SURPRISE, Ariz. -- For the first time since 2005, Nebraska (3-2) knocked off the top team in the country, as the Huskers blasted No. 1 Oregon State on Friday afternoon 9-2 at Surprise Stadium, the Spring Training home of the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers. Nebraska’s last win against a No. 1 ranked team came in the 2005 Big 12 home opener when the No. 4 ranked Huskers beat Texas 4-3 in 16 innings at Hawks Field.
NU starter Christian DeLeon set the tone on Friday afternoon, as he gave the Huskers 7.0 strong innings after struggling in last weekend’s season opener against Pacific, where he went 4.1 innings in a no decision. He gave up just one unearned run on four hits and one walk, while striking out five Beavers. DeLeon, a right-hander out of Richmond, Texas, retired the first six batters he faced and produced a perfect 1-2-3 inning five times on the afternoon.
Nebraska’s offense produced 10 hits on the afternoon, while scoring five runs on six hits off OSU starter Andrew Moore, who was a first-team All-American by Baseball America and the American Baseball Coaches Association a year ago. Steven Reveles, Blake Headley and Austin Christensen all notched a pair of hits, including a pair of double from Reveles. Along with Reveles’ two doubles, Pat Kelly added his second double of the year and Austin Darby stroke his second triple of the season.
The Huskers came through with two-out hits all afternoon, producing seven two-out hits that drove in eight of Nebraska’s nine runs.
San Francisco 6, No. 2 Cal State Fullerton 5 (19 Innings)
FULLERTON, Calif. -- The first meeting between the Dons and No. 2 Cal State Fullerton, it ended up being one of the longest game for both and was decided on a home run by Brendan Hendriks in the 19th inning as USF won the series opener 6-5 Friday night.
San Francisco had not scored since the sixth inning. Cal State Fullerton had not scored since the fourth. Something eventually had to give and in the 19th inning it did.
With two outs, Hendriks turned on an inside pitch and hit a towering fly ball over the rightfield wall to give the Dons their first lead of the game.
No. 3 Florida State 8, Georgia 3
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- No. 5 Florida State (5-0) remained undefeated on the year following an 8-3 victory against Georgia (1-4) on Friday afternoon in front of 5,024 on Mike Martin Field inside Dick Howser Stadium.
The Seminoles used a six-run fourth inning to break a 1-1 tie en route to claiming their eighth victory in the past nine games against the Bulldogs and sixth in a row at home.
Eight different Seminoles registered a hit on Friday, while Danny De La Calle drove in a team-high two runs with both coming in the pivotal fourth inning.
Luke Weaver pitched into the sixth inning to move to 2-0 on the young season. Weaver, a junior right hander, allowed three runs on eight hits in five-plus innings as he walked two and struck out a pair.
No. 4 Virginia 3, East Carolina 2
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Fourth-ranked Virginia scored a 3-2 win against East Carolina on Friday afternoon at Davenport Field. Brandon Downes hit a pair of solo home runs to support a strong UVa pitching effort, highlighted by 6.1 innings of two-run baseball from starter Nathan Kirby.
Making his first career Friday start, Kirby (2-0) allowed just a pair of runs, four hits and two walks while striking out three. After Whit Mayberry worked 1.2 perfect innings, Nick Howard pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to record his first career save. The trio combined to allow just four hits and retire the final 15 East Carolina batters.
ECU starting pitcher Jeff Hoffman (0-1) went 6.2 innings, allowing three earned runs, five hits and three walks while striking out six in taking the defeat. Hoffman is preseason All-American and currently is listed as Baseball America's No. 2 prospect for the upcoming MLB Draft.
No. 5 LSU 9, Virginia Tech 0
BATON ROUGE, La. -- Junior pitcher Aaron Nola (2-0) pitched seven innings of no-hit baseball Friday night as LSU downed Virginia Tech 9-0 at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman field.
Nola fired 87 pitches and recorded eight strikeouts and one walk. Alden Cartwright and Zac Person relieved Nola for the final two innings and allowed a hit apiece.
LSU struck for four runs in the second inning after a RBI single by sophomore centerfielder Andrew Stevenson followed by a three-run home run from leadoff hitter Sean McMullen.
The middle of the order sparked a three-run third inning. Alex Bregman started the inning with a double to the right-center field gap. Connor Hale then reached on an error before Chris Chinea advanced the runners on a groundout to second.
