BC edges Harvard

The Boston College Eagles snapped a five game losing streak by knocking off cross-town rival Harvard on Wednesday by a score of 6-3. Terry Doyle started for the Eagles and worked the first four innings while giving up all three runs on three hits. Ted Ratliff followed him and finished the game off by pitching the final five innings while striking out ten batters which got his record to 2-1 on the season. Michael Belfiore led the offense by going 2-3 with an RBI. Matt Vance led the Crimson by hitting a three run homer which provided the only runs scored by them in the game. Ryan Watson picks up the loss for Harvard by pitching one inning and giving up three runs to send his record to 0-2. BC will head to Maryland for an ACC series while Harvard will host Yale for a pair of doubleheaders this weekend.

BC Recap
Harvard Recap

Lafayette wins Liberty Bell Classic

The Lafayette Leopards knocked off the Lehigh Mountain Hawks 7-3 in the Liberty Bell Classic final on Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park. Dave Drechsel led the Leopards by going 3-4 with four RBIs and three runs scored. He was only a triple shy of the cycle. Brian Cope pitched 5.1 innings while only letting up one unearned run to bring his record up to 2-1 on the season. Lehigh starter Billy Alec was lit up in the only inning he pitched which was the first by giving up four runs on three hits. Lafayette will be back in action Wednesday when they play Monmouth. Lehigh will head to Rider on Wednesday also.

Lafayette Recap
Lehigh Recap
Morning Call Recap

Houston blanks Stephen F. Austin

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - University of Houston pitchers Donnie Joseph, Barry Laird, Chris Wright and Bryan Tully combined to limit Stephen F. Austin to only five hits in a 4-0 shutout win at SFA's Jaycees Field on Tuesday.

Laird earned the win and evened his season record at 1-1 after limiting the Lumberjacks to two hits with three strikeouts in three innings. However, the Baytown native was only part of a strong pitching effort by the Cougars.

Freshman southpaw Donnie Joseph earned the start and set the tone for the entire game, holding the Lumberjacks to only three hits in the first four innings.

SFA was able to garner only five hits, with Zach Gardner and Chris Smith nabbing two apiece. Jared Pitts had the other hit. Smith was 2-for-2 with a walk and Gardner was 2-for-4 and extended his hit streak to 14 games.

Houston (18-14) will return to action on Friday when the Cougars host crosstown-rival Rice, ranked fifth in the NCBWA poll, in a key Conference USA series. Stephen F. Austin (18-17) will jump back into Southland Conference play this weekend, facing Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Fairgrounds Field in Robstown, Texas.

Houston recap
Stephen F. Austin recap

Murray State rebounds from 10-run deficit vs. UM

MURRAY, Ky. - Memphis scored 10 runs in the top of the first inning, but Murray State stormed back to score six in the third and five more in the seventh to complete a 14-12 come-from-behind win over the Tigers Tuesday afternoon at Reagan Field.

Murray State then put together a big inning of its own in the third. Jason Payton hit a one-out solo home run, followed by a walk to senior center fielder Tyler Pittman. Sophomore third baseman Tyler Owen then doubled Pittman to third, and senior right fielder Jamie Leidolf doubled in Pittman and Owen to cut the deficit to 10-5. Sophomore shortstop Justin Yount hit a two-out single, scoring Leidolf, then stole second base. Senior left fielder Austin Swain then singled to score Yount, stole second and took third on a wild pitch. Hudson singled him in to cap a six-run inning and pull the Thoroughbreds to within two runs.

Murray State (8-21) travels to Nat Buring Stadium in Memphis on Wednesday to complete the two-game series against the Tigers (19-13).

Memphis recap
Murray State recap

Gators can't break Sweat, UCF

GAINESVILLE - Sophomore right-hander Kyle Sweat tossed eight shutout innings as UCF (18-19) upended Florida (20-16), 6-2, on Tuesday night at McKethan Stadium in Gainesville. Sweat (3-2) retired the final 10 Gators he faced and did not surrender a hit after the fourth inning in matching the longest outing of his career. His teammates backed him with a 14-hit offensive attack, led by junior Dwayne Bailey (3-for-4). UF plated two runs in the ninth and had the potential tying run at the plate to close the contest.

