Let the dogpiles begin. Louisville actually did the dogpiling thing after beating Pitt for the third straight day and winning the Big East title. (Remember now, no injuries)

As the Foo Fighters would say, there goes my hero. On the last Saturday of the regular season for most conferences, today was full of heroes as games went down to the wire and regular season titles were up for grabs.

For example: Senior 1st baseman Carlos Lopez launched a gorilla-swing solo shot home run to the arboretum beyond the right field fence at Goodwin field, giving Cal State Fullerton an epic 3-2 win in the bottom of the 9th for the Titans. The solo salvo gives Fullerton a 2-0 lead on UC Irvine in their Big West rivalry weekend showdown.

Carlos Lopez gets hugged and mugged after slapping the game-winning home run in the bottom of the 9th inning to defeat UC Irvine tonight at Goodwin Field.

Not that they needed it to secure a National Seed, but with the win tonight Cal State Fullerton secured a share of the Big West title and a slot in the NCAA tournament, due to 2nd place Cal State Northridge losing up at Cal Poly tonight. This marks the fourth straight season that the Titans have won the Big West Conference crown and 11th in the last 15 years.

An oddity: All American Michael Lorenzen came in from centerfield to the mound, but suffered his third blown save of the season. But in each of those blown saves, he and his cohorts have rallied to give him the win on the mound. Some guys have all the luck.

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THREE UP

The best of the best.

1- VIRGINIA

Wahoo Wah! The Cavaliers pull out the series win at No. 4 North Carolina with a wild 8-7 win in 11 innings. But it wasn’t without a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Here’s the first-hand account that the Doctor of College Baseball relayed to me tonight:

Low scoring affair initially, tied 1-1 after seven innings.  UVA scores three runs in the top of the 8th to seemingly put the game away at 4-1. But UNC comes back with two runs in the bottom of the 8th and gets an RBI single by Colin Moran in the bottom of the 9th to tie it.

After a scoreless 10th, UVA again erupts with four runs in the top of the 11th.

UNC started the bottom of the 11th down 8-4 and had a single, single, fielder’s choice and error before Moran again singled to make it 8-6 with one out and runners on the corners.  Mike Fox pinch ran for Moran since he was the tying run, and Skye Bolt came up and hit a shot to LF that looked off the bat like it would be a 3-run homer to win the game. However, the ball kind of died and UVA LF Michael Papi went up and made a leaping catch at the top of the wall.  The pinch runner had come all the way around to 3rd not expecting the catch to be made, and he was doubled up at 1st to end the game, 8-7.

Unreal.

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2- KANSAS STATE. 

As Bill Snyder would say, “Every man a Wildcat.” The Purple Crew took down Oklahoma for the second day in a row and posted a 5-2 win, clinching their Big 12 regular season championship and making a major push to be a Regional host at Tointon Family Stadium. The Bat Cats live up to their name earning their 39th win and 37th game where they had double-digits in hit totals. They also set the program-record with 16 Big 12 conference wins. Senior starter Joe Flattery, making his first start on the mound since April 19th, retired the first 12 batters he faced, eventually working 5.1 innings of scoreless, three-hit, no-walk ball on the mound.

K-State’s Shane Conlon (#15) slides into home, adding to the Wildcat lead vs. Oklahoma on Fox Sports tonight.

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3- ANDREW MOORE, OREGON STATE PITCHER

The Civil War is heating up. And in the meantime, I’m checking out flights to see if there’s a way to get up there in time for first pitch on Sunday. But in the meantime, all hail the Beaver deliverer, Andrew Moore. Today he tossed a complete-game two hitter with one walk and facing three over the minimum as the Beavs tied the series in Eugene with a 9-0 win. Michael Conforto and Ryan Barnes added solo yard calls to provide enough offense for the Orange and Black. But Moore was THE story, tossing his second complete game shutout of the season – the 10th shutout for the Beavers this year. Moore now leads the pitching-heavy Pac 12 with 11 wins on the season.

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HONORABLE MENTIONS

The best of the rest.

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- Cincinnati head coach Brian Cleary. 

Having been “relieved of his duties” back on Thursday, coach Cleary finished up his coaching job today at Schott Stadium, won his final game as head coach of the Bearcats with an impressive 11-5 rout of Notre Dame, giving UC the weekend series win.

Coach Cleary’s twitter feed said, “Thanks to all who have been so supportive of me at UC. I will truly miss my time as your coach. Thank you is all I know to say.”

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- Michigan 

It will forever be known as the “Lincoln Assassination.” How big was THIS one? The Maize and Blue totally dismantled the Nebraska pitching staff to the tune of 23 hits and 19 runs in a much-needed 19-9 win. Why much-needed? Because had they not won today, hated rival Michigan State would’ve surpassed the Wolverines and kept them out of the Big 10 tournament field. But now, UMich will head to Minneapolis as the 6th-seed and will take on the Huskers in Game One on Wednesday.

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- Billy Strode, Florida State reliever

Strode relieved Brandon Leibrandt and strode to the mound with the bases loaded of Clemson Tigers in the 6th inning and no outs to the ledger. But with the Noles clinging to a 3-1 lead, Strode got a strikeout of Tyler Slaton, a shallow flyout to right from Jay Baum and a sharp liner to 2nd base by Steve Wilkerson. Strode ended up going the final 4.0 innings, giving up four hits but not a single run to earn his first-ever save as a Seminole. FSU clinched the Atlantic Division with the win.

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- Utah’s Mitch Watrous. 

The Ute sophomore pitcher threw a complete-game two-hitter in UU’s 1-0 non-conference win over Kansas. Watrous raised his record to 4-3 on the season and also had five strikeouts and three walks.

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- David Berg, UCLA relief ace. 

The Bruin sidewinder came on top pitch the final 2.1 innings of today’s 7-6 win at rival USC, picking up his 15th save of the season, which ties the UCLA single season saves record. Berg also increased his scoreless innings streak to 33.1 innings. The Bruins have now won the seventh straight game vs. the Trojans and 22 of the last 27.

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- Bryant, NEC champions.

Today’s 10-6 win at Wagner completed the four-game sweep of the Seahawks and made for the Bulldog’s 40th win of the season, against 15 losses and one tie. It’s the first time since Central Connecticut State for a Northeast Conference team to hit the 40-win plateau. The impressive part is that after the ‘Dogs opened the season going 0-6-1 on a spring break trip, they’ve gone 40-9 since then. BU now aims for the school record of 43-wins, accomplished by the 2008 team, which was the final season of Division II play for the program.

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- Rider, MAAC Champions

With today’s doubleheader split with Marist, the Broncos earn the MAAC championship and No. 1 seed for the conference tournament starting on Thursday. This marks Rider’s first-ever MAAC title since joining the conference in 1988. In the 4-0 second game victory, starting pitcher Kurt Sowa went four of the seven innings on the hill, giving up just a single hit to improve his record to 11-1, tying the program’s high-water mark for wins in a season.

Bronco head coach Barry Davis said, “It’s a great accomplishment for the program. Winning the tournament is the most important thing, but every year you set out to be number one.”

Rider is now 34-19 on the season, making this the highest win total of any Bronco team in program history. In case you’re wondering, yes, this year’s team has already accrued more wins than Rider’s 1967 College World Series team which went 31-10.

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- Stony Brook. 

Facing a winner-take-all game with Hartford, the CWS alums came through in big time fashion, bashing the Hawks by a 10-2 clubbing and earning the fourth and final spot in the America East tournament next week. Not that I’m playing favorites here or anything, but it’d been a real shame if the defending AmEast champs didn’t even make the four-team field in Lowell, Mass. this week. Just sayin’.

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- Fresno State’s Kevin Viers. 

He musta been imitating teammate Aaron Judge, because the precocious frosh launched two solo home runs at Beiden Field today, allowing the Bulldogs to sweep Nevada with a 6-4 win. Fresno has gone just 21-31 this year, but enters the Mountain West tournament on its home field having won 11 of its last 13 home games. As the No. 4 seed, the Bulldogs will play the Wolf Pack on Wednesday in a first round matchup.

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- Illinois State’s first outright Missouri Valley title.

In 2010 they shared it, in 2013 it’s all theirs. Time to gorge Redbirds. With today’s nail-biting 9-8, 10-inning win over Southern Illinois, ISU wins the MoValley with a 16-5 conference mark and first outright title in program history. And the even better news?… they were already slated to host the MVC tournament in Normal, so bully for the Birds. By the way, the 36 wins ties the school record for wins in the regular season with 2011′s squad.

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THREE DOWN

The worst of the worst.

1- COPPIN STATE.

Dammit! The Eagles had raced out to a 2-and-0 mark in the MEAC tournament in Newport, Virginia, but today all those dreams of a shock-n-awe finish came crumbling down. CSU lost to both Savannah State and Bethune-Cookman to get eliminated from the tournament and end their season. With the losses Coppin ends the year 18-33, a far cry from 2012′s 1-52 season. So heavy, heavy kudos to coach Sherman Reed and his boys. Just wish it could’ve lasted into June.

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2- FLORIDA.

Have the Gators had their bubble burst? Today’s 9-2 blowout loss was an ugly reminder that this team played some BAD baseball at times this year. Their overall record is now at a precarious 29-27. The Gators will now be the 8th seed at the SEC tournament and play a single elimination game vs. Texas A&M on Tuesday. The Gators have assured themselves of finishing above .500, but would a 29-28 or 30-29 record curry good favor in the NCAA selection committee?

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3- MICHIGAN STATE.

The Spartans beat Penn State 2-1 to wrap up the regular season with a 33-17 record. This marks the fourth straight 30-win seasons for MSU, pretty good for a Big 10 team, considering their restricttions which make being consistent nearly impossible (ask Purdue). But with Michigan and Illinois both winning today, MSU finds itself out of the field of six for the Big 10 tournament. So yes, the reason they’re in the “Three Down” is because the winningest senior class in the history of Spartan baseball might not get a chance to finish in the NCAA tournament.

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DISHONORABLE MENTIONS

Even more worser than the first ones.

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- Arrrrgh! .399

VMI senior Rob Dickinson (no, not the former lead singer for The Catherine Wheel) had a chance to end his final season as a Keydet hitting .400, but in his final at-bat he ground out to second to finish 1-for-4 on the day. Because of that, Dickinson will end the 2013 season with a .399 average. Obvsioudly, I’m being a little facetious here because Dickinson had an outstanding campaign. The last time a Keydet player hit .399 or better was in 1988. The player who did it? Now Old Dominion head coach Chris Finwood.

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- South Alabama. 

My boy Mark Etheridge has been touting the Jaguars as a possible NCAA Regional host site, and with good reason. USA entered the day with a No. 15 RPI and a chance to sew up the Sun Belt regular season title all to themselves. But today, they ran into a red-hot Troy team who gave the Jags a 6-3 thumping and now, the two programs will have to share the title. Worse yet, South Alabama falls to the 2-seed in the Sun Belt tournament and will have to hope their RPI doesn’t plummet out of the Top 16.

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- CBS SPORTS NETWORK.

As you guys have heard me complain for years, the former home of the brilliant CSTV (College Sports Television) was bought out by CBS a couple years ago and has spiraled since then. Today was another example as the now CBS Sports Network cut away from the Notre Dame-Cincinnati game in the 6th inning for an Arena Football game. And earlier, at the conclusion of the LSU-Ole Miss game, the graphic came up and the announcer said “For more scores, highlights and analysis, go to CBSSports.com” So I went there, and for the fifth straight year I didn’t see any college baseball news, highlights or analysis.

For absolutely no scores, highlights or analysis on college baseball, go to CBSsports.com.

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HOW THE BUBBLE TEAMS FARED

Here’s a quick snapshot of the Baker’s Dozen of Bubble Teams I discussed in my weekend preview posted earlier on Thursday and how they did today.

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- PITT

Dammit! These dudes could’ve used a win or two in Cassius Clay-town, but lost 7-4 today to suffer their third straight loss to Louisville on the weekend. Today’s loss was especially tough, as the Panthers out-hit the Cards 10-to-9, but bounced into three double plays and also stranded 11 baserunners. The Panthers entered the day with an RPI at No. 65 and a win would’ve allowed them to tie UofL for the Big East title.

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- MICHIGAN STATE

As mentioned above, this was a dark day for Sparta, despite pulling out a 2-1 win over Penn State. Let’s see if they get favorable treatment from the selection committee like they did last season.

From the Michigan State twitter feed, MSU coach Jake Boss said, “It’s very disappointing. Give our guys credit for battling back today and at least giving ourselves a shot. It’s tough when you can’t control your own destiny. We didn’t take care of business when we needed to. It’s something that we’re going to have to live with. We have to get ready for next fall and make sure it never happens again.”

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- UC SANTA BARBARA

Bad loss. The Gauchos drop game two of the weekend series to Pacific, 3-2. UCSB’s RPI ranking dropped from No. 48 to No. 50 with the Friday WIN, so you have to figure losing to the No. 249th-ranked team.

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- NEBRASKA

A crusher. The Big Red came away big red-faced with an embarrassing 19-9 loss to Michigan. Eight Cornhusker pitchers gave up a combined 23 hits as a 4-4 tie in the 5th inning quickly turned into a laugher… or in this case, a cryer. As you Stitch-Heads know by now, the RPI ain’t exactly the problem – at No. 34 – but the 25-28 record is a huge thorn. Looks like it’s Big 10 tournament title or bust for UNL.

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- MARYLAND

Won 5-4 in 10 innings vs. Boston College. Terps RPI at No. 32 going into today.

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- OKLAHOMA 

The Bad News: The Sooners lost to Kansas State for the second straight day, this time by a 5-2 count. The Good News: The Sooners actually gained two RPI places – up to No. 59 – after Friday night’s loss. So that means, despite the second straight loss on Saturday night, the Sooners could still gain despite their second straight loss.

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- SAN DIEGO.

Again, did not play. But get this, in the last two days of sitting idle, the Toreros have seen their RPI go from No. 50 to 53 to 57. C’mon USD, hurry up and schedule a game. See if Point Loma Nazarene will play you.

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- FLORIDA 

See above, blown out by Georgia 9-2.

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- NOTRE DAME

Wither the Irish? An 11-5 loss to the hands of Cincinnati might’ve been the last straw. They came into today’s game with an RPI of No. 43 and now sit at 31-23 overall, but even worse is the fact that they finish Big East play at just 10-14.

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- AUBURN

Won the series vs. No. 13 Arkansas with an 11-6 plundering of the Hogs. The Tigers finish the regular season 33-22 and 13-17 in the SEC. But the good part is that the Plainsmen have won three straight SEC series down the stretch, two of them against ranked opponents.

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- CREIGHTON

The Bluejays win the series vs. Missouri State with a 6-3 win on Saturday and finish the regular season with a record of 30-16. But the disturbing part is that CU dropped from No. 43 to No. 51 after Friday’s loss to the Bears. Also, quite impressively, the Bluejays finished the weekend with a total of 25,079 fans filed through the TD Ameritrade turnstiles in the three games.

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- NEW MEXICO 

Completed the sweep of San Diego State with today’s 11-7 win. Facing a 7-6 deficit, the Lobos scored five runs in the final two innings with the help of four walks, a wild pitch and four hits.

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- KENTUCKY.

Hey, a win. The Wildcats salvage the series with Mizzou by nabbing a 5-1 win today in Columbia. With their RPI edging down into the 40s now it may be a case of too-little, too-late. But the good news is that UofK has reached the 30-win plateau and will play in next week’s SEC tournament. So the chances for more wins and RPI points does lay ahead.

Ready. Aim. Fire!: Seminole QB/RF Jameis Winston is about to unload that cannon on Clemson’s Garrett Boulware.

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- PLAY OF THE DAY:

Jameis Winston gunning down Garrett Boulware at 3rd base.

Clemente-like, the incumbent Florida State quarterback, took a grounder in the 7th inning and saw Boulware round 2nd and head to 3rd base. In one smooth motion, he threw a strike right to Jose Brizuela at 3rd base and made the tag.

ESPN’s play by play man Clay Matvick said, “Boulware just turned around to make sure that wasn’t Superman out there in right field.”

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- BEST CHEER

Animals of Section B chanting “Ugly bat girl!” to the Clemson players who came out to retrieve the bats. As opposed to the attractive lasses that retrieve the bats for the Seminoles during their home games.

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- BEST LINE:

Paul Byrd, the former LSU pitcher, during the LSU-Ole Miss game where Rebel reliever Brett Huber was obviously showing signs of tiring after a 50-plus pitch outing in the latter stages of their 11-9 win:

“His body language is telling me he’s totally worn out. Here’s the thing… if you’re tired out there, fake it. Because everybody is going to see that. Your infielders behind you, the catcher, the opposing batters. They’re all going to see that.”

As the stat-bug says, 52 pitches in and Ole Miss reliever Brett Huber was sulking around the mound with his head down and shoulders slumped, looking tired as hell in the 9th inning of the Rebels’ game at LSU.

Avent’s Army was pounding the wall to help N.C. State get the final out vs. Florida State in Raleigh today. P.S.: It worked.

Lots of ebb and flow to this weekend’s action already, and it was certainly exemplified on Saturday.

There was certainly a lot of bounce-back performances in the Top 30. No. 2 North Carolina exacted some revenge on Georgia Tech. No. 14 Arkansas did the same in routing Tennessee 11-1. No. 15 Arizona State got re-calibrated with a win at Cal. No. 22 Cal Poly evened things up at No. 23 UC Irvine in a huge Big West battle. And No. 24 Mercer didn’t fall prey to East Tennessee State for the second day in a row.

Also, a lot of teams took twin bills today due to weather issues on Friday. LSU closed out Texas A&M with a pair of wins. Oregon escaped with a pair of Ws at Ohio State. Louisville put the absolute clamps on UConn in Storrs. No. 29 Pitt took over sole possession of the Big East by doubling-up Villanova. Ole Miss got bragging rights with two wins over rival Mississippi State. And, of course, Vanderbilt kept its cold blooded glare fully intact with a pair of wins at laboring Kentucky.

Here’s how I’d rank the best and worst from college baseball today.

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THREE UP

The best of the day type of stuff

1- OLE MISS.

