2014 College Baseball

[mabrowndog]

UL-L ties it up 1-1 in the t-5th. Seth Harrison singles, Dylan Butler doubles, and Harrison scores when the on-the-money throw from Rebels LF Braxton Lee is dropped by catcher Will Allen. 
 
Both starters are still in after 5 full.
 
Trent: 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 5 K, 60 pitches.
Baranik: 1 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 3 K (missed is pitch count)

 

[mabrowndog]

Towering home run to left field by Preston Overbey on an 0-2 hanging breaking ball, probably the worst pitch Baranik has ever thrown. It clears the fence by about 20 feet, and gives Ole Miss a 2-1 lead with 2 out in the bottom of the 7th.
 
EDIT - And now Errol Robinson on another curve left up drives a single.
 
EDIT - A grounder ends it. Baranik now at 92 pitches while his counterpart, Trent, is at 107 through 7 IP.

 

[mabrowndog]

Trent walks ULL's Mike Strentz on a full count to lead off the top 8th, and that'll do it for him as RHP Aaron Greenwood comes on to face the top of the Cajuns order.
 
EDIT - Ryan Leonards bunts him into scoring position for the lefty-hitting Jace Conrad.
 
EDIT - Greenwood smokes him on a sinker down & away as Conrad flails at it uselessly. Two down for RHH Blake Trahan.
 
EDIT - Trahan with the line single into right field, his 3rd hit of the night, and Strentz slides in to tie it 2-2. He's now hitting .528 in the postseason.
 
EDIT - A grounder ends it, but we're in for a great finish in this one.

 

[mabrowndog]

Auston Bousfield singles to left to lead off the Ole Miss b-8th, and Baranik will depart (7+ IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 4 BB, 4 K, 95 pitches).  Lefty Ryan Wilson on for the Cajuns to face LHH Austin Anderson.
 
EDIT - After getting ahead 1-2, he walks him on a fastball that just missed inside. Will Allen, a RHH, at the plate.
 
EDIT - A deep fly to right center, Seth Harrison appears to camp under it, but it glances off his glove for a potentially catastrophic error. Bousfield beats the relay throw and sneaks his hand onto the plate between the legs of Strentz. 3-2, Ole Miss. 
 
EDIT - A Sikes Orvis single to right loads the bases. Still no outs, and here comes Blake Bortles' brother Colby.
 
EDIT - A 2-run single up the middle plates Anderson & Allen. They get Orvis on the turn at 2nd for the first out. It's a 5-2 Rebels lead. That'll be the night for Wilson, as righty Matt Plitt comes on to face Will Jamison.
 
EDIT - A fly to left for the 2nd out.
 
EDIT - They nail the pinch-runner Cameron Dishon trying to steal second, and that ends the inning. UL-L coming up in the t-9th.

 

[mabrowndog]

Caleb Adams gets the Cajuns started with a leadoff double to deep right off Greenwood. Up comes Chase Compton.
 
EDIT - A grounder to first advances the runner to 3rd. One down for Seth Harrison with a chance to make up for that huge gaffe in the field.
 
EDIT - After a 9-pitch AB, a come-backer to the mound. Greenwood holds the runner at 3rd and throws to 1st for the out #2. Now it's up to Dylan Butler.
 
EDIT - Butler takes strike three, and Ole Miss evens the series with a 5-2 win. There are just 3 National Seeds remaining, and all 3 will be playing do-or-die games tomorrow.

 

[mabrowndog]

Monday's schedule:
 
04:00 PM - Fort Worth TX - Pepperdine at #7 TCU – Game 3  (ESPN2)

07:00 PM - Charlottesville VA - Maryland at #3 Virginia – Game 3  (ESPNU)

07:00 PM - Lafayette LA - Ole Miss at #6 LA-Lafayette – Game 3  (ESPN2)

 

[TheGoldenGreek33]

The three national seeds left standing will all be in action Monday, so a possibility exists that the CWS might feature no national seeds. No fewer than three national seeds have reached Omaha in the first 15 years of the 64-team era.

 
Fitt: Super Regional Roundup: Red Raiders, Commodores Headed To Omaha

 

[Williams Head Case]

So pumped for the Waves to close it out in Ft. Worth this afternoon, wish I could be there to enjoy it.

 

[mabrowndog]

So pumped for the Waves to close it out in Ft. Worth this afternoon, wish I could be there to enjoy it.