Tyson Auer's two-run single in the third inning kept UCF's longest hitting streak of the season alive. Auer pushed it to 12 games by going 2-for-5 and also swiped his team-best 17th base vs. the Gators.

The Gators return to SEC action on Friday night when they face No. 9 Arkansas (25-10) in the opener of a weekend series at 8:05 p.m. in Fayetteville. Each team has an 8-4 mark in league play, with Florida leading the East and the Hogs on top in West. To celebrate the upcoming bye weekend in Conference USA play, UCF will host its annual UCF Baseball Golf Classic Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Shingle Creek Golf Club.

UCF recap
Florida recap

The Citadel heads to the road

The Citadel Bulldogs will head on a four game road trip this week which starts on Wednesday at Winthrop then they head to Appalachian State for a weekend series. The Bulldogs enter the four game stretch with a record of 20-12 (4-5 SoCon). Winthrop have a solid record of 22-15 record but lost to The Citadel 8-3 on March 20th. Appalachian State has a record of 20-14 (7-5 SoCon) after knocking off Gardner-Webb on Tuesday 6-1.

Probable Pitchers
Wednesday: Matt Reifsnider (1-1, 4.09 ERA) vs Ryan Schwartz (2-2, 4.50 ERA)
Friday: Wes Wrenn (3-3, 5.69 ERA) vs Matt Andress (3-3, 7.00 ERA)
Saturday: Matt Crim (3-2, 4.80 ERA) vs Jason Rook (4-4, 4.47 ERA)
Sunday: Chris McGuiness (2-0, 5.76 ERA) vs TBA

Seth Williams wins game for UNC

Seth Williams hit a three run homer to break a tie at 3 in the bottom of the ninth to lead the Tar Heels to a 6-3 victory over Charlotte on Tuesday. The Tar Heels got 5.2 scoreless innings of relief from Matt Danford and Andrew Carignan. UNC was led on offense by Freshman All-American candidate Dustin Ackley who continued his hitting steak to 27 games by going 3-4 with an RBI. Charlotte's offensive star was Chris Lane who was perfect in his three plate appearances with an RBI. UNC will be back in action on Wednesday when they head to Elon while Charlotte will host Presbyterian before going to URI this weekend. The CBB might check out Charlotte this weekend.

UNC Recap
Charlotte Recap

Umass gets by Uconn

The UMass Minutemen picked up a 6-4 extra inning victory over UConn on Tuesday. Andy Tuetken led off the top of the tenth inning with a double to left field. Bryan Adamski followed with a sacrifice bunt but the Erik Turgeon of UConn threw the ball into right field which allowed Tuetken to score and Adamski ended up at third base. Ryan Franczek followed the error by hitting a sacrifice fly to center field which gave the Minutemen an insurance run. Adamski pitched the final four innings for UMass to up his record to 2-0 while Will Musson picks up his first career loss for UConn. UMass will be back in action on Friday when they host George Washington while UConn will host URI on Wednesday.

UMass Recap
UConn Recap
Daily Collegian Recap

CCSU continues BC's struggles

The Central Connecticut State Blue Devils continued Boston College's recent struggles by knocking off the Eagles on Tuesday by a score of 13-6. Michael Belfiore started for the Eagles and the Blue Devils jumped all over him in the first by scoring three runs in the inning. Belfiore only lasted one plus inning and gave up seven runs (six earned) on ten hits. The Eagles have continued their defensive struggles by committing four errors in the game. CCSU got five strong innings from Adam Piechowski while only giving up two runs to get the victory. Sean Salvatore led the offense by going 3-5 with 2 RBIs including a homer. Jett Ruiz, Michael Belfiore, and Tony Sanchez all had multiple hit games for the Eagles. BC will be back in action on Wednesday when they head to Harvard while CCSU will play at Quinnipiac in a Northeast Conference series.