Yowzah! Take the Rebels off the cement slab. I mean, I know they’re just beating another team Mike Rooney and I have been waiting to be overtly impressed by, but the Rebels ended up making THE big statement today with a pair of wins over No. 13 Mississippi State, 3-0 and 10-8. The Rebs didn’t knock the cover off the ball – they hit .297 on the day – but they did send MSU’s Kendal Graveman to an early grave man, lacing him for seven hits and six runs while coaxing three walks out of him, jumping out to an 8-3 lead before cruising from there. Also, because Friday’s first game was postponed after one inning, Rebs ace Bobby Wahl only faced four batters and didn’t come back in today’s first game. So now, the big boss with the hot sauce will come back and start game three on Sunday. Imagine if UM sweeps this one? Day-yum!

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2- THE ‘STATE’ OF THE BIG 12.

Huge props to the two “State” teams in the Big 12 as K-State overcame a 6-0 deficit to oust Kansas 9-6 in the Sunflower Showdown, giving the Cats their second straight win over their rivals and then O-State overcame Jonathan Gray on the mound to beat OU 4-3 for the second straight day in the Bedlam Series. The big key was that OklaState was able to get their first batter on base in seven of the nine innings. With those wins, the Wildcats lead the conference with a 13-7 record, a game ahead of West Virginia, who split with TCU today. Branding iron-hot OSU is now 11-8 in conference play.

A screen grab from today’s game shows OSU’s Gage Green as a blur, streaking down the 3rd base line in a steal of home plate as a Jacob Evans pitch goes over the head of Sooner catcher Anthony Hermelyn to the backstop. This proved to be the winning run in another classic Bedlam battle in OKC.

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3- OREGON STATE

The O-State Ballaz are certainly back. Today put the stamp on that as the Beavers subdued homestanding Stanford by a crushing 10-4 score. With the win, OSU’s 2013 unit becomes just the second team in school history to reach the 40-win mark during the regular season (the 2005 team was 41-9) and they also improved to 19-4 in Pac 12 play, tying the 2005 team for most league wins since the Pac 10 became one conference in baseball in 1999 – it was the Six-Pac (South) and the Pac 10 North during most of the 90s. Starting pitcher Andrew Moore had his 23-inning scoreless streak snapped when he made his lone mistake pitch of the day, a two-run moon shot by Austin Wilson. Other than that, Moore was solid, improving to 10-1 on the season.

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HONORABLE MENTIONS

- N.C. State. 

Shut down Florida State’s nine-game win streak with a 3-1 win in Raleigh today. Starter Carlos Rodon was good – not quite great – getting 8Ks and truly scattering eight hits. In fact, his most impressive stat was, even though he didn’t have his best stuff either, Rodon was able to leave seven ‘Noles stranded on the basepaths through the first four innings. With the win, the Wolf Pack takes over first place in the Atlantic Division with a 16-8 mark. FSU is now second at 16-9.

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- LSU.

For the 17th time in program history the LSU Tigers win the West Division of the SEC with today’s DH (of sorts) sweep. They completed last night’s game by a 7-4 score. Then, in a scheduled 7-inning game, they went to extras to beat the Aggies 2-1 in the eight innings. LSU is now 45-7, 21-6 in SEC play.

The graphic says it all: LSU dominates the West again. Starting pitcher Ryan Eades gives ace reliever Chris Cotton a post-game pat on the head after the Tigers took down Texas A&M for the second time on the day.

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- Louisville’s pitching.

Have I mentioned how impressed I have been with the ‘Ville’s pitching? Today they proved me right again, blanking UConn twice, 8-0 and 6-0. Five pitchers combined to give up just nine hits in 18 innings in Storrs, Connecticut, led by Chad Green’s 8.0 innings of three-hit ball with just two walks and also six Ks in game one.

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- Dan Hartleb, Illinois head coach.

With today’s 8-6 win over Penn State, the Illini baseballers improve to 30-15 on the season and also reach the 30-win plateau for the fifth time in the last eight years under Hartleb. Along the way, UI also moved into 6th place in the Big 10 – which would make them the last team into the conference tournament if the season ended today – and senior Justin Parr increased his hit streak to a nation’s best 33 games with a 1st inning single.

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- Creighton. 

Gotta hand it to my Bluejays here. For the first time since 2003, CU goes into always-volatile Eck Stadium and earned the series win at Wichita State with today’s 3-1 win. They had to overcome starting pitcher Nick Musec’s uncharacteristic six walks and had to get two of their three runs in unearned fashion, but they still came out on top to improve to 28-13 overall and 11-6 in Valley play. WSU still leads the loop with a 14-6 mark.

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- Memphis. 

Is it possible that the No. 96 RPI’d team in the country deserves an NCAA at-large bid? Well it looks like the Memphis Tigers might be playing their way toward getting some consideration. For the second day in a row, UofM took down No. 17 Rice at Reckling Park, this time by a 3-1 score. Coach’s son Erik Schoenrock went the distance for the fifth time this season, giving up six hits, striking out seven and out-dueling Jordan Stephens for the  win. Dana Kirk U. is now just a game behind league-leading Southern Miss at 14-9. Overall, the Tigers have gone 17-6 since April Fool’s Day and have also won six straight games going into Sunday’s finale.

Bonus points to anyone out there who remembers former Memphis State basketball head coach Dana Kirk and his star pupil Keith Lee – who probably had an 8-foot wingspan, but was not one of the six players Coach Kirk had graduate off his teams during his seven years on the job. (Yes, SIX of his players graduated). Oh, Fat Sam, your vote doesn’t count here ‘coz being a Memphis-area native I’m sure you’re all over this.

By the way, I’ll never forget the “slap” handshake that Dana Kirk gave LSU’s Dale Brown after the Bayou Bengals stunned the No. 2-ranked MSU Tigers in BR during the Regionals in March of 1986. It was one of the greatest poor-sportsmanship showings in college basketball history. Still trying to decide if the John Cohen-Kevin O’Sullivan Super Regional post-game trash talk match of 2011 was better or not.

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- Xavier’s 1st Innings

All the Musketeers needed to do was play the 1st inning of both of their games with UMass, as they raced out to 9-0 and 4-0 leads after the 1st inning of their two games. The X would go on to win 15-3 and 4-3 in their two wins.

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- South Alabama reliever Anthony Izzio. 

Ole Double Z had to come in and keep his team from freakin’ out and that’s exactly what he did. After Jags starter Jarron Cito gave up five hits and six runs – only two of which were earned due to some shoddy defense – to Louisiana’s Ragin Cajuns, Izzio came in and threw 7.0 innings of scoreless relief, allowing his teammates to heat up the bats and make a huge comeback win in front of 2,821 fans at Tigue Moore Stadium. The Jags scored four runs in both the 6th and 8th innings as part of their nine unanswered runs in the 9-6 win.

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- Tulane’s Andrew Garner.

The Green Wave cleanup hitter lived up to that batting order designation today, gathering seven RBI and hitting for the cycle in TU’s 15-9 slugfest at Central Florida. He did it *nearly* consecutively too, with his at-bats going…

- Walk in the 1st inning

- Single in the 3rd

- 2RBI double in the 5th

- Double in the 6th

- 2RBI triple in the 7th

- 3RBI home run in the 9th.

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- Florida’s 9th Inning.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the epic comeback the Gators put together tonight in Gainesville, especially after Friday night’s tank job vs. Auburn. Today looked like more of the same for the Orange & Blue as they entered their final at-bat with a 4-1 deficit. But a three-run bomb by Josh Tobias tied the game up at 4-4. Then, a few batters later, fellow sophomore Zack Powers logged a pinch-hit RBI double scoring Harrison Bader with the winning run in a scintillating fashion.  And as if just to add to the drama, the Gators did all this with two out in their final at-bat.

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THREE DOWN

The worst of the day type of stuff.

1- CBS SPORTS.

For showcasing this dog of a game on their network. Was there no better game to choose from today?

No offense to Air Force and San Diego State, but is this REALLY the only game CBS Sports could think of to air today? And I want to know the name of the programming executive who decided this three-legged dog would be worthy of going on air. I want to have that person fired immediately with no severance package. Horrible decision-making on programming.

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2- THE ‘STATE’ OF THE BIG 10.

I’m talking about Ohio State and Michigan State here – though Penn State also lost today. But Ohio State took two losses to No. 6 Oregon. And though they were two close games, that was two non-wins the Buckeyes really needed.. With an RPI coming in at No. 51 in the RPI, a win could’ve done wonders. They’ll have one last chance for a win on Sunday at Bill Davis Stadium. Now, on to MSU…

Aye caramba! I’m not sure if many people in the Big 10 administration will like this, but their second-best team – in terms of RPI – took it on the chin to bottom-feeding Iowa for the second day in a row. Ouch. Today’s wind-blown loss in Iowa City came by a 2-1 count and, more importantly, knocked the Spartans down to the 7th spot in the Big 10, meaning they are now sitting outside the top six teams who will advance to the conference tournament.

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3- STANFORD AND ARIZONA.

Are the lights going out on these two? Today’s results are starting to make it feel like they might be. Both teams lost their second straight games to Top 11 conference mates Oregon State and UCLA, and neither game was close. The Cardinal lost 10-4 and the Desert Cats lost by a 7-1 count. For the weekend so far, Oregon State has outscored Stanford 17-7 in the first two games and UCLA has gone 17-3 in runs vs. the Wildcats. And coming in with RPIs at No. 76 and No. 82, these two are really in dire straights for making the Big Dance.

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DISHONORABLE MENTIONS

- Texas A&M.

The Aggies could’ve done themselves a real favor in RPI/at-large possibilities by getting today’s win and taking the series vs. No. 3-ranked LSU, but they couldn’t get the clutch hit they needed, losing 2-1 in extra innings. This on a day where LSU’s big three of Alex Bregman, Mason Katz and Raph Rhymes went a combined 1-for-10 too. Not only that, but the Aggies also let the Tiger crowd take over their stadium, with loud chants of “LSU! LSU! LSU!” late in the game when the purple and gold were rallying for the win.

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- South Florida.

OOF! This is NOT what the Bulls needed. Today’s 4-2 loss at Seton Hall means USF goes 0-fer on the weekend vs. the Pirates and sees their Big East leading 15-3 mark dip to 15-6 and relegate them to 4th place in the standings now. Ugh! They entered the weekend with an RPI at No. 50, but will surely see that plummet now.

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- Cal State Northridge.

For the second day in a row, the Matadors faltered at home against UC Santa Barbara, this time by a 6-2 score. Coming into the weekend, CSUN was shocking the Big West across the board, having won 11 of its last 12 and hanging out just a game behind No. 5 Cal State Fullerton at 14-4 in Big West play. But with their two losses so far this weekend the Mats are now three games behind the Titans.

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- Jonathan Gray, Oklahoma ace

It just wasn’t his day, man. You could tell early on in his Bedlam matchup with Oklahoma State, he wasn’t able to rely on locating his fastball and he ended up going to his secondary stuff much more often than normal. He entered the game with a 1.20 ERA but gave up three runs and three uncharacteristic walks, while also plunking a batter for just the fourth time this season.

It just wasn’t the day Jonathan Gray was hoping for vs. rival OSU today. In fact, now that I think of it, OU can’t afford these kind of outings from their future 1st round ace with Dillon Overton still not 100% on that staff.

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- Arkansas State. 

ASU suffered one of the more ignominious ways to lose a game by allowing Troy to score the winning run in the 10th inning on a “balk-off”, 4-3. That also keeps Troy’s 18-game home wins streak intact.

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Okay, I think it’s time to get off my ass and go to a live game again. May have to trek out to a ballgame on Sunday. Guess it depends on how late I sleep in tomorrow morning. Will somebody out there give me a wake up call?

G’night.

The piling is on. Columbia celebrates winning the Ivy League title in the lets-hope-no-one-gets-injured way.

“I want to wake up in that city that doesn’t sleep,

and find I’m king of the hill, top of the heap.”

- Frank Sinatra “New York, New York”

Big Crowd. Yeah, I know you big-money snobs are gonna say “So fuggin’ what?” but there were energetic fans jammed into every nook and cranny at Satow Stadium today, including a good gathering on top of the parking structure overlooking the field.

WHAT I SAW AT SATOW STADIUM.

Columbia got revenge. Revenge for 2010 when they lost the Ivy League Playoffs to Dartmouth. And revenge for a doubleheader sweep at the hands of the Big Green a few weeks ago right here at Satow Stadium. They won a white-knuckler in game one, before roaring from behind and winning in a landslide in game two. That put them into celebration mode, dogpiling, lifting trophies and gathering for team pictures with index fingers raised. Columbia wins the Ivy League title with two wins today.

CU starter David Speer had 12 Ks in his 7.1 innings of work for the Lions in game one. Coming into today the lanky lefty led the Ivy League with a 5-0 record and 1.06 ERA in league games this year.

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GAME ONE

Dartmouth – 200 001 011 0 – 5  10  3

Columbia – 030 010 100 1 – 6  13  1

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PITCHING: 

WP: Kevin Roy,  3-1

LP: Cole Sulser, 5-3

Save: None

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TOP HITTERS:

Dartmouth

- Jeff Keller, 2-for-4, HR, 2RBI, 2runs scored

- Dustin Selzer, 2-for-4, RBI

Columbia

- Joey Falcone, 3-for-5

- Nick Ferraresi, 2-for-5, RBI

- Nick Crucet, 2-for-5, 2RBI

- Mike Fischer, 1-for-3, 2RBI

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IN A NUTSHELL. 

This was a game of waves. It just so happened that the last big wave was made of Columbia blue.

A back and forth affair stayed close all game long and ended in white-knuckle fashion. Dartmouth got a 1st inning two-run homer from Jeff Keller to jump on top early, but soon saw the Lions roar past them with a 3-run 2nd inning (thanks in large part to a 2-run double from Nick Crucet) and then a 5th inning single run from the bat of Nick Ferraresi.

The Big Green and Lions traded single runs in the 6th and 7th to put make it a 5-3 game going into the 8th inning. But it could’ve been much worse as CU left the bases loaded in both the 5th and 7th inning, getting just one run with the bases juiced to four different batters.

Dartmouth practiced brinkmanship by scoring single runs in the 8th and 9th inning with two out. In fact, the game looked all but over – as in CU fans standing up with two out and a two strike count – but pinch hitter Ryan Toimil stroked an RBI single into left to plate Joe Purritano with the game-tying run in the top of the 9th.

That set up the dramatic ending for game one. Dartmouth loaded the bases with no outs on a single by Ennis Cole and walks to Jeff Keller and Dustin Selzer. Again, bases-loaded, no outs.

But CU RHP Kevin Roy rallied and got an infield pop-up to Purritano and then struck out both Nick Lombardi and pinch hitter Shane Ogren. Three-on, no-out, none-in. Ack!

Columbia then got a leadoff double from Mike Fischer on a ball that was hit over the “short fence” in center field. (There is a chain link fence behind the blue wall which is still in play, but there is a little space between the two, so if a ball hits off the chain link fence, it usually falls between to the two fences and is then ruled a “ground rule double”).

The final batter of the game ended up being pinch-hitter Gus Craig, who came on to hit for leadoff man Eric Williams. Craig cooly stroked a single to center field and Fischer, as a catcher not exactly the swiftest of runners, was able to beat the relay and score standing up… setting off the Lion celebration.

As the team went to huddle in right field following the game – and after coach Brett Boretti said “Hey Baldy” to me – the team broke the huddle by yelling “Finish!” in unison.

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PICS

A few images from Game One.

A frustrating day: Dartmouth coach Bob Whelan couldn’t make much ground with the umpire here.

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David Vandercook has a foul ball go off his hand here. He would shake it off and stay in the game.

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The Rally Monkeys made an appearance for the Big Blue in the parking structure that overlooks the right field line.

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Members of Columbia’s football team were seated in bleachers above the 3rd base line and were pretty vocal for most of the day.

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Dartmouth outfielder Jeff Keller (No. 4) gets props after hitting a 1st inning home run to put the Big Green up 2-0.

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Joe Purritano kicks up some tire bits on this slide into 2nd base.

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With the Columbia fans on their feet, clapping in unison in anticipation of the game-ending out, pinch hitter Ryan Toimil got the game-tying hit in the 9th inning. As you can see, he was sort of pumped about it too.

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DC’s Jeff Keller and CU shortstop Aaron Silbar have a collision at 2nd base as Nick Crucet tries to bail out of the way.

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A bizarre play here: In the 10th inning, Lion catcher Mike Fischer hit a ball over the head of Jeff Keller and into the chain link fence beyond the outfield wall…

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2nd base umpire John Harrington called it a ground-rule double, since Columbia’s outfield wall and the chain link fence behind it have a space between them. And a home run must go over the chain link fence since Satow Stadium’s center field wall is relatively short.

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Coach Boretti, left, questions the call, thinking the ball went over the link fencing. He asks if he can go see if the ball is there between the two fences or if it had gone over both of them.

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So in a surreal moment, both Columbia coach Brett Boretti and Dartmouth center fielder Jeff Keller hop up on the wall, looking for the baseball.

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The Columbia Lions bench comes storming out of the dugout after Gus Craig’s game-winning RBI single in the 10th inning.

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Nick Ferraresi and Gus Craig get some serious hang-time in this post-game celebration for Game One.

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Then, after a 30-minute break in the action, we moved on to game two of the Ivy League Playoffs.

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The sign that was hung in the Columbia dugout.

GAME TWO

Columbia – 021 100 602 – 12 16 0

Dartmouth – 200 012 000 -  5  9  3

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PITCHING

WP: Stefan Olson, 1-1

LP: Michael Danielak, 1-1

Save: None

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TOP HITTERS

Columbia

- Jordan Serena, 4-for-6, RBI

- Joey Falcone, 3-for-4, RBI

- Nick Crucet, 3-for-4, 3RBI

Dartmouth

- Matt Parisi, 2-for-4, BB, 2runs scored

- Nick Lombardi, 2-for-4, RBi

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RECORDS:

Columbia: 26-19

Dartmouth: 32-9

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IN A NUTSHELL

Unlike game one, this one had very little drama to it. Early on, it looked like another slap-fight back and forth of trading jabs as Dartmouth took a 5-4 lead into the 7th inning, primed to make this a three-game series.

Then all hell broke loose.

