.

Missouri Salvages Something

2009-03-01T21:17:00.002-05:00

Of course it was in the midst of this game that a travel curfew went into effect. Just when the Missouri Tigers were starting to enjoy themselves.

Before Sunday, they probably couldn't wait to get home.

After winning their first game of the season, they dropped seven games in a row, all of them in Arizona. Finally on Sunday, Missouri rallied from an early deficit to win 5-2, handing Arizona State its first loss of the season. The game went eight innings because of the curfew, but the Tigers will take it anyway they can get it.

They struggled early against Josh Spence, the same pitcher who shut them out on Tuesday. But they finally got to Spence in the seventh to tie the game at two, then got three big runs in the eighth to take control. An RBI double by Ryan Lollis turned out to be the game-winning hit.

Missouri got a solid start from Nick Tepesch, who struck out eight and allowed just a run in 6.1 innings.

Screw You, March

2009-03-01T17:26:00.002-05:00

I like you, March, I really do. You give us the beginning of baseball season and some pretty fantastic basketball in your last few weeks.

But do you really have to come in on your first day and do this?

By my count, 52 games were canceled or postponed today.

We did, however, get a no-hitter from Brandon Workman, a dominant performance by LSU and we're currently getting more spectacularness from Josh Spence, who has a shutout through five for ASU against Missouri.

So maybe you're not all bad, March.

I'll be back later with some updates.

A Little Light Sunday Reading

2009-03-01T16:44:00.002-05:00

Eric Sorenson has a fantastic recap of Saturday's action at the Houston College Classic.

The Arizona Republic's recap of ASU's win over Oregon State centers around freshman Jordan Swagerty, with some good stuff from Pat Murphy. Of Swagerty, Murphy said, "We've been keeping him out. I don't know why now. I've been trying not to use him, because I want him to be a pitcher."

The Eugene Register-Guard recaps Oregon's win over Fresno State.

MoiseKapenda Bower of the Houston Chronicle recaps Ryan Berry's masterful performance.

Workman Finishes It Off

2009-03-01T16:19:00.001-05:00

After an interminable bottom of the eighth, Texas sophomore Brandon Workman finished off a no-hitter with a 1-2-3 ninth.

The first batter hit a chopper up the middle that bounced off Workman, but shortstop David Hernandez charged in, grabbed the bouncing ball and threw to first for the out. Workman then struck out the final two batters to seal the no-no.

More on this later.

No-No Alert

2009-03-01T15:48:00.001-05:00

I'll probably jinx it, but Texas' Brandon Workman currently has a no-hitter going against Penn State. Workman is through seven innings.

Update (3:57): He's now through eight. One more, and we'll have the two Big 12 no-hitters in as many weekends.

You can also watch online.
Live Stats

Wrapping Up Your Saturday

2009-03-01T15:31:00.001-05:00

Remember when Rice struggled against Cal-Poly last weekend? If that created any doubts, the Owls are quieting them with their performance in the Houston College Classic. After an extra-innings win over UCLA on Friday, Rice got a complete-game two-hitter from Ryan Berry to beat Texas A&M, who was looking the darlings of the tournament.

Berry was coming off a debut that saw him give up five runs in 4.2 innings against Poly. But Saturday, he was back to his old self, striking out 13, walking nobody and allowing just two hits in a masterful performance. By the way, that's two hits against a Texas A&M team that was averaging almost 10 runs per game. Huge performance for Berry and a huge win for Rice.

To the rest of the recaps.

Cliff's Notes
Georgia having no trouble with a tough trip to Arizona . . . Auburn's Joseph Sanders hits fifth home run to lead upset of Florida State . . . Cole Green and Taylor Jungmann shine again for Texas . . . Oregon looking better than people thought they would . . . Kendal Volz out-duels Gerrit Cole at the Houston College Classic . . . TCU has your run-of-the-mill 25-hit game.

No. 1 North Carolina 10, Seton Hall 3
The Tar Heels steamrolled thanks to three hits from Ben Bunting and homers by Mark Fleury and Levi Michael. Matt Harvey went three innings on a staff day and struck out five. Colin Bates went four shutout innings.

No. 2 LSU 11, Central Florida 2
Sean Ochinko, Blake Dean and D.J. LeMahieu had three hits each and Ochinko had four RBI as the Tigers cruised.

No. 9 Rice 2, No. 3 Texas A&M 0
We've already discussed Berry's performance. He was lights-out, and the Owls made a winner out of him thanks to a wild pitch in the first that scored Chad Mozingo, who had tripled. Rice got its second run on an RBI triple by Steve Sultzbaugh. Alex Wilson pitched well for A&M, allowing two runs in six innings.

No. 4 Georgia 11, Arizona 5
The Dogs continued their strong showing in the desert with an easy win. Trevor Holder allowed two runs in five innings. Rich Poythress went 2-for-5 with three RBI.

Auburn 10, No. 5 Florida State 9
Auburn handed the Noles their first loss behind a big offensive effort, led by Joseph Sanders' three-run home run, his fifth of the year.

No. 6 Arizona State 6, Oregon State 3
Seth Blair allowed three runs in six innings and Mitchell Lambson finished with scoreless frames. Carlos Ramirez and Jordan Swagerty each hit home runs as the Sun Devils improved to 8-0.

No. 7 Texas 6, Penn State 2
No. 7 Texas 1, Penn State 0
Are the Longhorns ever going to get a bad start. Taylor Jungmann struck out five and allowed a run in six innings to win game one. Cole Green out-did him in game two, striking out eight, walking none and allowing two hits in 8.1 shutout innings. Austin Wood picked up his third save. T.J. Macy allowed a run in eight innings for Penn State.

No. 8 Georgia Tech 6, Rutgers 4
No. 8 Georgia Tech 13, Rutgers 4
Deck McGuire had his second strong start of the year, striking out seven and allowing just a run in eight innings as Tech won game one. Jay Dantzler and Tony Plagman hit home runs to lead Tech in game two.

No. 10 Miami 2, No. 13 Florida 1
David Gutierrez went seven scoreless innings to lead the Canes. Frosh Alex Panteliodis only allowed two runs for Florida but took the loss.

No. 16 Cal State Fullerton 3, No. 11 Stanford 2
Kyle Witten worked 6.2 strong innings and the Titans rode a three-run first inning to the win. Brett Mooneyham made his first start for Stanford, allowing just the three runs even though he walked six.

No. 14 UC Irvine 13, Houston 7
The Anteaters rode a 14-hit attack to the easy win. D.J. Crumlich went 3-for-4 with three RBI.

Oregon 7, No. 15 Fresno State 1
Erik Stavert allowed a run in 6.1 innings and got two hits each from Caleb Tommasini, Mitch Karraker and Dyaln Gavin as the Ducks won thier second in as many days against the defending champs.

No. 17 San Diego 2, Kansas State 1
No. 17 San Diego 5, Nevada 4
Victor Sanchez hit a walkoff single in the ninth to lead the Toreros past Kansas State. Kyle Blair struck out eight and allowed a run in six innings. Against Nevada, Matt Hauser allowed one earned run in 5.1 innings to set the stage.

South Carolina 3, No. 18 Clemson 1
Sam Dyson struck out five and allowed one run on two hits in 6.1 innings. Dyson now has a .79 ERA in two starts.

No. 20 Baylor 5, UCLA 1
Kendal Volz struck out six and allowed four hits in seven shutout innings. Gerrit Cole started for UCLA and allowed just an unearned run and two hits in six innings. He struck out eight but walked five.

No. 21 Pepperdine 10, UC Davis 0
UC Davis 4, Pepperdine 3
The Waves won game one behind a seven-inning complete game by Scott Alexander and three RBI from Colin Rooney. Game two went to the Aggies, who got a strong outing by Tom Briner and two hits from Daniel Cepin.

No. 22 Oklahoma 9, Washington State 7
No. 22 Oklahoma 12, Washington State 3
They played 20 innings in Pullman, Wash., and Oklahom left with a doubleheader sweep. Game one went 11 innings before Bryant Hernandez hit an RBI double to break the tie. Hernandez had three RBI to lead the attack in game two.

TCU 19, No. 24 Mississippi 13
The Horned Frogs had 25 hits to outlast the Rebels, who had 16 of their own. Matt Carpenter went 5-for-7, with four runs and five RBI.

No. 25 Michigan 21, Jacksonville 3
Jacksonville 10, No. 25 Michigan 2
The Wolverines beat the Jag...Dolphins by a football score in game one thanks to four RBI each from Anthony Toth and Ryan LeMarre. Jacksonville's Carson Andrew and Matt Loosen shut Michigan down in game two.

Wrapping Up Your Friday

2009-02-28T08:34:00.001-05:00

Since the goal is to give the three of you a quick survey of the college baseball landscape, I'm thinking the top 25 recaps I did last week may have been a little too in-depth. Also, they made my eyes very tired.

So, in the spirit of laziness and the spirit of doing what's best for you, I'm cutting them down in size. I'm even giving you an option and putting in a little Cliff's Notes version before the recaps. Here at Omaha Sky, unlike high school, I'm in favor of shortcuts.

Also note that the scores themselves are now the links to the box scores.

Onto the show.

Cliff's Notes
Alex White was better than last week . . . Texas A&M explodes past Irvine . . . Rice runs past UCLA in extras . . . Texas continues to get great starting pitching, with Chance Ruffin delivering this time . . . Oregon wins its first home game since 1981 . . . Coastal Carolina scores 25 in two wins . . . Michigan hits the skids.

No. 1 North Carolina 5, Seton Hall 1
No. 1 North Carolina 4, Seton Hall 3
The Tar Heels got 6.1 good innings from Alex White in game one, and the same from Adam Warren in game two. Levi Michael had three hits.

No. 2 LSU 13, Central Florida 4
LSU blew open a close game with seven runs in the eighth. D.J. LeMahieu hit two homers and Sean Ochinko went 4-for-4. In his first Friday start, soph Anthony Ranaudo struck out 10 in 6.1 IP.

No. 3 Texas A&M 9, No. 14 UC Irvine 2
Luke Anders drove in four and Brooks Raley tossed six strong innings. The Aggies scored seven in the sixth inning.

No. 4 Georgia 11, Arizona 5
Lyle Allen had a home run and Rich Poythress had three RBI as the Bulldogs racked up 13 hits in their first real test of the year.

No. 5 Florida State 14, Auburn 5
The Noles blew things open behind a 5-for-6, two RBI day from Tyler Holt. Sean Gilmartin struck out nine in seven innings.

No. 6 Arizona State 6, Northern Illinois 1
Matt Newman started and went 4.1 scoreless frames. Jason Franzblau allowed one unearned run in four innings of relief, picking up the win.

No. 7 Texas 9, Penn State 2
Preston Clark went 3-for-3 and Tant Shepherd had three RBI as Texas rolled. Chance Ruffin struck out nine in six innings to give the Horns another quality start. They haven't had a bad one.

No. 9 Rice 5, UCLA 4
The nightcap of the Houston College Classic turned out to the best game of the day as Rice won in 10 innings. Michael Fuda scored from second on a mis-played ground ball to give Rice the win. Rice starter Mike Ojala allowed 12 hits but also struck out 11. Rob Rasmussen was solid for UCLA (6 IP, 3 R

No. 10 Miami 8, No. 13 Florida 5
The Hurricanes got five RBI from Jonathan Weislow and a decent start from Chris Hernandez (4 R in 5 IP). Kyle Bellamy got his second save.

No. 17 Cal State Fullerton 8, No. 11 Stanford 1
Jared Clark had a grand slam and six RBI and the Titans got their best pitching performance of the year. Daniel Renken struck out seven and allowed one run in seven innings.

No. 7 Oklahoma State 7, College of Charleston 6
No. 12 Oklahoma State 7, No. 23 East Carolina 6
The Cowboys got three RBI from Tyrone Hambly to overcome shaky pitching in game one, and three from Neil Medchill in game two to do the same. Tyler Blandford and Andy Oliver both had rough outings.

Oregon 1, No. 15 Fresno State 0
Oregon won its first home game since 1981 on a walkoff single by Andrew Schmidt. Holden Sprague (7.2 IP) and Tyler Anderson (8 IP), were dominant.

Pacific 14, No. 17 San Diego 6
Three Torero pitchers got hit hard as Pacific rolled. Mike McKeever had five RBI and Kurt Wideman had three.

No. 18 Coastal Carolina 15, West Virginia 5
No. 18 Coastal Carolina 10, Tennessee 5
Anthony Meo (5 IP, 3 R) was solid on the mound in game one, and Rico Noel went 4-for-5 with four RBI. Chance Gilmore went 4-for-4 and Taylor Motter had three RBI in game two.

No. 20 Baylor 3, Houston 2
Logan Verrett got the win in relief of Shawn Tolleson (6.2 IP, 2 R). Shaver Hansen and Dustin Dickerson had two hits apiece.

No. 21 Pepperdine 7, UC Davis 2
Nathan Newman allowed a hit in six shutout innings and highly-touted frosh Brian Humphries broke out of a slow start with a 3-for-5.

Washington State 9, No. 22 Oklahoma 2
Matt Way (6 IP, 1 ER) pitched well and set the stage for a seven-run eighth. Derek Jones had three hits and three RBI for the Cougars, who beat up on the Sooners' bullpen.

No. 23 East Carolina 9, St. John's 7
Brandon Henderson went 3-for-5 with three RBI as the Pirates rallied for the win.

Wisconsin-Milwaukee 19, No. 25 Michigan 11
The Wolverines came crashing down to earth with a rough pitching day against Milwaukee. Shawn Wozniak had five RBI for the winners.

Friday Updates

2009-02-27T22:47:00.001-05:00

After a week of upsets, we haven't had anything too earth-shattering happen today, though there's still a little time left.