 
Aaron Brown just hammered an opposite-field HR to deep left-center off Jordan Kipper in the b-5th. An effortless swing with really quick wrists, complete with bat flip before he left the batter's box. He also singled in Brandon Caruso in the b-1st for their first run. I love really that kid.
 
Second tater of the day for Pepperdine, after Caruso hit a 2-run shot during a torrential downpour in the b-2nd, scoring Chris Fornaci ahead of him.
 
Kevin Cron went deep for TCU in the t-5th (solo shot), and their other run came on a Kyle Bacak single in the t-2nd that drove in Dylan Fitzgerald.
 
4-2 Waves, Frogs batting in the t-6th against A.J. Puckett with 1st & 3rd, 2 out.
 
EDIT - Boomer White singles to left, driving in Derek Odell. 4-3 Pepperdine.
 
EDIT - And now Cron rips a double just past Austin Davidson's dive at third down the LF line. Fastball left up in the zone, right in his wheelhouse. Tie game, now 2nd & 3rd with 2 down.
 
EDIT - Garrett Crain grounds out to Moyer at 2nd to end the inning.

 

[mabrowndog]

TCU with 1st & 2nd and 2 out in the t-7th, and that'll be it for Puckett after 67 pitches. He worked 3+ innings in relief, including a huge bail-out of starter Jackson McClelland's bases-loaded jam with 2 out in the t-4th. On comes Matt Maurer.
 
EDIT - Maurer gets a line-out to LF to end it. Still 4-4 heading to the Waves' half of the 7th.

 

[mabrowndog]

With the TCU-Pep game running well past 7 pm EDT, Ole Miss-LA Lafayette will begin on ESPN News and then shift over to ESPN2 once the earlier game concludes. MD-VA still on ESPNU as scheduled.
 
Good thing they're not playing that one in Oxford MS. Weather there looks awful with a nasty line of thunderstorms or worse approaching from the west and stretching from Memphis clear down to Jackson. Lafayette appears bone dry by comparison, with some scattered showers to the west neary Lake Charles.

 

[mabrowndog]

With 2 out and nobody on in the t-8th, coach Steve Rodriguez is going with Chandler Blanchard to face Kevin Cron.
 
EDIT - He needs just 2 pitches to get a ground-out to 3rd to end it.

 

[mabrowndog]

Bryan Langlois singles to lead off the b-8th for Pepperdine. That ends a streak of 12 straight retired by Kipper since the home run ball to Aaron Brown. And look who's up now...
 
EDIT - Wow, Brown absolutely crushes a low fastball off the end of his bat, golfing it from maybe a foot above the ground, and it's off the top of the wall in deepest center field for a double. 2nd & 3rd for the Waves, and that'll be it for Kipper.
 
EDIT - With Riley Ferrell on the hill, Anderson lines out to medium right field, but it's enough to advance both runners as Langlois scores the go-ahead run. Fitzgerald threw to 3rd instead of home, but Brown was safe easily. Two down.
 
EDIT - Ferrell climbs the ladder and gets Hutton Moyer swinging. Last ups coming for the Frogs in the t-9th with Eric Karch to face Crain, Suiter & Fitzgerald.

 

[Williams Head Case]

On the edge of my seat here, this would do wonders to curing a decade of Pepperdine sports anemia (non-volleyball/water polo division).

 

[mabrowndog]

Crain with a seeing-eye bouncer up the middle for a base hit to lead it off.
 
EDIT - Shocked to see Suiter swinging away. And now he's down 0-2.
 
EDIT - A Baltimore chopper to Jefferson at short, and Suiter beats it out despite a clean glove, quick release, and a helluva throw. That was a Derek Jeter special (the lucky hit, not the fielding)
 
EDIT - And now we'll see the bunt with Fitzgerald up.

 

[Williams Head Case]

shit

 

[mabrowndog]

shit

 
Wow. Horrible pitch, right where Fitz wanted it, and it's destroyed. Deep down the RF line and off the wall. Crain scores and we're tied 5-5. Still 2nd & 3rd with 2 outs.
 
EDIT - And now Karch has Calvin Schiraldi disease. A once-formidable closer is totally rattled and he can't throw a strike.
 
EDIT - Big pop up to 2nd by Jones there. One down for Bacak.
 
EDIT - A perfect squeeze play and the Frogs lead 6-5. Two down, but that was huge.
 
EDIT - Grounder left of 2nd, and Jefferson takes care of it. Inning over, last 3 gulps of air coming for the Waves.

