Wake and Virginia roll on

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons picked up a 11-2 victory over UNC-Wilmington in collegiate baseball action in Winston Salem, NC on Saturday. Brett Linnenkohl led the Deacons at the plate with a 4-4 game including a two run homer in the 3rd inning. Eric Nielsen continued his strong start to the season with 7.0 innings pitched and letting up three hits and two runs (only 1 earned) to pick up his second victory of the year. Both teams will face off again on Sunday.

UNC-Wilmington Recap
Wake Forest Recap

The Virginia Cavaliers picked up a 10-4 victory over the Delaware Blue Hens on Saturday. Jacob Thompson lasted 6.0 innings while giving up one run and striking out eight for his fourth straight victory. Patrick Wingfield hit a grand slam in the third inning to provide the offense for the Cavs as this victory give the Cavaliers a 13-1 record. Delaware drops to 0-5 on the young season. Both teams will face off tomorrow in the series finale.

Virginia Recap
Delaware Recap

Duke sweeps Holy Cross

The Duke Blue Devils continued the strong start with a doubleheader sweep over Holy Cross on Saturday. Game 1 was a rout from the beginning as Duke scored five runs in the bottom of the first to cruise to a 13-1 victory. In Game 2, Holy Cross jumped out to a 5-0 lead after four innings. The Blue Devils fought all the way back including scoring seven runs in the bottom of the seventh to get the lead for good at 10-5 after seven innings. Holy Cross tried to make a comeback with two runs in the top of the eighth but would not get any closer as the final was 10-7. Duke and Holy Cross finish the series on Sunday with a 1pm game.

Duke Recap
Holy Cross Recap

BC finally picks up a victory

The Boston College Eagles picked up a solid 6-5 victory over the FAU Owls on Saturday evening. Boston College was led by home runs from Jett Ruiz and Jared McGuire. Ryan Hutchinson also chipped in with a 4-5 game with three doubles. Kevin Boggan gave the Eagles 5.0 innings while only allowing 2 runs which both came in on a Robbie Widlansky home run. Dan Houston gave up one hit in the ninth inning before picking up his first career save. The teams close out their quick 2 game set on Sunday at 1pm.

FAU Recap
BC Recap

Update

I have recently been slacking off on the site because I had to take the Massachusetts Teaching Exam today. I apologize to all the fans of the blog because I want to create the top college baseball resource in the country. I will have more time on my hands to cover the college baseball world in the upcoming months. We have seen tremendous growth over the last year with over 500 people visiting on certain days. The staff has made plans to attend between 25-30 baseball games this spring in the Northeast from Boston College to Franklin Pierce.

Texas coasts to 13-0 win over Oral Roberts

The University of Texas received a solid starting performance from James Russell and pounded out 15 hits in a 13-0 win over Oral Roberts University in collegiate baseball action Friday afternoon at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

Russell (3-1) scattered four hits and four walks while striking out seven over eight scoreless innings in UT's strongest start of the season. Juston Street finished off the shutout pitching one scoreless inning with one hit and one walk while striking out one.

Bradley Suttle and Kyle Russell paced offense for Texas (10-6), including hitting back-to-back home runs in the seventh inning. Suttle went 3-for-4 with one home run, two runs and four RBI. Russell went 2-for-2 with two walks, one hit by pitch, one home run, three runs and one RBI. Travis Tucker added to the arsenal going 3-for-4 with two runs and one RBI. Chance Wheeless and Josh Prince each added two hits for the Texas.

The Longhorns did much of their damage in the third inning tallying six runs. With one out and Texas nursing a 1-0 lead, Wheeless singled through the right side and Jordan Danks drew a walk to ignite the rally. Suttle followed with an RBI single to centerfield and Kyle Russell drew a walk to load the bases. Preston Clark plated Danks with a groundout to shortstop inflating the cushion to 3-0. Nick Peoples and Chais Fuller followed with back-to-back doubles with Peoples driving in a pair and Fuller plating one. Tucker capped off the rally with a single through the left side to drive in Fuller and stake UT to a 7-0 lead.