Columbia went bat-crazy, sending 11 men to the plate and getting the go-ahead runs on a two-run double from Nick Ferraresi. That made the score 7-5 and the Lions would not trail again. If fact, they just kept piling on the poor Big Green. Thomas Olsen came in to replace Michael Danielak, and the hit parade didn’t subside. Aaron Silbar would welcome him with a screaming single up the middle to score another run, David Vandercook was plunked and Nick Crucet singled in another run. Eric Williams would knock in the sixth and final run of the frame with an RBI flyout to center field.

That would put the Big Green into a dire hole, finding themselves doubled-up by a 10-5 score. To make sure there would be no late-inning magic, reliever Stefan Olson would get Dartmouth to go four-up/three-down, four-up/three-down and three-up/three-down in the last three innings to salt the game away – with only one hit surrendered in the process.

In other words, Olson didn’t budge when it came crunch time, sinking their shoulders just a wee bit with every out ’til the end was nigh. A lofty to fly to Jordan Serena in center field brought the dogpile out from the Columbia dugout, giving the Lions their second Ivy League title in the last five years. The Lions also tied the school record for wins in a season with their 26th W of the year in game two.

A few seconds later, the stadium P.A. cranked out Frank Sinatra’s seminal ode to the Big Apple, “New York, New York.”

Coach Brett Boretti lifts his daughter Mia.

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COACH SPEAK

A few Qs after the celebration with Columbia head coach Brett Boretti.

Me:

I know you’ve won an Ivy League title before, but how special was this?”

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Coach Boretti:

It means the most for the guys, the senior class of guys that were here as Freshmen in 2010, they are the ones that ended up on the wrong side against Dartmouth (in the Ivy League playoffs). The work they put in, the effort they put in and to have it come to fruition for them, it’s a great feeling. I mean, I feel great for the whole team, but especially those four-year guys.

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Me:

You guys had a rough start to the season, going 2-11. But I guess that’s not unusual for an Ivy League team. The thing is, you guys beat Arizona and UCF, so did you know you had something special this year?

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Coach Boretti:

Yeah we did. And that’s not unusual for that kind of early season record. We try to go play those teams to get that experience and to play that high-level of competition. We know it will only help us down the road. But we got things rolling once we came back up North. It’s interesting because you question yourself – as any competitor would – when you’re 2-and-11. But these guys stayed within the process. We knew we had good pitching. We knew we had a good defense. We just had to wait for the bats to come around and start doing some things for us and that’s what happened.

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Me:

Now, you lost to Dartmouth twice earlier this year. What changed this time when you faced them?

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Coach Boretti:

Again, we’re hitting better. We’re getting things going and doing more on the basepaths. But they’re a great team and as you know coach Whelan has done a great job there, so we were fortunate to be able to get another shot at them and make it count. You know going in that they’re going to be well-prepared and gonna throw a lot of strikes. The big thing is they don’t give up any free bases, so you know you’ve gotta hit. The guys believe in themselves now, they’re playing good baseball and we felt that the adversity we faced during the season was going to help us in the long run and that’s part of why we were able to get it done today.

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Me:

You had Gus Craig come in as a late-game replacement for your leadoff hitter Eric Williams, and then he gets the game-winning hit in game one. What was your reason to put him in and for him to come through?

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Coach Boretti:

Well, he’s been a late inning defensive replacement for us a lot this year. But this is his third or fourth walk-off, game-winner in his career. So he’s been in that spot before and he’s come up big.

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Me:

Last thing. I notice when your team broke the huddle after the celebration, they all said “Omaha” in unison. I’m not going to say you’re not a Stony Brook but you have to believe, right?

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Coach Boretti:

There’s no question about it, you DO have to believe. (Shrugs shoulders, as if to say “you never know”)

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PICS

More images from today’s second game.

As you might’ve seen already on Twitter (What, you don’t follow me? Gah!), here’s the Columbia radio crew announcing the game from the football press box.

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Columbia just seemed to be two steps ahead of whatever Dartmouth was doing today. Here, CU 2nd baseman NicCrucet tags out Dustin Selzer by a good bit.

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Jordan Serena slides into 3rd on this 7th inning triple, which jumpstarted that magic inning for CU.

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A few batters later Nick Ferraresi cranked a two-run double to the wall to give Columbia a lead it would never lose on their way to the title.

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… that double sent Joey Falcone to home before the relay throw could get to catcher Matt MacDowell. By the way, Falcone is also notable as being the oldest player in Division One at 26-years old. The sophomore is a former Marine and has done three tours of duty oversees prior to starting his career at Columbia.

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That ushered in another pitching change for Dartmouth head coach Bob Whelan and his boys.

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Stefan Olson came in to throw the final 3.2 innings, giving up just one hit in the process.

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This was the view through the heavy chain link fence from the parking structure along the right field line. Also, note all the people standing alongside the track on the left field line, that’s where I ended up standing and taking pics of the dogpile. Good vantage point.

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The view from the football press box at Robert Kraft Stadium. Note how it is buttressed up against the Hudson River and there’s a giant blue “C” painted on the rock wall on the other shore.

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Late in the second game the Columbia football team came out to cheer on the baseballers in their full uniforms. They were having a spring practice session after the baseball games were done.

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The baseball field is so jammed against the football/track stadium that the 3rd base coaches box is right near the visitors bench. So in this shot you see both Columbia head coach Brett Boretti and Dartmouth coach Bob Whelan in close proximity.

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Don’t tell the Fire Marshall. The stands were so packed for the second game, fans started sitting in the aisles. The attendance was officially listed as 952, pretty good for a stadium whose capacity is 500 at best.

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Dartmouth players react to watching Columbia’s celebration. This was the third straight year that the Big Green has lost in the Ivy League playoffs. But give huge credit to coach Whelan and his assistants over the years since this marked their sixth straight playoff appearance, having won their way to the NCAAs in 2009 and 2010.

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AND ONE TO GROW ON… 

The Columbia players pose with the Ivy League Championship Trophy after the game.

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Great time at the Ivy League Playoffs today. I hope you all get a chance to see two teams like this fight it out for one NCAA bid from a small conference at some point in your college baseball-lovin’ lives. There’s nothing like the raw emotion of a winning team and the crushing defeat felt from the losing team. This is good stuff, man.

G’night.

Reagan Fowler – the tallest of the Bluejay celebration – gets a lift after his RBI single won the game for CU over Rutgers in 11 innings.

With these four teams all hovering in at-large land of the RPI, this tournament almost feels like it could be a four-team Regional field. All good teams and all playing good, competitive games. Today was a pretty cool day in The O. And sure, it was a little on the long side too, since there were three games played.

So please excuse me if the write-ups are a little brief and if there are a couple of typos. This is one of those so-damn-tired-I-can’t-go-back-and-edit type of columns. So I’ll give you a pre-emptive “mea culpa” for this one. But enjoy either way.

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WHAT I SAW AT TD AMERITRADE TODAY.

Three good games. Two games which went into extra innings. It was a long day at TD Ameritrade, but there was some good baseball being played and each game was unique in its own way. And as OSU coach Josh Holliday told me later, it was like a Regional atmosphere with four good teams going at it mano-a-mano for all nine innings of each game… end then some.

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GAME ONE

OklaState – 000 020 010 2 – 5  14  1

Nebraska – 000 001 200 0 – 3  12  0

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PITCHING

WP: Brendan McCurry, 5-2

LP: Josh Roeder, 0-3

Save: None

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TOP HITTERS

OSU:

- Tanner Krietemeier, 3-for-5

- Robbie Rea, 3-for-4, 2RBI

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NU:

- Rich Sanguinetti, 3-for-4, RBI

- Bryan Peters, 2-for-4, RBI

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QUICK SUMMARY.

The two former conference rivals played a well-pitched, well-defended game for nine regulation innings, seeing the lead change hands three times. But in the 10th frame, Okie State got a leadoff double from Donnie Watson, then an RBI double from Randy McCurry to plate the go-ahead run.

Robbie Rea would provide an insurance run two batters later with an RBI single which knocked McCurry across home plate.

Cowboy reliever Braendan McCurry would entice the Huskers to go 4-up, 3-down in the bottom of the 10th inning to lock down the win.

OSU stud Tyler Nurdin gets fives from his catcher Victor Romero after the win in game two today.

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GAME TWO:

OklaState – 000 002 200 – 4  9  0

Nebraska – 000 000 000 – 0  4  0

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PITCHING

WP: Tyler Nurdin, 1-2

LP: Tyler Niederklein, 0-1

Save: None

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TOP HITTERS

OSU:

- Rick Stover, 1-for-4, HR, RBI

- Tanner Krietemeier, 2-for-4, RBI

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NU:

- Taylor Fish, 2-for-3

- Michael Pritchard, 1-for-3

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RECORDS:

Oklahoma State: 31-11

Nebraska: 19-23

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QUICK SUMMARY

As the saying goes, “What would Tyler Nurdin do?”

The first rule about Fight Club is you do NOT talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is you do NOT talk about Fight Club.

Like the Brad Pitt character in that cult classic movie, Tyler Nurdin was a bad ass. Today, the sophomore lefty tossed a complete game four-hitter with four Ks and not a single walk issued, helping Okie State to blank their former Big 12 rivals 4-0, thus cementing their two-game sweep on the day.

Remarkably efficient on the bump, Nurdin threw only a total of 94 pitches on the day, 74 of which were strikes. Seven of the innings, the Huskers went either 3-up, 3-down or 4-up, 3-down as Nurdin kept the Big Red in check all nine innings long.

Oddly, this was also Nurdin’s first win of the season. He had made eight starts prior to today but had only an 0-2 record to show for it.

Offensively, the Pokes didn’t need much, obviously. They scored two runs in the 6th inning on RBIs from Randy McCurry’s double and Victor Romero’s single. But in the 7th, nine-hole designated hitter Rick Stover parked a solo shot into the left field bullpen to supply the offensive exclamation point. It was Stover’s first home run of the season as he had come into the game having made just 13 plate appearances and one hit on the season.

Robbie Rea would end up going 4-for-8 on the day, second only to Tanner Krietemeier’s 5-for-9 performance.

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FROM TYLER NURDIN TO TYLER DURDEN

The eight rules of Fight Club

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COACH SPEAK

Oklahoma State head coach Josh Holliday. 

- On how important this weekend is to his team:

“It’s very important. I told our kids this is like a Regional tournament and that’s how we’re approaching it. It’s on the road, it’s at a big time venue. There’s four teams, you can call us the two-seed if you want. It’s still a tournament-like format and I told our kids that we have a chance to win the Regional tomorrow. That’s the only mentality we’re going to accept here. Because if you wanna win at the end of the year in the post-season, you have to win four in a row.”

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- On his feelings of winning two games vs. Nebraska:

“I thought today’s wins were very important and got a great pitching performance from Tyler in game two after making a great comeback in game one. Our team is growing. I think we’ve got a good team – not just because we won today, but because this has been a process that just keeps on growing for us. We just beat what I think is a very good Nebraska team. I don’t care what their record is, they’ve got good athletes, they’ve got some swagger and they’ve got a good coach. I think they’re right there with Indiana and should be one of the favorites to win the Big 10.”

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- After improving to 31-11, how he feels about his team’s RPI being No. 66:

“What I think is that we need to play well and keep winning games. I’m not gonna go rehash the clubs we’ve beaten. We’ve played a good schedule, the schedule that was handed to us, and we’ve beaten some good teams on that schedule. The quality of a Nebraska, or a Rutgers, or a Creighton, we know there is some very very good baseball being played here this weekend. We know how good these teams are. When I look across the diamond and I see 6’3″ and 6’4″ athletes like Nebraska has or how well-coached Creighton is or how much hustle a team like Rutgers has… it’s just great baseball. There’s great baseball and great parity everywhere. I’m confident that after those top eight or ten teams – like Vanderbilt, North Carolina, Oregon, Oregon State, Virginia, LSU, South Carolina – these are separatist teams that are putting themselves a distance apart from the rest. But the rest of us that are hanging around trying to play good baseball, I feel like we’re just as competitive as anyone else that is hanging around in that next group. I feel good about what we’re doing. You can’t just calculate numbers and determine how good a team is. That’s a part of it but there’s more to it than that.”

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- On Tyler Nurdin’s effort:

“It was outstanding. I thought after they threw us out at home in the 1st inning they were going to regroup and really get after us. They’ve got a really good lineup of right and left, and Tyler’s stuff really neutralized their left-handed batters. Today he really grew up for us. He gives us a chance to put our bullpen back together for the game against Creighton tomorrow night.”

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- His thoughts on what he’s seen from Creighton:

“Watching them play last night… they’re a good team. Very fundamentally sound. They’re well-coached, that jumps out at you. They play small-ball, they play good one-run baseball. After seeing them play and after seeing Missouri State and Wichita State this year, the Missouri Valley Conference has good baseball teams in it. For that conference to be sitting down at 7th or 8th or whatever it is, it’s because of the mid-week baseball in the region that they have to play. They can’t go six states over and play better teams, but I know that Creighton is a good baseball team that we’ll have to play very well against to beat them.”

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Nebraska head coach Darin Erstad. 

- On his team’s struggles here this weekend at the plate:

“We’ve been out of our comfort zone a lot here. We’ve had more fly ball outs in this weekend here than we’ve had in the past three weeks combined. At the end of the day we’re not having those at bats over and over where we’re fighting pitches off and working deep into counts. We’re taking way too many fastballs and lunging at too many off-speed pitches.

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- On his teams’ week where they are 0-4 so far:

“There’s a certain expectation that we have to play baseball at the University of Nebraska, and right now we’re not meeting that expectation. Of course, it’d be nice to have a little bit more depth, which we’ll have next year. It’d be nice to take away some of their toys, but right now we’re just not a deep enough team to do that.”

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- On his team not coming up clutch in at-bats.

“We did this early in the season a lot where we get one or two hits early on and then we keep waiting for that big hit and waiting for that big hit, and it never comes. I’ve been disappointed in our approach, again, lunging at pitches. We’re very reactive when it comes to putting pressure on defenses. We’ve shown we can do it, but we’re just not consistent with it.”

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PICS

A few images fro the two OSU-NU games.

As I tweeted earlier with this picture today – what, you don’t follow me on Twitter? Gah! – apparently OSU just gives Randy McCurry a rub of the head for good luck.

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The congratulations follow: Someone from the OSU dugout yelled out, “that was a good fuckin’ win” after the final out of the 10-inning snot-knocker in game one today.

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After the first game was done, OSU head coach Josh Holliday played umpire for his son’s impromptu baseball game in front of the Cowboys dugout.

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On the bad side of things, Holliday was none-too-quiet about a ridiculous call early in the second game, where a sliding baserunner for OSU was called out despite knocking the ball from the glove of Nebraska’s Pat Kelly.

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Roeder on the Storm: Nebraska reliever Josh Roeder sports the muttonchop sideburns to frame his mug.

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Excuse this really crappy picture which is all out of focus. But I figured the sight of Rick Stover (left) hitting a home run was Haley’s Comet rare, so I had to post his crossing of home plate, even if I was shooting it from the press box and through the netting.

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During the second game of the day, a wedding party actually pulled up and took a picture in front of the Road To Omaha statue out front of TD Ameritrade. I didn’t get that pic, but I did get this one on the side of the stadium. I can just see it now… in six years the bride is gonna tell her friends, “Did you know my ex had our wedding photos taken in front of the downtown baseball stadium? I’m SOOO glad he’s out of my life now and my second wedding is just gonna be at the Justice of the Peace.”

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GAME THREE

Rutgers – 000 020 000 00 – 2  10  2

Creight – 000 001 001 01 – 3   6  0

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PITCHING:

WP: Jake Peter, 1-0

LP: Nathaniel Roe, 1-2

Save: None

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TOP HITTERS

Rutgers

- Charlie Law, 2-for-5

- Brian O’Grady, 2-for-5

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Creighton

- Brad McKewon, 2-for-5, 3 runs scored

- Jake Peter, 2-for-5, RBI

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RECORDS

Rutgers: 20-21

Creighton: 24-9

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QUICK SUMMARY

First off, wouldn’t these two make perfect conference mates? Right?

Okay, no.

But as you may or may not know, these two athletic programs are two ships passing in the night. Rutgers will be leaving the Big East for the Big 10 and the Bluejays will leave the Missouri Valley for the Big East next year. Ahhh, don’tcha just love the smell of conference realignment… like a wart on the ass of a sulphur plant.

To be honest with you Stitch-Heads, this was the third game of the day and it went extra innings. So in other words, as I write this, it’s really wicked late. So I’ll just surmise it this way:

After Creighton coach Ed Servais said that yesterday’s win over Nebraska might’ve been his team’s best game of the year, the Bluejays may have played one of its worst.

The Jays only had four hits through the first 10 innings of the game, made a handful of baserunning mistakes and just looked a little ragged all game long. But they got a gift from the Scarlet Knights and tied the game in the bottom of the 9th with two out, then strung together a couple of hits around a sac bunt and a walk to pull out an unlikely 3-2 win at the Big Tiddy in downtown Omaha tonight.

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PICS

This is how the nightcap of the TD Ameritrade Classic looked.

Matt Tietz, No. 18 here, smacked a double and then came around to score for the Knights. Rutgers had it goin’ on early with two runs in the 5th inning. They would hold that lead until the 9th inning.

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A couple of base-running gaffes did mar this game between Rutgers and Creighton. Here, Bluejay shortstop Alex Staehely runs down RU’s Nick Favatella.

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RU right fielder Vinny Zarrillo went balls-out to make this catch on the warning track down the right field line in front of some interested fans.

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You can’t have a big time atmosphere without dancing girls, right? Creighton’s RBI Grrrls are getting their groove on atop the CU dugout. Personally, I like these short skirts with muscle-toned legs a lot better than Arkansas’ girls wearing those 70s slacks that go up above the belly button. Advantage Bluejay chicks.

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CU’s Brad McKewon slides past Rutgers catcherJeff Melillo, who misplayed the ball, allowing for McKewon to account for the game-tying run in the 9th inning.

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That play caused the Rutgers coaches to cuss and toss chairs in the dugout, as you see the one is toppled here.

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This stadium cameraman was uncomfortably close to Rutgers head coach Fred Hill… then of course, I made it worse by taking this picture as well. Stupid me.

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I got this: Rutgers 1st baseman Charlie Law has a bead on this ball hit down the line.

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Doh! Law can’t quite catch up to the hot shot. Thus allowing Reagan Fowler’s game-winning RBI single shoot down the 1st base line and into right field to win the game for Creighton.