 

[mabrowndog]

Pinch-hitting for Fornaci, Jack Ross leads off with a walk for Pepperdine. Colton Yamaguchi on to pinch-hit for Jefferson.
 
EDIT - A first-pitch bunt is successful as Ross heads to 2nd. One down, top of the order coming up with Caruso.
 
EDIT - Grounder to short, and Keaton Jones had the chance to throw to 3rd to get Ross, but he opts for the sure out at 1st. Austin Davidson up with the tying run 90 feet away.
 
EDIT - It's a 5-pitch walk, and up comes Langlois with 1st & 3rd and 2 out --- and Aaron Brown on deck.
 
EDIT - GREAT pitch for strike one. A perfect slider that dropped over the outside edge.
 
EDIT - A swinging FB for strike two.
 
EDIT - Holy shit, ESPN just lost video. You motherfucking douchebags.

 

[Williams Head Case]

So thankful ESPN blacked out for the last pitch so I didn't have to see that...

 

[mabrowndog]

Well, it was a strikeout. There will be at least one national seed in Omaha as the Horned Frogs become the third Big 12 team to clinch a spot.
 
Bummer for the Waves. Fun team to watch. Sorry, WHC. Feeling your pain, man.

 

[PT Sox Fan]

So thankful ESPN blacked out for the last pitch so I didn't have to see that...

World Wide Leader (slow clap).

 

[Williams Head Case]

It's OK, the team can go back to a season ending cookout at Pamela Anderson's estate. For the rest of us fans of Pepperdine sports, though, think Sisyphus...

 

[mabrowndog]

The Hoos are up on the Terps 3-0 after a b-1st trey. Derek Fisher with an RBI single, and Kenny Towns with a 2-run triple. Sophomore righty Josh Sborz on the hill for UVA, Bobby Ruse with the ball for Maryland.
 
Meanwhile it's an absolute downpour in Lafayette, and the Cajuns just took a 1-0 lead in the b-3rd with a Tyler Girouard sac fly to score Ryan Leonards. And those UL-L jerseys??? Wow... This guy says it best:
 

Brandon Larrabee ‏@TeamSpeedKills
Seriously, though, those Louisiana-Lafayette uniforms are great camouflage. For the war on Mars in 27 years

 

[mabrowndog]

Pepperdine Baseball ‏@PeppBaseball 3m
Waves and Frogs shake hands after one of the best series you will ever see.

 

[mabrowndog]

Auston Bousfield leads off the t-4th with a double to deep left-center for Ole Miss.

 

[mabrowndog]

Austin Anderson with a monster blast to RF, a 2-run shot to put the Rebels in front. Massive uppercut swing.
 
As noted on the broadcast, the wind has shifted with the rains moving in, and now it's blowing straight out to center.

 

[mabrowndog]

Towns with another huge hit for UVA, a 1-out bases-loaded single to left scoring McCarthy & Pinero in the b-3rd. And that's the end of the game for Ruse after just 53 pitches (2.1 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 1 K). Tayler Stiles gets the early bullpen call, still runners on 1st & 2nd and the Cavs up 5-0.
 
Virginia Baseball ‏@UVABaseball 3m
Towns' 4 RBI today ties the most for a #UVaBase player ever in the tournament.

 

[mabrowndog]

Austin Anderson with a monster blast to RF, a 2-run shot to put the Rebels in front. Massive uppercut swing.
 
As noted on the broadcast, the wind has shifted with the rains moving in, and now it's blowing straight out to center.

 
And now Sikes Orvis follows that with a solo shot to the same spot. 3-1, Ole Miss.

 

[mabrowndog]

Stiles walks LaPrise, and the bases loaded for Virginia. Still just 1 out.
 
EDIT - An infield hit by Brandon Downes, and it's 6-0. But a Coman GIDP ends the inning.

 

[mabrowndog]

And those UL-L jerseys??? Wow...

 
For those wondering...
 

 

[mabrowndog]

UL-L with the leadoff man on in the b-4th as Sam Smith hits Chase Compton with a pitch.
 
EDIT - Sam Smith with a perfectly placed strike three pitch, outside at the knees to get Seth Harrison looking. One down for Dylan Butler.
 
EDIT - Butler rips a grounder off Anderson's glove on a back-hand dive. Fair ball and it heads down to left field in foul territory where it pings off the brick wall. It's a double, putting runners on 2nd & 3rd with 1 out.
 
