2014 College Baseball

[mabrowndog]

Alex Chittenden leads off the b-7th with a base hit for the Cards. LHH Colin Lyman will pinch-hit for RF Corey Ray.
 
EDIT - Hoo boy. A blooped pop-up to short RF but it's easily caught. Chittenden took way too big a lead off first, and was easily doubled up. That's sloppy baserunning.
 
EDIT - Danny Rosenbaum its for 1B Grant Kay, and pops the first pitch to shallow CF to end the inning. It's a 10-pitch frame for French, who's at 89 for the outing.
 
On to the 8th with the Longhorns up 3-0.

 

[mabrowndog]

Lyman, who took over in RF, makes a webgem-worthy diving grab of a Collin Shaw sinking liner, running hard to his right and going horizontal for the inning-ending out. That's 11 straight set down by Kidston. On to the b-8th.

 

[mabrowndog]

Sutton Whiting leads off with a walk for the Cards. It's the 3rd free pass issued by French. #9 hitter Zach Lucas steps up.
 
EDIT - Yikes. He hits him with the first pitch. Two on, no out, tying run at the plate in leadoff hitter Kyle Gibson. Sox draftee Cole Sturgeon is on deck. French now at 94 pitches.
 
EDIT - A perfect bunt by Gibson moves both his mates into scoring position. Now we'll see if the Horns stay with French against the lefty.
 
EDIT - Nope. Pitching change. Superb afternoon of work for Parker French (7.1 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 3 K, still responsible for 2 runners). On comes sophomore lefty Travis Duke, and this is likely a LOOGY assignment.
 
EDIT - Sturgeon with a grounder to 2nd, but it plates Gibson to get Louisville on the board. 3-1 Horns, 2 out, Whiting on 3rd. Somewhat surprisingly, Duke stays in to face RHH Nick Solak.
 
EDIT - Great job getting the whiff there to end the inning. The Cards are 3 offensive outs from elimination. On to the 9th.

 

[mabrowndog]

Closer NIck Burdi on for Louisville to try to keep it a 2-run margin.
 
EDIT - Madison Carter leads off with a single.
 
EDIT - Kasey Clemens hits one back to Burdi who goes to 2nd, but everyone's safe as he's charged with an error.
 
EDIT - Zane Gurwitz bunts them both over.
 
EDIT - Brooks Marlow with a fly to RF, and it's deep enough to get Carter home. 4-1, Horns.
 
EDIT - Burdi gets Ben Johnson swinging to end the inning. Cards' last ups coming with Gardner, Chittenden & Lyman due up.

 

[mabrowndog]

Duke remains in to face the lefty Gardner. Closer John Curtiss is warming in the pen.
 
EDIT - Duke gets ahead 1-2, just misses outside, and then gets Gardner swinging. 1 down.
 
EDIT - They're staying with Duke vs the RHH Chittenden, and he's ahead 0-2. A grounder to short is a routine scoop & throw for Hinojosa. Two out, and RHH Shane Crain will hit for Lyman. Duke remains in to face him.
 
EDIT - Duke again gets the leg up 0-1, and it's another grounder for the 6-3 out that ends the game. It's amazing how so many other managers would get second-guessed for sticking with Duke there had the slightest thing gone wrong. But Augie Garrido is the cat's ass.
 
Texas advances. Louisville heads home. For Sox fans, Cole Sturgeon now has 32 days to sign a deal.

 

[Kremlin Watcher]

Hard to tell which Texas team is going to show up.

 

[mabrowndog]

Hard to tell which Texas team is going to show up.

 
I'd say they played well today, but not great. Obviously French was superb on the hill, but the Horns got a ton of help from their opponents in the field and on the basepaths. The bottom line is they were still fundamentally sound across the board, an Augie hallmark regardless of talent level.

 

[mabrowndog]

Vandy jumps on UC-Irvine starter Elliott Surrey right away. Dansby Swanson leads off the t-1st with a walk, Bryan Anderson follows with a single, and Vince Conde bunts them both over. Zander Wiel singles in Swanson, and Xavier Turner squeezes Reynolds home.
 