The most notable result of the day so far has to be this one: In its first home game since 1981, the newly-rebuilt Oregon Baseball program beat defending national champion Fresno State 1-0.

In front of a sold-out crowd of 2,777 at PK Park, senior Andrew Schmidt, one of only two seniors on the roster, hit a walk-off single to give Oregon the victory.

The game was a pitchers' duel the whole way, with Fresno's Holden Sprague going 7.2 scoreless innings and Oregon's Tyler Anderson, a freshman, going eight.

Oregon finally broke through in the bottom of the ninth. Eddy Rodriguez started things with a two-out single, Jeff Hart advanced him to third with a base hit, and Schmidt brought him home with a single to right field.

Cool result for Oregon, and for Schmidt, who had to take a medical redshirt earlier in his career, a career that has included stops at two different junior colleges. I imagine he feels right at home in Eugene tonight.

Elsewhere . . .

Texas A&M won the opening game of the Houston College Classic 9-2 over UC Irvine. The game was close early before a seven-run sixth put the Aggies in control. Luke Anders had a home run and drove in four. The Texas A&M student paper has a recap.

In the second game of the day at Minute Maid Park, Baylor outlasted Houston 3-2. Shawn Tolleson was strong through 6.2 innings, while Logan Verrett picked up the win with 2.1 scoreless innings out of the pen. Shaver Hansen and Dustin Dickerson each had three hits.

Miami took the opener of its series with Florida 8-5 behind five RBI from Jonathan Weislow.

Washington State upset No. 22 Oklahoma 9-2. Matt Way allowed one earned run in six innings and the Cougars got to the Sooner bullpen for seven in the eighth inning.

Coastal Carolina continued its strong start with a 15-5 win over West Virginia. Freshman Anthony Meo turned in his second strong start, allowing three runs in five innings. Rico Noel went 4-for-5 with four RBI. The Chants are playing the second game of a doubleheader now, and are leading Tennessee.

Michigan, which dominated in the Big East-Big Ten Challenge, started play Friday in the Jacksonville Invitational and lost 19-11 to a Wisconsin-Milwaukee team that got manhandled by Arizona State last weekend. Ryan LaMarre had two home runs and seven RBI for the Wolverines but it wasn't enough. Shawn Wozniak had five RBI for Milwaukee.

Friday Reading

2009-02-27T17:12:00.001-05:00

What to read while wishing you were in Houston . . .

Adam Jude of the Eugene Register Guard writes about Oregon baseball's first home game.

Steve Ellis of the Tallahassee Democrat recounts FSU's victory over Auburn.

Randy Rosetta of the Baton Rouge Advocate writes about the Friday debut for Anthony Ranaudo.

Ryan Lavner of the Athens Banner-Herald previews Georgia's trip to Arizona.

The Houston Chronicle's Moisekapenda Bower is blogging from the Houston College Classic.

The Fresno Bee previews Fresno State's series with Oregon.

Josh Hoke of the Myrtle Beach Sun News discusses Coastal's win over North Carolina.

The San Diego Union Tribune's Kirk Kenney checks in on the Aztecs and Stephen Strasburg.

Nathan Summers of the Greenville Daily Reflector writes about East Carolina and the weekend's Keith LeClair Classic.

John Davis of the Oxford Eagle previews Mississippi's series with TCU.

Frosh Watch: Feb. 27

2009-02-27T15:45:00.004-05:00

Before the second weekend of the season really gets going, I figured I'd check in with some of the top freshmen in the country. In the preseason, Baseball America came out with the top players in each class. Going by their rankings, here's what we've seen so far. Standouts in bold . . .

1. Gerrit Cole, RHP, UCLA - 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 7 IP, 7 K, 2 BB, 1 H
2. Alex Meyer, RHP, Kentucky - 0-0, 9.00 ERA, 3 IP, 1 K, 1 BB, 4 H
3. Nick Maronde, LHP, Florida - 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 6.1 IP, 2 K, 0 BB, 5 H
4. Sonny Gray, RHP, Vanderbilt - 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 5.0 IP, 5 K, 1 BB, 4 H
5. Zack Cox, 3B/RHP, Arkansas - .267 AVG, 4.50 ERA
6. Brett Mooneyham, LHP, Stanford - 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2.1 IP, 1 K, 3 BB, 1 H
7. Danny Hultzen, LHP/1B, Virginia - 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 6 IP, 5 K, 0 BB, 6 H
8. Brian Humphries, OF, Pepperdine - .063 AVG, 1 R
9. Taylor Jungmann, RHP, Texas - 1-0, 1.50 ERA, 6.0 IP, 4 K, 4 BB, 1 H
10. Daniel Webb, RHP, NW Florida State (JUCO) - 1-0, 3.56 ERA, 17.2 IP, 14 K, 10 BB, 11 H
11. Chase Davidson, OF, Georgia - .294 AVG, 1 HR, 5 RBI
12. Harold Martinez, 3B, Miami - .400 AVG, 1 2B, 5 RBI
13. Zach Cone, OF, Georgia - .294 AVG, 1 3B, 5 RBI
14. Ryan O'Sullivan, SS/RHP, San Diego State - .286 AVG, 2 2B
15. Adam Smith, SS, Texas A&M - .200, 2 HR, 8 RBI
16. Kyle Winkler, RHP, Texas Christian - 0-0, 2.45 ERA, 3.2 IP, 3 K, 3 BB, 3 H
17. Michael Palazzone, RHP, Georgia - 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 IP, 5 K, 0 BB, 0 H
18. Zach Wilson, 3B, Arizona State - .400 (2-for-5)
19. Tyler Pill, RHP/OF, Cal State Fullerton - .500 AVG (2-for-4), 10.80 ERA, 3.1 IP
20. Jordan Cooper, RHP, Wichita State - 0-1, 8.31 ERA, 4.1 IP, 5 K, 2 BB, 6 H

TGIF: February 27

2009-02-27T13:52:00.001-05:00

Let's crank this thing up, shall we?

After an opening weekend without a whole lot of marquee match-ups, college baseball hits a higher gear this weekend with a couple of big series and the biggest event of the new season, the Houston College Classic. The six-team round robin features five top-25 teams and a Houston squad that shouldn't be too far behind.

So let's go to it.

One For the Books - Houston College Classic (Friday, Saturday, Sunday)

Everybody who covers college baseball is picking this as the series/event to watch, and with good reason. Every match-up looks like a good one, and some of them really stand out.

That's what happens when you bring in No. 4 Texas A&M, No. 9 Rice, No. 14 UC Irvine, No. 20 Baylor, No. 26 UCLA and a solid Houston team.

If I had to pick one game to really keep tabs on, I think I'd go with Saturday's nightcap featuring Rice against A&M. Alex Wilson, he of the 14-strikeout opener, will get the ball for A&M against Rice's Ryan Berry. Berry struggled in his first start, but I imagine he'll bounce back.

Here's the schedule

Friday
Texas A&M vs. UC Irvine, 12 p.m.
Houston vs. Baylor, 3:30
UCLA vs. Rice, 7

Saturday
UC Irvine vs. Houston, 12
Baylor vs. UCLA, 3:30
Rice vs. Texas A&M, 7

Sunday
UCLA vs. UC Irvine, 11 a.m.
Baylor vs. Rice, 2:30 p.m.
Houston vs. Texas A&M, 6

Others to Keep an Eye On
No. 10 Miami at No. 13 Florida - Strong starts by both teams make this series look pretty interesting. I'll be curious to see how the Gators' young pitchers hold up against a Miami offense that scored 18 on Sunday.
No. 12 Oklahoma State at No. 23 East Carolina - Part of the Keith LeClair Classic, and it represents a nice opportunity for the Pirates.
No. 27 TCU at No. 24 Mississippi - Rebels have started slow and the Horned Frogs are rolling.
Auburn at No. 5 Florida State - Noles are perfect so far but should get a decent challenge from the Tigers.
No. 4 Georgia at Arizona - The Wildcats aren't as good as they were last year, but they still should pose a threat to the high-flying Bulldogs.

Star-Watching
A look at the weekends for the top-ranked prospects in the land.
1. Stephen Strasburg - The guy jumped the gun and pitched on Thursday. Sixteen strikeouts in case you missed it.
2. Grant Green - Off to a 3-14 start, Green and his 2-2 Trojans will welcome Western Carolina to town for a three-game series. The Catamounts are no slouches.
3. Alex White - UNC ace gets the start today against Seton Hall and Sean Black. White allowed three runs in five innings in his first start.
4. Dustin Ackley - Ackley will face some tough Seton Hall pitching, but he's hitting .588 so far this season.
5. Kyle Gibson - Mizzou ace pitched Thursday against Arizona State, allowing two runs in seven innings.

Aces High
But will they still be after this weekend? A lot of pitchers, whether they were going Friday, Saturday or Sunday, turned in dominant performances last weekend. But many of them also did it against lesser competition. Will a guy like Alex Wilson be able to keep it going against Rice? We'll see.

Flying Low
A few top-10 teams haven't yet made a lot of noise, but quietly, Texas had one hell of a first week. The Longhorns won five games and did so mostly by pitching well. They allowed six runs all week and their starters were lights out. Brandon Workman and Austin Dicharry didn't allow a run, Cole Green and Taylor Jungmann surrendered one each and Chance Ruffin allowed three. I guess Chance is the slacker in the bunch. Seriously, though, while some of their powerhouse counterparts were beating up on bad pitching staffs and allowing a fair amount of runs themselves, the Longhorns were shutting people down.

Wide Eyed But Good
We knew Georgia's recruiting class was good, but you never know how good until they get on the field. With one game in the books, it looks pretty good. Freshman Johnathan Taylor is leading the team with a .727 average and Levi yams is hitting .417, while Zach Cone and Chase Davidson are both at .294. On the mound, Michael Palazzone has made two relief appearances, striking out five and walking none in three scoreless frames. The Dogs will get a test this weekend against Arizona.

The Junior Circuit
Several juco transfers made big splashes this week, namely Josh Spence, Carloz Ramirez and Tyler Lavigne. Spence has been dominant in two starts for ASU, while teammate Ramirez has already smacked four home runs. Lavigne, pitching for San Diego State, tossed a complete-game shutout his first time out.

Spotlight: Josh Spence

2009-02-27T13:07:00.005-05:00

It's early yet, but two of the best pitching performances of the season have come from a guy that was in junior college last year, and before that, was pitching high school ball in his native Australia.

Now, Josh Spence is looking an ace.

The Arizona State lefty has turned in two brilliant starts in the first week of the season. On opening night, he struck out six and allowed two hits in six shutout innings. Then on Tuesday against Missouri -- a much tougher lineup than the Wisconsin-Milwaukee crew he faced Friday -- Spence struck out 13 and walked just two in seven scoreless innings.

Described as a soft-tossing lefty with a great feel for pitching, Spence had a remarkable career at Central Arizona College. In two years, he recorded 327 strikeouts with only 43 walks. His career ERA was 1.40.

From what I can gather, I get the feeling that some pundits were unsure about Spence's transition to D-I baseball, but clearly he's making a believer out of people. He'll throw any pitch at any time, and for hitters so far, that's been very bad news.

Keep your eye on Josh Spence.

ASU Web Devil: Spence to bolster pitching squad
The Arizona Republic: Australian will play key role for ASU
Geelong Advertiser: Baseballer Spence heads to Arizona

Sneaky Strasburg

2009-02-27T10:54:00.001-05:00

So San Diego State played on Thursday, with a doubleheader scheduled for Saturday. Ace Stephen Strasburg got the ball on Thursday for his second start, and he didn't disappoint. Strasburg struck out 16 and walked just one in 6.2 innings. He allowed two runs. If you're doing the math, 16 of the 20 outs he recorded came via the strikeout.

The Aztecs moved to 3-2 with the win. So far this season, Strasburg has struck out 27 and walked three in 12.1 innings.

EDIT: He hit 102 mph last night. Read about it here.

Catching Up

2009-02-27T10:42:00.002-05:00

A quick rundown of notable stuff from the last few days.

Arizona State's Josh Spence turned in another strong start Tuesday as the Sun Devils beat Missouri 3-1. Spence struck out 13 in seven innings. The teams got together again on Thursday, with the Devils posting a 2-1 victory. Mike Leake struck out 10 and allowed just one hit in eight shutout innings. That was enough to out-duel Kyle Gibson, who allowed two runs in seven innings. ASU moved to 6-0 with the victories, and if they keep getting pitching like this, look out. The reeling Tigers fell to 1-5.

Cal Poly continued its strong start with a victory over Fresno State on Tuesday. The Mustangs are 3-1, with all their games coming against top-15 teams.

Wednesday's slate saw a continuation of the mid-week upset trend. Texas A&M was the latest to fall, dropping an 8-4 decision to Centenary. St. Mary's beat Stanford and UC Riverside toppled UCLA, as Gavin Brooks allowed five runs.

On Thursday, East Carolina beat Oklahoma State 14-7.

Coastal Topples No. 1 UNC

2009-02-24T22:29:00.002-05:00

Fresh off a pretty strong opening weekend, No. 18 Coastal Carolina traveled to Chapel Hill on Tuesday and posted a 7-3 victory over North Carolina, the team ranked No. 1 in several polls.

While it's certainly not the only upset of the season's first five days, it's a big one. The Tar Heels, like most of their top-five brethren, cruised to a sweep in their first weekend of action. Coastal, meanwhile, won three out of its first four games, including two against Kentucky.

On this day, the Chanticleers pitched well enough to stay close then surged late to grab the win. Coastal trailed 3-1 going into the eighth but scored two in that inning and four more in the ninth en route to the victory. Rico Noel jump-started the eighth-inning rally with a one-out double, and Jose Iglesias followed with a two-run blast, his fourth home run of the year.