EDIT - An RBI grounder to 3B by Mike Strentz scores Compton, as Anderson opts for the sure out at 1st. Butler moves to 3rd with 2 down, and it's down to a 3-2 Ole Miss lead.
 
EDIT - Leonards rips a full-count hanging breaking ball over the shortstop for an RBI base hit. He takes 2nd on the throw, and we're tied 3-3. Smith clearly struggling with command. That was a 7-pitch at-bat, and Smith's at 75 pitches already (3.2 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 4 K).
 
EDIT - Pitching change for the Rebels as junior righty Scott Weathersby comes on.
 
EDIT - He gets the job done as Jace Conrad pops up to short. Heading to the 5th knotted 3-3, and Boutte still on the hill (4 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 2 K, 61 pitches)

 

[mabrowndog]

Maryland gets runners to 2nd & 3rd in the t-4th, but Sborz gets Anthony Papio on three pitches and he's through four scoreless (3 H, 2 BB, 4 K).

 

[mabrowndog]

Bases loaded for Ole Miss in the t-5th with 2 out and Colby Bortles up, with Matt Plitt on in relief. Bortles is 3-for-5 with the bases loaded this season including a grand slam.
 
EDIT - A 2-2 pitch gets behind Strentz and goes to the backstop. Braxton Lee scores. It's ruled a passed ball. Ole Miss leads 4-3.
 
EDIT - Bortles draws a walk to re-load the bases.
 
EDIT - J.B. Woodman drives one to the gap, but Caleb Adams turns on the jets and tracks it down for the final out. On to the b-5th.

 

[mabrowndog]

Another 1-2-3 inning for Sborz, and he's through 6 scoreless with 8 Ks. Maryland is 4-for-20 at the plate tonight with 2 walks. UVA continues to lead 6-0 heading to the b-6th.

 

[mabrowndog]

A blown call by the 1st base ump may end up costing UL-L the game. With 2 out in the t-6th, a grounder to 1st bounced twice before being fielded for what seemed to be an unassisted putout- - both bounces clearly to the left of the chalk -- but it's called a foul ball. Lee ends up walking, and Bousfield rips a double down the LF line as Lee comes all the way around to slide home face-first with no throw. 
 
5-3, Rebels. The bottom of the Cajuns order due up in the b-6th: Harrison, Butler & Strentz.

 

[mabrowndog]

Another 1-2-3 inning for Sborz, and he's through 6 scoreless with 8 Ks. Maryland is 4-for-20 at the plate tonight with 2 walks. UVA continues to lead 6-0 heading to the b-6th.

 
Make that 7 scoreless on 110 pitches. His slider's been something else tonight. 4 H, 3 BB & 9 Ks so far.
 
EDIT - Stiles hasn't been as dominant, but has been just as solid since coming in for the Terps. He gets the Cavs in order in the b-7th, and has worked 4.2 scoreless (2 H, 3 BB, 2 K). On to the 8th.
 
EDIT - Austin Young on for Sborz, with uber-closer Nick Howard warming in the UVA pen.

 

[mabrowndog]

Leadoff man on for the Cajuns in the b-6th as Harrison singles to CF.
 
EDIT - Dylan Butler whiffs on three pitches from Weathersby, chasing stuff up & outside.
 
EDIT - Now Weathersby makes Strentz look foolish on the first pitch, which drops like a rock and coaxes a Rich Gedman-esque swing in the dirt.
 
EDIT - On a pitchout, Will Allen guns down Harrison on his attempted steal of 2nd. The throw was high, but was there in time for Overbey to snare it and sweep the tag. Running into outs when trailing in a do-or-die game is ill-advised.
 
EDIT - And now Strentz reaches first on a throwing error by 3B Austin Anderson. Should be 1st & 2nd with 1 out, but it's 2 down & 1 on.
 
EDIT - Weathersby falls behind Leonards 3-1, prompting a mound visit by Allen to regroup.
 
EDIT - Leonards walks. Tying run on for LHH Jace Conrad and his Reddick beard. Looks like we'll have a pitching change first, as they'll bring in Josh Laxer. Surprised they're going with a righty here when there's a shitload of rested southpaws in the Ole Miss pen tonight.

 

[mabrowndog]

Maryland not dying quietly. They ruin the shutout as shortstop Blake Schmit doubles home Lamonte Wade & Jose Cuas. It's 6-2 UVA with 2 outs in the t-8th.
 
EDIT - The Cavs say "enough of this shit" and bring on Howard for the 4-out save. He's got one, as Tim Lewis grounds out to end the inning.