Great slide by Reynolds to avoid the sweep tag by Jerry McClanahan.
 

 
2-0, Commodores.

 

[mabrowndog]

Tyler Beede sets down the Anteaters in order in the b-1st, starting with a whiff of Taylor Sparks.
 
Vandy just left runners at 2nd & 3rd in the t-2nd, as Conde goes down swinging to end it.

 

[mabrowndog]

Eaters have something going in the b-2nd. With one out, Beede hits Jonathon Munoz, Palmer singles him to 3rd, and Kris Paulino singles Munoz home.
 
A ball gets away from Delay at the plate briefly, and Palmer gets to 3rd. That sets up a squeeze by Adam Alcantara -- a poorly executed bunt fielded cleanly by a charging Beede -- but Palmer's slide beats the tag and Irvine ties the game 2-2.
 
EDIT - With Justin Castro at the plate, yet another ball gets away. It's a wild pitch, and both Paulino and Alcantara move up a base. Still just one out, and Beede's at 30 pitches already.
 
EDIT - Castro lines out to shallow CF. Paulino fakes the tag-up but wisely retreats. That allows Taylor Sparks a shot at bringing them home.
 
EDIT - Sure enough, Sparks singles up the middle and both runners score. Sparks heads to 2nd on the throw home, which was well up the 1st base line (there was nobody positioned to cut it off for Vandy), and the Anteaters take a 4-2 lead.
 
EDIT - And now a 5-pitch walk to Chris Rabago puts Eaters at 1st & 2nd with 2 down. Beede's first pitch to Connor Spencer will be his 40th.
 
EDIT - It takes 7 pitches after several foul-offs, but Spencer goes down swinging to end the inning. Beede at 46 pitches through 2 IP. On to the t-3rd.

 

[mabrowndog]

Elliott Surrey, a finesse lefty in the Bruce Hurst/Bill Lee mold, settles down and retires Vandy in order in the t-3rd. Like Beede, he's thrown 46 pitches -- but he's gotten three more outs.

 

[mabrowndog]

Beede starts off the b-3rd by hitting the leadoff hitter McClanahan in the upper arm. Action continues in the Vanderbilt bullpen.
 
EDIT - A strong gun to 2nd by Delay as McClanahan breaks for the steal and then changes his mind, but it's too late, He's caught in a rundown and the complexion of the inning changes instantly.
 
EDIT - Beede battles back from a 2-0 count to whiff Munoz.
 
EDIT - Palmer grounds to short, and Beede gets a badly needed efficient inning with just 11 pitches, putting him at 57 for the evening.

 

[mabrowndog]

Surrey with another 1-2-3 inning in the t-4th, as he's now retired 8 in a row.
 
In the b-4th, Beede continues his wild and inefficient ways by walking Paulino on 6 pitches to lead it off. 63 pitches now.
 
EDIT - Alcantara with another lousy bunt, popping it up, and this time it costs him as Delay snatches it.
 
EDIT - Yet another baserunning gaffe by Irvine, as Paulino also gets caught in a rundown. Looks like he was expecting a hit & run. He thought wrong with a 2-0 count on Castro. Making stupid outs on the basepaths generally doesn't bode well with CWS advancement.
 
EDIT - Castro walks, bringing Taylor Sparks to the plate with 2 out -- and now he gets hit as well. 1st & 2nd for Rabago.
 
EDIT - That'll be it for Beede. He throws 71 pitches over 3.2 innings (4 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 3 HBP, 3 K).
 
EDIT - Rabago flies to RF off Walker Buehler to end it. Still 4-2 Irvine, mid-4th.

 

[mabrowndog]

Vandy ties it up 4-4 in the t-5th. A Swanson double & Reynolds infield hit lead it off, and Conde knocks Swanson in on a ground-out. Zander Wiel then doubles home Reynolds. Runner on 2nd, 1 out.
 