With the game tied, Coastal sent nine men to the plate in the top of the ninth. Singles by Adam Rice and Noel were the only hits of the frame, but Coastal took advantage of two Tar Heel errors and two walks to blow things open. The Chants did most of their damage against UNC reliever Colin Bates, who allowed five runs. Only one was earned.

Nick McCully came on to close things out, and though he allowed two hits, he also struck out two and didn't allow a run as Coastal clinched the victory.

Keith Hessler got the start for Coastal and allowed just one earned run in 5.1 innings. UNC's Patrick Johnson was dominant in his outing, striking out nine, walking one and allowing just an unearned run in 5 innings.

Elsewhere

Texas needed extra-innings to beat UT-Arlington. The Longhorns actually trailed in the 10th, but got two runs home on a walk-off double by Cameron Rupp.

Georgia Tech was riding high after its weekend sweep, but the Jackets lost to Georgia Southern 6-5. A.J. Wirnsberger had two hits and three RBI for Southern.

San Diego led 2-0 through four innings, but Oklahoma exploded late to post an 11-2 victory. Jamie Johnson had three hits and four RBI.

UC Santa Barbara got home runs from Brian Gump, Shane Carlson and Robby Cummings to beat UCLA 7-6.

Fresh off its series victory over Fullerton, TCU beat Dallas Baptist 6-0. Steven Maxwell struck out five and allowed two hits in five scoreless innings. Jason Coats and Matt Vern delivered two RBI each.

What They're Saying

2009-02-24T21:55:00.001-05:00

A tour of some college baseball blogs . . .

Andrew Pentis of The Sun Devil Sweet Spot offers up some observations of ASU's sweep of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Buckeye Nine wraps up the inaugural Big East-Big Ten Challenge.

Big Ten Hardball also has some thoughts on the event.

College Baseball 360with an in-depth weekend in review.

Weekend Leftovers: What Just Happened?

2009-02-23T22:41:00.002-05:00

My weekend:

Friday, 8 a.m. - Wake up. Realize quickly that this is the day, and that I am woefully under-prepared to author a college baseball blog.
Friday, 4:30 p.m. - Get over-excited about Alex White striking out six in two innings.
Saturday, 12:01 a.m. - Look at scores. Freak out because there are so many.
Saturday, 9:30 a.m. - Start writing top 25 recaps.
Saturday, 9:31 a.m. - Black out.
Monday, 7 a.m. - Wake up for work with vague memories of writing "RBI" and "six shutout innings" 179 times.

So, yeah, it was an interesting weekend. Those top 25 recaps were exhausting, but I'm going to keep doing them. I think it's something you can't get anywhere else, and that's what I'm all about -- providing the three of you with information you never would have had, unless you, yourself, looked at 80 box scores. I'll take the hit, people. You just sit tight.

Anyway, I probably need something to supplement the weekend coverage, but I do think the top 25 recaps are a good thing, and though I didn't process half of what I wrote, I did take notes. Thus, the weekend leftovers.

Now that I've cleared my throat, let's proceed.

The Leftovers

Lots and lots of good pitching performances on your opening weekend, so many that it's tough to pick the best one. If you pressed me, I think I'd pick Alex Wilson. The Texas A&M righty missed all of last season with an injury after transferring from Winthrop. In his first start, he went 6.2 scoreless innings, struck out 14, walked one and allowed just three hits. That's a pretty serious debut. Mr. Wilson is not messing around.

Tyler Lavigne wasn't bad either. The San Diego State juco transfer twirled a complete game shutout in his first start, striking out five, walking one and surrendering just two hits. Others who deserve a mention: Georgia Tech's Deck McGuire (13 Ks in 7 shutout innings), USC's Kevin Couture (10 Ks in 7 shutout innings), and Boston College's Pat Dean (CG, four-hit shutout).

And oh yeah: Shaeffer Hall had that no-hitter. Pretty good too.

How about them Gators? Florida swept Louisville and moved up to No. 7 in Kendall Rogers' Top 25. I was a little unsure of Florida when I wrote about them in a little preview thing, but this series was a pretty big statement. They have some veterans, and if their young pitching comes through like it did this weekend, look out.

Most of the top 10 just kind of dipped their toes in the water. I guess it's cold this time of year. Combined weekend scores for North Carolina and LSU against their opponents: 59-13.

You can take this from the Tar Heels' performance. They have some pitching. Alex White and Matt Harvery are future top-10 picks. When you add in a veteran like Adam Warren who appears poised for a huge season, you've got a special weekend crew.

And LSU? A lot of hitters got off to fast starts, none better than Ryan Schimpf, who went 7-for-10. Pitching was also strong for the Tigers, with Louis Coleman, Austin Ross and Anthony Ranaudo all turning in very good starts.

Cal-Poly took two out of three from No. 3 Rice, a pretty big accomplishment for the Mustangs. They went 24-32 last year, but returned a pretty good nucleus.

As for Rice, Wayne Graham can't be happy with the way his Owls pitched on opening weekend. Mike Ojala pitched well in his start but Ryan Berry and Taylor Wall got shelled. Bright spots for Rice: Hot starts by Rick Hague and newcomers Anthony Rendon and Steve Sultzbaugh.

In the other big top-10 upset, TCU took two of three from Cal State Fullerton. The Horned Frogs hit the ball well all weekend, with four starters posting averages over .400.

Brock Bardeen is a redshirt senior for UC Irvine, and outfielder who has come off the bench most of his career. He came off a different bench Saturday. A pitcher in high school, Bardeen hadn't stepped on the mound with the Anteaters. But he came out of the bullpen against Hawaii and earned the win with 2.1 solid innings.

Just outside the top 25 in most polls, Michigan made a case to be included by dominating the Big East-Big Ten Challenge. The Wolverines won all four of their games and looked pretty good doing it. Nick Urban led the offensive charge with nine hits in 19 at-bats. On the mound, every Michigan pitcher who made an appearance allowed three runs or fewer.

Arizona State got off to a fast start, outscoring Wisconsin-Milwaukee 53-9 in a four-game sweep. Josh Spence, Mike Leake and Seth Blair were dominant in their starts, while the offense got huge boosts from Jason Kipnis and juco transfer Carlos Ramirez. Kipnis made a case to be national player of the week by going 12-of-17 with three home runs and eight RBI. Eight of his hits went for extra-bases. Ramirez, a catcher, went 8-for-14 with four home runs and nine RBI.

Kent State, who got some preseason attention as one of the best mid-major squads around, started its season with a sweep over UNC-Greensboro. Greg Rohan hit .588 with two home runs on the weekend.

Grant Green had a rough first weekend for USC, going just 2-for-11. I doubt the scouts were too discouraged. The kid's going to be fine.

The (Mid) Week Ahead

2009-02-22T22:39:00.001-05:00

I like a good college baseball weekend as much as the next guy, but I love a good mid-week slate, too. Maybe I'm thinking of the times when I would skip class at Dayton, sprawl out on the hill beyond left field, and watch some occasionally good A-10 baseball. Those were the days.

Here are some mid-week games to keep an eye on, with the best ones in bold.

Monday
BYU at Baylor
Vanderbilt at California

Tuesday
Coastal Carolina at North Carolina
Kansas at Arkansas
Missouri at Arizona State
Oklahoma at San Diego
UT Arlington at Texas
Cal Poly at Fresno State
Cal State Fullerton at San Diego State
UCLA at UC Santa Barbara

Wednesday
Kansas at Arkansas
Oklahoma at San Diego
Long Beach State at Loyola Marymount
UC Riverside at UCLA
Houston at Rice
Pepperdine at USC

Thursday
Auburn at Florida State
Missouri at Arizona State
Oklahoma State at East Carolina

Wrapping Up Your Sunday

2009-02-22T22:18:00.001-05:00

The final day of the season's first weekend was business as usual for most of the top 10. For Cal State Fullerton, it wasn't. TCU beat the 10th-ranked Titans for the second straight day, securing a series victory. Elsewhere, Florida completed a sweep over Louisville, who can't be happy with the way things have gone so far. Missouri also had a rough day, losing a pair of games to unranked teams. We also had a dominant performance from a San Diego State pitcher not named Stephen Strasburg.

No. 1 North Carolina 11, VMI 3

The stars were out in Chapel Hill as the Tar Heels completed the sweep. Junior Dustin Ackley recorded a career-best five hits, and sophomore pitcher Matt Harvey struck out 11, didn't walk anybody and allowed three runs in five innings. Mark Fleury chipped in three RBI to cap a strong first weekend.

Box Score

No. 2 LSU 6, Villanova 3

Ryan Schimpf went 3-for-3 for the second day in a row and D.J. LeMahieu hit two triples as the Tigers finished off a sweep. Schimpf finished the weekend 7-for-10 with six RBI and four steals. On the mound, Austin Ross pitched well for the Tigers, allowing a run and striking out four in six innings.

Box Score

No. 4 Texas A&M 8, Wright State 5

In the finale of a four-game series, the Aggies earned the sweep thanks to four hits each from Caleb Shofner and Brooks Raley. Shofner, a sophomore infielder who hit .214 last year, went 9-for-10 on the weekend. The Aggies actually trailed in this game but rallied with a big sixth inning.

Box Score

No. 5 Georgia 12, Youngstown State 8

Johnathan Taylor wasn't the most highly-touted member of Georgia's big recruiting class, but he's made the biggest splash so far. The freshman outfielder had three more hits on Sunday to finish the weekend 8-for-10. Also for the Dogs, Rich Poythress had three hits and three RBI. Of concern for Georgia: five errors. Starter Justin Grimm allowed five runs but none were earned.

Box Score

No. 6 Florida State 10, Hofstra 4

Six Noles had mult-hit games and Mike McGee was solid on the mound as FSU completed the sweep. Tyler Holt led the offensive attack with three hits and Stuart Tapley added three RBI. McGee allowed just two unearned runs in five innings.

Box Score

No. 7 Arizona State 11, Wisconsin-Milwaukee 0

The Sun Devils cruised thanks to more offensive fireworks from catcher Carlos Ramirez and a five-pitcher shutout. Jason Franzblau and Mitchell Lambson each went three innings, with Kole Calhoun and Jordan Swagerty going one each. Ramirez, meanwhile, hit his fourth home run of the year. Ramirez is a junior-college transfer who was drafted in the 34th round last year.

Box Score

No. 8 Texas 1, Illinois-Chicago 0

Brandon Workman made his first start of the year and was dominant, allowing two hits in seven shutout innings and striking out seven, with no walks. He and Austin Wood combined to make the slim lead stand up, with Wood tossing two shutout innings. UIC senior Adam Worthington puzzled Texas hitters all day, allowing one run in 7.2 innings. That run came on an RBI by Brandon Belt.

Box Score

TCU 11, No. 10 Cal State Fullerton 6

The Titans scored six runs in the first inning, but a dominant relief performance by Taylor Cragin set the stage for a big comeback. Cragin, a senior who led the team in ERA last year, came on in the fourth and allowed just one hit in six innings of work, striking out five and walking none. The Frogs scored six in the fourth to take the lead. Their attack was led by Chris Ellington's four hits. On the mound, Fullerton's two-way freshmen Tyler Pill and Nick Ramirez bore the brunt of TCU's surge.

Box Score

No. 24 Florida 3, Louisville 2

It wasn't as bad as yesterday for the Cardinals, who dropped the second game of the series in rough fashion, but it was still not good. Florida got a walk-off single by Mike Mooney to break a 2-2 tie in the ninth. Highly-touted freshman Nick Maronde got the start for the Gators and allowed two runs on five hits in 6.1 innings.

Box Score

No. 12 Miami 18, Rutgers 9

The Canes bounced back from a loss in the second game of a doubleheader Saturday to post a big victory. Switch hitter Jason Hagerty hit home runs from both sides of the plate to power a 16-hit explosion. Hagerty finished with six RBI, while freshman Harold Martinez went 3-for-5 with three RBI. On the mound, Iden Nazario struck out eight and allowed just three runs in six innings.

Box Score

No. 13 Georgia Tech 5, Lipscomb 3

The Yellow Jackets got a walk-off two-run home run by sophomore Thomas Nichols to grab the victory. Brandon Cumpton started for Tech and allowed two runs in six innings.

Box Score

South Alabama 3, No. 14 Mississippi 2

The Rebels had another tough go of it, dropping a game for the second straight day. But on the other side, the result was sweet. The victory was the 1,000th in the career South Alabama coach Steve Kittrell. Sean Laird had a walk-off single to secure the victory.

Box Score

Hawaii 7, No. 15 UC Irvine 4

Paradise was finally unkind to the Anteaters, who had taken the first three games of the series. Hawaii got three RBI from Kevin Macdonald and seven strong innings from Matt Sisto.

Box Score

No. 16 Oklahoma State 13, Manhattan 1

The Cowboys remained perfect on the season thanks to a strong performance from Tyler Lyons. who struck out five and allowed just two hits in six shutout innings. Neil Medchill had four RBI for the Cowboys and Doug Kroll had three.

Box Score

No. 17 Fresno State 3, Washington 1

After a loss Saturday, the Bulldogs responded with a strong outing Sunday to salvage a series win. Sophomore Jake Floethe made his second career start and struck out five in six shutout innings. Danny Muno went 3-for-3.

Box Score

San Diego State 3, No. 18 San Diego 0

In a battle for San Diego, the Aztecs got a dominant performance on the mound from Tyler Lavigne to get the victory. Lavigne, a juco transfer from the College of Southern Nevada, twirled a complete-game shutout, striking out five and allowing just two hits. Easton Gust had two RBI to back Lavigne.