 

[mabrowndog]

The ESPN announcers doing their best Trupe job in the ULL-Miss game. Conrad hits one hard to right, and you'd have sworn it was heading to Tennessee off the bat. But it's caught on the warning track to end the inning. The Cajuns strand two, and still trail 5-3 heading to the b-7th.
 
EDIT - Ole Miss goes down in order. Two superb plays both on grounders to 3rd. Conrad with a diving stab landing in foul ground gets up & guns down Will Allen for out #1. After Orvis whiffed, another slow grounder forces Conrad to throw high, but Chase Compton somehow manages not only to reach up with full extension & snag it but also kept his toe on the bag long enough for the out before toppling over. On to the 8th.

 

[mabrowndog]

With one out for UL-L, Girouard safe at 1st on a comebacker to the mound that ricocheted off Laxer, and by the time he tracked it down he needed to air mail his throw as the runner heads to 2nd. Laxer gets charged with 2 errors on the play, which is bullshit. He had no change of (a) fielding that cleanly on the fly or (b) getting the runner at first. That's a base hit with an error if there ever was one.
 
EDIT - Caleb Adams walks after being behind 0-2. Two on & one out for Compton.
 
EDIT - Compton lines out hard to center. Two down.
 
EDIT - Wow. A double down the LF line by Harrison scores Girouard, but on the relay shortstop Errol Robinson fires a perfect strike to Allen to nab Adams at the plate, who forces the runner wide. It ends the inning, and the Rebels hang on to a 5-4 lead.

 

[mabrowndog]

UVA loads the bases with 1 out in the b-8th, prompting Stiles' exit. Closer Kevin Mooney then allows a 2-run single to Branden Cogswell scoring LaPrise & Downes, and it's now 8-2 Cavs.
 
EDIT - Pinero follows with a 2-run double to plate Coman & Cogswell and make it 10-2.
 
EDIT - Mike Papi doubles home Pinero. I hope it isn't asking too much of Howard to protect an 11-2 lead in the 9th. The Cavs are 3 outs from Omaha.

 

[mabrowndog]

Congrats to PT and all the other Cavs fans. Virginia is heading to the College World Series. The Hoos will play the Ole Miss vs LA-Lafayette winner.
 

 

[PT Sox Fan]

Thanks, Mark. After the Saturday RISP failures, it's great to see them right the ship and head to Omaha with some great momentum. I'm still trying to talk Booger into joining me next week. Hoping for a Texas-Virginia final.

 

[mabrowndog]

The Rebels add a run to their lead on 2 walks, a fielder's choice, and a sac fly. 6-4 heading to the b-8th.

 

[VORP Speed]

Wahoowa, baseball cavs.

 

[garlan5]

Way to go Hoos!

 

[mabrowndog]

Holy shit. I don't know what kind of spinach Laxer ate between innings, but his fastball has somehow gone from 88-89 in the 7th to 93-94 in the 8th as he strikes out Butler & Strentz swinging. Where the eff did this come from?
 
EDIT - Leonard takes a hanging curve into RF fir a single. Conrad's up, but he got underneath the first pitch and flies out to short right-center.
 
Ole Miss is 3 defensive outs from Omaha.

 

[mabrowndog]

Interesting sidebar on UVA's head coach:
 

Rob Anderson ‏@_robanderson 
Brian O'Connor pitched on Creighton's lone team to make the College World Series in 1991. He's a Council Bluffs, Iowa native.

 
So he played his college ball in Omaha and grew up just across the Missouri River. I guess it's a homecoming then.

 

[mabrowndog]

Ole Miss begins the t-9th with an Austin Anderson HBP and a Will Allen smoked liner to left for a single. 1st & 3rd, no outs. That'll be it for Seth Harrison, who had come in from CF to pitch last inning. We'll have to see if he returns to the field to remain in the ULL batting order. RHP Ben Carter takes the hill.
 
EDIT - Carter walks Orvis to load the bases. LHH Holt Perdzock hits for Bortles.
 
EDIT - Perdzock rips one down the RF line. Anderson can crawl home. Allen scores with ease. Orvis comes around to score from first as Butler bobbles the pickup in right. Looks like it's a triple pending the official scorer's ruling, and it's 9-4 Rebels.
 
EDIT - A sac fly by Lee makes it 10-4.

 

[mabrowndog]

Retweeted by College Baseball
Rudy Jones ‏@Palmettobase 19m
Some Mississippi State fan is three outs away having to retire this banner.