EDIT - Xavier Turner walks, and now LHH Rhett Wiseman gets hit on the right hand or wrist on a fastball that rode in while he was checking his swing. That loads the bases and Surrey departs after 71 pitches (4.1 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 1 K). Evan Brock will take the ball for the Eaters.
 
EDIT - A sac fly by John Norwood scores Wiel, and Vandy reclaims the lead, 5-4.
 
EDIT - Brock whiffs Ellison to end the inning. On to the b-5th.

 

[mabrowndog]

Buehler with a 1-2-3 inning for Vandy, and it's on to the 6th. UCI with just 3 hits so far.

 

[mabrowndog]

After a leadoff whiff of Delay, Brock gives up a hard double off the LF wall to Dansby Swanson, his 2nd two-bagger of the night and the 3th time he's been on base tonight.
 
EDIT - Reynolds goes down swinging, and Conde flies to RF as Vandy strands the runner at 2B. Still 5-4, Commodores.

 

[mabrowndog]

A 1-2-3 sixth for Buehler with swinging Ks of Paulino & Alcantara, and he's retired all 7 batters he's faced. On to the 7th.

 

[mabrowndog]

Wiel walks to lead off the Vandy t-7th, but is cut down stealing by McClanahan.
 
EDIT - Wiseman, who seems to have recovered from the HBP that had him wincing in agony and holding his wrist for several minutes, rips a double to RF. He takes 2nd on a wild pitch by Brock, then scores on a Norwood single. 6-4 Commodores with 2 outs.
 
EDIT - Norwood steals 2nd, but Ellison flies to short in foul ground to end the inning.

 

[mabrowndog]

In the b-7th, Sparks & Castro whiff, Rabago walks, and Spencer grounds into a force at 2nd.
 
Mitch Merten on to pitch for Irvine in the t-8th, and he walks Delay to lead it off. Swanson grounds into a force out, but steals 2nd and advances to 3rd on another grounder. After another walk to Conde, Wiel grounds to Sparks at 3B to end the threat. Still 6-4, Vandy.

 

[mabrowndog]

McClanahan grounds out to start UCI's half of the 8th, and Munoz goes down swinging. After a walk to Palmer, Buehler hits Paulino with a pitch giving the Eaters their best scoring chance since the 4th. But he strikes out Alcantara to end it.
 
Xavier Moore leads off the t-9th with an infield hit to short. Sam Moore relieves Merten, getting Wiseman to fly out, but Turner stole 2nd & 3rd. Moore walked Norwood and struck out Ellison, with Norwood stealing 2nd on strike three. Delay gets hit by a pitch to load the bases, bringing on Jimmy Litchfield as the 5th Anteaters pitcher of the night. He keeps it a 2-run game but just barely, as Swanson rips a line drive right at Sparks at 3B to end the threat.
 
Buehler stays in for the 9th and gets pinch-hitter Evan Cassolato on a grounder to second. Sparks grounds out to third, and Rabago lofts a fly out to center, and that seals the 6-4 win for Vandy. Buehler closes it out with 5.1 hitless innings of relief, with 2 walks & 7 Ks on 92 pitches.
 
Irvine plays Texas in an elimination game on Wednesday night, while the Commodores get a two-day break and await the winner. Vandy will then need to be beaten twice to keep them out of the championship round.

 

[mabrowndog]

Tuesday's Schedule
 
03:00 pm - Ole Miss vs Texas Tech (Elimination Game) - ESPN2
08:00 pm - #3 Virginia vs #7 TCU (Winner's Bracket) - ESPN

 

[mabrowndog]

Great pitcher's duel underway with Texas Tech & Ole Miss scoreless, mid-5th. Lefty Christian Trent on the hill for the Rebels (5 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 5 K, 70 pitches), and freshman righty Ryan Moseley working for TTU (4 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 K, 47 pitches). The Red Raiders just left runners at 1st & 2nd in the top half of the 5th (bunt single, walk).
 
EDIT - Moseley needs just 10 pitches for a 1-2-3 b-5th. He's yet to have a 3-ball count today. The Rebs continue to be a barren desert at the plate, with just 3 hits in their 15 CWS innings thus far.