Box Score

No. 19 Baylor 5, Pacific 4

Baylor rebounded from a Saturday loss to win in extra innings on Sunday. Freshman Lucas Hileman hit a walk-off single with the bases loaded in the 10th to give Baylor the win. Brooks Pinckard picked up the win in relief, after a strong start by Craig Fritsch.

Box Score

Gonzaga 13, No. 20 Missouri 9
Nevada 8, No. 20 Missouri 4

So, about Missouri. The Tigers got a great first start from Kyle Gibson to win their opener but have since lost three straight. Gonzaga handled the Tigers thanks to four hits and four RBI from Mark Castellitto. Nevada got three hits from Matt Bowman and three RBi from Shaun Kort.

Gonzaga Box Score
Nevada Box Score

No. 21 Pepperdine 3, Cal State Northridge 2

The Waves salvaged a series victory with an extra-innings win. Nate Simon was the hero, hitting a walk-off homer in the 10th.

Box Score

No. 22 Coastal Carolina 14, No. 23 Kentucky 5
James Madison 8, No. 22 Coastal Carolina 6

One of the favorites in the Colonial, James Madison lost its first three games of the year but salvaged something with a victory over the Chants. Turner Phelps got the win and Kevin Munson picked up the save. In a surprising bit of news, Bobby Gagg took the loss for Coastal, allowing seven runs in four innings. Coastal got a win in its first game of the day, riding a six-inning, one-run performance by Cody Wheeler and four home runs.

Kentucky Box Score
James Madison Box Score

UC Davis 8, No. 25 UCLA 7

Grant Hirneise hit an RBI single in the 11th to lead UC Davis to the one-run victory. Kyle Mihaylo, who had three hits, trotted home with the go-ahead run. For UCLA, both Charles Brewer and Gavin Brooks made appearances, with Brewer getting the start and allowing one run on three hits in three innings. Brooks allowed four runs (two earned) and walked three in one inning of work.

Wrapping Up Your Saturday

2009-02-22T10:39:00.001-05:00

The second day of the season deviated from the script a little more than the first, with several top teams having a less-than-stellar day. Rice had a particularly rough go of it, getting swept in a doubleheader to lose its series with Cal-Poly.

No. 1 North Carolina 6, VMI 0

Alex White and Matt Harvey may be the big prospects, but Adam Warren served notice again that he's pretty good, too. The senior righty, who has a career record of 23-2, struck out six and allowed just two hits in six shutout innings. Patrick Johnson, Brian Moran and Colin Bates tossed scoreless frames out of the bullpen. Kyle Seager and Ryan Graepel each had two hits for the Heels.

Box Score

No. 2 LSU 11, Villanova 1

Leon Landry hit two home runs and Ryan Schimpf went 3-for-3 as the Tigers rolled past Villanova. On the mound, sophomore Anthony Ranaudo got out of one big jam and ended up allowing just a run on three hits in five innings.

Box Score

Cal Poly 10, No. 3 Rice 3
Cal Poly 7, Rice 6

The Mustangs swept the twin bill thanks to two big offensive performances. In the first game, they knocked starter Taylor Wall out early and put up 13 hits, while getting three RBI from Adam Buschini. D.J. Mauldin picked up the win with seven innings of three-run baseball. In the nightcap, the Mustangs broke a tie in the bottom of the ninth when J.J. Thompson ripped an RBI double.

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

No. 4 Texas A&M 7, Wright State 6
No. 4 Texas A&M 9, Wright State 0

One game wasn't easy, but the other one was as the Aggies earned a season-opening sweep. In the first game, A&M trailed 6-3 but scored four unanswered runs, capped by a Kevin Gonzalez walk-off single to win it. Alex Wilson made the second game a little less stressful. Making his first start after missing last year with an injury, Wilson struck out 14, walked one and allowed just three hits in 6.2 shutout innings. "It was just a dominating performance by Alex," A&M coach Rob Childress said. I'll say.

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

No. 5 Georgia 14, Youngstown State 0

For a second straight day, the Bulldogs had the offense clicking as freshmen Johnathan Taylor and Chase Davidson had three hits each to pace a 14-hit attack. On the mound, Alex McRee turned in the best outing of his career, striking out six and allowing just four hits in 5.2 scoreless innings.

Box Score

No. 6 Florida State 21, Hofstra 7
No. 6 Florida State 3, Hofstra 2

Football? The first score looks like it, but it was just a strong offensive game for the Noles, who got three hits and four RBI from Ohmed Danesh and a grand slam from Rafael Lopez. A field goal beat a safety in game two as Mike McGee hit a solo home run in the sixth to give the Noles the slim lead. Sean Gilmartin allowed one run in six innings for FSU, while Hofstra's Rob Kumbatovic went the distance.

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

No. 7 Arizona State 13, Wisconsin-Milwaukee 5
No. 7 Arizona State 14, Wisconsin-Milwaukee 1

The Sun Devils got two home runs apiece from Jason Kipnis and Carlos Ramirez and a strong pitching performance by Mike Leake in cruising to the game one victory Leake struck out seven and allowed one run on two hits in six innings. In the second game, Kipnis and Ramirez each added another home run, while Seth Blair matched Leake with six strong innings. He struck out eight and surrendered only two hits.

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

No. 8 Texas 10, Illinois-Chicago 1
No. 8 Texas 3, Illinois-Chicago 1

The Longhorns got a lot of offense in one game and not much in the other, but the pitching was strong throughout as Texas got the sweep. Freshman Taylor Jungmann got the start in game one and allowed one run on one hit in six innings. He was backed by three-RBI days from Cameron Rupp and Kevin Keyes. In the second game, sophomore Cole Green struck out five and allowed a run on three hits in seven innings.

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

Vanderbilt 12, No. 9 Stanford 9
No. 9 Stanford 6, Vanderbilt 5

Vandy jumped to a 9-0 lead in game one on the shoulders of four RBI each from Jason Esposito and Brian Harris. Caleb Cotham struck out seven and allowed a run in seven innings before a bullpen collapse nearly cost Vandy the win. In game two, Stanford scored three runs in the eighth and got strong relief work by Drew Storen to get the win. Freshman Brett Mooneyham also pitched in relief for the Cardinal, going 2.1 scoreless innings but walking four.

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

TCU 8, No. 10 Cal State Fullerton 6

The Horned Frogs made their trip to California a little more worthwhile with a narrow victory over the Titans. Chris Ellington's double in the seventh gave the Frogs some breathing room, and Erik Miller and Caleb Merck were strong out of the pen to keep the Frogs in front.

Box Score

No. 24 Florida 10, No. 11 Louisville 4

After a nip-and-tuck game Friday, the Gators rolled on Saturday for their second big win of the season. The Gators took advantage of four Louisville errors and used a five-run fourth to open up an 8-1 lead. Brandon McArthur had three RBI to power the attack and freshman pitcher Alex Panteliodis allowed two runs on five hits in six innings of work.

Box Score

No. 12 Miami 4, Rutgers 2
Rutgers 5, No. 12 Miami 4

The Canes nearly dropped both these games. They trailed by one in the first game before a sixth-inning two-run single by Jonathan Weislow turned the tables. Kyle Bellamy struck out the side to pick up a save. In game two, Rutgers scored the game-winning run when Brandon Boykin scored from first on a sacrifice bunt (!).

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

No. 13 Georgia Tech 13, Lipscomb 3

A dat after Deck McGuire's dominant performance, Zach von Tersch turned in a solid start, allowing three runs and striking out five in five innings. The offense was paced by three hits and three RBI from Matt Skole.

Box Score

Mercer 13, No. 14 Mississippi 11

The Rebs almost got upset on Friday, and on Saturday, they did. Michael Langley and Jacob Tanis had three RBI apiece as Mercer won the slugfest.

Box Score

No. 15 UC Irvine 5, Hawaii 4
No. 15 UC Irvine 5, Hawaii 4

Twin bill, twin results. Francis Larson went 3-for-4 in the first game, and Christian Bergmann allowed one earned run (four total) in eight strong innings. Eric Pettis picked up his first save. The nightcap saw Brock Bardeen earn the win in relief. Freshman D.J. Crumlich had two RBI.

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

No. 16 Oklahoma State 11, Manhattan 7
No. 16 Oklahoma State 5, BYU 4

Hosting their own tourney, the Cowboys picked up a pair of victories. Andrew Oliver started the nightcap and didn't disappoint, striking out 11 and walking one in six innings. He allowed two hits and one earned run. Against Manhattan, the Cowboys got three RBI from Davis Duren and rolled to the win.

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

Washington 11, No. 17 Fresno State 4

So is the honeymoon over? The Bulldogs finally lost a game after their magical run last year and their victory Friday. The Huskies got a strong performance from Tyler Chaney, who allowed one run on two hits in five innings. The Washington offense was led by Doug Cherry, who had three hits and four RBI.

Box Score

No. 18 San Diego 9, Bethune Cookman 6

I actually watched most of this game on the MLB network. The Toreros led early but Cookman got some momentum with a five-run fourth innings. But USD stayed in front thanks to a two-run triple in the eighth by James Meador. Kyle Blair got the start for the Toreros and didn't look particularly sharp, allowing five runs in five innings. But Matt Thomson came out of the pen to toss four shutout innings, allowing one hit and striking out six.

Box Score

Pacific 9, No. 19 Baylor 8

Pacific rallied from an 8-5 deficit with three runs in the eighth and one in the ninth to get the upset victory. J.B. Brown had three hits and three RBI to lead the Tigers.

Box Score

Gonzaga 9, No. 20 Missouri 3

The Bulldogs blew things open with a five-run fifth inning and coasted past the Tigers. Cody Martin allowed just a run in seven strong innings for Gonzaga, while Tyson Van Winkle had three hits. Ian Berger allowed seven runs for Mizzou, but only three were earned.

Box Score

Cal State Northridge 6, No. 21 Pepperdine 2

Ryan Juarez struck out five and allowed two runs in six innings, with Billy Ott working three no-hit innings for the save. Five players had RBI for the Matadors.

Box Score

No. 22 Coastal Carolina 4, No. 23 Kentucky 1

Austin Fleet struck out six and allowed just a run in six innings as the Chanticleers notched their second win of the year. Matt Rein added four K's out of the pen, and Nick McCully struck out two for the save. The Chants didn't walk anybody all game.

Box Score

No. 23 Kentucky 8, James Madison 3

Before the loss to Coastal, Kentucky picked up a win over James Madison thanks to a strong pitching performance by Sean Bouthillette. He allowed just two hits in five shutout innings. Cory Farris had two hits and four RBI to back that mound showing. Alex Meyer also made his first appearance for the Wildcats, allowing three runs on four hits in three innings out of the bullpen.

Box Score

No. 25 UCLA 5, UC Davis 2

Highly-touted freshman Gerrit Cole made his first career start for the Bruins and allowed just an unearned run on one hit in six innings. He also struck out seven. The UCLA offense was led by Niko Gallego and Casey Haerther, who both had two RBI.

Box Score

Lest We Forget . . .

2009-02-22T00:17:00.001-05:00

His team isn't in the top 25, so he wasn't featured in the recap, but that's okay, since he deserves his own post anyway.

Kansas junior Shaeffer Hall hurled a no-hitter on Friday as the Jayhawks beat Air Force 5-0 in the Service Academy Classic.

The fact that the season's first no-hitter came on the season's first day is pretty cool, and Hall's performance sounds like one that deserves the notoriety. The 6'0 lefty needed only 104 pitches to finish off the complete game. He struck out seven, walked three and at one point, retired 17 batters in a row.

Said head coach Ritch Price, from Kansas' official site: “(Shaeffer Hall) was really special today. For him to go out there and no-hit a team on just 104 pitches is an outstanding accomplishment. It’s one of the best performances by a pitcher that I’ve seen in my 30 years of coaching.”

Hall had this to say: "“I was feeling good warming up, but the nerves kind of got to me early. As the game went on I felt like I got stronger. I got behind a couple of hitters in the first inning, then I went out in the second and third inning and felt a lot better; more like myself.”

If that was more like himself then Hall is in for a big season. Last year, he had a 5.13 ERA, but knowing he'd be the No. 1 starter this year, he put in a lot of work in the offseason.

I'd say it's paying off.

Hot start for Cole

2009-02-21T23:40:00.001-05:00

UCLA's Gerrit Cole, the highest draft pick to head to college in several years, didn't disappoint in his first start. Against UC Davis on Saturday, Cole allowed one unearned run on two hits and struck out seven in six innings of work. The Bruins posted a 5-2 victory.

Wrapping Up Your Friday

2009-02-21T23:27:00.001-05:00

I'll be honest. I was overwhelmed by the first day of the season. I was so excited, and much like Jesse Spano, on Saved by the Bell, so . . . scared. Forced pop-culture references aside, I got home late last night and planned to post a fairly in-depth recap. Then the scores started staring me in the face and I backed slowly away, unable to process what had just happened.

The point is . . . I'm slightly behind and feeling like I'll never catch up. Seriously, if the CWS ends on June 20, check back here on June 22, and I'll have the big news on who wins.

Anyway, even though much of Saturday is already in the books, I still feel the need to catch up on Friday. After all, it was the first day, and you can't just let the first day fade away without a mention.

So, onto the scores. My tentative plan is to do these kinds of hybrid-scoreboard recaps from top 25 action on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, after the action of the previous day. Then on Monday, I'll do a more thoughtful wrap-up, with some mid-week conference updates mixed in.

