Saturday Roundup: Baylor Clinches Huge Series With 23rd Straight Win



College baseball has gone no-hitter-crazy.

Penn State's Steven Hill and Army's Logan Lee each threw no-hitters Saturday—the third and fourth Division I no-hitters in the last four days (Oregon's Jordan Spencer threw one Wednesday, and UC Irvine's Andrew Thurman threw one Friday).

Hill threw Penn State's first no-hitter since 1995 in a 2-0 win at Iowa. The junior righthaner issued just one walk and allowed just two baserunners in nine innings, while striking out three.

Lee, a senior lefty, threw a seven-inning no-hitter in the first game of a doubleheader sweep of Bucknell. Lee carried a perfect game into the seventh, when he issued a leadoff walk on a 3-and-2 pitch. He finished with seven strikeouts and one walk in Army's first no-hitter since 1957. The Black Knights won the nightcap in 15 innings to clinch the Patriot League regular-season title.

Top 25 Showdowns

• (18) Miami at (1) Florida State: Freshman John Holland (3-for-4, 2 RBI) led the FSU offense in support of Mike Compton (5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) in Florida State's 6-1 win. The Seminoles clinched their third straight series against the Hurricanes, who got a wild start from Eric Whaley (4 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 6 BB, 3 K).

• (2) Texas A&M vs./@/@ (6) Baylor: The Bears ran their winning streak to 23 games with a series-clinching 1-0 win in front of a Baylor Ballpark-record crowd of 5,911. The Bears improved to 17-0 in the Big 12, tying the league record with 17 straight wins in conference play. Trent Blank (8 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K) turned in a masterful performance to improve to 9-0, 2.18. Max Muncy provided the game's only run with a fifth-inning sacrifice fly against Ross Stripling (7.2 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K).

• (4) Louisiana State at (3) Kentucky: Austin Cousino and Luke Maile each homered and drove in three runs apiece, leading Kentucky to an 8-1 win, leveling the series. Jerad Grundy (6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER) got back on track for the Wildcats, while Ryan Eades (3.1 IP, 9 H, 6 ER) struggled for the Tigers.

• (20) Arizona State at (14) Stanford: Alex Blandino (3-for-4, 4 RBI, HR) delivered a two-out, walk-off RBI single in the ninth to give the Cardinal a series-clinching 8-7 win. The Great Blandino hit his third home run of the weekend—a three-run shot in the sixth. A.J. Vanegas (2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER) moved back to the bullpen after two strong weekends in the rotation and earned the win. The Cardinal hit Trevor Williams (6 IP, 11 H, 7 ER) hard.

• (17) Arkansas at (22) Mississippi: The Rebels won the continuation of Friday's suspended game, 8-2, then clinched the series with a 1-0 win. Alex Yarbrough (4-for-5, R, 3 RBI, 3 2B) led Mississippi's 14-hit attack in the first game, as Brandon Moore (2.1 IP, 7 H, 6 ER) got the start for Arkansas and was knocked around. Yarbrough's RBI single off Ryne Stanek (6.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER) provided all the offense Ole Miss needed in the second game, as Mike Mayers (6.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K) and R.J. Hively (2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K) combined on a two-hit shutout.

Top 25 Upsets

• Georgia at (5) Florida: Kyle Farmer and Levi Hyams had two homers apiece in support of Michael Palazzone (8 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K), leading the Bulldogs to a series-evening 5-3 win. Preston Tucker hit his 10th homer of the year behind Brian Johnson (7 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 5 K) for the Gators.

• Washington State at (8) Oregon: The Cougars erased a 3-2 deficit with six runs in the eighth to even the series with an 8-3 win. Jake Reed (7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K) was strong in a no-decision for the Ducks, but Adam Nelubowich put the Cougars ahead for good with a two-run single against Jimmie Sherfy (0.1 IP, 1 H, 4 R, 2 ER).

• Georgia Tech at (10) North Carolina: The Yellow Jackets and Tar Heels split a doubleheader, giving Tech a much-needed series win on the road. Brian Holberton (3-for-4, HR, 2B, 4 RBI) and Jacob Stallings (2-for-3, 3 R, 3 RBI, HR, 2B) led UNC's 14-hit attack behind Benton Moss (5.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K) in a 12-6 win in the opener. Tech overcame a 2-0 deficit with two in the seventh and two more in the eighth against Michael Morin (2.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K) to win the finale 4-2. Alex Cruz (4 IP, 2 H, 0 R) earned the win with sparkling relief for the Jackets.

•  (11) UCLA at Oregon State: Lefthander Jace Fry (9 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K) threw a complete-game shutout against the lefty-leaning Bruins, as the Beavers evened the series with a 3-0 win. Ryan Dunn (3-for-3, 2 RBI) led the OSU attack against Nick Vander Tuig (5.1 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K).

• Cal Poly at (12) Cal State Fullerton: Cal Poly scored all of its runs on three two-out homers to beat the Titans 8-6, leveling the series. Mitch Haniger (3-for-5, 3 RBI) led the Mustang offense, and Reed Reilly (4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K) earned the win with lights-out relief work. MIchael Lorenzen and Ivory Thomas combined for four hits and five RBIs in defeat for the Titans.

