UC Irvine junior righthander Andrew Thurman carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning a week ago against Cal State Fullerton, before giving up a chopper over the mound to spoil his bid. This week against Long Beach State, he finished the job.  After hitting the leadoff batter, Thurman retired 23 straight before issuing a walk in the eighth. Those were the only two baserunners of the game, a 4-0 Anteater win at Blair Field. Thurman struck out five, giving the 'Eaters a no-hitter in the series opener against LBSU for the second straight year (Matt Summers threw one a year ago). It is also the second no-hitter of this week; Oregon's Jordan Spencer threw one Wednesday at Portland.

Thurman has some of the best stuff on the UCI staff; last week he commanded an 87-89 fastball to both sides and bumped 91 in the ninth inning. His second pitch is a quality 78 mph changeup, and he mixes in a handful of slow, big-breaking curveballs in the 70-73 range. Thurman has shown flashes of dominance throughout his career at Irvine but never quite developed into a consistent, reliable ace—until now.

"It's what he's capable of," UCI coach Mike Gillespie said last week, after the Fullerton game. "His stuff is such that he is capable of that. It's been an up and down year for him, so I think it had to be a lift for him too. Certainly, I think it's got to buoy his confidence, I would think.

"He's going to be better week to week and month to month, he's going to be better  next year, he's going to be better five years from now than he is today. He's never had really lights-out success at any level. So the chicken and the egg deal that applies to success and confidence, he hasn't had the game after game after game great performances that allows him to really build that confidence. So each time he does something like this, we'd like to think it makes a big difference for him."

• One other note before we get to the Top 25 highlights: Southeast Missouri State senior shortstop Kenton Parmley extended his hitting streak to 46 games with a fifth-inning single against Tennessee Tech. He added a seventh-inning grand slam that proved the game winner in SEMO's 9-6 victory. Parmley's hitting streak is the fourth-longest in D-I history, a game shy of Wichita State's Phil Stephenson (47 games in 1981) for third-longest all-time. 

Top 25 Showdowns

• (18) Miami at (1) Florida State: Sherman Johnson and Justin Gonzalez combined for five hits, four runs and five RBIs to power the Seminoles to an 11-2 win. Gonzalez homered twice in support of Brandon Leibrandt (5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K). The 'Noles chased Eric Erickson (5 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 5 K) after a three-run fifth, then broke the game open with five in the seventh.

• (2) Texas A&M vs./@/@ (6) Baylor: The Bears rallied from behind with three runs in the eighth, capped by Logan Vick's go-ahead two run single up the middle, propelling them to a big 5-3 win in College Station. Baylor got quality pitching from Josh Turley (7 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K) and Max Garner (2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K), while Michael Wacha (5.2 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) was solid but not overpowering in a no-decision for the Aggies. The two teams combined to make seven errors. Baylor improved to 16-0, four games ahead of the Aggies in the loss column, with the series shifting to Waco for the final two games. Baylor's winning streak reached 22 games, the longest by a Big 12 team since the conference's inception in 1997.

• (4) Louisiana State at (3) Kentucky: Austin Nola (2-for-4, 3 RBI) led the LSU offense behind Kevin Gausman (7 IP, 10 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 11 K) in a 5-4 win in Lexington. Nola's two-run double in the fifth off Taylor Rogers (6 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K) provided the eventual winning run. LSU (12-4 in the SEC) surged past Kentucky (11-5) for the best conference record in the SEC, though each team leads its respective division.

• (20) Arizona State at (14) Stanford: Alex Blandino (3-for-4, 4 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR) and Stephen Piscotty (3-for-5, 2 R, 4 RBI, 3B) spearheaded Stanford's 18-hit barrage in a 17-5 rout of Brady Rodgers (5.1 IP, 12 H, 8 R, 6 ER) and the Sun Devils. Mark Appel (6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K) "was laboring bad," according to a scout who was on hand, but he kept the Devils in check and improved to 5-1.

• (17) Arkansas at (22) Mississippi: Suspended by inclement weather with Ole Miss leading 6-1 in the fourth.

Top 25 Upsets

• Georgia Tech at (10) North Carolina: Thomas Smith (2-for-4, 4 RBI) led a 13-hit attack in support of Buck Farmer (7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER), as the Yellow Jackets won the opener in Chapel Hill, 11-4. Kent Emanuel (5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 9 K) took the loss for UNC.

• St. Mary's at (19) San Diego: Shawn O'Brien had four hits in support of Martin Agosta (7 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 4 K) in St. Mary's 7-1 win. Calvin Drummond (3.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 5 K) was lackluster for the Toreros.

• Boston College at (21) North Carolina State: The Eagles won a back-and-forth slugfest, 11-10. The Wolfpack took a 7-6 lead with four runs in the seventh, but BC stormed back with five runs in the eighth to win, highlighted by Matt McGovern's three-run double. Trea Turner had two hits and stole his 40th base for the Wolfpack.

• Kansas at (23) Texas: Frank Duncan (9 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 11 K) shut down the Longhorns in a 7-2 win. Kevin Kuntz had four RBIs for the Jayhawks.

Other Top 25 Results

• Georgia at (5) Florida: The Gators won a 16-inning marathon, 3-2. Nolan Fontana struck out swinging with two outs and a man on third in the 16th, but he reached first on a throwing error by the catcher, allowing Vickash Ramjit to score the winning run from third. Austin Maddox (5.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K) and Greg Larson (3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K) turned in stellar relief for the Gators. Georgia got another good start from Alex Wood (8 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 7 K), followed by six scoreless innings of relief from Bryan Benzor, Pete Nagel and Chase Hawkins.

• East Carolina at (7) Rice: Matthew Reckling (9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 10 K) sparkled in Rice's 2-0 win. Reckling allowed just one hit—a Jay Cannon single in the fifth inning—and improved to 7-0, 1.44 with his second shutout of the year.

• Washington State at (8) Oregon: Kyle Garlick (2-for-3, 3 RBI) led the Oregon offense behind Alex Keudell (7 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K) in the Ducks' 6-2 win.

• (9) South Carolina at Auburn: Grayson Greiner and Connor Bright combined for six hits, four runs and five RBIs in support of Michael Roth (6.2 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 8 K) in South Carolina's 12-5 win.

• (11) UCLA at Oregon State: Adam Plutko (7.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 5 K) and David Berg (1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R) combined on a two-hit shutout in UCLA's 4-0 win in Corvallis.

• Cal Poly at (12) Cal State Fullerton: The Titans broke open a 2-0 game with four runs in the sixth behind Dylan Floro (8 IP, 10 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K) en route to a 6-1 win.

• (13) Arizona at Washington: Kurt Heyer (9 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K) went the distance in Arizona's 10-2 win. Joey Rickard and Alex Mejia had three hits apiece to lead the offense.

• (15) Central Florida at Tulane: Ben Lively (6.1 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K) and two relievers combined on a 10-hit shutout, leading UCF to a 1-0 win.

• (16) Purdue at Nebraska: Cameron Perkins (2-for-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI) powered the Boilermakers to an 8-5 win, their 10th in a row. Blake Mascarello (4.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R) earned the win in relief.

• Louisiana Tech at (25) New Mexico State: The Aggies overcame a 3-0 deficit in the final three innings, winning on Bryan Karraker's walk-off two-run homer in the ninth.