No. 1 North Carolina 13, VMI 3

Alex White recorded the first six outs by strikeout and finished with nine K's in five innings. Garrett Gore and new starting catcher Mark Fleury each drove in three runs. Dustin Ackley went 3-for-4 and freshman Levi Michael scored three runs. It was the first game at Bryson Field at Boshamer Stadium, and it drew 2,831 fans on a cool day. Also, that double at is going to drive me crazy.
Box Score

No. 2 LSU 12, Villanova 3

Another newly-christened field, another big win. The Tigers opened new Alex Box in style before 9,054. Blake Dean got his season off to a fast start with a three-run homer and Jared Mitchell added three RBI. In a good sign for the Tigers' pitching staff, Louis Coleman struck out eight and walked two in five strong innings.
Box Score

No. 3 Rice 10, Cal Poly 7

One of the only top teams to take a risk, the Owls headed West and survived a push by Cal-Poly to get the victory. Rice pounded out 14 hits, three apiece from shortstop Rick Hague and freshman Jeremy Rathjen, and needed every bit of that offense. Ryan Berry allowed seven runs in 4.2 innings, but Jordan Rogers and Matt Evers were strong out of the bullpen to help Rice hold on. Matt Jensen had three RBI for Poly.
Box Score

No. 4 Texas A&M 18, Wright State 2

The team picked by Baseball America as the best in the land posted the most lopsided victory of the day among top-five teams. Nick Fleece went 2-for-3 with a grand slam, and he finished with five RBI. Brooks Raley was strong on the mound with six strikeouts in six innings of one-run ball.
Box Score

No. 5 Georgia 15, Youngstown State 2

Youngstown State saw any chances of an upset head out the door when they committed seven errors. For good measure, Georgia added 17 hits, three coming from Bryce Massanari. Freshmen Colby May, Johnathan Taylor and Zach Cone each had two hits. Trevor Holder started strong with six strikeouts and no walks in 5.1 innings. He allowed both runs.
Box Score

No. 6 Florida State 9, Hofstra 3

The Noles won their 11th straight opening day game thanks to multi-hit games from Mike McGee, Tyler Holt and Ohmed Danesh. Geoff Parker allowed three runs in five innings for the win.
Box Score

No. 7 Arizona State 15, Wisconsin-Milwaukee 3

With so many new faces, they probably didn't look familiar, but the result was familiar as the Sun Devils rolled. One of the few returnees, Jason Kipnis, delivered with a 4-for-4 night that included four runs scored. Sophomore Matt Newman added a home run and five RBI. Josh Spence went six shutout innings, allowing just two hits.
Box Score

No. 8 Texas 6, Illinois-Chicago 1

Chance Ruffin showed no signs of a sophomore slump, allowing one run on four hits and striking out three in seven innings. Travis Tucker, Brandon Loy and David Hernandez each had two hits for the Horns.
Box Score

No. 9 Stanford 6, Vanderbilt 5 (10 innings)

The marquee pitching match-up between Jeff Inman and Mike Minor wasn't as good as advertised, but the game was. While Inman allowed five runs in seven innings and Minor three runs in 5.2, the game went to extra innings where Toby Gerhart delivered the game-winning hit in the 10th. Zach Jones and Joey August each had three hits for Stanford. Vandy was led by Aaron Westlake's three hits. Highly-touted freshman Sonny Gray made an appearance out of the pen for Vandy and struck out three in three shutout innings.
Box Score

No. 10 Cal State Fullerton 7, TCU 6

Another barn-burner between two pretty good teams as Fullerton got a walk-off single from freshman Tyler Pill to win it. Nick Ramirez had four hits to lead the Titans.
Box Score

No. 24 Florida 6, No. 11 Louisville 3

Senior Patrick Keating stepped into his new role as staff ace with a strong seven innings as the Gators slipped past Louisville. Florida got two hits from Josh Adams and jumped on Louisville ace Justin Marks with three runs in the first. Andrew Clark had three hits to pace the Cards.
Box Score

No. 12 Miami 6, Rutgers 1

Miami coach Jim Morris notched his 1,200th Division I win as the Canes handled Rutgers. Last year's national freshman of the year, Chris Hernandez, picked up where he left off with six innings of one-run ball. He struck out seven. Juco transfer Scott Lawson went 3-for-4, as did catcher Yasmani Grandal. Freshman Harold Martinez went 2-for-4. Casey Gaynor allowed one run in five innings for the Scarlet Knights.
Box Score

No. 13 Georgia Tech 9, Lipscomb 0

Deck McGuire built on his big summer with maybe the best individual performance of the day. The towering sophomore struck out 13, walked one and allowed just one hit in seven shutout innings. "Deck couldn't have pitched any better than he pitched," said head coach Danny Hall. Derek Dietrich and Jeff Rowland added home runs for the Jackets.
Box Score

No. 14 Mississippi 6, Liberty 5

In the biggest near-upset of the day, Ole Miss managed to outlast a feisty Liberty team that never went away. The Rebels won it on a seventh-inning sac fly from Zach Miller. Logan Power had three RBI to lead the Rebels' attack.
Box Score

No. 15 UC Irvine 5, Hawaii 1

The Anteaters headed to paradise and turned in a performance to match the scenery. Daniel Bibona took a no-hitter into the eighth inning before Hawaii broke it up. Bibona ended up going 7.2 innings, striking out eight and allowing one run on one hit. Francis Larson had two hits and two RBI.
Box Score

No. 16 Oklahoma State 17, BYU 14

Yeesh. It wasn't pretty as every Cowboy pitcher had his share of struggle, but the offense came to life with two runs in the seventh and four in the eighth to save the day. Kevin David had four hits to lead the Cowboys. BYU's Brandon Relf had four hits and four RBI.
Box Score

No. 17 Fresno State 5, Washington 4

Your defending national champs didn't open up with a cakewalk, and Washington gave them all they could handle. Jake Johnson scored the winning run in the ninth on a wild pitch. Johnson had two hits and two RBI. Holden Sprague turned in a good showing with six strikeouts and one run allowed in six innings.
Box Score

No. 18 San Diego 6, Southern 4

In the MLB Urban Invitational, a wonderful event, the Toreros got a dominant performance from sophomore lefty Sammy Solis then survived a late rally to get the win. Solis struck out nine, didn't walk anybody and allowed four hits in six innings. Sean Nicol had two hits and two RBI to lead USD. Southern got great relief work from James Spear, who allowed a run in six innings.
Box Score

No. 19 Baylor 2, Pacific 1 (10 innings)

The Bears got a bases-loaded single in the 10th from redshirt freshman Dan Evatt to survivie an upset bid by the Tigers. Shaver Hansen and Gregg Glime each had two hits for the Bears, and Kendal Volz struck out five and allowed a run in six innings. Freshman Logan Verrett was very impressive with seven strikeouts in four innings out of the bullpen. He picked up the win. Joey Centanni went six shutout innings for Pacific.
Box Score

No. 20 Missouri 12, Nevada 1

The Tigers had no trouble with Nevada. Kyle Gibson struck out six and allowed three hits and one unearned run in six innings. Ryan Lollis had two hits and two RBI.
Box Score

No. 21 Pepperdine 4, Cal State Northridge 3

In a nailbiter, the Waves got back-to-back ninth-inning home runs to steal a 4-3 victory. Nate Simon hit the first and Denny Duron followed with the walk-off blast to win it. Nate Newman allowed two runs in eight innings for the Waves.
Box Score

No. 22 Coastal Carolina 16, Southern Illinois 3

Freshman Anthony Meo got the opening day start and didn't disappoint. The righthander from Cranston, R.I., struck out six and allowed one run on two hits in six innings of work. He got plenty of offense as Rico Noel and David Anderson each went 3-for-4 with three RBI. Jose Iglesias added five RBI.
Box Score

No. 23 Kentucky 8, Troy 3

Spencer Korus had two hits and three RBI and UK got strong mound performances from James Paxton and Nick Kennedy to get the victory. Paxton struck out six and allowed two runs in 5.2 innings. Kennedy went the rest of the way, allowing one run and striking out four.
Box Score

No. 25 UCLA 13, UC Davis 1

Somewhat of a surprise as a Friday starter, Rob Rasmussen showed why he got the nod with five shutout innings. He allowed two hits and struck out five. Blair Dunlap had three hits and two RBI to lead the offense.
Box Score

The Strasburg Experience

2009-02-20T17:05:00.001-05:00

I just realized San Diego State has free audio of tonight's game on its web site. Enjoy.

Live Audio

Alex White = Good

2009-02-20T15:51:00.001-05:00

I can't resist a quick and entirely meaningless update.

Through two innings against VMI, North Carolina ace Alex White has six strikeouts.

Not bad, sir. Not bad at all.

Live Stats

TGIF: February 20th

2009-02-20T14:56:00.001-05:00

I went back and forth on what to call this little feature. I tried to come up with a reference to the sky since this is Omaha Sky and all, but nothing really fits. I finally settled on TGIF. It might be a little too lame, but I can't resist a nod to the halcyon days of Steve Urkel and Step by Step. Incidentally, Steve Urkel was played by Jaleel White, who attended UCLA, where they play baseball, which is a pretty terrible segue into the fact that baseball is here.

Anyway, I hope TGIF can serve a solid purpose. Like most things, I'll figure it out as we go.

For now, we've got a pretty solid weekend of baseball on tap. It's not choc full of marquee match-ups or anything, but it's the first weekend, so give it a break. I do like the Florida-Louisville match-up, and we'll get a nice dose of top-shelf pitching all weekend. Also of note, the Saturday games at the MLB Urban Invitational will be televised on MLB network, with games starting at 5 p.m. and 9 p.m ET. The first game features San Diego against Bethune-Cookman. San Diego State takes on Southern University in the nightcap.

One For the Books - No. 8 Louisvile at No. 25 Florida
Friday 6:30, Saturday 1, Sunday 12

It's the only weekend series featuring a pair of top 25 teams, and that's not the only bit of drama. The games represent a very early chance for an up-and-coming Louisville program to grab a few statement wins. On the other side, a Florida team that's trying to round back into a powerhouse could make a big stand.

The Cardinals enter as a consensus top 15 team. They've got the Big East's preseason player of the year in Chris Dominguez and pitcher of the year in lefty Justin Marks, plus a lot of other talented players. Not too long ago, they were a Cinderella story when they rode a senior-laden team to Omaha. Last year, despite losing almost everybody, they surged to the Big East conference championship and a return trip to the NCAA Tournament. They were bounced early, though, and you can bet that still stings.

As for the Gators, they haven't earned yet a spot as a consensus anything. They're just an SEC team with some potential and some question marks, after a remarkably quick fall from the upper echelon of the conference. Still, there's talent in the fold, including Matt den Dekker and senior pitcher Patrick Keating, who gets the start opposite Marks on Friday. Interestingly, the Gators are going with a pair of freshmen to start the other two games. They're good ones, but they're getting a real early test.

Your starters:
Friday - Justin Marks vs. Patrick Keating
Saturday - Dean Kiekhefer vs. Alex Panteliodis
Sunday - Matt Lea vs. Nick Maronde

Others to Keep Tabs On

TCU at Cal-State Fullerton - Not quite a top 25 match-up, but the Horned Frogs are up there, and the Titans are a top-10 team.
UC Davis at UCLA - Davis has some California talent, and it'll be interesting to see how the Bruins come out after last year's fall from grace.
Oregon State at Tennessee - Two teams with recent Omaha credentials.
Rice at Cal-Poly - The Owls hit the road to take on a team with some talent.
Long Beach State at USC - Not quite the cache that this series would have had a few years ago, but still kind of enticing.

Star-Watching
A look at the weekends for the top-ranked prospects in the land.
1. Stephen Strasburg - The Strasburg experience begins Friday at 5 p.m. against Bethune-Cookman. (Live Stats)
2. Grant Green - Your top position player and his Trojans welcome Long Beach State. Green will go against Tyler Topp (3.65 ERA last year), Jake Thompson (4.95) and freshman Andrew Gagnon.
3. Alex White - The North Carolina ace gets the start Friday against a VMI team that returns five .300 hitters from last year. (Live Stats
4. Dustin Ackley - Going against VMI, Ackley will face two pretty good pitchers in Travis Smink (3.48 ERA last year) and Chris Henderson (3.16).
5. Kyle Gibson - Missouri's ace gets the start Friday against Nevada. (Live Stats)

Strasburg is . . .
. . . getting his own section. The man, the myth, the legend is worth paying very special attention to. He will undoubtedly be watched very closely this weekend. His start Friday comes against a Bethune-Cookman team that got some votes in the NCBWA poll. His mound opponent is Hiram Burgos, a pretty solid pitcher in his own right.

Nice Little Warm-Ups

While we have a couple of interesting match-ups on tap, the vast majority of top teams will be opening the season with series that should be swept. If North Carolina, Texas A&M, LSU, Georgia, texas and a lot of other squads don't get a perfect weekend, it would be surprising. That said, I would love to see an upset or five.

Get The Radar Guns

Your pitching match-up to watch will come tonight when Stanford's Jeff Inman faces off against Vanderbilt's Mike Minor. Baseball America ranks Minor as the eighth-best college prospect. Inman is No. 20. (Live Stats

Into the Fire

Several of the top freshmen pitchers in the country won't be held back for the season's first weekend. UCLA's Gerrit Cole is scheduled to start Saturday against UC-Davis and the aforementioned Maronde and Panteliodis of Florida will get starts against Louisville. Kentucky's Alex Meyer and Vanderbilt's Sonny Gray aren't currently listed on their teams' probables, but both teams have TBA spots, where they could potentially jump in.

It Begins

2009-02-20T13:41:00.001-05:00

The clock struck midnight this morning and one minute later, the college baseball season officially began.

In case you missed it, and you probably did, Central Michigan and Florida Gulf Coast opened the season with a wee-hours-of-the-morning game in the La Quinta Invitational. Florida Gulf Coast came out on top 4-3 thanks to an eighth-inning double by Brad Roberts.