Texas also scored multiple runs in the fifth inning, when an RBI single by Wheeless and a two-run single by Suttle accounted for three runs, and the seventh inning, when Suttle and Russell hit their back-to-back home runs.

Chris Ashman (1-2) was saddled with the loss for Oral Roberts (4-6). He allowed seven runs on seven hits and five walks while striking out two over three innings.

Brendan Duffy led the Eagles offense going 2-for-4 with a double.

Texas and Oral Roberts return to action on Saturday with a 2 p.m. contest at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

Texas Recap
Oral Roberts Recap

UNC-Wilmington heads to Wake Forest

The UNC-Wilmington Baseball team heads to Wake Forest for a three game weekend series. The Seahawks enter the series coming off a loss to NC State on Tuesday evening while Wake Forest is coming off an exciting walk-off victory also on Tuesday with Charlotte. The pitching match-ups are Wake Forest pitcher Brad Kledzik (0-1, 5.40 ERA) facing Ryan Doolittle (0-0, 3.68) on Friday. The Demon Deacons will send Eric Nielsen (1-0, 4.05 ERA) to the mound on Saturday to face Bradley Holt (1-1, 7.43 ERA). The series finale will have Wake Forest sending Garrett Bullock (1-0, 1.50 ERA) facing UNC-Wilmington's Daniel Cropper (1-1, 5.51 ERA).

Wake Forest Series Notes
UNC-Wilmington Series Notes

Six players killed in bus accident

Six Baseball Players from Bluffton University in Ohio were killed this morning in a bus accident in Atlanta Georgia. The bus went off an interstate ramp and smashed into the the highway below where they were hit by a pickup truck. It ended up blocking all four lanes of the highway below. Full AP article is available here.

The Citadel head to Winthrop instead of Minnesota

The Citadel Bulldogs had a change of plans on Thursday as a blizzard affected the Minneapolis area thus making it difficult for airplanes to land. The Citadel was unable to make it to Minneapolis to play in the Dairy Queen Classic this weekend but they were able to join the Coca-Cola Classic hosted by Winthrop. They will play James Madison on Friday evening at 8 pm and Kent State on Saturday also at 8 pm. They will play Sunday against an opponent that has not been determined.

A baseball rivarly?

USA Today writer Andy Gardiner checks in with an article on the Clemson-South Carolina baseball rivalry that gets back in action this weekend with two games. The game on Saturday will be at Clemson and the teams head to Columbia to play at Sarge Frye Field (both games are already sell-outs). The USA Today article is available here.

Clemson Series Notes
South Carolina Series Notes

URI Season Preview

The URI Baseball team started the 2007 season last weekend with a visit to FIU. They lost 3 out of the four games but Head Coach Jim Foster was impressed with how the team hit on the weekend. The full article about the 2007 Rhody Rams is available from The Good Five Cent Cigar (URI Student newspaper, Yes, I know it is a weird name).

Wake Forest walks off with a 9-7 victory

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons used a two run homer in the bottom of the tenth inning by Tyler Smith to give them an exciting 9-7 victory over the Charlotte 49ers. This was Smith's first at bat on the season and he produced in a big way. Charlotte starter Spencer Steedley had a rough outing by going 6+ innings while giving up six runs (only five earned). Ryan Hamilton picked up the loss for the 49ers by going 2.0 innings and gave up the two run homer. Ben Hunter picked up the win for the Demon Deacons by giving them 2.2 scoreless innings of relief while only giving up one hit to pick up his first victory of the young season.

Charlotte Recap
Wake Forest Recap

Riverside knocks off San Diego

The UC-Riverside Highlanders picked up a 9-4 victory over San Diego in college baseball action Tuesday. The Highlanders received a 2-3 performance from Jaime Pedroza who also scored three runs in the game. Matt Vass picked up a key three-run homer in the second inning to provide some power to the offense. Chad Blauer started the game for San Diego and only lasted 1.1 innings while giving up five runs (all earned) to pick up his first loss of the season. UC-Riverside starter Marc Rzepczynski pitched 5.0 innings while only giving up three runs to get his third victory of the season against no losses.