CCSU Recap
BC Recap

NCBWA Players of the Week

FROM NCBWA RELEASE
DALLAS - The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA)­ released the Pro-Line Athletic National Player of the Week awards for the period ending April 8, today. South Carolina junior second baseman Travis Jones was named National Hitter of the Week, while Rice freshman right-handed pitcher Ryan Berry and Missouri sophomore right-handed pitcher Rick Zagone were named National Co-Pitchers of the Week. The NCBWA Board reviews candidates from each Division I conferences each week and names winners each Tuesday throughout the season.

Jones went 11-for-15 (.733) at the plate last week, including 9-for-12 (.750) in the weekend series vs. SEC-leading Florida. The Stone Mountain, Ga., native tallied five home runs in the three-game series vs. the Gators as well as 13 RBIs. He had his second and third multi-homer games of the year on Friday and Sunday vs. Florida, both were Gamecock victories over the Gators. He has three multi-homer games this season for the Gamecocks, the only player on the squad to accomplish the feat. His three-run homer in Sunday's 8-6 win over the Gators tied the game in the ninth inning when the Gamecocks were trailing 5-2 with one out and helped lead the Gamecocks to a weekend series victory.

Berry won his only start of the week on the road at 22nd-ranked East Carolina (Apr. 6). The right-hander from Humble, Texas, allowed just four singles and one walk while striking out a career-high 12 in seven shutout innings in a game the Owls went on to win 4-0. He faced 24 ECU batters and held the Pirates to a composite .167 batting average on his way to his fifth victory of the season. Only three of ECU's hitters Berry faced reached scoring position. Berry has now put together back-to-back dominating starts for Rice the last two weeks. He has allowed just one run, struck out 22 and walked only one in his last 16 innings of work.

Zagone recorded his second complete game in three Big 12 starts this season, as he picked up the victory in the Tigers' 3-0 win over Kansas State on Saturday. The left-hander carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning, as a base hit with one out in the bottom of the ninth was all that stood between Zagone and a no-hitter. The Crystal Lake, Ill., native struck out a career-high 11 KSU batters and remained unbeaten as he improved to 6-0 on the season. The complete-game shutout was the first by a Big 12 pitcher in a conference game this season. There have been five complete games in Big 12 games this year with Zagone claiming two of them.

With this week's honor, Berry and Zagone automatically are named to the watch list for Roger Clemens Award, given to the national collegiate pitcher of the year, sponsored by the Greater Houston Baseball Organization.

Cincinnati tops Marshall 12-10

CINCINNATI, Ohio---Tony Campana had a career-high four RBI and Cincinnati held off a late Marshall charge, leading the Bearcats to a 12-10 win over the Thundering Herd on Monday night at Marge Schott Stadium. With the win, the Bearcats improve to 18-14, while Marshall falls to 14-17. The Herd has now dropped 12 consecutive games, its longest losing streak since 1999. Cincinnati has won five of its last seven games.

Campana was the leader of a Bearcat offensive attack that totaled 12 hits with two hits and his 40th stolen base of the year. Josh Harrison and Jamel Scott each added two to the cause. John Baird carried the bulk of the load on the mound, grabbing his first career victory with a career-best 6.1 innings of work.

Herd starter Ryan Kiel took the loss for the Herd, which drops his record to 3-3. Chapman and Vincent had three hits apiece to lead Marshall. Cassamassima and Lape also added two hits for the Thundering Herd.

Marshall returns home to play Morehead State Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m. at University Heights. Cincinnati is back in action on Wednesday, hosting crosstown rival Xavier at 6:30 p.m.

Marshall recap
Cincinnati recap

Mercy Rule needed?

Bridgewater State College of Massachusetts squeaked by Newbury College 57-1 on Monday. They set new NCAA records for runs and margin of victory in victory. They also set records with 54 RBIs and 42 hits. Junior left fielder Steve Smith had seven hits, seven runs scored, and drove in ten runs to lead the Bears to victory.

Bridgewater State Recap
AP Article

Righty, Lefty, or Both??

The College Baseball Blog recently had a staff meeting and we spoke about ambidextrous pitchers about their abilities to compete at the highest level. I recently came across an article in the New York Times about the only one in collegiate baseball right now in Creighton's Pat Venditte. The article can be read here.