It's pretty cool that these teams played this game when they did. It's a nice little nod to the official start date, and though the teams involved aren't powerhouses, just the presence of the game builds the excitement for the season. Also, the fact that the two teams are playing again tonight makes this the rare morning-night doubleheader.

Anyway, the big games start today. I'll be checking in with everything at some point, as I figure out exactly how one covers a college baseball season. If you're reading this, well congratulations on finding the place. Come on in. There's plenty of room.

Quick Look: No. 16 Baylor

2009-02-17T07:13:00.001-05:00

There has been loads of talent for a while now in Waco, Texas, but the Baylor Bears haven't truly been able to get over the hump. They made an Omaha trip in 2005, but that's it.

Last year, they didn't just fail to get over the hump. They slid back down.

The Bears finished the year with a 32-26 record and a sub-.500 mark in Big 12 play. After a quick exit from the Big 12 tourney, they were left out of the NCAA tourney. For a team with as much talent as Baylor, that can't have been a good feeling.

This year presents a chance to make it better.

The Bears have a lot of talent back, including a deep group of juniors that not too long ago, was the best recruiting class in the country. If the Bears take a step forward this season, that group will be leading the way.

Offensively, five of the team's top six hitters from last season are back in the fold. Juniors Shaver Hansen, Raynor Campbell, Dustin Dickerson and Aaron Miller all bring a combination of average and power to the table. Senior Ben Booker is also back, and should once again be one of the team's best.

The pitching staff is headed by more juniors, namely Kendal Volz, one of the more talked-about arms in the country. He hasn't put up fantastic numbers in his Baylor career, but he pitched for Team USA last summer and he's been picked by Baseball America as a first-team All-American. If he can put up the numbers to match the hype, he'll be a true Friday starter.

Sophomores Shawn Tolleson and Craig Fritsch, both of whom have taken redshirt years, give the rest of the rotation a veteran presence, and they could emerge as solid performers. Tolleson had a 5.06 ERA last spring, while Fritsch sat at 4.80.

Willie Kempf, who had a solid year last year in a swing role, is also back.

Five to Watch

Kendal Volz
Aaron Miller
Shaver Hansen
Raynor Campbell
Craig Fritsch

Notable

If anyone's going to become an elite hitter for the Bears, Miller looks like the prime candidate. He's battled some injuries throughout his career, and he's played just 13 games of summer baseball because of those injuries. But last spring, he hit .295 with a team-best 12 home runs and a .425 on-base percentage.

Volz represents the same kind of player on the pitching staff -- the Bears need him to take his game up a level. Though his ERA was a little high for an ace last year, he did strike out 85 in 70.2 innings. He certainly sounds like a guy who's capable of big things.

Of all Baylor's returning hitters, Hansen is coming off the best season. He hit .326 last spring with six home runs. He was also a Team USA invite, though he ended up on the Cape.

I could see Tolleson having a big year. He was coming off Tommy John surgery last spring, and the first year after that is always a tricky one. But this was a guy who was a top-10 prospect coming out of high school in 2006. He was also rated by BA as the 15th best prospect on the Cape last summer.

Baylor's most recent recruiting class wasn't ranked all that high, but freshmen Joey Hainsfurther and Dan Evatt, both late-round picks in June, figure to be in the mix for early playing time. Redshirt freshman Brooks Pinckard could also nab a starting spot. He was a Northwoods League All-Star last summer.

Quick Look: No. 16 Fresno State

2009-02-16T22:44:00.003-05:00

That picture represents one of the more remarkable championship runs you'll ever see.

And how the heck do you follow it?

The short answer is that you probably can't. The Fresno State Bulldogs, a regional fourth seed, won the College World Series last year by catching lightning in a bottle like no team ever has. On paper, maybe they didn't even belong in Omaha. But on the field, they owned that town.

Catching the same kind of wave will be next to impossible, though an upstart Oregon State did win back-to-back titles a few years ago. But the bigger goal for the Bulldogs should be to simply build on their success, and to use it as a foundation, rather than as a standard to live up to.

Not that the championship didn't raise standards. When you win, things change. You expect more and you demand more. You can bet the Bulldogs will try to deliver.

They lost some key pieces from last year's team, including inspirational leaders Steve Susdorf and Erik Wetzel, as well as workhorse pitcher Justin Wilson. Tanner Scheppers, who was the highest-drafted Bulldog but was injured for the title run, is also gone.

What's left still looks like a pretty solid group, but the fact that the Bulldogs aren't getting the attention you might expect from a defending national champ underscores the question marks.

Those questions loom largest on the mound, where the Bulldogs lost their six of their top seven pitchers from last year. That's a ridiculously high number, and a major loss for any team to cope with. Fresno's top returning pitcher is Holden Sprague, who made 33 appaearances, but only nine starts. In all, there are only four pitchers on the 2009 roster who pitched in 2008 -- Sprague, Sean Bonesteele, Jake Floethe and Gene Escat.

I'd be lying if I said I knew what Fresno was doing to fill in the gaps. At this point, it's tough to predict. The Bulldogs did bring in four junior college pitchers and eight freshmen. Sprague should be able to step into a rotation spot, and freshman Josh Poytress comes in with a lot of hype. Beyond that, the Bulldogs will have a lot of things to figure out.

The offense should be less of an issue. Alan Ahmady, Steve Detwiler, Gavin Hedstrom, Tommy Mendonca and Danny Muno are all back in the fold. They were some of the biggest catalysts for the championship run last year, and they should give the Bulldogs plenty of strength at the plate.

With so many question marks on the pitching staff, I wouldn't be surprised to see some early-season struggles. But this time last year, nobody was picking Fresno State to do anything and look what happened. With a lot of the same personalities on this team, I wouldn't count them out.

Five to Watch
Tommy Mendonca
Danny Muno
Alan Ahmady
Josh Poytress
Holden Sprague

Notable

Mendonca is getting a lot of attention in the preseason. After his big College World Series and a summer tour with Team USA, he's been tabbed by Baseball America as a first-team All-American.

I hope Steve Detwiler's thumb is okay now. If you remember from the CWS last year, he needed surgery but just kept playing. He ended up delivering a ridiculous performance. Hopefully he won't have to be so gutsy this year.

For all the hype Mendonca gets, Ahmady is actually the team's leading returning hitter. He hit .386 last year with 13 home runs and 92 RBI. Really good numbers, and he's only going to get better.

The crop of young pitchers is headed by Poytress, a 6'1 lefty who was drafted in the 16th round last year. The rest of the young guys are a little less well-known, but I'll say this: they're very tall. Fresno has four frosh pitchers who stand 6'4 or taller.

I'm going to guess that Sprague will step into the Friday starter spot, unless Poytress makes a big splash. Sprague was very good last year and ended up picking up the win in the College World Series final.

All-Americans and Some Notes

2009-02-16T20:57:00.001-05:00

First, if anybody out there is waiting with bated breath for more quick looks, I'm probably not going to be done with all of them by the time the season starts on Friday. But I'll be catching up on all the top teams at some point.

Secondly, when CSTV turned into CBS College Sports, it looked like college baseball super-writer Eric Sorenson wouldn't have a home. But he has resurfaced with his own site called College Baseball Today. It's definitely worth checking out.

Finally, Baseball America came out with its preseason All-American teams. The first team is headed by all the names you'd expect, from Strasburg to White to Green. Tennessee's Kentrail Davis and Alabama's Ross Wilson are the only sophomores on the first team.

I have nothing else to add for now. Maybe a few quick looks before the season starts, but really, I'm just ready for baseball.

Midnight Madness

2009-02-02T22:08:00.001-05:00

I'm not sure it's going to catch on, but kudos to Cal State Fullerton for giving it a try. The Titans held a midnight practice on Sunday, celebrating the first day teams could practice by becoming the first team to practice.

I think it's pretty awesome. Their theme for the season is "First to Practice, Last to Play," as in last team standing. I love it when coaches make motivation a real, tangible thing. Even if they're all tired on Monday.

Quick Look: No. 17 San Diego

2009-01-30T22:14:00.002-05:00

What do you do when you lose two All-American pitchers?

How about replace them with three who could be All-Americans in their own right?

That's what San Diego is doing this season. The Toreros lost Brian Matusz and Josh Romanski from last year's team. They were the cornerstones, and the guys who defined San Diego's pitching-first approach.

They did not leave the cupboard bare.

Sophomores Sammy Solis and Kyle Blair appear poised for stardom, as does junior Matt Thomson. Considering who they lost, those three make for a pretty remarkable weekend rotation. Solis didn't make a huge splash as a freshman, but the tall and powerful lefthander was a star in the Cape League. Blair came to San Diego with more hype than Solis and he delivered a brilliant freshman campaign as the Toreros' third starter, finishing with a 3.86 ERA and 94 strikeouts in 74 innings. Thomson started just one game last year but put up solid numbers out of the bullpen before turning in a terrific summer on the Cape, where he was tabbed as the 13th best prospect.

If those three weren't enough, San Diego has senior Matt Couch returning from Tommy John surgery. He should provide the kind of experienced depth that few teams have. In the bullpen, A.J. Griffin returns after picking up 14 saves last year with an ERA under two. He spent the summer with Team USA.

All in all, the pitching staff looks like a major strength. San Diego should have one of the top staffs on the West Coast.

The offense won't provide a whole lot of pop, but there's enough experience to get the job done. The Toreros return five of their top seven hitters from last year. James Meador, who hit .374 with 25 extra-base hits, leads the way. Jose Valerio and Kevin Muno are also coming off big years, while sophomore Victor Sanchez returns after leading the Toreros with 12 home runs as a freshman.

It's easy to see why the Toreros are a consensus top-15 team. The key now will be getting to the next level. Despite being one of the nation's preeminent programs in recent years, the Toreros haven't gotten out of a regional.

Five to Watch

James Meador
Kyle Blair
Sammy Solis
Matt Thomson
A.J. Griffin

Notable

I'm pretty amazed at the pitching staff San Diego will be trotting out this year. All three of them could be Friday starters on other teams. Blair and Solis should be two of the best sophomore hurlers in the country. I saw Solis on the Cape over the summer and came away very impressed.

Another note on the pitching. I've read that San Diego uses a big allotment of its scholarship money on pitching, and it's clearly paying off. Assuming they can hit enough, this team looks like the real deal.

Like UC Irvine, the Toreros aren't going to beat you with the home run. Sanchez was the only player in double figures last year. He should provide some pop in the middle of the order again this year, but the bread and butter figures to be the gap power of guys like Meador and Muno.

Kevin Muno is the older brother of Fresno State's Danny Muno. You can bet big bro wants what little bro has after last year's Fresno State championship.

Looking at the Polls

2009-01-30T14:33:00.003-05:00

I should note now that the rankings referenced in the Quick Looks are actually from Collegiate Baseball's Poll, which was the only one out when I started the series. For me, the rankings are secondary to the actual write-up and since I'm not as well-versed in college baseball as I'd like to be at this point, I didn't feel like I could do my own rankings. So, in case of any confusion, these are not my rankings.

But anyway, in looking at all the rankings, I was struck by how different they all are. Rivals hasn't counted all the way down yet, but there are four polls out that all have a different look. The Collegiate Baseball, National Collegiate Baseball Writers and ESPN/USA Today are all fairly similar, but Baseball America's is all over the map, by comparison.

So I thought I'd put together an average of all the polls, just to get a feel for things. Of course, none of this will matter in June. Fresno State, your 2008 national champion, wouldn't have been on a list like this. It's still fun to look at, though.

It's not an exact science, because some polls order their "Others Receiving Votes" while Baseball America just has the Top 25. I had to do some fuzzy math to account for that, but I think it gets the point across.

TEAM	POLL AVG.
LSU	1.5
North Carolina	2
Rice	4
Texas A&M	4.75
Georgia	6.75
Texas	7.75
Arizona State	8.25
Stanford	8.75
Cal-State Fullerton	9
Mississippi	10.5
Florida State	11.5
Georgia Tech	14.25
Louisville	14.5
Baylor	14.75
San Diego	15.25
UC Irvine	15.5
Oklahoma State	17.25
Miami	17.5
Missouri	18
Fresno State	19.5
UCLA	20
Pepperdine	20.5
Kentucky	23.5
Clemson	24
Florida	24.5
Coastal Carolina	25
Oklahoma	29.5
USC	29.5
Oregon State	33
Alabama	33.25
Kent State	33.75
Arkansas	34.75

Quick Look: No. 18 Miami

2009-01-30T12:54:00.003-05:00

The Miami Hurricanes were one of only five teams to record 50 or more wins last season.

Of course, the Hurricanes didn't get the all-important wins.

After a year in which they were ranked No. 1 for a long stretch, Miami made it to the College World Series, but bowed out before the championship round. They lost to Stanford in an elimination game.

You can bet they'll be hungry this season, but the same faces won't be at the table.

Miami bids farewell to more talent than just about any team in the country. First baseman Yonder Alonso, second baseman Jemile Weeks, and pitcher Carlos Gutierrez were all first-round picks. Outfielder Dennis Raben went in the second round, outfielder Blake Tekotte went in the third round and third baseman Mark Sobolewski got picked in the fourth round. That's six players drafted in the first four rounds.

That's an eye-popping amount of talent on one college baseball team, so clearly, the Hurricanes have some major gaps to fill and it wouldn't susprise anybody if they took a step back this season.

It just might not be too far back.

The Hurricanes still have the makings of a contender, and while their offense was dealt a heavy blow in June, their pitching staff should be strong, especially at the top.