Christian Ibarra then lined to left for a two-RBI double and advanced to third on the throw. Tyler Moore plated Ibarra on a hard single to the first base side.
The Tigers produced two runs in the fourth inning after three walks and a Chinea sacrifice fly. Ibarra then lined a RBI single to right-center field to plate Mark Laird.
Bregman has reached base safely in all five games this season. McMullen and Ibarra matched career highs with three RBIs apiece. Ibarra also matched a career high with three hits. In innings two through four this season, the Tigers have outscored opponents 22-0.
Virginia Tech’s Brad Markey (1-1) was charged with the loss. Markey went 2 1/3 innings and gave up seven runs, one earned, on six hits and a walk.
No. 6 Vanderbilt 14, Illinois-Chicago 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Vanderbilt fired on all cylinders Friday night at Hawkins Field in a 14-1 blowout victory against Illinois-Chicago.
The game started off the right way for the Flames (3-2) with Tyler Detmer belting a two-out solo homer to left field. That home run, however, would be the last UIC batter to reach base until the sixth inning. Vanderbilt (5-0) starter Tyler Beede settled down after the round tripper to sit down 15 consecutive Flames hitters. He rolled through the lineup, striking out 10 batters during his streak of 15 in a row to match his career-best. He ended his night with his 11th strikeout to wrap up the sixth inning and set a new career-high. Beede's 11 strikeouts are the most for a VU pitcher since Kevin Ziomek fanned 10 against Alabama last May.
While Beede settled into a groove on the mound, the Commodores' hitters settled in at the plate. The Dores took the lead in the second with three runs and scored in all but two of their eight at-bats on the night. The team pounded out a season-best 19 hits to match last year's season-best total. The team's 19 hits came from 10 different Commodores with six Dores posting multi-hit games. Dansby Swanson, Bryan Reynolds and Chris Harvey led the way with three-hit games, a career-best for all three players.
No. 7 Mississippi State 6, Holy Cross 2
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Behind a strong pitching performance from Brandon Woodruff and Myles Gentry, Mississippi State knocked off Holy Cross 6-2 in the opening game of a four-game series at Dudy Noble Field.
Junior right-hander Woodruff (1-1) fell one out shy of a quality start but did manage to throw 5.2 innings to garner his first win of the season. Sophomore right-hander Gentry followed with 3.1 innings of one-hit shutout relief to secure his first career save.
Woodruff was touched for a run on two hits in the fourth inning. After striking out the side, a misplay on a routine ground ball ended Woodruff’s day with two outs in the sixth inning. The error -- MSU’s only one -- drew the Crusaders within 3-2.
Gentry followed in relief and got 10 of the 13 batters he faced.
MSU (3-2) regained control of the contest with back-to-back RBI-singles from Wes Rea and Brett Pirtle in the sixth inning and an RBI-single from Jake Vickerson in the seventh inning.
The Bulldogs built the early lead with RBI-singles from Alex Detz and C.T. Bradford in the first inning. Reid Humphreys had his first career hit and career RBI with a single in the fifth inning.
MSU finished with 10 hits and stole eight bases for the fourth time ever -- one shy of the school record. Left fielder Jacob Robson had three of those steals.
The top two hitters in the lineup, Vickerson and Detz, were a combined 4-for-7 with two RBIs and three stolen bases. Detz has now reached base safely in 28 consecutive games.
No. 8 Oregon 12, Loyola Marymount 2
LOS ANGELES -- Tyler Baumgartner had three of Oregon’s eight doubles and made a run-saving diving catch in right field to lead the No. 8 Ducks to a 12-2 win against Loyola Marymount in game one of a three-game series on Friday night.
Baumgartner went 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored, while Kyle Garlick was 2-for-4 with a double, two RBI and a run scored. His double missed being a grand slam by less than two feet.
Oregon (5-0) broke open a tight game with eight runs in the top of the eighth inning. Garlick (two-RBI double), Baumgartner (RBI double) and Connor Hofmann (RBI double) highlighted the run explosion with key hits. The Ducks finished the inning scoring eight runs on just four hits and one error. LMU pitchers walked three Ducks and hit another in the inning.
Scott Heineman led off the inning reaching base on an error by Lions third baseman Tyler Cohen. After Aaron Payne (1-for-3, double, RBI, 3 runs scored) walked, Baumgartner laced his third double of the game into right field plating Heineman.