 

[mabrowndog]

Adam Kirsch with a 2-out triple for TTU in the t-6th. Belted deep to RF over the head of Will Jamison, then it bounced off the wall and past him so he had to retreat back toward the infield to chase it down as Kirsch dug around 2nd without slowing. LHH Ryan Long up with a chance to break the deadlock.
 
EDIT - Trent falls behind 2-1 in the count, but gets him swinging on the next two pitches. Great job of buckling down. On to the b-6th.

 

[mabrowndog]

After whiffing Errol Robinson to start off the b-6th, Moseley yields a single to Braxton Lee, balks him to 2B, and then gets his first 3-ball (and 4-ball) count of the day as he walks Auston Bousfield on 4 pitches. He's at 71 PC now.
 
EDIT - Wow, superb defense by TTU on a DP to escape. 1B Eric Guttierez had to range well to his right on a hard-hit grounder by Austin Anderson, and makes a quick snag/transfer/release on the throw to SS Tim Proudfoot, who then fires to Moseley who hustled his ass off to cover 1st and barely beat the runner. Still scoreless through 6.

 

[mabrowndog]

Well, how about that finish? Some walk-off Hotty Toddy for Ole Miss!
 
The Rebs score first with an unearned run off Moseley in the b-7th.  A pinch-hit RBI single by Holt Perdzock plated Sikes Orvis, who had reached safely on an error by TTU 2B Bryant Burleson to lead off the inning.
 
The Raiders tied it in the t-9th off Scott Weathersby, who relieved Trent after 8 stellar innings (0 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 6 K). Adam Kirsch singled, pinch-runner Zach Davis stole both 2nd and 3rd, and Anthony Lyons brought him home on a sac fly to RF.
 
That set up the b-9th, where Texas Tech reliever Cameron Smith began the frame by striking out Orvis. Then pinch-hitter Colby Bortles drew a one-out walk. Another Ole Miss pinch-hitter, Brantley Bell, hit a come-backer to Smith for what looked like a sure force-out of the lead runner, if not a double play ball. But Bell's throw to 2nd sailed into center field with Bortles taking 3rd on the play. With Rebels pitcher Aaron Greenwood running for Bortles, TTU made some defensive adjustments, leaving just two outfielders to patrol the vast expanse beyond the bases. The third came in as part of a five-man infield playing in the edge of the grass.
 
They also changed pitchers, with righty Dominic Moreno coming on to face yet another Rebs pinch-hitter, RHH John Gatlin, who batted for Dalton Dulin. And it was a zone-protecting swing by Gatlin, with a 1-2 count, on a slider 8" above the dirt and about as far off the left edge of the plate, that won it for Ole Miss. An opposite-field blooper to short right field, with nobody in position to snare it. Greenwood scored, and the Rebs survived.
 

 
 
TTU catcher Hunter Redman knew it was over long before Greenwood touched the plate...
 

 
 
... and Greenwood was the first to mob Gatlin...
 

 
 
... followed by the rest of the Rebels, who'll play the loser of tonight's matchup of national seeds, TCU and Virginia, in an elimination game Thursday.
 

 
 
Meanwhile all Redman and his teammates could do was watch and wonder "what if..."
 

 
 
The Red Raiders head home for the summer.
 

 

[mabrowndog]

UVA draws first blood in the b-1st off TCU lefty Brandon Finnegan. Branden Cogswell leads off with a double and then advances to 3rd on a deep fly to right by Daniel Pinero, but is able to score after a throwing error by RF Dylan Fitzgerald.
 
The Frogs respond in the t-2nd vs Cavs southpaw Brandon Waddell, tying the game on three straight singles to lead off the inning by Garrett Crain, Jerrick Suiter & Fitzgerald. After a Keaton Jones bunt moved two runners up, Cody Jones reaches on error by the shortstop Pinero, with Suiter coming home on the play. Cody then steals second, but a Derek Odell groundout ends the inning, stranding a pair at 2nd & 3rd.
 
EDIT - UVA also strands two (1st & 3rd) in their half of the third inning.
 