ACC Player of the Week for April 9th

The ACC has released their players of the week for the period ending on April 8th. Brandon Reichert has picked up the Player of the Week award for having multiple hits in every game this weekend as his Seminoles took two out of three games with NC State. Jacob Thompson has picked up the Pitcher of the Week award by pitching a complete game shutout while only allowing four hits in a 4-0 victory over Duke.

FSU Release
UVA Release
ACC Release

Penn and Brown split a doubleheader

The Penn Quakers finished off a four game weekend by splitting a doubleheader on Monday afternoon with Brown. The Quakers took Game 1 by a score of 5-3 and lost Game 2 in a shootout by a score of 15-12.

The Quakers in Game 1 received a seven inning complete game from Todd Roth in which he only gave up three runs. His record now is 4-1 on the season. William Gordon led the Quakers offense by recording three RBIs in the victory. Brown starter Will Weidig picked up the loss in his 6.2 innings while giving up five runs. The loss drops his record to 2-2 on the season.

The Brown Bears used a 16 hit attack to handle the Quakers in a 15-12 game. The Brown Bears were led on offense by Bryan Tews who went 4-5 including a home run and three RBI in the win. Devin Thomas also chipped in with a 2-4 day with a homer and four RBIs. Brown starter Alex Silverman picked up his first win of the year by working the first five innings. Rob Hallberg picked up a rocky save by working the final 2.0 innings while giving up five runs. Doug Brown got the loss for the Quakers by giving up eight runs in 2.2 innings of work. The loss drops his overall record to a tough 2-4.

Brown Recap
Penn Recap

Umass takes care of BC

The UMass Minutemen picked up a comfortable 9-4 victory over Boston College on Monday. Dan Houston started for the Eagles and was roughed up in 5.1 innings while giving up 6 runs (5 earned) He also walked five batters. Jim Cassidy pitched six strong innings while only giving up three runs to up his record to 2-1. Bryan Adamski and Jim McDonald both went 2-4 to lead the Minutemen to the victory. Boston College committed five errors in the game which is unacceptable for a team which is trying to compete for a spot in the ACC Tourney. If Boston College is ever going to have a chance in the ACC they need to step up their defense and start making smart baseball plays.

BC Recap
Umass Recap

NCBWA Apr. 9 Division I Poll

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 a season-most 13 different conferences among the 293 baseball-playing schools in the '07 NCAA Division I ranks, and 17 leagues have had teams in the polls in '07. For more information or to join the NCBWA, please go to www.ncbwa.com.

Rank-School-Conference-Overall Record-Previous Rank
1 Vanderbilt Southeastern 29-5 1
2 North Carolina Atlantic Coast 29-5 3
3 South Carolina SEC 26-7 4
4 Florida State ACC 31-4 2
5 Rice Conference USA 26-10 8
6 Texas Big 12 28-10 7
7 Pepperdine West Coast 26-8 9
8 Virginia ACC 29-7 5
9 Arkansas SEC 25-10 6
10 Oregon State Pacific-10 25-7 10
11 Arizona Pac-10 28-6  14
12 Arizona State Pac-10 26-10 15
13 Clemson ACC 23-9 16
14 Oklahoma State Big 12 23-8 11
15 Mississippi SEC 24-10 19
16 Wichita State Missouri Valley 26-8 13
17 Texas A&M Big 12 27-7 17
18 Cal State Fullerton Big West 19-12 12
19 Mississippi State SEC 21-8 26
20 Coastal Carolina Big South 28-5 18
21 NC State ACC 24-10   21
22 Kentucky SEC 25-6-1 20
23 Louisiana-Lafayette Sun Belt 26-7 27
24 Oklahoma Big 12 23-11 23
25 (tie) San Diego West Coast 26-12 28
25 (tie) Charlotte Atlantic 10 26-5 29
27 UC Irvine Big West 23-8-1 30
28 Tulane Conference USA 24-10 24
29 Ohio State Big Ten 18-5 25
30 Stetson Atlantic Sun 27-9 NR


Others receiving votes (listed alphabetically): Akron (14-8), Alabama (20-14),
College of Charleston (24-8), East Carolina (21-12), Florida (20-15), Georgia
Tech (21-13), Long Beach State (16-12), Memphis (19-12), Miami (Fla.) (20-14),
Missouri (24-9), Nebraska (19-12).