Sophomore Chris Hernandez is back after being named National Freshman of the Year by several outlets. The southpaw went 11-0 last season with a 2.72 ERA. He also struck out 117 and walked only 18 in 112.2 innings. He's an ace if there ever was one.

The weekend rotation figured to be very solid with Eric Erickson slotting behind Hernandez, but Erickson will miss the season with an injury. That leaves David Gutierrez as the most likely No. 2 starter. A junior right-hander, Gutierrez had a 4.75 ERA last year.

Someone else will have to step into the rotation behind those two. Tyler Wulf, a junior-college transfer, seems to be getting a lot of mentions as a potential third starter.

The bullpen features Kyle Bellamy, who had a 1.86 ERA last year, and should be a premier closer.

As for the offense, the Hurricanes have some work to do. Shortstop Ryan Jackson after a breakout sophomore season in which he hit .360. Without the usual suspects aroud him, it'll be interesting to see how he and the Miami offense respond. Players like Yasmani Grandal, Jason Hagerty and Dave DiNatale, as well as some newcomers, will have to step up in order to give the Hurricanes a chance.

Five to Watch

Chris Hernandez

Kyle Bellamy

Ryan Jackson

Dave DiNatale

Harold Martinez

Notable

I'm guessing it might take awhile for the Hurricanes to find themselves this year. They were one of the more experienced and talented teams in the country last season. They knew how to play, and what worked. It might take this team awhile to establish its own identity.
If Hernandez can somehow improve on his freshman season, look out. He was one of the top pitchers last year in the nation, not just the top freshmen pitcher.
Jackson is currently rated by Baseball America as the 29th best prospect in the country for the 2009 draft. If he hits like he did last year, you can see why he's ranked so high. He's also a great defender at shortstop.
DiNatale is one of just five seniors on the whole roster, and he's the one in the best position to be a leader. If he's leading by example, his .295 AVG and 26 extra-base hits from last year are a good place to start.
Miami's incoming recruiting class wasn't rated among the best in the country, but there are still some potential impact players. Third baseman Harold Martinez looks like the most improving. Before a so-so senior season last year in high school, Martinez was projected as a first-round pick. He ended up going in the 19th round and opted to stick to his commitment.

Quick Look: No. 19 Kentucky

2009-01-30T11:48:00.001-05:00

It's a bit of a new era for Kentucky baseball.

The Wildcats lost their top three hitters from last season -- three players who were key cogs in the program's resurgence -- as well as the man who led that resurgence, head coach John Cohen. After the season, Cohen left Kentucky to become the new head coach at Mississippi State.

He leaves behind a team may have some question marks, but one that should still be a contender in the SEC.

The new head coach is Gary Henderson, a veteran of the college ranks. He's made stops at seven different schools, and in 1996, was the National Assistant Coach of the Year at Florida. The last five years, he's been the associate head coach and pitching coach under Cohen at Kentucky. It looks like the transition should be seamless.

If there's something to worry about, it's the holes the Wildcats have to fill.

Sawyer Carroll, Ryan Wilkes and Colin Cowgill are all gone. They were the three leading hitters last year, with Carroll checking in at .419, Wilkes hitting .374 and Cowgill coming in at .361. That trio combined for 47 home runs and 179 RBI. That's a huge chunk of offense. Percentage-wise, they accounted for 56 percent of UK's home runs and 40 percent of the team's runs scored.

Replacing that kind of production will not be an easy task.

The Wildcats have a handful of starters returning in Keenan Wiley, Chris McClendon and Chris Wade. They'll have to lead the way, and they appear to be capable. Last year, McClendon hit .346, Wiley hit .327 and Wade .296.

Newcomers should have a chance to make an impact on the offensive side, and thankfully for the Wildcats, they've got some good ones. Baseball America ranked Kentucky's incoming class fourth in the nation, and it's heavy on offensive talent.

Freshmen Andy Burns, Cory Farris and Brandon Kapteyn should all make an immediate impact. Junior College transfer Gunner Glad is extremely versatile and was a star in the juco ranks.

If those newcomers can help get the offense on the right track, then the Wildcats should be in good shape, because their pitching staff didn't take the hit that the offense did. Senior lefty Chris Rusin was the team's top starter last season and he's back in the mix. Two guys who had sub-3 ERA's in swing roles last year -- James Paxton and Mike Kaczmarek -- should be able to step into bigger roles this year.

Speaking of big, UK's top-flight recruiting class is headed by freshman pitcher Alex Meyer. A 6'8" righty, Meyer was rated as the 25th best prospect in the nation last year by BA. He was picked in the 20th round but opted to stick with his commmitment to the Wildcats. I'd expect him to be one of the top freshman pitches in the country.

All in all, there are some definite question marks for the Wildcats, but by the looks of things, there are a lot of potential answers, too.

Five to Watch

Keenan Wiley

Chris McClendon

Chris Rusin

Alex Meyer

Andy Burns

Notable

It'll be interesting to see where the production comes from this year. While the trio of returning bats are solid, they didn't hit for much power last year. Wade's five home runs are tops among returning players.
I'd peg McClendon as a guy who could really take a leap. Potentially the best third baseman in the SEC, McClendon hit .346 last year despite playing with a herniated disk in his back and a pulled hamstring. A former JUCO All-American, McClendon is poised for big things.
Rusin was a first-team all-SEC pick last year, and he was picked in the 23rd round of the June draft by Oakland. He decided to stay in school, and he should be one of the top pitchers in the SEC, if not the nation.
Definitely keep an eye on Meyer. If this recruiting class is Kentucky's best ever, then Meyer is its best-ever freshman. If he settles in quickly, the Cats will have quite a 1-2 punch atop their rotation.

Quick Look: No. 20 UC Irvine

2009-01-30T11:09:00.000-05:00

Maybe the magic wore off last season. The UC Irvine Anteaters, darlings of the 2007 postseason, were in the midst of a similar run in 2008. Not exactly a Cinderella story anymore, Irvine went in to the Baton Rouge Super Regional and took game one from a red-hot LSU team.

And then the run ended with a thud. LSU rallied from a 7-2 deficit to take game two then won game three to advance to the College World Series. For the Tigers, it was a kind of new beginning, a first big step in their return to national prominence.

Don't expect it to be an ending for the Anteaters.

They enter the 2009 season as a consensus Top 25 team, and Kendall Rogers at Rivals ranked them No. 7, their highest preseason ranking ever.

It's pretty clear, then, that the upstart Anteaters aren't going anywhere.

There are certainly holes to fill -- no more Ollie Linton or Scott Gorgen, the sparkplug and workhorse for the 2007 run to Omaha. No more Bryce Stowell, either, who emerged as last year as one of the top starting pitchers around.

But there's still talent in the fold, and the best news for Irvine is that it's experienced talent.

If you look at potential starting nines for the Anteaters, you'll notice that every position is filled by an upperclassmen. In the college baseball world, that's a pretty rare sight, and it could mean huge things for this team.

Offensively, it looks like first baseman Jeff Cusick and shortstop Ben Orloff will lead the way. Cusick hit .363 last season, and though he didn't have a home run, he had 16 doubles. Orloff, a senior, hit .344 last season and led the team with 17 doubles.

Other returnees include Sean Madigan, Dillon Bell, Francis Larson and Casey Stevenson, all of whom hit over .300. Ryan Fisher, who was second on the team with 37 RBI, is also back.

The experience extends to the starting pitching staff, as well. Junior lefthander Daniel Bilbona should be ready to assume the Friday starter role. Last year, he went 9-3 with a 3.08 ERA and struck out 97 in 102.1 innings. He looks like an ace-in-waiting. Behind him, junior Christian Bergman returns after a great season in a swing role last year. The righty made 7 starts and 18 appearances out of the pen, putting up a team-best 1.94 ERA.

As for the bullpen, it's definitely solid at the back end. Junior Eric Pettis returns as one of the top closers in the country. He had 17 saves last year.

Five to Watch

Eric Pettis

Daniel Bilbona

Jeff Cusick

Ben Orloff

Francis Larson

Notable

The most interesting column on a UC Irvne state sheet is the one labeled SH -- sacrifice hits. The Anteaters play small ball about as well as any team in the country, and you can see it when you look at that column. I'm going to guess that an average team will have about 40 sacrifices. Irvine last year? Try 92. The most interesting thing is that everybody is in on the action. Every player who started more than 20 games had at least two sacrifices. Francis Larson, who led the team with seven home runs, also had seven sacrifices.
Not many teams could lose two high draft picks like Scott Gorgen and Bryce Stowell, and still trot out a talented and experienced group of starters. It sure looks like the Anteaters will be doing that.
If not for Gorgen, I think Daniel Bibona would have gotten a little more attention last year. He delivered a pretty fantastic sophomore campaign, and should be the main man on the pitching staff this year.
There may not be a better closer in the country than Pettis. He gave up one home run all of last year, and opponents hit just .224 against him.
The Anteaters didn't have a single player with double-digit home runs last year, and that might be the case again this season. But if any team can deal with that, it's this team.
With so many veterans already penciled into the lineup, I'm not sure a newcomer can make with the Anteaters this year. Juco transfer Cory Olson would certainly be a candidate, though. The outfielder was a Cape League All-Star last summer.

Quick Look: No. 21 UCLA

2009-01-21T16:06:00.000-05:00

This time last year, few teams in the country had more hype heaped on them than the UCLA Bruins. They were picked by many publications as the top team in the land. Coach John Savage's annual recruiting success would finally pay off, with the Bruins ascending to the true upper echelon.

It didn't happen. Not close, really.

The Bruins finished the year 33-27. Not bad, but not what you'd expect from a team that got so much preseason attention. They ended up qualifying for a regional, but they lost to Cal State Fullerton.

As the Bruins try to bounce back from the season, they have a number of holes to fill. Alden Carrithers and Brandon Crawford are gone. They were three of the team's top four hitters last year. Tim Murphy, the starting pitcher with the best ERA, is also gone.

What's left? A team that isn't garnering as much hype, but a good team nonetheless.

Expectations should be highest on the mound. Juniors Gavin Brooks and Charles Brewer figure to be two of the top pitchers in the Pac-10. Neither had a great season last year, but that was partially due to their health. It looks like they're ready to go this season.

The pitching staff will also get a huge boost from the arrival of freshman Gerritt Cole. A first-round pick of the Yankees, the 6'4, 215-pound righty opted to honor his commitment to UCLA, becoming the highest draft pick to attend college in a number of years. It sounds like he'll be among the best freshman pitchers in the nation this spring.

There's depth in the pitching staff as well, with Rob Rasmussen, Matt Grace, Brendan Lafferty and Jason Novak all back in the fold. Grace, Lafferty and Novak all had ERA's under four last year. Garrett Claypool, who had decent numbers last year, is also back. Erik Goeddel, who was one of the top high schoolers in the nation two years ago, took a redshirt last season. Not sure what his health status, but he's someone to watch, as well.

If there are questions for the Bruins, they revolve around the offense. Carrithers, Crawford and Curtis were big-time players and they'll be missed. Casey Haerther, who hit .324 and led the team with 12 home runs last year, is back, but players like Gabe Cohen and Blair Dunlap will have to deliver big seasons to make up for the absence of the aforementioned trio. Cohen was a freshman All-American in 2007 but hit just .204 last season.

Five to Watch

Gavin Brooks - Jr. - LHP

Gerritt Cole - Fr. - RHP

Charles Brewer - Jr. - RHP

Casey Haerther - Jr. - 1B/3B

Gabe Cohen - Jr. - OF

Notable

Cole has run his fastball into the high 90s in the past, and that alone makes him one of the more intriguing freshmen in the nation. How he develops in the college landscape will be interesting to watch.
Brooks (pictured above) seems to be in line for a breakout year. Like Cole, he was a big-time prep prospect, and he delivered some eye-popping numbers his freshman year (98 strikeouts in 110.2 IP). He left the Cape early the following summer because of injury concerns and made only 14 starts last year. A 6'4 lefty with a lot of potential, this could be the year he really delivers on it.
While Curtis, et al were the big-name hitters last year, Haerther was the team's best run producer. He's another one who could really burst onto the national scene with a big year.
The crop of freshman on campus now was tabbed by Baseball America as the seventh-best recruiting class in the country. Cole obviously heads it, but shortstop Tyler Rahmatulla and third baseman Chris Amezquita figure to make immediate impacts. Pitcher Trevor Bauer is skipping his senior year of high school to enroll at UCLA.

Quick Look: No. 22 Missouri

2009-01-15T14:49:00.000-05:00

So the deck isn't stacked this year.

But the Missouri Tigers are still holding ace.

Kyle Gibson returns for his junior season as one of the top pitchers in the country, and he's a big reason why the Tigers should once again be one of the top teams in the nation. Gibson was 9-4 last year with a 3.84 ERA. He struck out 92 in 86.2 innings.

This year, Gibson won't have all-everything flamethrower Aaron Crow ahead of him in the rotation, which should make the Tigers' rotation a little less fearsome. Still, Gibson is as good as it gets, and not many teams can trot out a Friday starter like him.

I guess the question is this: Can Gibson and the Tigers finally take the step they've been trying to take for years? They went 39-21 last year but again, didn't get out of the regional round. The year before, they were 42-18 but lost to an upstart Louisville squad in the regional.

Gibson is a solid starting point, but the Tigers will obviously need more.

In terms of talent and experience, it looks like they've got it. Only a handful of contributors are gone from last year, leaving a good crop of players behind.

Offensively, the Tigers have some stars in outfielder Ryan Lollis, catcher Trevor Coleman and outfielder Aaron Senne. As a junior, Lollis hit .339 then opted to head back to school after being drafted in the 20th round. Coleman hit .295 last year then delivered a solid summer in the Cape League. Senne led the team with a .347 average and was second with 13 home runs. He played for Team USA last summer.

