Upsets Headline College Baseball's Opening Day — College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects

Image credit: (Photo courtesy of Arizona Baseball)

The Opening Day schedule offered just one showdown between ranked teams but a lack of marquee games didn’t mean a lack of drama Friday night. When the dust settled, four Top 25 teams had lost to unranked teams.

St. John’s beat No. 4 Florida, 9-5, in Gainesville in the biggest upset of the day. Cal State Fullerton swept a doubleheader at No. 15 Stanford. Sam Houston State took down No. 21 Oklahoma State, 7-2, and Arizona defeated No. 24 Northeastern, 6-1.

Facing last year’s College World Series runner-up, St. John’s wasted no time jumping out to an early lead. The Red Storm scored two runs in the first and pushed that lead to 7-0 in the third, knocking out lefthander Cade Fisher early.

While the Gators cut that lead to 7-5 in the fifth inning, they couldn’t get any closer. The St. John’s bullpen, led by Ben Adams, combined for four scoreless innings, holding Florida to three hits and a walk.

The Opening Day loss was just Florida’s second in 17 seasons under coach Kevin O’Sullivan.

Fullerton scored a big series win on Opening Day, beating Stanford 4-0 in the first game and 15-6 in the nightcap. Righthander Christian Rodriguez threw six scoreless innings in the opener in his return to action after missing last season due to injury. In the nightcap, the Titans broke out their big bats, led by outfielder Colby Wallace (3-for-6, 2B, HR).

Fullerton was picked sixth in the preseason Big West coaches’ poll, but Friday showed that everyone might need to remember the Titans.

Playing at Sam Houston, Oklahoma State never really was able to get things going Friday. After falling behind 2-0 in the first, the Cowboys tied the game in the fifth. But righthander Logan Hewitt took over on the mound for the Bearkats in the sixth and threw the final four innings. He held the Cowboys to two hits and didn’t allow a runner past first base, giving the offense the opportunity it needed to close the game out.

Arizona got a quality start from lefthander Jackson Kent and quieted a solid Northeastern lineup. Kent struck out eight in six innings and held the Huskies to one run on four hits and a walk. Righthander Raul Garayzar followed with three perfect innings for the save. The Wildcats have now won eight straight season openers.

Ace Watch

Friday night is for the aces. Here we highlight some of the best pitching performances of the day.

Nick Bonn, RHP, Pepperdine. Bonn threw five hitless innings against Utah to help lead the Waves to a 1-0 victory. He struck out three batters, walked one and hit two. The Utes broke up the no-hit bid in the sixth inning after the sophomore had exited the game.

Cam Leiter, RHP, Florida State. Making his Florida State debut after transferring from UCF, Leiter struck out 13 batters in five scoreless innings in an 11-0 win against Butler. The sophomore held the Bulldogs to one hit and two walks and threw 89 pitches. His 13 strikeouts were a career high.

Nolan Morr, LHP, Northwestern. Morr threw six scoreless innings in Northwestern’s 9-0 victory at Tulane. The senior struck out five, walked none and scattered four hits. Morr last season pitched exclusively out of the bullpen and went 2-1, 12.81 in 19.2 innings. Friday was a strong step toward a bounce back.

Hunter Pidek, RHP, Oakland. In a 5-0 win at Saint Mary’s, Pidek threw seven scoreless innings on 87 pitches. The junior struck out four batters and worked around five hits and two walks. Pidek last season earned all-Horizon League honors and is picking up where he left off.

Brett Renfrow, RHP, Virginia Tech. Renfrow, a freshman, had a college debut to remember, as he threw five scoreless innings to help the Hokies to a 10-0 victory at Charlotte. He struck out seven batters and held the powerful 49ers offense to one hit and one walk. Renfrow became the first true freshman to get the Opening Day start for Virginia Tech since it joined the ACC in 2005.

Around The Horn

In the day’s lone matchup between ranked teams, No. 8 Tennessee defeated No. 18 Texas Tech, 6-2, in the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Showdown in Arlington, Texas. Sophomore righthander AJ Russell struck out 10 batters in 4.1 innings and AJ Causey piggybacked him with 4.2 scoreless innings. It was a showcase first game for the Volunteers’ pitching staff, which has no shortage of options this season.
No. 6 TCU came roaring back for a 10-9 victory against Florida Gulf Coast. The Horned Frogs trailed 9-3 at the seventh inning stretch but scored the final seven runs for a comeback win. The game ended on a strange play, as Peyton Chatagnier scored from second base on a wild pitch/error on a strikeout.
No. 7 Vanderbilt also needed a comeback to defeat FAU, 12-11. The Commodores trailed by two going into the ninth inning and were down to their final strike before Davis Diaz hit an RBI single and Jonathan Vastine hit a two-run, walk-off double. Righthander Greysen Carter drew the Opening Day start for Vanderbilt but walked seven batters in three innings.
UC Santa Barbara made the long cross-country trip to take on Campbell and drubbed the Camels, 20-8. While the two teams have strong pitching traditions, neither was at their best Friday. They combined for 31 walks, the third-most in NCAA history. The record is 34, set by Coppin State and Mount St. Mary’s in 2022.