Dropped Out: East Carolina (22).

Conference USA weekend roundup

It was a good weekend to be on the road in Conference USA, as three of the four league series were claimed by the visiting team. The weekend included a series between the two highest-ranked schools in the league, the first conference win by one team and the first conference loss by another.

No. 8 Rice at No. 22 East Carolina
The most-anticipated matchup of the weekend in C-USA, as the defending champion Owls got an early look at the new location of the site of the upcoming conference tournament. Rice headed back to the Lone Star State with a surprising road sweep of the Pirates. Freshman righthander Ryan Berry set the tone early, racking up 12 strikeouts in a 4-0 victory Friday. Berry's performance earned him C-USA Pitcher of the Week honors. Rice then battled for a pair of wins - 9-6 on Saturday and 8-6 on Sunday - to complete the sweep.

Rice recaps
East Carolina recaps

Memphis at No. 24 Tulane
The Tigers had only won once on the road - at then-No. 6 Clemson - before heading to New Orleans to take on the Green Wave. That lack of success did not show, as Memphis opened the series in strong fashion, taking a 14-5 win Friday at Zephyr Field, Tulane's temporary home. The Tigers clinched the series with a 5-3 victory on Saturday behind the six-hit, seven-inning performance of starter Scott McGregor. Tulane avoided the sweep with a 9-5 decision on Sunday, aided by 11 walks from Tiger pitchers. Michael Murray of Memphis went 9-for-11 on the weekend to earn C-USA Hitter of the Week honors.

Memphis recaps
Tulane recaps

Southern Miss at UCF
Central Florida picked up its first conference victory of the season on Friday, when a three-run throwing error by the visiting Golden Eagles in the ninth inning allowed the Knights to tie things up and earn a 5-4 decision after 10 innings. Southern Miss ended its seven-game losing streak with an 8-3 Saturday win and claimed the series on Sunday, thanks to David Clark's seven-inning complete game effort, in a 10-0 game called by the league's Sunday 10-run rule.

Southern Miss recaps
UCF recaps

UAB at Houston
The Blazers arrived in Houston as the only undefeated team in league play, and continued that streak with a 10-5 Friday win. The Cougars bounced back to become the only home team to claim a league series over the weekend with a 10-4 Saturday victory and a 10-3 Sunday win.

UAB recaps
Houston recaps

Marshall at Liberty
The Thundering Herd was the only school in non-conference action over the weekend. It was not a good weekend to be a Marshall baseball fan, as the homestanding Flames won 8-6 on Friday and took a Saturday doubleheader 10-4, 11-7 to sweep the series and extend the Herd's losing streak to 11 games.

Marshall recaps
Liberty recaps

2007 C-USA Baseball Tournament to be at ECU

IRVING, Texas - The 2007 Conference USA Baseball Championship, originally scheduled for May 23-27 at Turchin Stadium in New Orleans, will be changing sites. Due to continuing renovations on the stadium since Hurricane Katrina, the facility will not be completed in time to host the eight-team, double-elimination tournament.

"We were disappointed to learn that Turchin Stadium will not be ready to host the 2007 C-USA Baseball Championship, since we expect it will be one of the finest college baseball facilities in the country when it is completed," said Commissioner Britton Banowsky.

With Tulane unable to hold this year's event, East Carolina will now serve as the host of the 2007 championship at Clark-LeClair Stadium in Greenville, N.C. East Carolina was originally scheduled to host the 2008 championship and Tulane and ECU will now switch years, with next season's event to be held at Turchin Stadium.

"We certainly appreciate East Carolina stepping up and hosting the 2007 championship," said Banowsky. "ECU has an outstanding baseball facility and enjoys tremendous fan support. We know they will do a great job of hosting the championship and we are certain that the Pirate Nation will turn out in large numbers for this event."