The Tigers also have first baseman Steve Gray back in the fold. He hit .317 last season.

As far as pitching goes, Gibson will headline a staff that also returns Ian Berger, who was the third starter last year. He had a 4.54 ERA and decent strikeout numbers.

Who's Gone

Aaron Crow is obviously the biggest loss, but sliding Kyle Gibson right in is a luxury few teams have . . . Rick Zagone was a valuable swing guy on the pitching staff . . . Jacob Priday was the team's most powerful hitter, and they'll have to replace his production.

Five to Watch

Kyle Gibson - Jr. - RHP

Aaron Senne - Jr. - OF

Trevor Coleman - Jr. - C

Ian Berger - Sr. - RHP

Ryan Lollis - Sr. - OF

Notable

Gibson didn't crack Missouri's rotation as a freshman, instead serving as the team's closer. He had a huge summer on the Cape and slid into the No. 2 slot last year. If you're looking for someone to make a similar emergence, sophomore Nick Tepesch , who stands 6'5 like Gibson, made only one start last year and had a 4.85 ERA. He could be poised for a breakout season this year.
I would expect Senne to be one of the top players in the Big 12 this season. I saw him in a Team USA exhibition game last summer and was pretty impressed. He's a lefty with a lot of pop.
According to Rivals' Kendall Rogers, Mizzou coach Tim Jamieson is expecting huge things from Coleman. I was pretty impressed with him on the Cape last summer, and I could definitely see him emerging as one of the top catchers in the country.
For the other teams I've done, the "five to watch" has included a freshman or two. Not so for the Tigers, which reflects their experience.

Quick Look: No. 23 Pepperdine

2009-01-14T20:02:00.000-05:00

I'll confess: I don't know a lot about Pepperdine, or it's baseball program. I know it's usually good, but it just seems the Waves haven't quite made a splash (I'm clever) on the national stage yet. In fact, the Waves haven't been to Omaha since 1992. And since the Super Regional format was adopted, Pepperdine hasn't made it that far either.

But there's one reason that makes me -- and some pollsters -- think this could be the year for that splash.

More precisely, five reasons. It's the Waves pitching staff, which has to be among the most experienced in the nation. Four pitchers who saw nearly all the starts last year are back in the fold this season. So is closer Nick Gaudi, who had 15 saves and a 2.68 ERA.

After Gaudi and Friday starter Nathan Newman, the numbers on those pitchers are mixed, but you can't discount the experience. Newman had a 3.46 ERA last season and led the team with 70 strikeouts. The former JUCO transfer was first-team all-conference.

Scott Alexander, a 6'2 lefty, was next with a 4.95 ERA. Both Robert Dickmann and Matthew Bywater had ERAs over five but Bywater is just a sophomore and should take big strides this year. Dickmann, a senior, shined for the Waves in the fall.

As for Gaudi, he heads in as one of the top relievers in the country. The 10th-rated prospect in the Northwoods League last season, he's been tabbed by the Collegiate Baseball Writers Association as a preseason All-American.

So, clearly, those pitchers are a good starting point, and they should help Pepperdine take a leap from last season. The Waves went 38-21 last year and made a regional. They return all but a handful of that team, and while the pitching looks like the biggest strength, hitting won't exactly be a weak point, either.

Second baseman Bryce Mendonca returns after hitting .332 last year and leading he WCC in stolen bases. The Waves will have to replace the production of standouts Eric Thames and Chase D'Arnaud, but five players who had a fair amount of success last year will be back in the lineup this season -- Trent Diedrich, Denny Duron, David Harris, Ryan Heroy and Nate Simon.

On top of that, the Waves brought in a recruiting class that was ranked 21st by Baseball America.

It all adds up to a team that could . . . make some waves . . .

Who's Gone

While the pitching staff is strong and experienced, the Waves did say goodbye to Brett Hunter, a big pro prospect who missed a lot of last season . . . Eric Thames was the team's best hitter and ended up being a seventh-round pick . . . Chase D'Arnaud was another major loss, and he was a fourth-round pick.

Five To Watch

Nick Gaudi

Nathan Newman

Bryce Mendonca

Brian Humphries

Ryan Heroy

Notable

The Waves return three players who had on-base percentages over .400 last year. That meant a lot for the offense, with Thames and D'Arnaud driving them in. Someone will have to drive them in this year. The Waves don't have anybody back who had double digit home runs.
Bryce Mendonca should end up being one of the top players in the conference. He started every game last season and with his team-leading 77 hits and his 32 stolen bases, it's clear that he made that team go.
Starting first baseman Ryan Heroy stands 6'6" and if that frame can deliver some power, the Waves may have the middle-of-the-order pop they need.
The Waves' recruiting class is led by Brian Humphries. In describing Humphries, BA's Aaron Fitt called him "the kind of athlete who seldom shows up on college campuses, a true five-tool talent with present skills and loads of projection." That's pretty high praise. Humphries, a 19th round pick in June, pencils in as the Waves' starting centerfielder.
Freshman Cody Yount's uncle is Robin Yount.
If the pitchers are looking for a stat to improve on, strikeouts-to-walk ratio would be a good one. Nathan Newman struck out 70 and walked 42, but no one else was even close to that last season.

Quick Look: No. 24 USC

2009-01-13T20:20:00.000-05:00

No baseball program in the country has more national championships than USC, but the glory days for the Trojans are drifting further and further into the past. Their last championship came in 1998. Not all that long ago, except that the Trojans also haven't been to Omaha since 2001, and have only two winning seasons since that year.

Former big league catcher Chad Kreuter will start his third season at the helm this year. He's trying to get the Trojans back to the glory days, or at least get them taking steps in the right direction. Last year, USC was a perfectly mediocre 28-28.

The fact that they're ranked in the preseason doesn't necessarily mean anything in terms of improvement, but it's clear that people can see the potential with this team.

Everything starts with Grant Green, a likely choice for Pac-10 Player of the Year this season. Last year, he hit .390 with nine home runs and 46 RBI. He then delivered a huge summer on the Cape, drawing comparisons to Evan Longoria and becoming a sure-fire top-10 pick in the process.

Aside from Green, the Trojans' offense actually has a lot of holes to fill. Three of their top six hitters are gone from last year, leaving only Green, Anthony Vasquez and Robert Stock.

Luckily for the Trojans, offense wasn't the biggest issue last season. They hit .293 as a team and scored enough runs to win a lot of games.

Their pitching just allowed too many. USC's team ERA last season was 5.64. Only four pitchers on the staff had an ERA under five.

That has to change this season, and there's a chance it might. The Trojans lost only Tommy Milone and Ryan Cook from last year's pitching staff. Brad Boxberger is back after a big summer, while Kevin Couture and two-way player Vasquez should give USC a solid weekend rotation. Kreuter has gone on record saying he thinks the pitching depth will be improved this season, as well. The young guys who struggled last year figure to be better equipped this season.

In my book, there are still a lot of question marks here, and I can't see this Trojan team reliving any glory days. But there's some experienced talent, and at least one first-round pick in the fold, so I wouldn't count the Trojans out.

Who's Gone

Tommy Milone was the team's best pitcher last season, and the only regular starter with an ERA under four. . . Ryan Cook was also a somewhat reliable starter, though his numbers weren't great last year . . . Top hitters who departed include Derek Perren, Roberto Lopez and leadoff man Nick Buss.

Five to Watch

Grant Green - Jr. - SS

Brad Boxberger - Jr. - RHP

Kevin Couture - Jr. - RHP

Robert Stock - Jr. - C

Ricky Oropesa - Fr. - 3B

Notable

Kreuter told usctrojans.com that "this is the hardest-working club since I have been here." That's got to count for something.
Green enters his junior season with as much hype as any position player in the country. It'll be interesting to see how he reacts to it. If he takes a path like the one Gordon Beckham took last year, he'll be in fine shape. Beckham was another Cape League stud shortstop and he delivered a player of the year type season with Georgia last year.
In evaluating fall practice, Kreuter said pitching was the strongest point, a good sign for where this team might be headed. Boxberger figures to be the Friday starter.
Not a whole lot of info on USC's website about freshman pitcher Ben Mount, but I can gather this much: Mount is an apt name. The kid's 6'8".
The Trojans' incoming recruiting class was ranked 22nd in the country by BA. Third baseman Ricky Oropesa, lefty Danny Coulumbe and catcher/outfielder Brandon Garcia look like the headliners. Coulumbe was a 17th-round pick in June.
Regardless of what happens this year, Kreuter has made major waves on the recruiting trail for 2010. The Trojans have commitments from six players in BA's top 100.
USC's roster has some good bloodlines. Adam Dedeaux is the grandson of legendary Trojan coach Rod Dedeaux. Freshman first baseman Beau Brett is the nephew of Hall of Famer George Brett.

Quick Look: No. 25 Florida

2009-01-11T19:45:00.000-05:00

It's only been four years, but the way things have gone lately for the Florida Gators, it's probably felt like a lot longer. In 2005, the Gators were in the College World Series finals. They lost to Texas, but it wasn't supposed to be a culmination anyway. There was plenty of young talent in the fold, and more on the way.

The next year, the Gators went 28-28 and missed the NCAA Tournament. In 2007, they went 29-30, and head coach Pat McMahon was fired after the season.

I'm not an astute enough observer of Florida baseball to know what happened, but it's probably something you can't put your finger on anyway. At least part of it was that the Gators fell behind the pitching curve. In 2006, they had a 4.21 ERA, which isn't really bad, but the next year it ballooned to 5.27.

The task of turning the program around fell into the hands of Kevin O'Sullivan, who was the pitching coach at Clemson. He'd never been a head coach before.

But with O'Sullivan at the helm, the Gators made 2005 seem a little closer again. They went 34-24 last year and though they bowed out early at the Tallahassee Regional, the season was a big step forward.

It looks like 2009 could be a bigger step.

Who's Gone

Cole Figueroa looks like the biggest loss. Draft-eligible as a sophomore, he opted to sign with the Padres after he hit .350 last year and led the team with nine home runs and 57 RBI. . . . Josh Edmondson was the team's top reliever and he led the Gators in ERA.

Five To Watch

Matt den Dekker - Jr. - OF

Avery Barnes - Sr. - OF/INF

Nick Maronde - Fr. - LHP

Brandon McArthur - Sr. - 1B

Stephen Locke - Sr. - LHP

Notable

Avery Barnes returns as the team's leading hitter. The speedy and versatile senior also stole 26 bases last year.
Matt den Dekker might be the team's best pro prospect. After a big sophomore season, he was picked for Team USA, and though he struggled with the bat over the summer, he played well defensively and was tabbed by Baseball America as Team USA's 11th best prospect.
One of the links to the 2005 CWS team, senior lefty Stephen Locke was a freshman all-american that year but had Tommy John Surgery the year after. After a redshirt year and rough sophomore season, he was the team's best starter last year as a junior. I imagine he'll be the ace of the staff this season.
Brandon McArthur is a rare sixth-year senior. He redshirted his first year on campus then missed all but one game of the 2007 season with an injury. The big first baseman hit .337 last year.
Josh Adams hit .330 last year with eight home runs and earned Freshman All-America honors.
Senior righty Patrick Keating had an 8-1 record on the mound last season.
Freshman lefty Nick Maronde was rated by BA as the 19th best prospect in the nation last year. He slipped in the draft, but remains a hyped-up prospect. In fall practice, he shined.
The Gators had three players with over 20 stolen bases last year and I would expect them to keep running a lot this season.
Tommy Toledo, one of the highest unsigned players from the 2007 draft, is expected to miss the upcoming season after shoulder surgery.
Billy Bullock led the Gators in strikeouts last year and put together a solid summer in the Cape League. He should be in line to be one of the team's top starters.

Finally, The Beginning

2008-10-20T21:05:00.000-04:00

My interest in college baseball started, oddly enough, with a crack of the bat.

Not a ping.

The first baseball game I ever saw was on Cape Cod. I have no memory of it, but my parents assure me that we probably went to a Cape Cod Baseball League game when I was a year old. They're pretty sure. It's possible it was the next year. They're not really sure.

Regardless, that was the beginning, whenever it was. College baseball, to me, meant two weeks of summer baseball. We vacationed on the Cape every year, attending more and more Cape League games with every passing summer. I knew the men in the baseball uniforms went to far-away schools, but to me, they were Chatham A's or Harwich Mariners or Orleans Cardinals.

Eventually, I became aware of their other seasons, and though I still thought of them as Cape Leaguers first -- those who know me from my Cape League blog Right Field Fog might argue that I still do -- I gradually grew to appreciate college baseball. Whether I was skipping class to lounge on the hill and watch a game at Dayton, my alma mater, or whether I was scoring College World Series games at home (I'm pretty cool), I was into it. College baseball became part of my baseball-loving life.

I never thought it would be anything more than that, just something to keep tabs on occasionally and to renew acquaintances with every June. But in 2007, I started Right Field Fog, and the more I did with it for the two months of a Cape League summer, the more interested I got in the other 10 months of a college baseball life.

Which brings us to Omaha Sky.

I actually created this blog last spring but couldn't ever get it going. I was overwhelmed by how big college baseball could be, and I was fearful of losing time for Right Field Fog.

But the tug hasn't gone away. Every time I go looking for college baseball news and analysis, I end up at the same sites. The College Baseball Blog is a fantastic source for news and notes. Baseball America and Rivals provide more insight than I could ever dream of.

And yet, I always find myself looking for something else. I don't know that anything's missing. It just seems that there's room for a little more.

So I'm going to try to deliver it. I don't know exactly what this blog will become, and in this first year, I imagine I'll be feeling my way.

But, as we all know, under a bright blue Omaha Sky, the possibilities are endless.