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That set off this Bluejay dogpile after the winning run crossed the dish. (No injuries guys or I’ll kill you.)

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OTHER NOTES

A few bits of lagniappe from today.

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BEER AT THE COLLEGE WORLD SERIES?

I spent a few innings talking to Dan McGoven, the head of police and security at TD Ameritrade Park. He told me that he’s heard rumors that the NCAA may allow beer sales at the FanFest area outside the outfield parking lot and possibly in the concourse area on the outfield plaza. If that’s true, that’s a stunner, since as you know the NCAA is as straight-laced and uptight as any organization (and I s’pose if you represent college athletes you probably should be).

Now, who would be against this sudden change of heart in beer sales? Try places like The Blatt and Old Mattress Factory, who sell alcohol all series long. They’d lose out on some big time beer sales.

Of course, the other flip-side to this is, do we really want to make beer sales available to the dipshits out in the gen ad section of the stadium? Aren’t they borderline problem-starters as it is? If anything, beer sales should be restricted to the grandstand area of the stadium and only to those who pass an IQ test.

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THE TRESPASSERS. 

You know how it’s become so popular for gen ad denizens to jump down and start running on the field during games? Well I brought it up with Mr. McGovern and he told me that he’s had to tell the grounds crew to NOT be so aggressive in going after these interlopers. He said that if they tackle them too hard or hurt them in any way they could get sued by the trespassers.

You believe that shit? I told Dan, “Look, if somebody feels like they want to go on the field of play in any way shape or form with the players on the field or court, then security has the right to pummel them.”

But Mr. McGovern did say that the people who are caught running on the field are banned from the park for a year and given 90 hours of community service. But again, I say that’s waaaay too lenient.

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I FEEL LIKE A PUSS.

Once again, Joe Willman of Creighton’s marketing department was in charge of between innings/games music at the Big Tiddy today and had a few good selections. But amongst all the Steppenwolf, AC/DC and Foo Fightres he played, he also played one song that I admit is a guilty pleasure of mine: Owl City’s “Fireflies”.

This guy, Adam Young, is a musician from Minnesota and plays mostly soul-less electronica crap and did a duet with Carly Ray Jepson. But for some reason, maybe it’s because of the wicked-cool video, I like this piece of crap song. And that makes me just want to punch myself in the face. But here’s the vid if you wanna check it out…

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AGEISTS… REALLY, WTF?

I thought I was at a Rice game where the opposing fans can’t seem to stop pointing out how old the coach is. Well give a huge thumbs down to the Bluejays fans behind the photo well who were complaining about Rutgers head coach Fred Hill walking out to the mound. Look, it’s easy to decipher that the dude is older than most people, but yelling out “Geriatric” and “Retire, old man” just ain’t cool. So go ahead and feel free to shut the hell up.

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AROUND THE COUNTRY

Some other stuff people like me need to know about.

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THREE UP

Beauty!

1- VIRGINIA TECH.

Swept No. 5 Virginia 5-3 and 11-6

Nice rebound Hokies. Nice indeed. Just when you didn’t think these guys were legit and their bloated No. 17 RPI was poppy-cock, here you go. The shocking part is how the Techsters beat the Wahoo pitching to a blundering mess, smacking 10 hits in game one and 11 hits in game two. Andrew Rash led the brigade, going 5-for-7 with 3RBI including a triple and home run in game two. Tyler Horan had a pair of runs batted in for each game as well. All the more shocking when you consider UVa has a top 10 pitching staff and came in with a team ERA of just 2.71. Today marked the second time this season where the Gobblers have taken down a Top Five team in a weekend series, having already punched then-No. 4 Florida State in two of three at the end of March.

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2- COLUMBIA… again. 

The Lions completed the four-game sweep of Penn, this time with a DH in Philadelphia by 1-0 and 6-4 scores. With the two wins today, the Lions locked up home field advantage for next week’s Ivy League Playoffs, where they’ll face off with familiar foe Dartmouth. CU and the Big Green faced each other in 2008 in Hanover, with Columbia winning the best-of-three, and in 2010, when Dartmouth won on the Leo’s home field. Columbia’s wins improve its mark to 24-19 overall and a program record 16 wins in Ivy League play.

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3- CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE.

It’s been slim pickens for the Matadors for quite a few years now. But today, coach Matt Curtis saw his troops pick up a 5-2 win over visiting Pacific to improve their mark to 24-18 overall and 10-4 in Big West play. The remarkable thing is that not since 2002 has CSUN had 24 wins in its first 42 games. Yeah, I know that sounds weak, but the Mats have been door-Mats for over a decade now as they’ve posted just one winning record since that 2002 NCAA tournament team.

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HONORABLE MENTIONS

- New Mexico.

For the second day in a row the Lobos took care-a-bidness by disposing of their only close competition in the Mountain West so far this year in UNLV, this time by a 5-3 score. The Lobos overcame a 2-1 deficit by scoring four runs in the 8th inning, helped out by a two-run error and a John Pustay RBI single. Coupled with Friday’s 9-0 shutout, UNM stays pistol-hot, winning its 9th in a row and now extending their lead in the MWC to five games over the Rebels.

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- North Florida. 

Today’s 10-4 win over Jacksonville improved the Ospreys to 31-12 overall land a very good 13-4 in A-Sun play. But more importantly, it helped Smoke Laval’s charges hold on to the Old Wooden Barrel, which goes to the winner of the series of inner-city rivals.

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- Albany starting pitchers

Seniors Kascem Graham and Austin Chase both threw complete games as the Great Danes downed UMBC, 5-0 and 10-1. Graham’s gem was a two-hitter with four Ks in a 7-inning contest. Chase went a full nine innings, striking out a career high nine batters and holding the Retrievers to four hits. The UofA is now 19-16-1 overall and 12-8 in AmEast play.

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- Oklahoma pitcher Jake Fisher. 

With Dillon Overton sidelined, Fisher – a senior – took over the starting spot in game one vs. Texas Tech this weekend and responded with a 10-K, 0-BB performance where he also scattered seven hits. The game was actually played last night but was halted due to thunderstorms, otherwise Fisher may have made his first career start a complete game. When the game resumed today, Robert Tasin came on in relief to go the final 1.2 innings. OU is going to need some pitching to step up if they are going to keep their lofty ranking.

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- Notre Dame. 

The Irish are starting to heat up again, having now won seven of their last eight with today’s come-from-behind 4-3 win over UConn. The Golden Domers scored two runs in the 8th inning to wipe out a 3-2 deficit. Though he gave up a boatload of hits (nine in all) and never recorded a single strikeout, ND starter Adam Norton improved to 9-1 on the season with 8.0 innings of work.

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- North Carolina State.

Good revenge wake up call. The Pack made amends for Friday night’s bad loss to North Carolina and returned the favor in an 7-3 win in Raleigh. This sets up tomorrow’s rubber match, which may or may not get played since the forecast calls for constant rain all day. So we’ll see. Either way, here are a few choice visuals the Doctor of College Baseball took today from Wolf Pack country:

UNC Hall of Famer B.J. Surhoff made an appearance at the game in Raleigh tonight.

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Carlos Rodon was in fine form again, going 6.2 innings and notching 10 strikeouts to get the win.

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All American Colin Moran was tagged out at home by Wolf Pack catcher Brett Austin.

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A healthy Trea Turner and a consistent Carlos Rodon are going to be the key to NC State’s hopes down the stretch this season.

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THREE DOWN

Crap!

1- THESE LSU FOOTBALLERS. 

Sorry to get a little off-subject (don’t act like your surprised by this), but look at these two articles and you’ll see why I’ve nearly lost faith in all things college football…

http://www.nbc33tv.com/news/crimetracker/draft-party-for-former-ti

http://www.nbc33tv.com/sports/lsu/lsu-running-back-jeremy-h

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2- HOUSTON.

I guess this isn’t a total shock, since the Cougars, as improved as they are this season, are still a youthful outfit. Today, Todd Whitting’s boys took another loss on the chin to UCF, by a 5-4 score. Coupled with Friday’s 4-2 loss, the Cougs have now lost four straight weekend series in C-USA play and are now an even 7-7 in conference play and 27-16 overall. It will be interesting to see how UofH’s RPI numbers react. Picking up a win on Sunday will be vital for their hopes of staying within striking distance in the at-large-land. Currently the Cougars are No. 68.

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3- TROY. 

The Trojans got a complete game three-hitter from Shane McCain on the mound, but blew that gem by allowing an unearned run with two out in the 7th inning – a dropped pop up to right field – and Florida Atlantic’s Levi Meyer raced all the way from 1st base to score the only run of the game as FAU evened up the series with the Trojans.

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DISHONORABLE MENTION

- TCU’s Brandon Finnegan

The Frogs wasted a great effort from their big righty, who went the distance in a complete game five-hitter with eight Ks, yet suffered the loss as TCU dropped a 2-1 decision at Kansas State. The bigger shame of it all is that the Cats winning run was unearned as Austin Fisher reached base on an error, moved to 2nd on a wild pitch, was advanced to 3rd on a ground out and then scored when Clayton Dalrymple legged out an infield single. And listen to this, in eight of Finnegan’s 11 starts this season the Frog offense has scored two runs or less. Gah!

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Probably should add more to the Three Up and Three Down ledger, but I’m zonked. So forgive me if I miss another Miami/Boston College-like upset tonight… By the way, neither of their SIDs send out post-game write-ups to my Email, so I’m not shocked I missed that one last night. Did you see how long my article was?…. I was busy with LOTS of other stuff, so forgive the hell out of me.

G’night.

Arizona congratulates itself for beating Stanford, as noted on the scoreboard behind them.

Hmmm… just how ARE those defending national champions doing this year?

Here’s where I found out.

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WHAT I SAW AT SUNKEN DIAMOND.

Hmmm… maybe the RPI is right about these two teams, ‘coz neither one looked like a very good ballclub on Saturday afternoon. Arizona played a little bit better on the mound and certainly in the batter’s box to wring out an oddly painful, yet very important 10-9 win over the Trees.

Arizona head coach Andy Lopez feels the affects of the unusual heat in Palo Alto today.

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LINESCORE:

Wildcats – 010 530 001 – 10  11  2

Cardinal – 001 210 210 -  9  12  1

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PITCHING

WP: Mathew Troupe, 3-0

LP: Daniel Starwalt, 2-1

Save: None

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TOP HITTERS

Arizona:

- Trent Gilbert, 2-for-3, 3BBs, 2RBI

- Brandon Dixon, 2-for-5, GW HR, 2RBI

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Stanford:

- Brian Ragira, 4-for-5, 2RBI, 2B, 3B

- Austin Wilson 2-for-4, 2RBI, 2B

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RECORDS: 

Arizona: 25-13, 9-8 Pac 12

Stanford: 21-12, 8-6 Pac 12.

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IN A NUTSHELL.

Ugly… no, FUGLY.

But Arizona will take it. Again.

This was the second 10-9 decision over a Pac 12 rival in the last five days for the Wildcats. And the one common denominator between the two: they were both ugly, ugly wins.

In fact, his was one of those ugly Sunday-type of games. Where a parade of pitching changes still couldn’t fix the fact that not a single pitcher could seem to throw a strike, the teams teed off on each other when they did, there were numerous wild pitches, errors, misplays and walks out the ying-yang.

Oh, and to make things worse, it was unusually hotter than a pistol on The Farm.

Arizona scored five runs in the 4th inning and three more in the 5th, only to allow Stanford to come all the way back from a 9-5 deficit and tie things up in the 8th inning on an RBI single from Brian Ragira.

The 4th inning was downright mondo bizarro. The usually fundamentally-sound Stanford pitching staff gave up five runs on three hits with two wild pitches, five walks – two with the bases loaded – and a big 2-run double by Johnny Field.

The Wildcats entered the inning trailing 3-1, but Field’s double tied the game back up at 3-3. A few batters and a pitching change later, Field came in to give UofA the go-ahead score on a wild pitch by reliever Marcus Brakeman.

But in typical Stanford style, the Trees kept on scratching. They got one in the 5th inning, two more in the 7th and one more in the 8th inning, as previously mentioned.

But the decisive point in the game came in the top of the 9th inning when Arizona 3rd baseman Brandon Dixon hit a fence-scraper of a home run that barely eluded the grasp of Stanford left fielder Austin Slater.

Though Matthew Troupe would make things a little interesting in the 9th by walking a pair of SU batters, he settled in just enough to strike outAlex Blandino and got a meek unassisted groundout to Zach Hoffpauir to end the game.

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KEY MOMENT. 

(Besides the Brandon Dixon home run in the 9th, that is)

Stanford had scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the 7th inning to pull within 9-8 and had men on 1st and 2nd, when Alex Blandino strode to the plate. Blandino had already homered earlier in the game and looked poised to pull the Cardinal into at least a tie with a base knock  or into the lead with another crusher. At that point, Arizona chose to bring in All American closer Matthew Troupe, the hero of the CWS championship series last June.

On the first pitch of the at-bat, Blandino bailed out of an inside pitch that looked like it could’ve plunked him as he stayed his ground. Blandino looked pissed at himself as he whirled away from the ball, knowing it could’ve loaded the bases. But alas, a few pitches later, Troupe ended up getting Blandino bloop meekly to center fielder Johnny Field and ended the 7th inning threat.

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WILSON’S RETURN.

Stanford slugger-slash-defensive end Austin Wilson was making just his 7th start of the season in today’s game. Turns out that Wilson got a stress reaction in his right elbow before the second game of the season and it took much longer to come back from than expected. He entered the game 11-of-30 on the season, for a .367 average and then went 2-for-4 with 2RBI today. His return to form and health will be a huge factor for the Trees down the stretch.

Austin Wilson had a big day for Stanford, going 2-for-4 with 2RBI. He even did a good job of flipping his helmet.

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THAT RPI THING. 

Another game, another big issue with the RPI. As you guys might recall from my weekend preview, these two teams are in deep didgeridoo if the season ended today. The defending national champs came into the weekend with an RPI of 58 and the Cardinal sit way, way, way, way, way down at No. 112. The bad news for UofA is that they’ll have an RPI anchor of a series with Alabama State next week and also have Pac 12 series with Washington and USC which will hurt their ranking. Meanwhile, the Trees will have a more promising future in the rankings since five of their last six weekends will come against Oregon (No. 8), Arizona State (No. 12), Oregon State (No. 1) and UCLA (No. 21). The only “bad” series left will be vs. Cal, who is at a respectable (for a sub-.500 team) No. 78 RPI.

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COACH SPEAK.

Had to do a very quick few questions with Arizona coach Andy Lopez after the game. Here are the highlights.

- On what he told his team after the win:

“It’s not ice skating, thank God. (Laughs). It’s not ice skating and we’ll take it. But I told them it was a big win – they’re all big in this conference, as you know – and I told them let’s get better and go get another one tomorrow because we need it.”

- On reliever Matt Troupe’s knack for “making things interesting” in his closing stints:

“Yeah, I’m getting kind of tired of it though. I really am. I mean, it’s not effective and it’s beating us up because he threw 54 pitches so now I can’t use him for tomorrow. You know, he’s supposed to get better. I’m not real happy with his performances this year. He’s been very sloppy and has been getting really deep into the count a lot. He’s got to get better or we’ve got to get a different closer.”

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- On his team’s knack for winning ugly games lately:

“We have a tendency to do stupid things and that IS characteristic of a young group, which is what we have. But this is the Pac 12 man. They’ve got to get older quick.”

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- On the effort of his team:

“Well, I do like their effort. No doubt. They don’t quit. They don’t get down on themselves when they’re behind. They could’ve easily thrown in the towel today. Same thing with the game on Tuesday (the 10-9 ugly-fest win over Arizona State). It’s uncharacteristic of a young team, usually they tend to get down on themselves when things don’t go right. So I do like that part of this team.”

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PICS. 

More images from today’s game at Sunken Diamond.

Brian Ragira, here doing one of those “I just hit a double” rituals, led the Cardinal with four hits today, including hitting for the short cycle.

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Riley Moore chucks the bat after being walked with the bases loaded. Stanford issued nine walks on the day in all.

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UofA centerfielder Johnny Field (sprawled out on the field) lost this ball in the sun and allowed Stanford to score a pair of runs.

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Arizona ace reliever Mathew Troupe delivers to the plate.

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Stanford scores on a play at the plate.

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Austin Wilson, starting just his 7th game of the season, takes a hack in the late innings… only to have popped up to the first baseman.

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Brandon Dixon rounds the bases after hitting what would be the game-winning home run.

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… then Dixon gets mobbed by his teammates on the way to the dugout.

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A half-inning later Dixon fields a grounder and steps on 3rd to get the final out of the game.

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As I mentioned above it was a really warm day in Palo Alto today.

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VERY QUICKLY… ELSEWHERE.

Don’t have a lot of time, but here are a few highlights and lowlights of the day.

THREE UP

The best of what I could find.

1- VIRGINIA.

Okay, the Wahoos are legit. Yep. No doubt. Well… either that or Florida State is horribly overrated. Today, UVa stole a pair of wins over the visiting Seminoles, 9-2 and 2-0, including game two’s combined one-hitter from Scott Silverstein and Kyle Crockett. FSU aces Luke Weaver and Brandon Leibrandt took the losses, despite having some highlights themselves, particularly Leibrandt’s complete-game four-hitter in a losing effort.

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2- TREVOR BELICEK, TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI AND HIS TEAMMATES.

Aaron Fitt, Kendall Rogers and myself all got sent a You Tube clip on twitter of the big righty talking on camera about his complete game one-hitter he tossed today in a 3-0 win over Central Arkansas. Belicek ended the day with 10 Ks and just two walks among the 31 batters he faced.

Oh, and here’s how his teammates feted him after the game:

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3- FLORIDA GULF COAST

For the second day in a row the Eagles get a jog-off win over hard-luck USC-Upstate. Today, FGCU escaped a bases-loaded, no-out game in the top of the 11th inning, then turned around in the bottom of the frame and scored the winning run on Brandon Bednar’s bloop RBI single with two outs. Eagles are now 22-13 overall and 8-6 in the Atlantic Sun.

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HONORABLE MENTIONS.

- Canisius. 

By winning two games against Manhattan at venerable Van Cortlandt Park, the Golden Griffins not only win their first-ever series at the home of the defending MAAC champions, while also

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- PITT.