The 2007 championship will take place Wed., May 23-Sun., May 27. For more information on the tournament or the new site, click here.

ACC Recap for 4/8

UNC 7 Boston College 2 (completion of suspended game from 4/7)

The North Carolina Tar Heels and Boston College Eagles finished the ninth inning of the second game of their series on Sunday afternoon. The Tar Heels picked up the 7-2 victory. Dustin Ackley led the Tar Heels by going 4-5 in the win. Alex White picked up the victory to up his record to 4-1 while Nate Jeanes drops to 0-4.

UNC Recap
BC Recap

UNC 16 Boston College 5

The North Carolina Tar Heels got 19 hits to throttle the Boston College Eagles by a score of 16-5 in Game 3 of their weekend set. Tim Federowicz led all hitters with three hits and four RBIs. Rob Wooten picked up the win in relief by working 1.2 innings while allowing one run. Wooten's record goes to 1-0 on the season. Terry Doyle started for the Eagles and was lit up by the high powered offense of North Carolina. He allowed eight runs in 2.2 innings. Doyle's record drops to 2-2 on the season.

UNC Recap
Boston College Recap

Florida State 6 NC State 5

The Florida State Seminoles rallied for five runs in the sixth inning to erase a 4-0 deficit to win their fourth consecutive ACC series. The Seminoles and Wolfpack traded runs in the eighth inning to make the final scoreline 6-5. In the five run sixth inning, Brandon Reichert hit a bases loaded double after a two run homer from Dennis Guinn. Ryan Strauss started for the Seminoles but only lasted 3.2 innings while giving up four runs. Casey Whitmer followed Strauss and got the win to get his first win of the season. Danny Rosen pitched a perfect 1.2 innings to get his fourth save of the season. Jimmy Gillheeney pitched well but came up with a no-decision after giving up three runs over 5.1 innings. Nate Karns picked up the loss by giving up two runs without retiring a batter. His record goes to 2-2 on the season.

FSU Recap
NC State Recap

Virginia 8 Duke 1

The Virginia Cavaliers took the rubber game of their weekend set with Duke by a score of 8-1. The Cavaliers received 6.0 innings from Sean Doolittle where he only allowed 1 run on four hits. Sean Doolittle's record goes to 6-2 on the season. Duke starter Jonathan Anderson pitched five shutout innings while only allowing three hits. He was followed by Michael Ness who pitched one inning while giving up three runs to grab the loss which drops his record to 3-2. The Cavaliers were led on offense by Brandon Guyer who went 2-4 with two runs scored, three RBI's, and a homer. Beau Seabury and Tyler Cannon were the only other Cavaliers with two hits in the game. Duke had only one player with multiple hits in Jimmy Gallagher.

Virginia Recap
Duke Recap

Clemson 5 Virginia Tech 2 (10 innings)

Doug Hogan of Clemson hit a three run homer in the top of the tenth inning to complete the sweep over the Virginia Tech Hokies by a scoreline of 5-2. Alan Farina picked up the win by pitching 4.1 innings of shutout baseball to get his second victory on the season. Stephen Clyne got his second save of the season by pitching the bottom of the tenth. Scott Stoehr picks up the loss for the Hokies to drop his record to 1-2.

Clemson Recap
Virginia Tech Recap

Miami 8 Georgia Tech 7

Gus Menendez hit a game tying homer in the seventh inning then provided the game winning single in the bottom of the ninth to let his Hurricanes walk off with an 8-7 victory over Georgia Tech. Danny Gil of Miami picked up the win to up his record to 3-0 and Matt Wieters got his second loss of the season to drop his record to 1-2.

Miami Recap
Georgia Tech Recap

Wake Forest 7 Maryland 5

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons completed a sweep of the Maryland Terrapins by knocking them off on Sunday by a 7-5 score. Charlie Mellies got his first start in almost a year allowed only one hit in his scheduled two innings start. He picks up his first victory of the season. Kevin Biringer pitched 2.1 innings while giving up seven runs (six earned) to drop his record to 2-5 on the season.

Wake Forest Recap
Maryland Recap