Friday Roundup: Oregon State’s Matt Boyd Dazzles Against Sun Devils



I'm on the road this weekend, so tonight's roundup will focus on Friday's Top 25 action. I was on hand for one Top 25 upset, as Taylor Gushue broke a 1-1 tie with a three-run homer in the sixth, and three Florida pitchers combined on a three-hitter in a 7-1 win at No. 2 Vanderbilt. You can check out my report from Nashville here.

Top 25 Showdowns

• (20) Arizona State at (3) Oregon State: Matt Boyd (9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 11 K) allowed a leadoff single to Drew Stankiewicz to open the game, but he held the Sun Devils hitless the rest of the way, leading Oregon State to a 5-0 win. Boyd retired 12 straight batters after Stankiewicz's single and finished with a career-high 11 strikeouts. Boyd became the first pitcher to one-hit Arizona State since Alabama's Alan Dunn and Tim Meacham combined to do it on June 10, 1983. Michael Conforto had three hits and Dylan Davis had two RBIs to lead the OSU offense against Trevor Williams (5 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K).

• (21) Arkansas at (5) South Carolina: Arkansas blasted Evan Beal (3.2 IP, 6 H, 8 ER, 4 BB, 6 K), breaking a scoreless tie with nine runs in the fourth en route to a 15-3 blowout in Columbia. Tyler Spoon (3-for-6, 2 R, 5 RBI) led Arkansas' balanced 13-hit attack in support of Barrett Astin (5.1 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K). The Hogs' bats are heating up after a slow start; they have recorded double-digit hits in three straight games and five times in their last six games.

• (9) Georgia Tech at (12) Florida State: The Yellow Jackets and Seminoles swapped blowouts in a doubleheader split, with Georgia Tech taking the opener 10-0 but Florida State responding with an 11-3 win in the night cap. Zane Evans (3-for-4, 2 R, 3 RBI) hit his 10th home run of the season in the opener, and Buck Farmer (7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K) and Josh Heddinger (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R) combined on a three-hit shutout. The Jackets chased Brandon Leibrandt (1.1 IP, 6 H, 4 ER) in a four-run second. D.J. Stewart (2-for-4, 2 R, 6 RBI) broke open a 3-0 game with a fifth-inning grand slam in the second game, helping Scott Sitz (5.1 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 5 K) improve to 5-0. Kyle Wren had four hits in defeat for Georgia Tech.

• (19) Mississippi State at (10) Kentucky: The Bulldogs erased a 4-2 deficit with five runs in the sixth to chase A.J. Reed (5 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K) and went on to an 8-4 win in Lexington. Hunter Renfroe (3-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI) hit his seventh homer of the year for MSU, and Ross Mitchell (4 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K) picked up the win with stellar relief of Jacob Lindgren (5 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 7 K).

Top 25 Upsets

• Rutgers at (4) Louisville: Nick Favatella, Vinny Zarrillo and Lou Clemente had three hits apiece in support of Rob Smorol (7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K), leading the Scarlet Knights to a 6-2 win in Louisville. Rutgers knocked around Chad Green (5.2 IP, 12 H, 5 r, 4 ER, 0 BB, 4 K), as the Cardinals saw their winning streak snapped at nine games.

• California at (11) UCLA: The Golden Bears broke a 1-1 tie with four runs in the seventh against Adam Plutko (6.2 IP, 4 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 5 k) en route to a 5-1 win in Westwood. Ryan Mason (8 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 K) turned in a gem for plucky Cal, which has won nine of its last 10 since starting the season 5-7.

• Seton Hall at (15) Notre Dame: The Pirates scored three unearned runs in the third against Sean Fitzgerald (7.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K) and held on for a 4-3 win behind Jon Prosinski (7 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K).

• (18) Rice at Southern Mississippi: Isaac Rodriguez, Chase Fowler and Nick Dawson had three RBIs apiece in support of Andrew Pierce (7 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K), leading Southern Miss to a 10-1 blowout in Hattiesburg. Austin Kubitza (5.1 IP, 7 H, 8 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K) took his first loss of the year for Rice, which saw its winning streak halted at seven games. The Golden Eagles had lost nine of their last 11 heading into the night.

• (23) Central Arkansas at Oral Roberts: ORU broke open a 3-1 game with five runs in the eighth, and Alex Gonzalez (8 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K) turned in a strong outing in an 8-1 win. Caleb McClanahan (6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER) took the loss for UCA.

• (24) Virginia Tech at Miami: The Hokies scored seven runs in the ninth to make Miami sweat, but the Hurricanes held on for an 11-9 win. David Thompson and Ricky Eusebia had three RBIs apiece for the 'Canes, who got another strong start from Chris Diaz (8 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K). Brad Markey (6.2 IP, 7 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 3 BB, 5 K) had a rough outing for Virginia Tech, which got a combined six hits and five RBIs out of Chad Pinder and Tyler Horan.

• (25) San Diego at Gonzaga: The Bulldogs jumped on Michael Wagner (5.1 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 8 K) for six runs in the first inning, and Marco Gonzales (7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 9 K) made it stand up, as Gonzaga won 6-2. Kris Bryant had two hits and two walks in a losing cause.

Other Top 25 Results

• Texas A&M at (6) Mississippi: Bobby Wahl (8 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K) improved to 6-0 in Mississippi's 8-2 win.

* Auburn at (7) Louisiana State: Alex Bregman had three hits and scored three runs, and Raph Rhymes (2-for-4, 2 R, 3 RBI) and Mason Katz (2-for-4, 3 RBI) each went deep in LSU's 9-4 win. Aaron Nola (6.2 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K) improved to 3-0.

• (8) Cal State Fullerton at Long Beach State: Thomas Eshelman (7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K) was a model of efficiency, and J.D. Davis (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R) finished off a two-hit shutout in Fullerton's 6-0 win. MIchael Lorenzen (2-for-4, 2 R, RBI) went deep at Blair Field for the Titans.

• Arizona at (13) Oregon: Jake Reed (6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER) turned in a good start, and the Ducks got three combined hitless innings of relief from Christian Jones and Jimmie Sherfy in a 2-1 win. Arizona got a solid start from Konner Wade (6.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER) but still fell to 0-4 in the Pac-12.

• Texas Christian at (17) Oklahoma: Max White singled to lead off the 12th, moved to third on Matt Oberste's double and scored the winning run on a passed ball to lead Oklahoma to a 3-2 win. Five Sooners posted multiple hits behind Jonathan Gray (9 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 12 K), who was overpowering in a no-decision. 

• Penn State at (22) Indiana: Scott Donley (2-for-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR) led the Indiana offense behind Joey DeNato (7.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 10 K), as the Hoosiers cruised to a 9-3 win. Indiana has won nine straight games and has scored 55 runs in its last five games.



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UVa just completed a sweep of rival NC State in convincing fashion and they did it primarily with pitching, the so-called wild card in the current analysis of UVa. UVa pitching gave up only 2 BBs the whole series – NC State just couldn't get anything going. This should propel UVa into the top 10 and quiet the naysayers that have decried their weak schedule. News flash: the weak out-of-conference schedule allows UVa to get their bench reps so that come crunch time at the end of the year they have guys ready who have played a handful of games. Besides the coaching staff, solid fielding, and above-average hitting, what Virginia has is depth. They can bring out a solid pitcher as their no. 4 and even no. 5 and the bullpen is nails. Keep your eyes on Virginia – they are headed to top 5 in the rankings and that final 3-game set with UNC is gonna be a doozy.


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  • 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.

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