Riverside Recap
San Diego Recap

NC State 5 UNC Wilmington 2

NC State picked up a victory over the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks 5-2. NC State pitcher Kyle Rutter picked up the victory while Erik McConnell got the save. UNC-Wilmington pitcher Jeff Hatcher picked up the loss. NC State will play in the Keith LeClair Classic over the weekend at East Carolina. UNC-Wilmington will head to Wake Forest for a three game set.

NC State Recap
UNC-Wilmington Recap

The Citadel wins a Wild One

The Citadel Bulldogs put a 25 hit attack together to beat the Campbell Camels by a score of 20-10. The Citadel offense was led by Senior Zach Brown and Freshman Kyle Jordan who each got four hits on the afternoon. Justin Smith picked up the victory for the Bulldogs. The Citadel will be back in action at the Dairy Queen Classic at the Metrodome this weekend. Campbell now heads home to host Seton Hall for three games.

The Citadel Recap
Campbell Recap

NCBWA names Pro-Line Athletic Players of the Week

The NCBWA has named Mike Bianucci of Auburn the National Player of the Week and Brian Matusz the National Pitcher of the week for the time period ending on February 25th. Bianucci led Auburn to a 3-0 record at the Coca-Cola Classic Tournament hosted by South Alabama this weekend. He hit .667 (8 for 12) with 2 homers and drove in seven runs. Brian Matusz pitched another stellar game by going seven innings while only letting up one hit and striking out ten hitters against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Friday evening.

NCBWA Release
Auburn Release
San Diego Release

Tulane heads to Baton Rouge

The Tulane Green Wave will head to Baton Rouge on Tuesday night for a match-up against the LSU Tigers. Tulane enters the game with a 5-4 record. They are coming off a weekend visit to Los Angeles to take on the USC Trojans in which they lost two out of the three games. LSU is coming in with a 7-3 record and are coming in after taking 2 out of 3 games from Central Florida. Tulane will send fifth-year senior Matt Goebel to the mound to face LSU Sophomore Louis Coleman.

LSU Game Preview
Tulane Game Preview
The Daily Reveille Game Preview

Charlotte heads to Wake Forest

The Charlotte 49ers head to Winston Salem on Tuesday to take on the Demon Deacons. Senior Spencer Steedley (1-0, 1.35 ERA) will start for the Niners while Wake will counter with Freshman Alex Wiesner (0-0, 7.36 ERA). Game Notes are linked below.

Charlotte Game Notes
Wake Forest Game Notes

ACC Players of the Week

The ACC has named Mark Sobolewski of Miami the Player of the Week and Andrew Brackman the Pitcher of the week for February 26th. Mark went .571 at the plate to lead the Hurricanes to a series victory over the Phoenix of Elon. Andrew Brackman was spectacular in his start this weekend against Coastal Carolina when he pitched 7.1 shutout innings and picking the victory in a 4-0 victory over previously undefeated Coastal Carolina. Miami will face the Florida Marlins on Tuesday while NC State will host UNC-Wilmington also on Tuesday.

ACC Release
Miami Release
NC State Release

Game Notes for Tuesday's NC State-UNC Wilmington matchup

C-USA Players of the Week and Notebook

Aaron Luna of Rice was named the Player of the Week and Ryan Belanger of Southern Miss was named the Pitcher of the Week for Conference USA. Aaron Luna led Rice by batting .467 (7 for 15) with four RBI's and six runs scored. Ryan Belanger went eight innings striking out seven and only walking run to pick up a 7-1 Southern Miss victory over a hot hitting Georgia Southern team.

Conference USA Release
Rice Release
Southern Miss Release

Conference USA has also released their notebook for week ending on February 25th which can be read here.