Mitchell Tolman (1-for-2, RBI, run scored) loaded the bases after being hit by a pitch to set up Garlick’s clutch hit. The Ducks’ designated hitter smashed a ball deep to left field that came within a couple of feet of clearing the field’s “Blue Monster.” Payne and Baumgartner scored to push Oregon’s lead to 6-2.
Loyola Marymount (2-3) jumped out to an early 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning and nearly made it 2-0 in the second. The Lions put runners on second and third with one out against starter Tommy Thorpe. The Ducks’ lefty got out of the inning without any damage striking out the next hitter, before Heineman made a tough throw on a swinging bunt to end the inning.
Oregon took the lead in the third on Baumgartner’s second double of the game. Minjares walked to lead off the inning, and moved to third on a double by Payne. Baumgartner drove both runners in with a double into the left-field corner.
LMU tied the game with a run in the fifth, but Oregon got it right back in the sixth. Tolman delivered the go-ahead RBI on a double that scored Payne from first.
Thorpe (1-0) picked up the win allowing just two runs on eight hits in seven innings, while striking out six. Colin Wellmon (1-1), who beat Oregon in Eugene last season, was charged with the loss.
No. 9 South Carolina 4, Eastern Kentucky 0
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The fifth-ranked Gamecocks have not allowed a run in 33 consecutive innings, effectively shutting out their past three opponents as South Carolina defeated Eastern Kentucky 4-0 on Friday afternoon at Carolina Stadium. The Gamecocks are now 5-0 on the year while the Colonels fall to 1-4.
Joey Pankake went 2-for-4 with a run scored. Kyle Martin hit a solo homer and extended his hitting streak to five games. Max Schrock homered as well. Both Martin and Schrock have two homers on the year.
Junior left-hander Jordan Montgomery improved to 2-0 on the year. Montgomery hurled seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and two walks while striking out four batters. He has not allowed a run in 33.2 consecutive innings pitched going back to last year. Junior right-hander Cody Mincey added a scoreless inning of relief tallying two strikeouts. Joel Seddon closed it out for the Gamecocks with a perfect inning of relief striking out two batters.
No. 10 UCLA 5, No. 22 Cal Poly 2
LOS ANGELES -- Behind seven strong innings on the mound from sophomore James Kaprielian and a 4-for-4 performance at the plate from freshman Luke Persico, No. 10 UCLA took game one of its three-game set with No. 22 Cal Poly by a score of 5-2.
Kaprielian struck out nine in his seven innings of work to earn his first collegiate victory. Persico logged two triples among his four hits while recording a RBI as well. Ty Moore had a multi-hit game for the Bruins as well, going 2-3 with a run and a RBI.
For the Mustangs, Matt Imhof took the loss on the mound, allowing four runs (three earned) in five innings pitched.
The Bruins took the early lead in the bottom of the first, starting when senior Brian Carroll led off the inning with a single. The next batter was Moore, who ripped a double to left, scoring Carroll and giving UCLA the 1-0 advantage.
Moore made it 2-0 in the bottom of the third, scoring on what would end up being a wild play in right field. Moore singled to right, but Cal Poly’s Nick Torres let the ball get by him, allowing Moore to move to the third. Then Torres’ throw went over the cutoff man's head, allowing Moore to round third and slide in safely to home to give UCLA a two-run lead.
After a tough first inning, Kaprielian really settled in, retiring nine consecutive hitters from innings two through four to keep the Mustangs off the board.
UCLA then gave Kaprielian some support in the bottom of the fourth, adding another run starting when senior Pat Gallagher led off the inning with a single to right. The next batter was Persico, who laced a triple to left-center, bringing home Gallagher to make it 3-0. Eventually Persico came around on a sacrifice fly by junior Chris Keck to give UCLA a 4-0 lead.
Kaprielian kept the Mustangs at bay again in the fifth and sixth innings as he kept UCLA’s lead at four. Cal Poly would get one back in the top of the seventh though, as Brian Mundell led off the frame with a solo shot off of Kaprielian, cutting UCLA’s lead to three. However, Kaprielian recovered to strike out the next three batters to prevent any more runs for the Mustangs.
UCLA tacked on yet another run in the bottom half of the frame, as junior Shane Zeile plated sophomore Christoph Bono with an RBI single to second to bring UCLA’s lead back up to four. Sophomore Jake Ehret pitched a scoreless eighth and junior David Berg held the lead in the ninth to finish out the game and give UCLA the 5-2 victory.