2-1 Horned Frogs, t-4th.

 

[mabrowndog]

Virginia with a decent chance here in the b-5th. Cogswell leads off with a double, moves to 3rd on a bunt, and up comes Mike Papi with 1 out.
 
EDIT - Sure enough, a grounder to 2nd scores the runner, and we're tied up 2-2.

 

[mabrowndog]

They're into the 8th, still a 2-2 game. Cavs' closer Nick Howard takes the ball after a solid night from Waddell (7 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 5 K, 101 pitches).
 
And the Frogs go down in order. On to the b-8th.

 

[mabrowndog]

Finnegan back out there for TCU with his pitch count at 95 (7 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 5 K).
 
EDIT - Kenny Towns with an opposite-field double into the RF corner with 1 out. Pretty solid contact for the outer meat of the bat.
 
EDIT - Joe McCarthy pops to CF on the first pitch. Derek Fisher coming up.

 

[mabrowndog]

What a screwy play. Fisher grounds to short. Inning over, right?
 
Wrong. The throw from Keaton Jones is wide, pulling Kevin Cron off the bag.
 
So Towns heads to 3rd safely, right?
 
Wrong. He takes a wide turn and Cron guns it home to begin the rundown.
 
So Towns is a dead duck, right?
 
Wrong. The ball gets away near the plate and he sprints home.
 
So Towns scores, right?
 
Wrong. Cron had hustled down to the plate and he's there to back up the play, grab the ball, and tag Towns out.
 
And NOW the inning is over.

 

[mabrowndog]

Also, Finnegan's now at 109 pitches for the night, yet he was still hitting the mid-90s that inning and spotting his pitches well.

 

[twibnotes]

Howard is nasty - throws mid 90s with seemingly little effort

 

[DeJesus Built My Hotrod]

Howard is nasty - throws mid 90s with seemingly little effort

Filth

 

[DeJesus Built My Hotrod]

And his breaking stuff is dirty too.

 

[twibnotes]

Filth

Is he a candidate for something like the Craig Hansen treatment or has that approach been put to bed?

 

[mabrowndog]

Another 1-2-3 for Howard in the t-9th. Should see Riley Ferrell in for TCU.

 

[DeJesus Built My Hotrod]

Another 1-2-3 for Howard in the t-9th. Should see Riley Ferrell in for TCU.

More filth.

 

[mabrowndog]

Is he a candidate for something like the Craig Hansen treatment or has that approach been put to bed?

 
You mean debuting him the same year he was drafted? I doubt the Reds would do that with Howard, even if they climb back into contention.

 

[mabrowndog]

Cavs get another runner in scoring position after Laprise singles and takes 2nd on an Irving groundout.
 

More filth.

 
Yeah, I actually like Ferrell more than Howard in terms of future success. A more compact delivery, less stressful arm angle, better control. His delivery and follow-through remind me of Clemens (mechanically).

 

[mabrowndog]

Wow. The slider and two-seamer there were brutal.
 
EDIT - Froze his ass with a 96er. Jesus.

 

[DeJesus Built My Hotrod]

Ferrell is a beast

 

[mabrowndog]

Holy crap. That last pitch to Jones. Vicious.

 

[mabrowndog]

A full-count walk with 2 outs to Derek Odell. Here comes Boomer White.

 

[mabrowndog]

Howard's pick-off move is pretty refined as well. He's come close twice to nabbing Odell.
 
EDIT - And Odell gets thrown out stealing. High throw, but still in time.

 

[DeJesus Built My Hotrod]

Howard's move is legit

 

[mabrowndog]

Right now I'm going to say advantage TCU, since Ferrell came in an inning later than Howard who's now at 47 pitches.

 

[mabrowndog]

Now THIS is a great college matchup. Papi vs Ferrell.

 

[mabrowndog]

That was Connor Jones warming in the UVA bullpen.

 

[mabrowndog]

Mother of Christ. Cody Jones with the diving web gem in center. Robbery.

 

[DeJesus Built My Hotrod]

Sick catch. Just sick