Citadel hosts Campbell Preview

The Citadel Bulldogs will be hosting the Campbell Camels on Tuesday. The Citadel enters the game coming off a 1-2 weekend with a victory over UNC-Asheville and a loss to Virginia Tech and Minnesota respectively. The Citadel has an overall record of 5-4 on the young season. Campbell University enters with a 1-7 overall record after losing two straight games to Charlotte over the weekend. They picked up their first win of the year beating East Carolina last Wednesday. The game on Tuesday starts at 3 pm at Riley Park in Charleston, SC.

Citadel Game Notes
Campbell Quick Facts

NCBWA Feb. 26 Division I Poll

FROM NCBWA RELEASE
DALLAS - The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association continues its tradition of NCAA Division I polls for the 10th year with its 2007 weekly surveys. Weekly polls will be circulated from Feb. 12-June 26 following the NCAA World Series in Omaha, Neb.

The poll voters come from 32 college baseball writers and related media persons from throughout the nation. This week's poll has representation by 10 different conferences among the 293 baseball-playing schools in the '07 NCAA Division I ranks. For more information or to join the NCBWA, please go to www.ncbwa.com.

Rank-School-Conference-Overall Record-Preseason Rank
1 Vanderbilt SEC 10-0 1
2 South Carolina SEC 8-1 2
3 North Carolina ACC 7-0 3
4 Clemson 6-1 ACC 4
5 Florida State ACC 13-0 6
6 Rice Conference USA 9-4 8
7 Oregon State Pacific-10 11-2 7
8 Virginia ACC 10-1 9
9 Cal State Fullerton Big West 9-4 5
10 Arizona State Pac-10 10-3 13
11 Arkansas SEC 9-3 10
12 Pepperdine West Coast 10-3 15
13 Nebraska Big 12 5-2 12
14 Texas Big 12 9-6 17
15 Miami (Fla.) ACC 6-5 14
16-t Alabama SEC 8-2 19
16-t Wichita State MVC 8-2 24
18 Mississippi SEC 6-3 11
19 Long Beach State Big West 8-4 26
20 Arizona Pac-10 11-3 23
21 Kentucky SEC 7-0 25
22 Georgia Tech ACC 6-4 21
23 Auburn SEC 10-1 NR
24 Oklahoma State Big 12 6-3 16
25 NC State ACC 8-1 29
26 Coastal Carolina Big South 9-1 30
27 Tulane C-USA 5-4 20
28 Florida Atlantic Sun Belt 10-2 28
29 Louisiana-Lafayette Sun Belt 8-0 NR
30 Texas A&M Big 12 11-1 NR

Others receiving votes (listed alphabetically): Baylor (7-4), Charleston Southern (7-5), Charlotte (7-2), College of Charleston (7-1), Duke (9-1), Kansas State (7-1), LSU (7-3), Michigan (3-0), Mississippi State (3-0), San Diego (11-5), South Florida (9-1), Southeastern Louisiana (9-2), Southern Miss (7-1), Stetson (8-3), TCU (7-4), Texas Tech (9-4), Troy (8-3), UC Irvine (10-2-1), UCLA (7-7), Winthrop (8-4).

Dropped Out: TCU (18), Winthrop (22), UCLA (27)

Service Academy Spring Classic Recap

The Navy Midshipmen were limited to two hits by the Missouri Tigers on the final day of the Service Academy Spring Classic. Missouri pitchers Stephan Holst and Ryan Gargano both pitched 3.0 scoreless and hitless innings to start the game. Ryan Allen then came in and gave up two hits in the final three innings of the game. The no-hit bid was broken up with 2 outs in the eighth inning by freshman Stephen Soares. Navy will be back in action on Wednesday when they host Georgetown.

Missouri followed the Navy shutout victory with a 5-1 loss to Memphis on Sunday. Missouri will be back in action Friday for their home opener with Youngstown State. I have linked to all the other games at the Classic below.

