It was a rather uneventful day in college baseball. There were no big time matchups and no Earth-shattering upsets. Hell, there wasn’t even one of those all-the-rage no-hitters out there. What gives?

Yep, it's the NHL post-season time so he's got his playoff beard going. MoState's Nick Petree was a stud on the national scene once again today. See more on what below. (Please don't be mad that I borrowed your pic MSU)

Either way, we still take a quick swing around the country to see what the goods and bads were on this college baseball Friday.

.

THREE UP

The best of the day in college baseball.

.

1- MISSOURI STATE’s NICK PETREE.

Talk about clutch. Whoa man. The Bears flinger threw eight shutout innings in a 2-0 win over Evansville, keeping them in 1st place in the MoValley (at 11-4, 35-15 overall) and also increasing his scoreless streak to 38.0 innings, which is just nine innings short of the D1 single season record. Also, his 72.2 innings without giving up an earned run is not only head-slappingly astounding, it is also a school record. The win marked the ninth shutout of the season for MSU.

.

2- TROY DRUMMOND, DELAWARE STATE.

The Hornets have been long overdue for some props here as they have had an outstanding season in the MEAC. Dare I say, they’ve been Bethune-esque, going 21-1 in MEAC play, including today’s 13-1 and 7-1 doubleheader sweep. Leadoff man Troy Drummond had a hell of a day, going 5-for-8 with 7RBI and 3SBs in the two wins.

2A- TRE-VON JOHNSON

In the opposite dugout across from the Hornets, UMES OF Tre-von Johnson became the school’s all-time leader in hits with his 174th hit in his career in game two, passing Phil Vaughn, who played for the Eagles from 2008 to 2010.

.

3- MICHAEL CONFORTO, OREGON STATE.

For the second time this season, the freshman wunderkind has gone yard twice in a single game as the Beavers escaped Utah 11-10. His two home runs were part of a 5RBI day, bringing his season total to 60, good for the fifth-most RBI in Beaver history.

.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

- LSU’s Kevin Gausman

The Golden Armed Tiger was a saving grace once again for the Bayou Bengals, tossing a complete game, five-hitter with 11 whiffs to improve to 8-1 on the season. Good thing the big ace was on target again this week because Vandy’s T.J. Pecoraro was pretty good himself, throwing a complete-game five hitter as well, with four Ks to keep the purple & gold offense stifled most of the game.

.

- Purdue’s Joe Haase

The Boiler pitcher put last week’s first loss of the season in the rear-view, tossing a complete-game four-hitter with 7Ks and not a single walk as PU took down Michigan 4-0.

.

- LMU’s Colin Welmon.

Keep an eye on Loyola in the West Coast Conference. Today’s stunning 13-1 win at San Diego pulls them to 10-6 in conference play, while USD falls to 13-6. But the story today was the true frosh on the mound, who went the distance and gave up just five hits to the top-hitting team in the WCC. Welmon improved to 6-3 on the year, striking out six along the way and not issuing a single walk. Wow.

LMU's Colin Welmon was doing some big-time dealing at Cunningham Stadium today.

.

- Oral Roberts Drew Bowen and Bennett Pickar.

It’s been an un-ORU type of year in Tulsa, but today’s 11-0 rout of IPFW was facilitated by starting pitcher Bowen’s complete-game four-hitter with 9Ks and catcher Pickar’s 3-for-4, 6RBI day, highlighted by a 7th inning grand slam.

.

- UNC-Wilmington.

The Seahawks 5-4 win over William & Mary secured their first CAA regular season title since 2008 and improved their ledger to 31-19 and 21-5 in the Colonial. Jake Koenig got a one-out double in the top of the 9th inning and then scored the winning run on 9-hole hitter Michael Bass’ RBI single.

.

- Tony Bucciferro, Michigan State

The Spartan Friday starter kept the Big Green on a hot streak with a complete-game five-hitter with 9Ks as Sparty took down Iowa 6-0 to improve to 32-16, 11-8 on the season.

.

- Southern Miss

It hasn’t been a typical Eagle season, having a 26-22 overall mark and an RPI in the triple digits. But they played a great game tonight as Andrew Pierce threw a 3-hit shutout and the Eagles etched out a 1-0 win over visiting East Carolina. Pierce also struck out 11 batters in the process to improve to 7-3.

.

- Louisville

In front of a packed house at Patterson Stadium, the Cardinals pulled to within one game of Big East leader St. John’s with a solid 5-0 win over the Red Storm. Justin Amlung improved to 8-3 with the win and now has 22-inning streak where he’s given up just one hit in that stretch.

.

- Once again… Oklahoma State ace Andrew Heaney.

This is getting almost monotonous. Heaney has another high-quality outing, throwing a complete-game 3-hitter with 11Ks in the Pokes 3-2 escape of Alcorn State. Heaney improves to 8-1 on the season with the biggest help from shortstop Hunter Bailey, who went 2-for-2 with a pair of ribbies.

.

- Cal State Fullerton’s Michael Lorenzen.

The two-way Titan picked up save No. 14 and also hit a two-run homer in today’s 9-7 win at UC-Santa Barbara. Coupled with Long Beach State’s loss at UC Davis, the Titans now have a two game lead in the Big West standings. The 14 saves Lorenzen has collected this season is now the third most in a single season in program history.