Keep an eye on the Panthers, who dunked Rutgers twice today, 14-5 and 9-4, and have now improved to 29-10 overall and 8-3 in Big East play. The Panthers entered the weekend at No. 25 in the Collegiate Baseball rankings and have won 17 of their last 21 games.

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- Northwestern and Michigan. 

The two teams played today’s game at Wrigley Field where the Wildcats’ won 6-0. The star of the day was NU starting pitcher Luke Farrell who went the distance and gave up just three hits with 9Ks to improve to 2-2 on the season.

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- Florida.

The Gators had to go 15 innings but they finally subdued a game bunch of Missouri Tigers, 4-3. Casey Turgeon knocked in the winning run on a fielder’s choice which scored Harrison Bader from 3rd. The Gators don’t really deserve mention here merely for beating Missouri in Columbia, but moreso for their eight game winning streak and their bullpen’s 12.2 scoreless innings streak which has played a huge part in their recent success.

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- Rice. 

The Owls relied on their old standby: pitching. Austin Kubitza and Zech Lemond combined on a three-hitter with 11Ks as the Owls beat rival Houston 4-0 to even the Silver Glove Series in H-town.

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- Bowling Green’s Danny Schmitz. 

The Falcon head coach earned his 600th and 601st career win with today’s double-header sweep of Akron by scores of 14-6 and 5-1.  Jeremy Shay went 4-for-5 in the game one rout, blasting two home runs to the opposite field… which is what my Baldcast partner Mike Rooney says is the true test of a batter’s power. The Falcons also now own a six game winning streak and are at a respectable 8-6 in MAC play. And by the way, to MY credit, I DID choose BG as the “breakthrough team” in my preseason MAC preview. So I’m basically a bad-ass. Yep, me.

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THREE DOWN.

The worst of the day.

1- OREGON STATE.

Oy vey. This is NOT good. The Beavers dropped a pair of games to Washington, and the bad part is they weren’t even close. Udub drubbed the Beavs by 5-1 and 10-3 scores. The bad part is that these two losses means OSU won’t be tied for the lead in the Pac 12 with rival Oregon as they are now 10-4.

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2- FLORIDA STATE

Lost both ends of a double-header at Virginia, 9-2 and 2-0. The worst part was that the punchless Seminoles managed to pull only seven hits in the 18 innings of play today.

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3- STONY BROOK

The Seawolves dropped a pair of games to AmEast rival Maine, both by a single run, 2-1 and 3-2. They also blew a great mound performance by Frankie Vanderka, who threw his 5th complete game of the year, holding UMaine to five hits in the 2-to-1 game one loss. By the way, the Seawolves are now 13-26 on the year and 6-11 in AmEast play. The Black Bears improve to 24-14 and 13-3 respectively.

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DISHONORABLE MENTION: 

- Louisville. 

Not sure how you out-hit an opponent 14-4 and still lose 4-3, but the usually-steady Cardinals managed to pull the trick today in their loss at St. John’s. The Cards usually pride themselves on being masterful baserunners and stealers, but today they had three baserunners picked off and stranded a stunning 14 baserunners on the basepaths. Wow.

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Okay, enough. Gotta go.

G’night.

Like a trip to Mecca, I finally made my way to the home of the Railsplitters.

C’mon, did I really want to see the Ryan Eades-vs-Ryan Stanek showdown in Fayetteville, when I could get a chance to see Central Arkansas live and in-person? Oh HELL no.

Sorry Tigers. Sorry Razorbacks. Today, it was Railsplitter time.

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WHAT I SAW AT BEAR STADIUM.

For the second straight day I was totally the one to blame for being a bad omen for the home team on this roadie to the state of Arkansas. Nicholls State tied up the weekend series with Central Arkansas by returning the favor of a one-run game, winning 2-1 at Bear Stadium… soon to be renamed Railsplitter Stadium.

Nicholls State starter Kory Delange and his ability to throw strikes was the key to victory today.

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LINESCORE:

Nicholls St. – 002 000 000 – 2  7  1

Central Ark – 001 000 000 – 1  5  0

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PITCHING: 

WP: Kory Delange, 5-3

LP: Jeffrey Enloe, 6-2

Save: Jordan McCoy, 7

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TOP HITTERS

NSU:

- Cody Dufrene, 1-for-2, HR, RBI

- Mike Barba, 2-for-3

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UCA:

- Scott Zimmerle, 1-for-3, RBI

RECORDS

Nicholls: 17-19, 2-9

Central Arkansas: 25-9, 5-6

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IN SUMMARY

There seems to be a reoccurring theme to my trip to the Natural State this weekend; teams don’t need to do much to pull out Ws. It happened last night when LSU got an early lead and cruised to a 6-2 win.

On Saturday, Nicholls State got a solo home run from Catcher Cody Dufrene, then an RBI single from Leo Vargas a few batters later to pace the Colonels to a 2-0 lead after two and a half innings and let that hold up for a 2-1 win in Conway, Arkansas.

The big story of the game had to be the pitching of Nicholls starter Kory Delange (6.2inns, 5hits, 3Ks, one earned run) and relievers Brandon Jackson (1.1inns, 0hits, 1K) and Jordan McCoy (1.0inns, 0hits, 1K), keeping the Railsplitters at bay all day long. UCA came in hitting .284 as a team, but managed just those five hits in 31 at-bats.

But don’t blame UCA starting pitcher Jeffrey Enloe, who held up his end of the bargain with a complete-game 7-hitter with 5Ks and no walks.

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NOW 16-2.

UCA came into the game with a 16-1 home mark this season, only to see that go by the wayside. This loss was also the Bears’ fifth straight loss to come by a single run.

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SHORT GAME. 

Too bad I didn’t get much time to experience Bear Stadium as the game went just two hours and one minute in length.

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PICS:

A few more images from today’s game.

Nicholls catcher Cody Dufrene (right), a .208 hitter coming into the game, provided a solo home run to put the Colonels on the board.

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With THAT mean look, don’t you dare blame anything on UCA starter Jeffrey Enloe, who threw a complete-game seven hitter with five Ks and no walks.

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Nicholls 3rd baseman Brandon Jackson made plays at the hot corner and came on to pitch an inning of relief today.

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Don’t tell me UCA isn’t a serious baseball program. Would they have attractive bat girls like this if they weren’t?

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As coach Gum bemoaned, the Railsplitters made things pretty easy for NSU, even down to the last meek out of the day. Blake Marchal grounds out to end the day. Crap!

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A young Bears fan gets an autograph from Tyler Langley, a freshman from right here in Conway.

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This Central Arkansas players name?… Bo Stitch.

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The Central Arkansas spring game was going on today as well. Check out the purple and gray field. Nice.

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COACH SPEAK

I couldn’t come ALL this way to Conway, Arkansas and not get a chance to talk with the architect of this early-season success story that is the Central Arkansas Bears/Railsplitters. At first, head coach Allen Gum didn’t seem all that geeked to talk after the game, but after I told him how far I’d traveled and that I’d skipped the second game of the LSU-Arkansas series to see his team play, he couldn’t have been more appreciative (along with becoming suddenly quite verbose). We ended up talking for nearly 24 minutes after the the game. So I can’t include it all, but here are the highlights of our back and forth.

Me:

Before I get to the season you guys are having, I saw that you kept your team in the huddle a long time after the game, what did you say to them?

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Coach Gum:

I just told them that we really wasted a lot of at-bats and we’re not the kind of team who can waste at-bats. We’re not very big. We don’t have two or three guys in the middle who can send the ball over the fence, we have to be spot-on with every at-bat. But give their guy credit (Kory Delange), he threw strikes to both sides of the plate and he forced us into so many easy outs. I’d say out of our 27 outs, at least 20 of them were easy, with no pressure. He dictated the game to us, instead of the other way around and we’re not going to win many games like that.

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Me:

I have to say, this was a pretty good crowd here and they were into the game. Even with the loss, this has been fun to come down here and see this.

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Coach Gum:

I tell you what, you should’ve seen this place when I got here. Just a wire fence and some bleachers. Mostly girlfriends and parents in the stands. But the thing is, as our program has gotten better, the crowds have gotten better. In fact, this has become a really good baseball community and the high school program here has become really good too, in fact we have two or three players from there. That momentum for our program has started to turn, and now you can see that.

Coach Allen Gum and I talkin’ after the game, as photographed by The Doctor of College Baseball.

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Me:

Talking about your team and the season you’ve had. Obviously, one of the reasons I’m here today is because you guys have made a lot of headlines by going on the road and beating Mississippi State in a series, beating Southern Miss in a series, winning at Oklahoma State and all. But coming into the season, did you foresee having this kind of team this year?

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Coach Gum:

When it comes to all that stuff – being the big teams on the road – the best way to describe it is that I’m a baseball purist. I know that our team is good enough that if we pitch well and we defend well, we know we’ve got a chance in every game we play. You didn’t see it today, but we’ve got guys in our lineup that will fight you like crazy. They’ll foul pitches off, draw walks and do all the small things that give us a chance. Normally, we’ll scrap at the plate, we just didn’t do it today.

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Me:

You’re pitching. There’s only two pitchers on your staff with an ERA above 3-oh and you’ve had a lot of complete games from your starting rotation – including today. What has been the key to their great success so far?

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Coach Gum:

Our three starters – Caleb McClanahan, Jeffrey Enloe and Bryan Biggerstaff – the one reason they’ve been able to go so long into games is because they are always throwing strikes and their pitch count has been consistently low. Most of them have come right at 100 pitches and they’re all strong guys. But the back end of our pitching staff has just been ‘okay’ and we DO need a couple of guys to step up back there. We did have a young man in the back of the bullpen that was doing pretty well, Connor McClain, but he’s been hurt and won’t be back until next month.

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Me:

Despite all the programs that left the Southland Conference, like Texas State, UT-Arlington and UTSA, you guys have still have a pretty good conference this season. Are you surprised by some of the big wins the Southland has had this year?

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Coach Gum:

I’ve always told people that the Southland Conference is a big conference with a small name. If you look at the wins we’ve had, the wins Sam Houston has had, the wins Corpus Christi has had, we’ve still had a lot of quality wins as a conference. The difference between a conference like us and the SEC is like what happened with us last year. Going into the final weekend we could’ve finished 3rd or finished 10th depending on what happened. In the SEC, those teams in the top six or seven in the conference at crunch time, they know they’re going to go to the NCAA tournament. So there’s a lot more pressure on a conference like ours, every coach will tell you that. That’s also why it’s so important to get quality wins in non-conference play. So we all feel the pressure, but also try like crazy to get big wins early on. Because of that, I’m not surprised at anything the Southland does.

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Me:

If you guys make it to the NCAA tournament, how much would you relish playing Arkansas?

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Coach Gum:

I’d be lying if I didn’t say that would be awesome. It’d be incredible. Those guys up there, they don’t play in-state teams. I know the coaching staff up there would play us no problem, but there’s some kind of administration thing up there that prevents it. But I think it’d be great for the state for us to play, especially in the NCAA tournament. I’d lived in every corner of this state, so I know how much it would mean.

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Me:

So it’s not an animosity thing where they won’t schedule you, right?

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Coach Gum:

No. Not at all. I know those coaches up there, they would have no problem with playing us at all. And it’s not a thing where if a Southland team or a Sun Belt team beats them, it’s not going to affect their program. I guess it could help ours to beat them, but it’s not going to hurt them. Maybe through legislation something can happen and we can play them, but I can’t control it so I’m not going to worry about it.

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AROUND THE COUNTRY.

A quick glimpse of tome of the highlights from other games around the country.

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THREE UP

The best of the day.

1- JIMMY PICKENS, MICHIGAN STATE

The word “hero” should be reserved for the members of the military, life-saving firefighters and Mr. Pickens. Today the sophomore outfielder parked a homer to right field in the 10th inning to supply the Spartans with a 6-5 win over Indiana. It was his second straight game for Pickens to be the hero, after hitting the game-winning RBI single in Friday’s 2-1 win in 11 innings.

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2- FLORIDA

Shhh! Don’t wake the Gators. These dudes are starting to reach for an alarm clock… and kick some serious ass. Today, the UofF scored 10 runs in the 6th inning, turning the Gamecocks into Lame Cocks and giving the Gators their season-best fifth straight win.  Uof F is now 19-18 overall and 8-7 in the SEC. The important part of this is that the Gators came into the weekend with an RPI of No. 15. Like Georgia a few years ago, they get above .500 and they’re in.

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3- MERCER.

For the second day in a row the Bears win a vital Atlantic Sun showdown with Florida Gulf Coast by a single run, 4-3 in 10 innings. Soph Chesny You slapped a bases-juiced single up the middle in the 10th frame over the No. 24 Eagles to seal the weekend series win. Mercer is now 5-1 vs. Top 50 RPI programs and are the highest ranked non-BCS team in the country at No. 21.

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HONORABLE MENTIONS

- Louisville’s Magic 8th Inning. 

For the second night in a row, the Cards put Elon on ice with an out-of-control 8thinning outburst. Friday night’s win vs. Elon featured a nine-run 8th inning in a 10-1 rout. Today, the Cards came from behind to score three runs in the 8th frame to pull out a 7-5 win. This season, the UofL has outscored its opponents 53-15 in the 8th frame of games.

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- New Mexico’s Magic 8th inning.

Oh, you thought Louisville had a four-leaf clover… the Lobos scored 12 runs in the 8th inning of their game vs. Fresno State, turning a 3-2 deficit to a 14-3 runaway win. Mitch Garver hit a double and a triple to pace the offense with three RBI. UNM is now 19-16 overall and 10-4 in the MWC. Coupled with San Diego State’s loss to Air Force, the Lobos now have 1st place all to themselves.

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- Army pitching.

Chris Rowley struck out a career-high 11 batters and gave up just four hits in a seven inning, 2-1 win over Lafayette. Then, in game two, Brock Davidson held the Leos to four hits and no walks in a nine-inning game, also won by a 2-1 count.

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- Houston RHPAustin Pruitt. 

12Ks, no walks in a complete game win over Seton Hall. It was Pruitt’s third complete game of the season, as he improves to 7-2  on the year. The Coogs and Pirates are even at a game apiece this weekend.

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- Liberty’s Bryan Aanderud.

The Flames 2nd baseman drove in a career-high six runs as LU took down Wast Virginia 9-2. Aanderud went 3-for-5, including a three-run double to pace the offense. Both the Flames and the Mountaineers are now 19-17.

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- Florida State’s Jose Brizuela. 

Went 8-for-11 (.818) in the three game sweep of Duke. Brizuela ended the day going 3-for-4 with a double and a home run and three RBI in today’s 8-3 win.

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- Vanderbilt’s Tyler Beede.

Looks like this dude’s comfort zone is expanding. Another great start for the phenom, going 7.0 innings, but getting double digits in Ks once again with 10 punchouts in the ‘Dores 12-1 win over Missouri. He also didn’t walk a single batter and gave up just three hits.

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THREE DOWN

The worst of the day.

1- INDIANA’s LUCK

For the second day in a row the Hoosiers drop an extra inning, jog-off game at Michigan State, as mentioned above coming at the hands of Jimmy Pickens. The Hoosiers are likely to lose their top eight standing in the RPI after these two losses, which means they would probably fall out of the National Seed picture if the season ended today. Don’t make this a habit, guys.

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2- NOTRE DAME’s LUCK

Staying in the Hoosier State, the Irish have had no luck this weekend either, dropping the second straight game at Pitt, 4-2. According to the Irish release, they lined out sharply seven times, sent Panthers outfielders to the base of the wall three times and had an unlucky 9th inning to end the game. UND has suddenly hit a sand bar in their smooth sailing seas, losing four straight now to drop to 19-13. Pitt is now 23-9 overall and 5-3 in the Big East.

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3- UTAH VALLEY.

For the first time in program history the Wolverines did not win a Great West weekend, dropping today’s game 4-3 vs. Houston Baptist. In three-plus seasons of Great West play UVU has gone 21-0 in weekend series. But today’s loss means they have now split the weekend series with the Huskies.

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DISHONORABLE MENTIONS

- Virginia Tech’s Andrew Rash. 

The junior slugger picked the wrong time to have a career day, slamming two home runs and gathering a career-high five RBI. But Rash’s teammates didn’t have the support they should’ve and the Gobblers dropped a 9-8 decision in 10 innings to No. 1 North Carolina.

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- Texas A&M. 

On March 24th, the Aggies beat Ole Miss in Oxford to improve to 5-1 in the SEC. It was lookin’ like Johnny Manziel wouldn’t be needed on the diamond after all. Well put the Heisman winner on speed dial now. The Aggies lost a 9-3 laugher to Mississippi State today to drop to 6-8 in conference play. The sad part is, four of the last five losses have come at home, including last weeks series loss to last place Auburn. Yuck.

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AND ONE TO GROW ON… 

- Yale. 

Props to the Ivy League smartboys. The Bulldogs avenged three straight losses earlier this season to nearby rival Quinnipiac, beating the Bobcats 4-0 to win the 2013 NCAA hockey national title today. In the three previous games with QU, whose campus is eight miles away in Hamden, the Elis were outscored 13-3 before turning it all around today.

Huggin’ it out. Dillon Peters gets some man-love from relief ace Corey Knebel as he exits the game in the 8th inning.

Since I wanted to make sure to watch the Final Four basketball games, I sat my fat butt on my couch today and didn’t go anywhere. And I’m glad I did. Among other things, I was finally able to see Texas up-close and in living color, and I saw them do what they do best, pitch like a mother and defend like they’ve got a moat around the diamond.

Here’s a few observations from what I saw:

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On Sports South:

LIBERTY – 1

COASTAL CAROLINA – 5

The Chanticleers have once again proven – even in a “down” season – that they are the cock of the walk in the Big South, winning their second straight game over the Flames. Alex Buccilli had the big blow, a two-run single to put CCU up for good and send LU back to their hotel with that “what the hell do we gotta do?” look on their faces.

Home plate umpire Greg Street took a foul ball off the arm early on in the Liberty-Coastal game…

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Which reminds me, if those vintage umpire protector shields were still in use as I’ve advocated, Street’s arm would’ve been safely tucked behind it and his injury would never have happened.

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The most infamous batting stance in college baseball: Alex Buccelli’s Easton bat provided an 8th inning two-run double to put the Chants up for good.