Sunday's Game Recaps

Navy Recap
Missouri's Recap

Air Force vs Akron Recap (Zips Recap)
Air Force vs Akron Recap (USAF Recap)

Friday Game Recaps

Akron vs Missouri Recap (Missouri Recap)
Akron vs Missouri Recap (Akron Recap)

Akron vs Memphis Recap (Memphis Recap)
Akron vs Memphis Recap (Zips Recap)

Navy vs Air Force Game 1 Recap (USNA Recap)
Navy vs Air Force Game 1 Recap (USAF Recap)

Navy vs Air Force Game 2 Recap (USNA Recap)
Navy vs Air Force Game 2 Recap (USAF Recap)

BYU vs Missouri Game Recap (BYU Recap)
BYU vs Missouri Game Recap (Missouri Recap)

Thursday Games

BYU vs Memphis Game Recap (BYU Recap)
BYU vs Memphis Game Recap (Memphis Recap)

Wake denies San Diego a sweep

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons picked up a 5-3 victory on Sunday to salvage one game out of their series with the University of San Diego. Garrett Bullock pitched very well for the Deacons to but did not pick up the win. He pitched 7.0 innings while giving up three runs (only one earned) while scattering seven hits, two HBP, and a balk. Josh Ellis picked up the win for the Deacs by going the final 2.0 innings while giving up only a hit and a walk. Evan Ocheltree hit a solo home run in the top of the ninth to provide the first of the two runs in the top of the ninth. Eric Williams provided the other RBI in the ninth to drive home Ben Terry for the insurance run. Justin Snyder led the San Diego offense by going 2-4 on the day. Wake Forest now heads back to Winston-Salem where they will host Charlotte on Tuesday. The Toreros will play UC-Riverside on Tuesday. I have also linked to the Game Recaps for Saturday below which San Diego won 5-4 behind Kevin Muno's first career hit which drove in the winning run.

Wake Forest Sunday Recap
San Diego Sunday Recap

Wake Forest Saturday Recap
San Diego Saturday Recap

Texas loses final game of weekend series to Washington State, 7-6

The University of Texas gave up four runs in the top of the eighth inning and dropped a 7-6 decision to Washington State University in collegiate baseball action Sunday afternoon at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

With Texas (9-6) leading 6-3 in the eighth inning, WSU's Travis Coulter got a pinch-hit single and moved to second on a groundout by Ryan Krauser. Simi Reynolds struck out swinging but reached base as the ball got by UT catcher Preston Clark whose ensuing throw to third base was too late to retire Coulter. The play put runners at the corners and a pinch-hit single by Josh Ashenbrenner plated Coulter and cut the lead to 6-4. Paul Gran hit a sacrifice fly to push Reynolds across, trimming the lead to 6-5. Jared Prince capped off the comeback with a two-run triple that eluded the glove of a sprinting Nick Peoples and staked the Cougars to a 7-6 lead.

For the third straight game, Texas pounced on the Cougars early scoring two runs in the second inning. With one out, Peoples singled to centerfield and stole second base. Chais Fuller put runners at the corners with an infield single. An error on an attempted double steal allowed Peoples to score and put Fuller at second base. Travis Tucker singled up the middle to push Fuller across and give UT a 2-0 lead.

Texas added three more runs in the bottom of the third inning. Chance Wheeless and Bradley Suttle each drew walks to lead off the frame. With one out, Clark hit a single to leftfield, scoring Wheeless. Peoples followed with a sacrifice fly to plate Suttle. Fuller capped off the rally with a double down the leftfield line, scoring Clark and giving Texas a 5-0 cushion.

Washington State (3-3) broke the scoring seal with two runs the top of the sixth inning. Gran hit a leadoff double and scored on a single up the middle by Jim Murphy. A single by Jeff Miller along with a throwing error by Suttle put runners at second and third and Greg Lagreid plated a runner with a groundout to shortstop, cutting the lead to 5-2.

The Cougars added another run in the seventh inning. With two outs, Gran singled and a fielding error by Fuller on a grounder to short by Prince put runners at first and second and a ground-rule double by Murphy scored Gran and trimmed the margin to 5-3.