.

- Miami’s Eric Erickson.

In what will probably be his final home game at Mark Light Stadium, the big Viking had one of his best outings of his career, going six innings, giving up just a single hit and one walk as three UofM pitchers combined on a one-hitter in the 11-0 rout of Wake Forest. Erickson improved to 8-5 on the season. Vince Kossak and E.J. Encinosa combined for 3.0 innings of hitless relief

.

- Stetson’s Robbie Powell

Things may be working out for the Hatters after all. SU took down East Tennessee 4-3 on Friday night and also got an upset from Kenessaw State vs. USC-Upstate, allowing for the Hats to move within two games of first place in the Atlantic Sun. But Powell was the story for the Big Green, throwing the final four outs of the game to earn his school-record 16th save of the season.

.

.

THREE DOWN

The worst of the day in college baseball.

1- THE LACK OF UPSETS.

As noted in my weekend preview for ESPN, there was not a single matchup of ranked teams this weekend, so we had to hope for a a lot of upsets to forge any kind of heightened excitement level. Well, today we got none. Nobody inside the Top 20 went down to defeat. Ack!

.

2- THE TOP OF THE WCC.

Both San Diego and Gonzaga are struggling to keep their standing in the RPI, and today was no help. The WCC-leading Toreros got drubbed badly by a 13-1 count at home vs. LMU and the quickly-dwindling Zags dropped a 4-2 decision at home vs. national monster Arizona State. Both teams could’ve used the the W, especially the Bulldogs who have seen their RPI drop from the low-20s to the upper 30s in the last three weeks.

.

3- GARDNER-WEBB.

The Bulldogs are fighting for a spot in the Big South tournament, but didn’t need a game like today’s 4-3 loss to Presbyterian. GW had a 3-2 lead going into the 9th inning but allowed the Blue Hose to load the bases with no outs, then committed a throwing error on a potential double-play, bringing home the two Blue Hose runs and deciding the game in sprint-off fashion.

The Dogs came into the game tied for 6th place in the Big South with Charleston Southern, but now fall below the Mendoza Line at 9-10 in league play.

.

.

DISHONORABLE MENTIONS

- Cal.

The Bears lost to Arizona 3-1 as Kurt Heyer kept them bottled up all game long, giving up just five hits to the Bears. But worse yet, UC got tricked by the hidden ball trick with two men on in the 7th inning by UofA shortstop Alex Mejia. Tsk, tsp.

.

- The Duke offense.

Once again, All American stud Marcus Stroman does all the work and the offense can’t prop him up. In today’s 2-1 loss to North Carolina, Stroman went 7.0 innings, giving up seven hits, zero earned runs and striking out eight.

Marcus Stroman was dealing once again for Coach K Univ. vs. the Tar Heels.

But Carolina got two unearned runs on Duke miscues to pull out the win while the Dookies offense could only muster five little hits. It also didn’t help that the Blue Devils committed three errors, one of which accounted for the two UNC runs.

As this pic from the Dr. of College Baseball will attest, it's never a good thing to see two teams both wearing dark unis in a game.

Stroman did a number of unusual weighted stretches and exercises after his gig on the mound was done today.

.

- Old Dominion.

In a battle of CAA bottom-feeders, the Monarchs got routed 13-3 by a normally-punchless Northeastern offense. Looks like the basement may be a permanent fixture in the dungeons of the Colonial.

.

- New Mexico.

The Lobos came into the day tied with TCU at the top of the Mountain West, but got a pair of bad tidings tonight. First, they dropped a 7-4 decision at UNLV to fall a game off the pace in the Mountain West since TCU won a 10-0 win at Air Force. Secondly, on the last play of the game All American D.J. Peterson (who came in hitting .425) was hit on the wrist with a pitch as he was awkwardly swinging for the final out and left us to wonder how injured he was with that beaning.

A screen grab of D.J. Peterson wincing in pain after his plunking/strikeout ended the game with a curve ball to the right wrist. (Damn, I can't wait for The Mtn. to be broadcast in HD... oh wait. Nevermind)

.

- Mississippi State’s Chris Stratton.

The Bulldog stud didn’t do anything wrong, giving up six hits in 7.0 innings with 6Ks, but he did suffer his first loss of the season in MSU’s 4-1 defeat at Florida. In fact, this was Stratton’s first loss since May 21st of last year. The Bulldogs were playing without their head coach John Cohen who was suspended for this game. Wanna keep an eye on the key to the Gators’ post-season hopes? Note that junior reliever Steven Rodriguez has now held his opponents scoreless in seven straight appearances (14 innings).

.

- Arkansas.

No, the Hogs won today, so this isn’t about them losing a key SEC game or anything. But I’m starting to wonder about the Razorbacks. Kyle Peterson and I were talking last week about how this team definitely has the pitching and offensive talent to make a big run in the post-season. But they lost last night’s game and then tonight, escaped with a jog-off win in the bottom of the 9th against the Plainsmen. Arkansas has now gone just 13-13 since a 22-3 start.

.

Okay peeps o’ mine. 12 bells. Gotta visit the Sandman now.

G’night.