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On Fox Sports Atlantic:

VIRGINIA TECH – 4

NORTH CAROLINA STATE- 13

Talk about a two-out nightmare, this was the ultimate in pain for the Hokies. Already down 4-2, N.C. State popped out and grounded out to start their half of the 6th inning. Then all hell broke loose. The next nine batters reached base to turn a 4-2 deficit to a 9-4 advantage. Logan Ratledge and Brett Austin supplied the biggest damage, hitting a 3-run triple and a 2-run single respectively. The Wolfpack have now out-scored their opponents 40-13 in the 6th inning this season.

Watching today’s Virginia Tech-NC State game reminded me of one of my pet peeves in college baseball… who the hell decided an 8-foot Great Wall of China behind home plate was a good idea?

NCSU now leads the weekend series 2-zip. Friday night’s game went 14 innings before the Pack scored the winning run in a near five-hour game.

It was good to see Trea Turner back in action again, as he went 3-for-5 with a stolen base thrown in as well.

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On Fox College Sports:

TEXAS TECH – 2 

KANSAS STATE – 15. 

This one got ugly early, so I didn’t get the chance to watch much of it. The Cats were acting like Bill Snyder was in their pre-game locker room ‘coz they came out focused and motivated, plating nine runs in the 1st inning to make this a boatrace from the first pitch. The interesting note on this one is that the top five hitters in the batting order – Ross Kivett, Shane Conlon, Jared King, Blair DeBord and Jon Davis – accounted for 15 of the Cats 16 hits in innings one-thru-five.

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On Fox Sports Southwest:

OKLAHOMA – 0

TEXAS – 1

It was the Duelin’ Dillons. Overton of Oklahoma and Peters of Texas. These two mound studs put o a hell of a show in Austin today. It was all clean through the halfway point of the game, then OU’s Overton finally gave up a single run in the bottom of the 5th inning on a slicing RBI single by Ben Johnson. But both flingers were spot-on all day.

Peters went a step better than the bearded Overton, having a no-hitter going through seven innings, giving up just a hit batsmen up until that point. But a couple of singles in the 8th inning put an end to that, but didn’t change the fact that Dillon Peters had a wicked-good effort today. Corey Knebel came on in relief and secured the shutout and his seventh save of the season.

“I felt great from the get-go,” said Peters on Fox Sports afterward. “I was mixing things up early on, then I just dominated with the fastball, working it in and out of the zone. It seemed to be effective the rest of the game.”

Peters ended up going 7.2 innings, giving up two hits (both in the 8th inning) and nabbing five punchouts in his 93-pitch effort.

With the no-hitter no longer intact, Dillon Peters (32) is given the heave-ho after this conference on the mound. He earned two standing ovations from the UT crowd for his effort.

Head coach Augie Garrido was matter-of-fact about how long he was planning on going with Peters in the game and when he was planning to go to ace bullpenner Corey Knebel.

“We were only going to go with him until he gave up a hit,” Augie said. “We couldn’t take a chance with a runner in scoring position. You can’t lose a game in a matchup of a left-handed pitcher who has gone through the order three times already and you have the No. 1 closer in the country sitting in the bullpen.”

As usual, the Texas defense was spotless, posting no errors, making smart decisions and even dealing with a swirling wind on the few pop-ups they had to deal with.

But give props to Dillon Overton on the other side as well, going the distance in a 6K, 5-hit gem that would’ve been more than enough on 98% of the games the Big Red would’ve played here today.

It was also my first chance to get a collegiate look at C.J. Hinojosa, who was a high school junior playing at the Area Code games in Long Beach the last time I saw him. That pimply-faced kid with the bony frame has grown into a legit college star. Hinojosa had a crappy week in Long Beach back in 2011, but he came in hitting .294 at UT this season and today extended his hit streak to nine games with a single off of Overton in the 6th inning.

I was not as impressed with UT’s Erich Weiss as Overton owned him in a bad way, forcing him to an 0-for-4 day. Three of his at-bats ended in strikeouts, two of his at-bats were three-pitch strikeouts. Of course, one of the problems with Weiss is that he’s still hitting with one of those Nike bats. UT is one of those programs that was allowed to back out of their Nike bat deal, so Horns batters can use any batmaker they want. Most of the lineup is using Easton, but Weiss is the only one I noticed using the Nike sticks.

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Enough of what I saw on the tube today before the Final Four games came on, now lets get to our usual daily accolades.

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THREE UP

The best in the day of college baseball.

1- ONE GRAND.

The affable Ray Birmingham, head coach of the New Mexico Lobos, earned victory No. 1000 of his career with today’s 19-5 blitzing of Air Force. Luke Campbell went 4-for-5 with a grand slam and six RBI to pace the Silver and Cherry at the dish.

Meanwhile, Coach B-ham, a New Mexico native, summed it up in typical Ray Birmingham style, “I’m proud that all of them were in the great state of New Mexico, my state. I would like to thank all the young men that have played for me and all the bosses that put up with me.”

UNM is now 16-14 and 8-3 in the Mountain West Conference.

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2- LSU… ONCE AGAIN.

For the second night in a row the Bayou Bashers made minced-meat of Kentucky, blitzing them by a 9-1 count, out-hitting UK 16-to-4 along the way. Good night nurse! Once again freshman Alex Bregman acted like anything BUT a freshman, going 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI in the win. Damn dude, LSU is bashin’ the piss outta everyone these days. Let’s see if it keeps up till June.

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3- MIAMI.

The Canes saved the weekend (and who knows, maybe saved their season too) with a 6-0 blanking of No. 5 Florida State. Bryan Radziewski and Eric Whaley combined on a six-hitter against the highly-offensive Seminoles (and no, I’m not talking about their “hostile and abusive” mascot here being highly-offensive), holding them to zero extra base hits and having them strand 10 baserunners on the day. They also combined to strike out nine ‘Noles along the way. The U is now 21-13 overall and 6-8 in ACC play.

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HONORABLE MENTIONS

- THE grand salami to end all grand salamis. 

Virginia, down 6-3 and to their final strike of the game got a bases-juiced four-bag yard call with two outs from Mike Papi to down Wake Forest 7-6. Are you freakin’ kidding me? Gah! With the win, UVa has improved to 28-3 overall and also won their 5th straight ACC series-opening games this season.

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- Record crowd for Appy State.

In front of 1, 116 fans, the Mountaineers put the clamps on Georgia Southern for the second day in a row. ASU got a complete-game two hitter from Sam Agnew-Wieland, who also added in nine Ks and just two walks as the ‘Neers improved to 8-5 in SoCon play. GSU dipped down from 1st place to now sport a 9-5 record in conference play. The biggest thing was that G-So’s big three of Ben Morgan, T.D. Davis and Robbie Dodds combined to go just 1-for-12 on the day.

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A nice crowd for the new Gopher Hole too. 

Minnesota opened up the all-new, completely refurbished Siebert Field with a 7-0 blanking of Ohio State in front of 1,161 fans (don’t worry, the total would’ve probably been more had there not been snow in the forecast and the game getting delayed from Friday’s 5.0 inning start). Tom Windle and Alec Crawford combined for a three-hitter with seven Ks and not a single walk on the day.

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Speaking of new facilities, part III:

Thanks to Purdue’s HammerAndRails.com, here’s a look at the Boilermakers’ new Alexander Field. Copy and paste this link into your browser and prepare to be dazzled:

http://www.hammerandrails.com/2013/4/6/4192286/purdue-baseball-alexander-field

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- Eastern Kentucky hitting home runs for the cycle. 

Alex Hughes hit a grand slam, Shaun Bell hit a three-run dinger, Kyle Nowlin smashed a two-run shot and Sean Hagen banged a solo yard call as the Colonels pounded Morehead State 18-6.

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- Stetson’s Kevin Fagan

The Hatter freshman went 3-for-3 with two walks in his five at-bats today. But most importantly, his leadoff walk in the 10th inning would eventually lead to the winning run as SU beat Jacksonville 9-8 in 10 innings. Garrett Russini knocked Fagan in with the winning single.

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- Utah’s first home Pac 12 series win.

Even though they’ve already won a series at Stanford, today marked the first time since joining the Pac 12 that the Utes have been able to lock up a home series weekend win. Trey Nielsen accounted for a pair of solo home runs and that was all they needed to down Washington State, the top-hitting team in the conference, 2-1.

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- San Francisco’s “Team A-B”

Alex Balog and Abe Bobb combined to hold TCU to just two hits in a 3-0 win at Lupton Stadium today. Balog pitched the first six innings and gave up the two hits, then Bobb came on to hold the once-formidable Frogs hitless the rest of the way. The win evens USF’s record at 15-15. TCU dropped to 14-17.

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- Yes, Lyle Landry, you’re right. 

Got a twitter message from Mr. Landry, who informed me that Louisiana DH Seth Harrison deserved a shout across the rooftops with his two home runs and six RBI in a 9-2 white-washing of Troy. Also, starting pitcher Austin Robichaux went the distance in a five-hit, eight-K effort to improve to 4-2 against a Trojan squad that came in hitting .310 as a team.

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THREE DOWN

The worst of the day in college baseball.

1- THE CLOSE BUT NO NO-HITTERS.

Everyone loves a no-hitter, but today we came close to two of them, only to see both of them go up in flames in the late going.

Not only did the Longhorns have a close shave with Dillon Peters taking his no-hit bid into the 8th, but Temple sophomore pitcher Eric Peterson had an even more painful no-hitter denied. Peterson went into the 9th inning against LaSalle, only to see it get busted up with a leadoff double by the Explorers’ Joey Ravert. Still, Peterson finished the game tossing a career-high 10Ks and faced just 28 batters in all. It was also his second straight complete-game shutout on the mound.

Had Peterson been able to seal the deal, it would’ve been the first no-hitter for Temple since 1982.

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2- KENTUCKY

Holy crap! (UK, you just made me use a rare exclamation point.) The Bat Cats lost to LSU by a landslide amount for the second day in a row, 9-1. What gives here people? Did we overestimate Kentucky again? Or is this just one of those throw away weekends? I don’t think anyone could’ve seen two losses by a combined 20-2. But the good news is Corey Littrell will take the mound for UK on Sunday, so that should bode well since Littrell is considered one of the best Sunday starters in the country.

3- LAMAR PITCHING

In their 7-5 loss at Southeastern Louisiana today, the 23-9 Cardinals pitching staff gave up seven hits – no harm there, right? – BUT also, 10 walks, two hit batsmen and an astounding nine wild pitches. Those nine wild pitches ended up being just two short of an NCAA record. Meanwhile, SLU now sits at 7-1 at the top of the Southland Conference standings and 22-10 overall.

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DISHONORABLE MENTIONS

- Texas State’s offense. 

The Bobcats have had a bit of a struggle so far this season, but today was kind of a small microcosm of how things have gone for TXST. Today, in their 7-5 loss at Sacramento State, the Bobcats were able to get eight hits and nine walks, but ended up having 12 men stranded on the basepaths during the game.

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- Utah Valley’s Great West win streak.

After 39 straight wins, the Wolverines finally lost a conference game, dropping game two of a double-header at New Jersey Tech, 9-7. With the double-header split vs. the Highlanders today, the Wolverines dipped to 11-18 on the season.

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- Georgia Tech’s offense.

Ack! The Techsters got all jammed-up again. But this time, they were able to supplant Duke 2-1 with some timely pitching and good defense. Still, you have to wonder what’s going on with the Bees. Two days in a row where the best offense in the nation gets stymied by a Duke team you’d think they’d score at will on.

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… and finally, I type this with a heavy heart:

- Manhattan’s home win streak is snapped.

The Jaspers had taken 21 straight wins at their humble Van Cortlandt Park environs, but the dam burst today. In the second game of a double-header with MAAC-leading Marist, the Jaspers took it on the chin by a 16-1 count. That game followed a tough back-and-forth game one where Manhattan too down the Red Foxes with a  3-2 win.

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Enough of this noise. I’m hitting the rack. More tomorrow.

G’night.

Freshman Ryan Kellogg added his name to the history books today.

Remember how I wrote in Friday night’s column that Oregon State pitcher Matt Boyd was nearly a shoe-in for his second consecutive Pac 12 Pitcher of the Week honors?… baring that there was no perfect game or something.

Well, it looks like the “or something” part has come about.

I mean, holding a team like Arizona State to one hit is pretty freakin’ impressive. But holding No. 4-ranked Oregon State to a ‘near’ perfect game? Holy MaGillicudy! That’s amazing. And that’s what I saw Ryan Kellogg do today at Goss Stadium in Corvallis.

So here we go.

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WHAT I SAW AT GOSS STADIUM

A no-hitter.

My best decision of the weekend came when I decided to go to the Oregon-Arizona game on Friday night and make the Arizona State-Oregon State game my matinee game on Saturday. So, ergo, not only did I see a great one-run, white-knuckler between Oregon and Arizona, but I also took in a bit of history in Corvallis today. Talk about serendipity, huh? Freshman Ryan Kellogg spun a helluva yarn at Goss Stadium, posting a no-hitter over the homesteading No. 4-ranked Beavers in a 4-0 Sun Devil win.

Ahhhh, LOVE the Pac 12, man. Just too much bitchin’ pitchin’.

Sadly, this is what the scoreboard looked like when I had to leave Goss Stadium today to head to the airport… Dammit!

It’s good to see that no one at Arizona State has forgotten about fallen teammate Cory Hahn. #34 on the socks.

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LINESCORE:

ASU – 000 011 011- 4 10 2

OSU – 000 000 000 – 0  0  0

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PITCHING: 

WP: Ryan Kellogg, 5-0

LP: Andrew Moore, 5-1

Save: None

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TOP HITTERS

Arizona State:

- Jake Peevyhouse, 2-for-4, HR, 2RBI

- Nathaniel Causey, 2-for-4, 2B

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Oregon State:

- Pfft, c’mon.

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RECORDS:

Arizona State: 13-6-1, 2-3 Pac 12

Oregon State: 20-2, 4-1 Pac 12

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IN SUMMARY.

Hey, nobody’s perfect.

Not Sun Devil frosh Ryan Kellogg. And certainly not me.

Kellogg had a pair of Sun Devil defensive “oopsies” cost him a shot at a perfect game today, one in the 7th inning and one in the 9th. Other than that, the dude was totally nails on the bump.

Meanwhile, I had the misfortune of not having perfect luck in seeing this no-hitter. My last minute trip to Oregon included a 7:30pm flight out of Portland Airport tonight, the last flight of the night going to Los Angeles. So in order to catch my flight – and give me enough “oh shit” time to spare in case anything went haywire on the drive from Corvallis to PDX – I had to miss the final inning on Kellogg’s outstanding game of domination.

Curses!

Either way, I got to see the fabulous freshman throw bee-bees for eight of the nine innings and was captivated by his effort. The 6’6″ saguaro threw 110 pitches on the day, 105 of them for strikes… or so it seemed. The interesting thing about his game was that he only had three strikeouts in all, relying heavily on the defense behind him. In fact, his first punchout of the game didn’t happen until the final out of the 7th inning for the Beavers when he caught Dylan Davis looking at strike three to end the frame.

Kellogg induced 17 flyouts to go with those three Ks and didn’t walk a single batter. He pinpoint accuracy was a treasure to behold. He was never caught floating a ball hooter-high in the middle of the plate. He poked and pecked all around the strike zone without offering anything fat. Kellogg isn’t an overpowering presence (though he could develop into one as he grows into his body) staying mostly in the 86-to-88mph range.

He had such great movement and complete command of all his pitches, I noticed a couple of times when he got the count to 2-and-2 on Beaver batters, he would ditch a ball in the dirt – or into the field turf – confident in knowing he could come back on a full-count pitch and throw a strike.

Not even the lethal bat of All American Michael Conforto – shown popping out here – could break the hex that Kellogg had on the Beavers today.

As for the offense, Arizona State’s Jake Peevyhouse housed a 5th-inning Andrew Moore offering into the right field bleachers, supplying the Devils with all the offense they would need on the day. Single runs were added in the 6th, 8th and 9th innings, but they were essentially window dressing to the effort that was going on with Kellogg toeing the rubber. Michael Benjamin, Nate Causey and Rouric Bridgewater would all add two hits to the ledger, and catcher Max Rossiter would also collect three walks to help pace the offense.

Interestingly, the Peevyhouse dinger was just the second home run hit off of the Beaver arms so far this season. And, if you’re into the historical significance of the no-hitter, this was the first blanking that the Beavers have suffered to an opposing pitcher since a 1994 loss to Lewis-Clark State.

Jake Peevyhouse supplied the only offense ASU would need with his 5th inning yard call.

I can’t leave this write-up without mentioning how well both freshman starters did today. Not only did Kellogg toss his game for the ages, but OSU’s Andrew Moore didn’t have a day to sneeze at either. He went 5.2 innings, giving up just two runs and walking only one. Normally, the potent bats of the Beavs would be able to support an effort like that, no prob.

But the Devils and their left-heavy lineup (six of nine were southpaw batters) gave the six Beaver pitchers just enough trouble to scratch across the necessary runs on the day.

This ASU team is still young and a work in progress, but today’s win was huge. Can you imagine if Arizona State had started out Pac 12 play with a 1-4 mark? Even though their 13 wins includes a pair of Ws over SEC beasts Arkansas, getting deep-sixed with a slow start in Pac 12 play could’ve tainted their non-conference accomplishments.

Pitching coach Ken Knutson (the former Washington head coach) and Devill maestro Tim Esmay had a great game plan for Ryan Kellogg today. Both of them deserve much-needed raises.

So now, after scraping my head on the Ozone layer with the flight back to Smogland from Portland, I’m looking back on what I saw today on Coleman Field. Impressive stuff, it was.

My only parting thought is “What will become of this young ASU team?” Beyond ace Trevor Williams, this is a bunch of greenhorns. Sure, they are the product of Tim Esmay’s remarkable recruiting over the last few years, but can they last an entire season? As is often pointed out by pundits like myself, first-year guys tend to wear down in their long first seasons on a D1 campus.

So we’ll see.

But at least maybe next time I’ll be there the entire game to see history made. Well, unless my flight schedule gets in the way again.