• (16) Purdue at Nebraska: The Cornhuskers evened the series with an 8-3 win behind Brandon Pierce (7 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 2 ER). Richard Stock went 4-for-4 to lead the Nebraska attack against Lance Breedlove (5 IP, 8 H, 5 ER).

Other Top 25 Results

• East Carolina at (7) Rice: Craig Manuel's walk-off grand slam in the 10th gave Rice a series-clinching 6-2 win, extending the Owls' winning streak to eight games. Austin Kubitza (7 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K) turned in his third straight strong outing for Rice, and J.T. Chargois (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K) earned the win with strong relief work.

• (9) South Carolina at Auburn: Christian Walker's two-run triple highlighted South Carolina's four-run sixth in support of Jordan Montgomery (5.1 IP, 6 H, 2 ER), as the Gamecocks clinched the road series with a 5-3 win. Montgomery improved to 4-0 with his third straight strong start since moving into the weekend rotation.

• (13) Arizona at Washington: After getting whacked around by UCLA in his first loss of the season last week, Konner Wade (9 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K) bounced back with a complete game in Arizona's series-clinching 4-1 win.

• (15) Central Florida at Tulane: After coughing up a 7-2 lead in the eighth and ninth innings, the Knights bounced back to win 8-7 on Alex Friedrich's RBI double in the 12th. Chris Matulis (6 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K) turned in a strong start for UCF, and Friedrich led the offense with four hits and two RBIs.

• St. Mary's at (19) San Diego: Andrew Daniel (2-for-5, 2 R, 4 RBI, HR) led USD's 20-hit barrage in support of Dylan Covey (6 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 7 K), as the Toreros evened the series with a 12-4 win. Eight Toreros recorded multiple hits.

• Boston College at (21) North Carolina State: The Wolfpack bounced back from Friday's loss by sweeping Saturday's doubleheader, 9-0 and 16-9. Carlos Rodon (8 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 K) was characteristically dominating in the first game. Trea Turner (5-for-5, 3 R, 2 RBI) spearheaded N.C. State's 19-hit barrage in the nightcap, and Anthony Tzamtzis (4 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K) earned the win in relief of Logan Jernigan (5 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 6 K).

• Kansas at (23) Texas: Erich Weiss (3-for-4, 2 RBI) led an 11-hit attack behind Parker French (7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K), as Texas evened the series with a 3-0 win.

• (24) Sam Houston State at McNeese State: The Bearkats improved to 17-3 in the Southland with a series-clinching doubleheader sweep, 5-2 and 4-0. Jessie Plumlee (3-for-3, 2 RBI) led the offense in support of Caleb Smith (8 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K) in the opener. Justin Jackson (9 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 K) was two outs shy of a no-hitter in the nightcap but settled for a two-hit shutout.

• Louisiana Tech at (25) New Mexico State: The Aggies completed a three-game series sweep with a 10-0 win in seven innings (shortened by the run rule). The Aggies drew nine walks and used a balanced nine-hit attack in support of Michael Ormseth (5 IP, 4 H, 0 R), who improved to 7-0.



Comments

Comments will be monitored prior to being added to the site. Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be rejected. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed.

We have chosen to open up commenting to everyone, so comment away! We want to hear from each and every one of you! Leave a comment.

5 Comments

I think you used "homers" instead of "hits" in describing Georgia's offensive output against Florida.

thx

[...] Baseball The us Higher education Blog site ยป Baseball The united states | Blog site | Baseball The … Posted in Baseball America College Blog – Tagged 23rd, Baylor, Clinches, Collection, Huge, Roundup, Saturday, straight SHARE THIS [...]

Freaking Baylor is just rolling!!  Quite a streak.

It appears to me that, unexpectedly, Kentucky and Baylor are going to win their conferences and ride that to Omaha.  Congratulations to them. 
However, their are other teams that have more "talent" on paper.  I put that on the coaches of the "talented" teams.  But these are coaches with proven track records.  Not trying to put any coach on the spot, but how can teams like Vanderbilt, Texas and Arkansas fail so colossaly when they have such a core of "talented" players returning?  Additionally, I understand a slump…but "slumps" aren't supposed to last the whole season…..although Texas, with a horrible start does appear to have come out of their early season tailspin.  Vanderbilt cannot recover and Arkansas has gone from possible Omaha to not even a Regional host team?

Thanks to all the pollsters who are finally taking Baylor seriously, it only took 24 straight W's. Baseball America is a quality publication and is usually spot on with its predictions, especially its top 10 in the preseason rankings.  Baylor wasn't listed in the top 25, so kudos to Steve Smith and his team for their play thus far and for overcoming a tough loss to end the 2011 NCAA tournament. A trip to Omaha for this team would seriously emphasize what has already been "The Year of the Bear".  


What Are Your Thoughts?

• Line and paragraph breaks are automatic
• Your e-mail address will never be displayed











About This Blog

  • Aaron Fitt is the lead college writer for Baseball America. If you have questions or comments about college baseball you can e-mail him at collegeblog@baseballamerica.com.

Categories

Archives

Syndicate This Blog

Blogs

BaseballAmerica.com

Search This Blog