Texas added an insurance run in the seventh inning. Peoples doubled up the middle and scored on a pinch-hit single by Clay Van Hook, giving UT a 6-3 lead.

Michael Ratigan (1-1) earned the win for Washington State. He allowed one run on two hits and struck out one over 1.1 innings. Ross Humes pitched two innings of shutout relief to earn his first save of the season.

Randy Boone (0-4) was saddled with the loss for Texas. He allowed four runs, one earned, on four hits while striking out three over 2.1 innings. Austin Wood started for the Longhorns allowing two runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out three over 5.2 innings.

Fuller led Texas' offensive attack, going 3-for-5 with one double, one run scored and one RBI. Peoples went 2-for-4 with one double, two runs and one RBI.

Gran paced the Cougars' offense, going 3-for-4 with one double, two runs and one RBI. Prince and Murphy each went 2-for-5 with two RBI.

Texas returns to action on Friday with the Longhorns hosting Oral Roberts University in a 2:30 p.m. contest at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

Texas recap
Texas Scout.com Recap
Austin American-Statesman Recap
Washington State Recap

Day 3 of the Homewood Suites Shootout

The Citadel Bulldogs knocked off UNC-Asheville by a score of 4-3 in the final game of the Homewood Suites Shootout. The Citadel got a walk-off RBI single from Kyle Jordan in the bottom of the ninth. Link Saunders picked up the victory for The Citadel by pitching 1.2 innings of shutout baseball. The Citadel will play Campbell on Tuesday before heading to the Diary Queen Classic in Minneapolis, Minnesota. UNC-Asheville will be off until Friday when they head to the University of New Orleans.

The Citadel Recap
UNC-Asheville Recap

The Minnesota Gophers behind a six run sixth inning to pick up a 7-3 victory over the Virginia Tech Hokies in the final day of The Homewood Suites Shootout. VT starting pitcher David Cross pitched no hit baseball until the sixth inning when the Gophers went on their rampage of six runs. Cross ended up picking up the loss with Tyler Oakes picking up the win for the Gophers.

VT Recap
Minnesota Recap

Vanderbilt wins on a walk-off

The Vanderbilt Commodores came back from two deficits to pull out a 7-6 victory. Boston College jumped out to a 5-1 lead after 3 innings. Vanderbilt was held in check until the bottom of the eighth when they were trailing 5-3. Pedro Alvarez started the inning off by walking on four pitches. Ryan Flaherty then followed with a single up the middle. Shea Robin then followed with a sacrifice bunt to set up second and third with one out. BC made a pitching change to bring in closer Dan Houston who promptly made Dominic de la Osa make an excuse me swing to get the runner home from third and Flaherty advanced to third base while Osa was out at first. The next pitch thrown by Houston got by catcher Tony Sanchez to allow Flaherty to score from third and tie the game up. Houston was able to work around a walk and a single to get out of the inning. BC then picked up a key lead-off double by Joseph Ayers in the top of the ninth. BC decided to bunt with Johnny Ayers to move Joseph Ayers to third with one out. Vanderbilt then brought in closer Casey Weathers who was greeted by a ground ball from Ryan Hutchinson which got through the infield to drive Joseph Ayers to get a 6-5 victory. Weathers then got the final two outs of the inning. As we entered the bottom of the ninth, Vanderbilt was trailing by one run. Dan Houston got David Macias and Alex Feinberg to fly out . BC then pitched around Pedro Alvarez to bring the winning run to the plate in Ryan Flaherty. Ryan then took the fourth pitch and put it over the left field wall to win the exciting game away from Boston College.

BC is having some major problems in the closer role this season as this is Dan Houston's second blown save of the weekend. I think a change is needed in the bullpen for the Eagles. They are continuing to hang around these more powerful teams but can't finish the deal.

BC will return to action on Friday with an exbition game against the Boston Red Sox. Daisuke Matsuzaka will start against the Eagles in his first career appearance on American soil. Vanderbilt will be back in action on Tuesday with Austin Peay.

BC Recap
Vandy Recap
Vanderbilt Scout.com Recap