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SINCE I WASN’T THERE FOR THE POST GAME…

I didn’t get the chance to talk to Kellogg or head coach Tim Esmay since I had to vamoose from there early today, but be sure to click on this link if you want to hear some of the thoughts and quotes they have on the no-hitter today.

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NO HITTERS IN ARIZONA STATE HISTORY.

Today’s no-hitter from Ryan Kellogg was the ninth blank-o in Sun Devil baseball history. The last 0-fer thrown by an ASU hurler came way back in 1993 when Kevin Rawtizer blanked Southern Utah in a 7-0 win.

The only perfect game thrown in Sun Devil history was by Hall of Famer Eddie Bane in 1973 when he shut down Cal State Northridge, 27-up, 27-down.

Three other no-hitters were thrown by freshmen; Brian Dodd vs. Tennessee in a 9-0 win in 1988, Mitch Dean vs. Texas in a 6-0 win in 1976 and Sam Cook vs. Utah State in a 7-0 win vs. Utah State.

I’ll go ahead and assume that’s not the same Sam Cooke that sang such hits as “Cupid”, “Havin’ a Party” and the epic song played during Blutarsky’s cafeteria scene in Animal House “Don’t Know Much About History”.

Oh, and look for the youthful Kevin Bacon in this classic scene as well. Too good.

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PICS

A few more images from today’s game.

Arrrgh! Sun Devil shortstop Drew Stankiewicz muffs a grounder in the 6th inning, breaking up the perfect game attempt by Kellogg.

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Despite temperatures which hovered around the 50-degree mark, this chick saw fit to go shoeless while taking pics from above the OSU dugout. I tell ya’, these people in the Northwest are a hearty sort. No pansies allowed.

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Michael Benjamin rounds 3rd base and scores ASU’s second run of the game.

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Don’t be fooled by the outcome, Oregon State flashed some glitz and glam themselves. Here, shortstop Andy Peterson climbed the ladder to snag this line drive headed for the outfield. Pitcher Brandon Jackson and umpire Danny Mascorro are both frozen in awe.

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STADIUM REVIEW: THE ‘NEW’ GOSS

Since I was last here in 2008, there have been a number of additions and renovations to Coleman Field at Goss Stadium. Here are a few of them in visual form…

It was nearly a full house at Goss Stadium today, with the announced crowd at 2,515. This pic was taken from the Omaha Room, an invitation-only clubhouse on the 1st base side that was added in the last few years. (And yes, I was invited. For once I didn’t break into a posh joint.)

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Oregon State has to be the only stadium in the country which has a Marines-styled obstacle course sitting beyond the right field fence.

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As you might expect, the two national title trophies are prominently displayed in the new OSU clubhouse.

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The players clubhouse is pretty nice with leather couches, a pool table, a ping-pong table and inspirational quotes and pics of Rosenblatt on the wall.

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Much like I saw at Louisville, there is an all-new, well-appointed meeting room at Goss Stadium with completely leather seats and space for a lectern and all. Very cool.

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Although I’m not all that crash-hot on the abundance of netting you have to look through at the new layout, I DO like how OSU designed the stands to be really close to the action down each foul line. I think that’s essential in making for a good experience at the park… unless those fans that close to the 3rd base coach are real pricks. Then it’s a problem.

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COACH SPEAK.

Before today’s game I was able to hook up with Oregon State skipper Pat Casey and have a quick Q&A with the maestro of Northern baseball. Here’s how it went.

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Me:

Do you put any stock in your team’s high ranking right now?

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Coach Casey:

Not really. I mean, it nice to be ranked, especially for boosters and for fans, for alumni and all that. And I guess, you would rather be ranked high than be sitting at .500 or something, but it’s doesn’t mean much.

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Me:

Do you discuss it with your players at all?

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Coach Casey:

It feels good for the players and there’s nothing wrong with that. But it all depends on how you go about your business and how you play. I mean, in this conference I look at the rankings and every week I see that somebody is beating somebody else. The reality is, are we going to go 20-1 in our next 21 games? Probably not. So you don’t want THAT to become an issue with your club. You don’t want them saying to themselves, “Hey, we were ranked No. 2 in the country and now we’re No. 8 or something.” It’s all in how you play the games when you’re ranked that high.

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Me:

You guys have obviously gotten off to a great start, but what are your biggest concerns going forward?

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Coach Casey:

Staying healthy. Staying healthy. I think everybody would say the same thing. Ya’ know, we’ve got Tyler Smith (starting shortstop) out right now. He’s probably our best all-around player in terms of he hits, he bunts, he defends. But we’ve had a lot of bumps and bruises, as you know we didn’t have Ben Wetzler or Taylor Starr in the first few weeks. We’ve got a lot of young guys that are contributing right now. We’ve got a freshman in our rotation that is going to start today in Andrew Moore. But I tell all of our young guys, there’s some adversity coming. Like in any baseball season. For example, a bad bounce is a double, a good bounce is a double play. You never know. It all depends on how our young guys handle those things.

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Me:

That leads me to my next question, what would you say is your biggest weakness? What scares you about this team of yours?

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Coach Casey:

I’d say our depth in the infield is a big concern. We don’t have a lot of depth there and that’s why (starting shortstop) Taylor Smith’s injury is so huge. The other thing is we also don’t have an over-abundance of speed on the basepaths. We have good baserunners but if you remember back during our national title teams we had guys like Cole Gillespie, Darwin Barney and Mitch Canham, guys that could get some speed on the basepaths. But we don’t have those kind of guys this year. We’re not built that way, so we’re going to have to hit well all season.

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Me:

When I saw you guys in Palm Springs during the opening weekend of the season, you didn’t have Ben Wetzler or Taylor Starr. What is their situation now? How have they rebounded?

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Coach Casey:

Wetzler has three starts under his belt now, he went 41 and 45-pitches in his last two starts and Starr is coming off a start against San Francisco where he threw about 70 pitches. So they’re both coming along good. They’re both going to be heavy contributors for us and Wetzler is a back-end starter for us in our rotation. So they’re both pitching well again.

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Me:

Hank Hagar walked me around the facility a little while ago and a lot has changed since I was last here in 2008. What’s the status of the program right now? Are you happy with where you guys are as a program and happy with what you’ve been given here at OSU?

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Coach Casey:

Well yeah, for sure. In fact, we’re in the design concept for building a new clubhouse down the left field line and we’re going to move our bullpen out to left field and that’s going to be a huge project for us because it’s going to give us an even bigger clubhouse and we’re also going to put more suites up there on the 3rd base side. And once we do that, that’ll be the last thing we do here for the next five-six-seven years. We’ll have everything to go along with our last expansion. It’s fun to see the atmosphere here and the excitement around our program.

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Me:

Is it gratifying to hear your name mentioned when people talk about Northern programs getting it done and winning national titles? I mean, when you started out here did you ever imagine getting it to where it is now?

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Coach Casey:

To be honest with you, the first two or three years we were here, no, we didn’t see all this happening for us. But I think when the Northern schools combined with the Six Pac to make a full conference, that was a big boost for us and made us think “you know, we could do this, we could make this happen.” So then getting a new stadium and getting into the Pac 10 with the southern programs, those were huge steps in the process. And now, you look at our program and people say, “like Texas, like LSU and like Oregon State.” It’s a very satisfying thing. And I think you see programs all over the North having success now, so I think we did play a part in that.

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REMEMBER, HE’S JUST A FRESHMAN.

A few more notes of interest for ASU’s starting pitcher Ryan Kellogg:

- The big lefty was a 12th round draft pick last June of the Toronto Bluejays, but chose to skip the rickety busses and smelly low-rent hotels of the minors and become a Sun Devil. It’s kind of an upset he made it to campus too since he is a Canadian native and the Bluejays picked him. But we’re all the better for it in our college baseball circles.

- He entered today’s game with a 4-0 record and an ERA of 0.93 with opposing batters hitting just .165 off of him.

- In his 38 innings of work this year, Kellogg now has 23 strikeouts, but more impressively just five walks. Of course, just like when he woke up Saturday morning, he still has given up just 17 hits and only three earned runs in 2013.

- As mentioned above, Kellogg was pitching mostly in the 86-to-88 mph range and would hit the low 80s on his slider. But he kept everything outside of the middle of the zone. And not everything was down low either. He left a lot of pitches up high, but that is also why it resulted in those 17 pop-ups on the night.

- While he threw only 110 pitches on the night – slightly better than Matt Boyd’s 113 pitches in Friday night’s 1-hitter – the six Beaver pitchers combined to throw 170 pitches.

He probably LOVED these nice, cool temperatures too: Hailing from Ontario, Canada, Kellogg has a big presence on the mound and probably plays a mean goalie in hockey as well.

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NOT THE ONLY ONE TO MISS THE ENDING.

Turns out I wasn’t the only one who had to cut out of today’s no-hitter early. Longtime Oregon State radio play-by-play man Mike Parker left after the end of the 7th inning in order to attend a wedding down in Eugene this afternoon. Which begs the question… who the HELL schedules a wedding during a college baseball Saturday?! Don’t they know there could be a no-hitter going on? Blasphemy. Obviously that wedding is doomed for failure.

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Okay, after racing to get to my flight in just enough time, I’m finally back home in SoCal and tired as hell. So I hope you don’t mind if I cut this a little bit short here. But don’t worry Kentucky, Arkansas, Virginia, Rutgers, Gonzaga, Notre Dame Indiana and Oral Roberts, I saw what you did today and I am duly impressed. I’ll be sure to make mention of it in the next day or two.

So don’t freak out on me people.

G’night.

Frank Sinatra was right, this is a “love you” town. But it’s also a “shove you” town. And this time, UNLV shoved back.

One of the things I love about games here at Earl Wilson Stadium is that the stadium crew plays Frank Sinatra’s “This Town” at the completion of every game. It includes the lyric “This town is a love you town. And a shove you down and push you ’round town.”

In other words, there is no quarter given in Las Vegas, both figuratively and literally. That’s why it was so important for the homesteading Rebels to make amends for last night’s tough loss. And they did. Good thing too, ‘coz nobody here is gonna shed any tears for them either way.

Not in THIS town.

(By the way, if you wanna hear the ultra-hip “This Town” by Frank, here you go…)

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WHAT I SAW AT EARL WILSON STADIUM

After last night’s ugly-fest, the Rebels made a big time comeback from a 6-3 deficit by plating five runs in the 8th inning and (barely) holding on in the 9th inning for an 8-7 win to even the series at a game a piece.

Andrew Beresford celebrates the final strikeout of the game.

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LINESCORE: 

U.N.M. – 020 001 031 -  7  10  1

UNLV – 300 000 05x -  8   10  2

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PITCHING

WP: Brady Zuniga, 1-0

LP: Gabe Aguilar, 1-1

Save: Andrew Beresford, 3

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TOP HITTERS

New Mexico:

- Ryan Padilla, 2-for-4, HR, 2RBI

- Josh Melendez, 1-for-3, 3B, 3RBI

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UNLV

- Mark Shannon, 2-for-3, HR, 2RBI

- Erik VanMeetren, 2-for-4, 2RBI

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RECORDS:

Lobos: 7-10

Rebels: 15-4

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IN SUMMARY: 

New Mexico broke open a tight game in their half of the 8th inning by plating three runs and taking a 6-3 lead on the strength of Alex Real’s RBI single and Josh Melendez’s rocket 2-run triple. But as coach Ray Birmingham told me last night, the Lobos have shown a knack for blowing late leads. It’s just in their DNA right now.

Sure enough, coach Ray was right, because that’s exactly what happened again to his beleaguered pitching staff.

The Rebels sent eight men to the plate in the bottom of the 8th, facing three different UNM pitchers and left the inning plating five runs in the process. The first three batters went walk, single, RBI single. After a sac bunt by 9-hole hitter Matt McCallister, Joey Swanner hit an RBI single splitting the defense up the middle. Then Justin Jones tied the game at 6-apiece with a deep fly ball to center field, which scored T.J. White from 3rd base.

But then came the big blast. Three-hole hitter Mark Shannon strode to the dish and strode into a two-run bomb over the right field wall, giving the Rebs an 8-6 lead.

But I’ll be damned if the Rebels didn’t try real hard to make it interesting anyway. Back-to-back singles and an infield error loaded the bases with no outs in the 9th for UNM. And RBI groundout by Luke Campbell pulled the Wolves within a run. Then, with one out and men at 2nd and 3rd, Alex Real made the mortal sin of striking out looking. After a small argument from Real to home umpire Ryan West (who is like 6’5 or so), pinch hitter Jered Meek came on as the last hope to tie the game. But UNLV reliever Andrew Beresford got him to strike out and end the threat.

Gabe Aguilar got saddled with the loss, although it could’ve been given to any number of UNM pitchers. Coach Dan Spencer used eight arms in all, none of them being uber-successful. Oddly, seven of the eight pitchers faced four or fewer batters. In fact, Alex Estrella and Hobie McClan both faced just one batter.

The rubber match between these two comes on Sunday at 1pm. Who has the deeper pitching? I’m counting on UNLV to pull out the series win. But in this town, the meek will get roughed up in a hurry. So I’ll go with whoever walks in with their chest sticking out a little bit further.

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PICS: 

A few more images from today’s game.

Sam Haggerty is dead meat at home plate as UNLV catcher ERik VanMeetren doles out his fate.

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The exclusive 335 Club was full of active participants today.

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… and the 335 Club got what they wanted when Mark Shannon (middle) slapped a two-run home run to right field, putting the Rebels ahead for good.

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UNM batter Alex Real did not like home plate umpire Ryan West ringing him up for the second out in the 9th inning and men on 2nd and 3rd.

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Fives all around. UNLV escapes the jam with a hard-earned 8-7 win.

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COACH SPEAK. 

While here in Vegas I got the chance to talk with both head coaches about their teams. I talked to Ray Birmingham after the Friday night win and to Tim Chambers before the Saturday game started.

Here’s my short back and forth with Ray Birmingham of New Mexico first. (After we hugged it out and passed around words like “awesome” and stuff…)

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Me:

About this game tonight. I little bit of an ugly game, but your team was able to stick it out and get the win.

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Coach Birmingham:

Yeah, that’s the problem. We battle hard, but we play bad ‘catch’. It’s like the baseball Gods are against us or something. I’ve started asking guys, ‘Okay, who ran over a cat? Or who walked under a ladder?’ We shoulda had more runs tonight but weird things keep happening. A line drive in the 1st. A diving catch against us in the 2nd. A couple of other close plays that didn’t go our way. That’s just how it’s been this year.

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Me:

I was gonna ask you, is this gonna be like last year’s team, a little bit ugly at first, a few warts here and there, and then you start to put it together in the end?

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Coach Birmingham:

Oh I think so. I mean, it looks like that right now and I hope we’re coming together as the season goes on. But I think we will. But this is our fourth or fifth extra inning game. The story has been that it’s a Lobos lead through seven and then the wheels fall off. That’s just how it’s been all year long. We had a 14-5 lead on Oklahoma State with five outs to get. We dropped a pop-up and booted a ground ball… just like tonight. You saw the same thing.

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Me:

Is your pitching going to be better in the end?

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Coach Birmingham:

You know what, Dan Spencer has done a heck of a job with our pitching staff. And it all depends on how these guys grow. He’s had to make some adjustments to the staff because they kind of tricked him early on. We had some guys that looked really good early on, but hadn’t done so well so far. Because in the fall – you know, in bootcamp, a lot of guys look good. But when you hit the jungles of Vietnam, guys start to freak out a little. You know what I mean?

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Me:

I thought one of the better hires in the off-season was when you brought coach Spencer in from Texas Tech to be your pitching coach. What has it meant for you guys to have him here?

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Coach Birmingham:

Well as you saw tonight, he’s done a lot as far as matchups and milking the staff as much as possible, because really, our staff – on paper – isn’t as strong as last year’s but the thing he does is piece things together and keep us competitive as we can be.

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Me:

I noticed some juggling of the infield too. D.J. Peterson moved over to first base late in the game, has there been some juggling?

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Coach Birmingham:

We’ve had to move some people around, yeah. Allbritton (Alex, last year’s starting shortstop) hurt his ankle and had been playing with a broken finger. And really, Allbritton hadn’t played bad defense but Jared Holley has been doing really well at shortstop for us. So we’re not afraid to move some guys around in the infield. And as you saw on that last play, D.J. can handle himself at first base too. We just need to have all our guys play good catch.

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Me:

Also noticed that Mitchell Garver isn’t in the leadoff spot this time around.

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Coach Birmingham:

Well, we’ve had to protect D.J., coz he’s been walked a lot this year. But also, Mitch hasn’t handled the pressure very well, he’s been in a major slump. In the Riverside series there was one game where he stranded 13 baserunners in his at-bats, which is a school record. And not the kind of school record you want to see a player with his talent setting. Luke Campbell, Ryan Padilla, Josh Melendez, they’ve all been in slumps at times. We’re gong to have to find a tiki doll to sacrifice or something.

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Here’s what UNLV head coach Tim Chambers had to say before today’s second game of the series.

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Me:

Obviously coach, one of the biggest reasons I wanted to come here this weekend was because of how you guys  did at Stanford last weekend. I mean, even the best teams in the Pac 12 don’t go into Stanford and sweep them. What did that tell you about your team?

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Coach Chambers:

In this crazy game we play, I thought we were still a year away from being able to do something like that. This is a young team that doesn’t really know any better. I think we knew coming into the year that our pitching was going to be really good. So if your pitching is keeping you in games, it gives you a chance against anybody. We kind of joked about it afterward that we beat Mr. Cy Young (Mark Appel) on Friday night, mostly by taking advantage of the breaks we got. The second game we jumped on them pretty good and then the third game we only gave up two hits. To be honest, we’re a little bit better than I thought we’d be.

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Me:

That’s refreshing to hear from a head coach.

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Coach Chambers:

Well that’s what I mean that it’s a crazy game. I mean, who knows, I said we were still a year away, but next year we might start out 4-14 out of the gate instead. You just never know what you’re gonna get from this game. But I really like the chemistry of our team. It didn’t show very well last night, but we’ve only had about two games like that this year. We’ve got good team speed and they understand the short game.

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Me:

So i just caught you guys on a bad night last night.

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Coach Chambers:

Yeah. We couldn’t get a leadoff guy on base. When we don’t get our first guy on it really hampers our offense and we didn’t make an adjustment to what they were throwing us. Our guys have a hard time catching up to a pitcher with a good change up, that’s just how we are. I mean, the guy from Gonzaga, Marco Gonzales, eh killed us with it, he carved us up. But when we do make the adjustment, we have proven that we can be good. But the bottom line is I really like our team a lot, we’re going to be a in a lot of games this year.

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Me:

Do you think your team is good enough to put the success of the Stanford series behind them, move on to the next game, the next pitch?

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Coach Chambers:

I felt like we really didn’t celebrate after that. It was nice to see as a coach. The guys just showered, were quiet on the way to the airport, on the plane they were just studying and hitting the books. So it was nice, but I think last night they just had the conference jitters. The last time we played New Mexico was in the Mountain West tournament and they beat us 13-0 and they were probably a little caught up where it was their first conference game.

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Me:

Your pitching staff has an ERA of 2.45. What has been the key this year to their being so goodr?

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Coach Chambers:

Well Eric Fedde did a few things last night that were a little uncharacteristic of himself, every time we took the lead he’d come back and hit the leadoff man the next inning. He’s usually got great control. But our starters in general have been throwing strikes and they’ve gone long too. I think there has been only two games where we’ve had to pull our guys before the 7th inning. We only threw five pitchers at Stanford because we pitched so well. In fact, there are a lot of young arms we haven’t been able to throw yet, Bryan Bonnell and Brayden Torres, one lefty, one righty, both are 6’5 and 90-to-92mph guys and they’ve only thrown a couple innings at most.

I challenge you to find another head coach in the country who personally goes out and waters the infield himself before games like Tim Chambers does.

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Me:

You had a great recruiting class come in last year. Now, they are all sophomores, how have they acclimated in year two?

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Coach Chambers:

First, our guys like Brandon Bayardi, T.J. White and Joey Swanner… they’ve all taken pressure off the new guys with the way they’ve played. I think our freshmen have played really well. But the thing is, Bayardi and Mark Shannon are both hitting .350-plus and to me it seems like they still haven’t begun to really ‘Go’ yet. It’s been different guys stepping up each time, but the thing is we really gotta play solid defense. If we don’t play better defense, we’re going to find ourselves in trouble. Just like last night.

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Me:

I saw you just got a contract extension. Have they been treating you well here? Have you been getting what you wanted from the administration?

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Coach Chambers:

We’re getting there. They’re allowing us to do what we want to do. If you would’ve seen this place a few years ago, you’d be in shock right now. This place was a mess. But Jim Livengood (the Athletic Director) has been really good for our program. Everybody has been really supportive. They want to win. And that was the main reason I chose to come here, because Jim said he really wanted to win. He was telling me when they hired me, “It’s going to take five years.’ And I said, ‘No it ain’t.’ I just thought we could win right away. And each year we’ve been better than the year before.

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Me:

You have 17 kids from Vegas on your roster this year. My question is, can you win with just kids from this area?

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Coach Chambers:

No. No we can’t. It is a high number of local kids. And the good thing is that the more local kids you have, the more butts in seats you’re going to have in the stadium. You can win with Vegas guys but you can’t get to where you’re going with just Vegas guys. You’re always going to have to go out of the area, gets some arms from out of the area and also some of the key players at short, catcher, centerfield, you have to get those where you can. What we won’t do is get the second-best guys from this area, we’ve got to get the best from Vegas and then get the best from elsewhere too. .

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AROUND THE COUNTRY.

Have to do this fast, I just got done driving back from Vegas so my eyelids will be anvils soon…

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THREE UP

The best of the day in college baseball.

1- CENTRAL ARKANSAS.

If you had any doubts ’til now, let me reiterate this for you – The Railsplitters are for REAL!. (and I don’t use exclamation points often). I know Southern Miss hasn’t exactly been the USM of old this season, but UCA went into Pete Taylor Park and destroyed the vulnerable Eagles, by a 14-3 score. That improves the ‘Splitters to 17-2 on the season and gives them their second straight series win in the Magnolia State after last week’s series win at Mississippi State. Un-freakin-believable.

UCA scored eight runs in the first inning to turn this one into a yawner right away. Ethan Harris provided his first career grand slam and had five RBI on the day.

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2- JACK LEGGETT, CLEMSON COACH

The Tiger skipper picked up win No. 1,235, tying him with Larry Cochell for 12th-most wins in NCAA D1 history as CU rallied to down No. 17 Virginia 7-6. Garrett Boulware’s RBI single in the bottom of the 9th inning gave the Tigers – and their 5,006 faithful in the stands today – a jog-off victory and evened the series with the Cavaliers. Also, freshman reliever Zack Erwin gave up just one hit in his 5.0 inning-stint out of the ‘pen. Nice work greenhorn.

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3- NOTRE DAME. 

A big time series win for the Irish, as they leave Cal Poly with a 6-5 white-knuckler to take the series two games to one. Though it wasn’t a thing of beauty. The Irish arms gave up 14 hits and their usually stout-defending team committed three errors. But Eric Jagielo got the Irish off to a good start with a 1st inning home run and went 2-for-3 on the day.

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HONORABLE MENTION

- Georgia Tech’s (unstoppable?) offense. 

The Jackets blasted four home runs and scored double digit run totals for the 13th time this season in their 11-3 pasting of Boston College. GT also showed a good bit of diversity by also stealing a season-high five bases on the day.

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- Jacob Felts, Texas.

The Longhorn backstop sliced an RBI double off the wall to give Texas a 2-1 bottom-of-the-ninth sprint-off win over Texas Tech. UT has evened the series at 1-and-1 with the win.

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- North Carolina. 

The Heels didn’t take to losing to Miami on Friday very well. This time around they didn’t leave anything to chance, scoring 11 runs in the 3rd inning and having more pitchers make appearances on the mound (four) than Hurricane hits (three) in a 14-2 power-blasting.

Not sure what this Miami pregame ritual is, but it was symbolic of how bad the Canes played today at UNC. (thanks for the pic Dr. of College Baseball)

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- Tyler Beede and Brian Miller of Vanderbilt.

It wasn’t the smoothest performance for Beede (six walks in 6.2 innings, though he did carry a no-hitter into the 6th) but he and Miller must be at the top of the wins and saves stats in D1. Beede improved to 5-0 and Miller picked up save No. 6 in VU’s 8-1 win at Auburn.

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- UCLA.

The Bruins won a continuation of a game which went four innings on Friday before getting called due to fog, outlasting Washington 3-2 in 15 marathon innings. Then, Nick Vander Tuig threw a complete-game seven-hitter in game two as the Bruins blanked Udub 5-0. UCLA is now 14-3 overall.

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- Brandon McNitt of Stony Brook and Tommy Lawrence of Maine. 

These two flingers put on a show at Joe Nathan Field today as both went the distance in a 1-0 Black Bear win. Lawrence gave up seven hits and struck out seven and McNitt gave up just four hits and no walks as the hard-luck loser. Oh, and the defenses didn’t commit a single error either. The nine-inning game lasted just 1:59.

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- Minnesota’s Ben Meyer. 

A day after Sean Manaea and Tom Windle put on a pitching clinic between Indiana State and the Gophers, The U’s Saturday starter threw a career-high 11 strikeouts with no walks and just five hits as Minnesota tied the weekend series at a game apiece with a 3-0 win.

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- Virginia Tech.

Today’s 14-7 rout of Duke included a season-high 16 hits for the Hokies and the most runs they’ve scored in a conference game since 2010. Tyler Horan led the way with a career-high four hits in five plate appearances, including two triples.

Tyler Horan was all-balls for the Hokies today, tying a school record with two triples. (Again, thank you Dr. of College Baseball for the photo)

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THREE DOWN

The worst of the day in college baseball.

1- MISSISSIPPI STATE. 

Lost to LSU for second straight day, 7-3.

According to the Doctor of College Baseball, MSU has now lost the series to LSU seven straight seasons in a row and lost the last seven series in Starkville. Is that right? If so, day-yumm! Tigers making Dogs their bitch. (Hey wait… that kinda makes sense.).

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2- N.C. STATE PITCHING.

The revolving circus continues for these unpredictable Wolves. Six pitchers toe’d the rubber today, none to much effect as Wake Forest jumped on ‘em from the first pitch, winning 13-4 to even the series. Jack Carey slammed a four-RBI homer in the 1st inning to put WFU up for good and N.C. State starter Brad Stone last just 1.0 inning, giving up seven runs on five hits and two walks. Like that proverbial box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get with Wolfpack pitching. Wake’s Justin Van Grouw and reliever Nate Jones combined on a four-hitter on the mound.

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3- UL-MONROE DEFENSE

The Warhawks got a complete game from Cale Wine, who allowed nine hits and two walks. But the defense behind him was where to point the blame. The Warhawk defense committed three big errors, all three coming in Louisiana’s five-run 3rd inning, helping the Ragin Cajuns to a 5-2 win. And yes, all five runs were unearned.

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DISHONORABLE MENTIONS

- Florida. 

In their 11-5 loss to Kentucky, coach Kevin O’Sullivan bemoaned the fact that the UofF pitchers walked seven Cat batters and plunked five of them in the loss. Despite this, the Gators still had a 3-2 lead going into the 7th inning, but gave up a five-spot in the 7th and a four-spot in the 9th as the rout was on.

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- Furman. 

After jumping out to a 14-4 start to their season and getting some glimpses from the national media – including myself, might I add -  the Paladins wish they could’ve skipped Saturday altogether after losing by an astounding 22-2 count to Davidson. The Wildcats set a school record for runs in a SoCon game and margin of victory in the win.  Davidson once beat UNC Greensboro 25-6 in 1992, but both programs were members of the Big South at the time.

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- Snow.

The white stuff stifled many games today. WAgner and St. Joseph’s logged three innings before suspending their game with the Seahawks ahead 5-4, St. John’s and Holy Cross were called after four innings before the freeze out, Chicago State and LaSalle got in five frames before Jack Frost nipped ‘em.

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- This Guy. 

For doing the ultimate no-no in my book: mixing his teams…

Just stop it, now. (And no, this is NOT the Dr. of College Baseball)

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G’night

Walking Tall: The Cardinals were the cock of the walk on a sun-soaked day at Patterson Stadium.

These Cardinals know how to shake a tail feather. And I suppose I was drawn to Cassius Clay-town only to be impressed.

If you’re wondering, here’s how I got here today. A couple weeks ago I got an Email from Louisville baseball SID Garett Wall saying, “Louisville is calling.”

“Oh really?… Hmmm.”

Sure enough, GW was asking if I wanted to make a trek to see the Cardinals play in their home environs for a weekend series – which was already on my radar anyway. As a little incentive, they would throw in a free seat at a Louisville basketball game too. Oh, how could I say no? Especially with the fact that Louisville’s roundballers would be playing for a share of the Big East regular season title with a win over Notre Dame today.

So here’s how my Louisville doubleheader sweep turned out.

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WHAT I SAW AT PATTERSON STADIUM. 

Just like yesterday’s 14-inning white-knuckler, today’s game was close from the get-go. Unlike yesterday’s marathon, it didn’t stay that way. Louisville used a 6-run bottom of the 7th and great pitching from Jeff Thompson and reliever Dace Kime to snuff the elephants.

Jeff Thompson was knuckling down against Alabama today, holding the Tide to two hits in his 7.0 innings.

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LINESCORE: 

Alabama – 000 000 000 – 0  2  1

Louisville – 000 000 60x – 6  8  0

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PITCHING

WP: Jeff Thompson, 4-0

LP: Jon Keller, 2-2

Save: None

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TOP HITTERS:

Bama:

- Brett Booth, 1-for-3

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L’Ville:

- Adam Engel, 1-for-4, 2B, 2RBI, 3SBs

- Cole Sturgeon, 2-for-4, SB

- Ty Young, 1-for-2, 2BBs

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RECORDS:

Alabama: 8-6

Louisville: 10-2

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IN SUMMARY.

It was a real treat to see these two starters pitch so well. It really was. Thompson threw in the 90-02mph range, while Keller was 86-89 for the most part. Both flingers started to drop a tad in velocity about the 5th and 6th innings.

But it was the 7th where the real damage was done (as if the linescore above didn’t tell you that already). Thompson got through his half of the frame with an impressive three-up, three-down., including a strikeout. But Keller wouldn’t fare so well.

That athletic Louisville order finall caught up to him. Cole Sturgeon slapped a double up the middle, then stole 2nd base. Kyle Gibson’s short chopper was thrown wildly by Keller to first, meaning the ‘Ville would have men on 1st and 3rd with no outs. That also was the final toss of Keller’s afternoon. After a strikeout by reliever Keaton Haack to pinch hitterJeff Gardner, Sutton Whiting finally got the key hit the Cards fans were looking for, bouncing a grounder into left field, scoring Sturgeon from 3rd.

The ironic thing is that it would’ve been a double-play ball to end the inning, but Tide shortstop Mikey White had cheated toward 2nd base thinking that a steal attempt was coming. Instead, the harmless bouncer went into the outfield and scored the only run that would matter.

But the ‘Ville was far from done inflicting its damage. The next big blow was struck by leadoff man Adam Engel, who ripped a single into center field, scoring two runs and putting this one out of reach for Bama.

Eventually, a third pitcher of the inning, Jake Hubbard, would get ripped for a two-run double by his first batter, Alex Chittenden, making it the 6-0 advantage that Louisville would eventually win by a few innings later.

That’s a good win for the UofL. Even though Alabama isn’t the bees knees in the SEC, they are still 2-0 against them either way. Today’s win ended up looking more comfy than yesterday’s 14-inning bloodletting. But the game was obviously closer than the margin suggests. I see good things for this Bama team. They had some good athletes and that frosh duo of Georgie Salem and Mikey White at the top of the order will do a lot of damage in the years to come.

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SEC-TYPE SPEED.

Louisville uses the basepaths like a launching pad. It seems as if they can nearly steal bases at will with burners like Adam Engel, Coco Johnson and Ty Young. The three of them came into today’s game a combined 34-for-40 in thefts. As a team the Cards were 6-for-6 in the stolen base department today.

Beep! Beep!. Adam Engel is off for another easy steal.

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THE BIGGER DIGS.

The last time I saw Patterson Stadium was back in 2006 when I went to Cassius Clay-town to cover the Thursday night West Virginia-Louisville football game where the Cardinals fans stormed the field after beating Pat White and Co. Since then they’ve added more seats down each foul line, a roomy plaza around the top of the stands and also a really nice grass berm beyond the outfield with a new see-through chain link fence. In fact, today’s attendance was 3,022, which was officially the biggest attendance mark for a pre-April game in the history of the program.

Today, the hill beyond left field had its fill of bodies, booze and beer.

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WHAT I SAW AT THE KFC YUM! CENTER.

As some of you might’ve seen from my tweet earlier on, I left the baseball game in the middle of the 8th inning – ‘coz nobody has ever come back from a 6-0 deficit in the 9th inning in baseball history – and made it to the basketball game just in time to see the Senior Day ceremony before the game.

The Cardinals jumped on Notre Dame with a late first half rush to go up by 10 at the break. Then, after Notre Dame pulled within 45-40 at the 12 minute mark of the 2nd half, the ‘Ville went on to outscored the Golden Domers 26-12 over the next nine minutes and then cruised to a 73-57 win.

They also had a nice senior night ceremony before and also after the game. The one thing they didn’t do was cut down the nets. Too bad. I always like that ceremony. But then again, the No. 8 ranked Cardinals have bigger fish to fry.

Oh, one last thing, during the first half of the basketball game, they announced that the baseball team had defeated Alabama 6-0 and the crowd gave a rousing ovation.

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THE DOCTOR OF DUNK

Definitely a highlight of mine today. During halftime, the Cardinals honored possibly the best leaper in college basketball history, Darrell Griffith. “Doctor Dunkenstein” as he was known, will go into the NCAA Tournament’s 75th anniversary Hall of Fame this month. Griffith had an incredible 48-inch vertical jump during his playing days in the late-70s, early-80s. At 6’4, he not only could dunk his ass off, but Griffith also used his springbok-like legs to be an unusually short shot-blocker as well.

Darrell Griffith, who along with the McCray brothers led Louisville to the 1980 NCAA title, was honored by his adoring fans today.

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PICS. 

Additional images from my day in L’ville.

Alabama’s Kenny Roberts shows off his considerable speed, beating out this throw on an infield chopper.

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The Atomic Punk! UofL’s Kyle McGrath sports his colorful mohawk, much like the numerous Card players in 2009 team I saw at Fullerton.

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Jack’s Links presents, Messin’ With Sasquatch.

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Bama starter Jon Keller pitched plenty good enough to set his team up for a win, going 6.0 innings and giving up just four hits with seven punchouts.

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At the time this looked like a really costly faux pas for the Tide as frosh leadoff man Georgie Salem was ass-tagged by Louisville’s Nick Ratajczak after getting caught in a pickle.

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Raining tire bits. Ben Moore slides into 2nd as part of a great double-header turned by UofL’s Ratajczak.

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The go-ahead hit. Alabama shortstop Mikey White can’t quite backtrack quickly enough toget to the lazy bouncer that helped score Louisville’s first run of the game. Meanwhile, Kyle Gibson is giving it the old turn-and-burn around 2nd as he watches the ball bleed into the outfield.

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Sutton Whiting gets props for hitting the first RBI of the day.

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Ty Young shows his considerable speed here, getting his 10th steal of the season.

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After high-tailing it from the baseball game, I found that this was my media row seat for the Notre Dame-Louisville basketball game today. Beauty. And thanks all you Louisvillians who were responsible for hookin’ me up so insanely well.

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I’m not sure if I’ve seen a basketball coach on the floor as much as Rick Pitino does. The refs had to constantly motion him off the floor when the ball was on his end of the half-court line.

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This is just about as good of a pic as I could get of the UofL players holding the Big East title trophy.

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Go Cardinals

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Okay, after last night’s UCLA-Notre Dame extra inning game, the beat-the-clock ride to LAX, my red-eye flight to Charlotte (which had wifi on it so I did last night’s write-up while in the air), the connecting flight to Louisville and then the rental car drive to Louisville… I’m near-dead. So I’m going to hit the rack a little early. And also hope this time change doesn’t screw me royally out here on Eastern time.

And by the way, is it “Lul-ville” or “Lewey-ville”? Either way, can’t wait to see what the Cards and Tide have for tomorrow.

G’night.